Wednesday, December 23, 5:00 p.m., 68 degrees outside. Sat in the Adirondack chairs and had wine with my friend Lee until sundown.
Thursday, December 24, 5:00 P.M., 29 degrees outside. Went out in 30mph winds and took this photo as fast as possible. Ran back in quickly, already covered in icy snow. Saw the news, and learned we had a record in Dallas for Christmas Eve snowfall.
Merry White Christmas!
We are finally finishing our holiday decorating here at Opulent Cottage! I believe I may have broken my own record for lateness. Today I finished up the china cabinet and our breakfast table. We have a few more lights to add outside, also. (If you saw it, you would say, You’re adding more?!! But the doorway seems a little dark, compared to all of the other crazy lights.)
For Tablescape Thursday this week, I have several tabletops and my china cabinet to show. This display was so much fun to put together! I found quite a few new thrifty and dollar store items to pair with my classic Bordallo Christmas trees, along with other items that I already had.
The plaid plates were a thrift store find! I love love love anything plaid, and was thrilled to find them. They are not fine china, just ceramic, the pattern is Edinboro by Tabletops Unlimited. Elegant beaded trees are from Dollar Tree. For a centerpiece I layered some tissue in my silverplated wine cooler, then topped it with red and silver ornaments. In the very back I placed a wreath with a simple plaid bow.
These sweet, graceful reindeer were found at the 99 Cents Store. The ornament placecard holders were from Ross a long time ago. I don’t really use them to hold placecards, but the flat bottoms are great in this display because they won’t roll off!
Behind these are the green wine glasses from Thanksgiving, and vintage-looking champagne flutes that were at Target a few years ago. Accents of vintage silver add even more sparkle, as do these giant ornaments that I placed in dessert dishes. Now that I see these photos, I wish I would have added some artificial snow in the bottom of these. Oh well, maybe next year!
Our holiday dinner table this year will be simple, with Bordallo cabbage chargers, red dinner plates, and Bordallo Christmas trees.
Some more of the nests decorate each place setting. Remember when I said I love plaid -- I’ve had these placemats forever! Mismatched flatware is just fine by me. Our white holiday napkins are in the wash, so these pretty paper napkins stand in for now.
A birch bark sleigh is filled with greenery and bottle brush trees. Just really, really simple! The flash came on in this shot, so you can see the pretty colors of the glass mosaic votives from World Market. Have you been? I’m going to do an entire post about that place someday, it’s so amazing. Sign up when you check out and they email you coupons!
And in the breakfast nook, our table is ready to host friends for holiday cinnamon rolls!
These adorable ceramic ornaments came from the 99 Cents Store. Their selection of charming holiday merchandise never ceases to amaze me. They are sitting atop peppermint salad plates, from Garden Ridge years ago. Underneath are the classic Gibson dinner plates.
These green and white checked dishtowels look festive as placemats! I wanted something simple and cheery, and these really fit the bill. Peppermint napkins are from Target a while back. And I just love the lucite flatware, from Ross, for its versatility.
I think the polka-dot glasses came from Walmart, last year, and I believe they have them again this year, in case you’re looking for some! I got these cute salt and pepper shakers there also. Don’t you think each place setting needs a pair? I may head there first on December 26th!
The centerpiece is simply an assortment of Christmas trees. More of the bottle brush trees from Big Lots, like the silver ones, this time in green. The adorable peppermint tree is also from Big Lots. You may recognize the red bottle brush trees from my sale and tutorial. The beaded red tree is from Dollar Tree. Kind of amazing, what can be found for a dollar these days. I loved these the minute I saw them, and probably would have been happy to pay much more!
Please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for her wonderful weekly Tablescape Thursday!
Thank you all so much for your visits to Opulent Cottage, and for allowing us to share our holiday home with you. I adore every email and comment that I receive from you! I always hope that you will enjoy what you see, and be inspired to decorate and enjoy your own home, also. It’s my passion to show that you can have a beautiful home, and lovely holiday displays, by using more creativity than cash!
Have a wonderful and safe holiday, everyone. I truly hope that yours is filled with love and warmth, family and friends.
Love to you all,
Andrea
The sale at Bishop Lynch sure was fun. My photos didn’t turn out very well, but I’ll show a few anyway. My booth was located in the cafeteria, which has really low lighting, so I had to use the flash, never my favorite way to photograph.
This thrift store birdcage was my favorite display item. It held these sweet holiday bird nests. I made it Christmas-ey with some red spray paint, and now it’s a holiday decoration in my house!
My crochet belts were draped over a vintage suitcase that belonged to Maurie’s parents. They traveled all over the country with it! It must be from the 40’s.
The small bookcase from my potting shed is a lifesaver at every sale. I hot-glued some holiday polka-dot paper in the back to give it a holiday vibe.
I almost forgot to photo these, sachets made from Lynda Saxton’s wonderful vintage quilts. They're embellished with vintage embroidery pieces. This huge silver punch bowl was chock-full of them, and only one came home. I just adore taking these tattered linens and turning them into something beautiful.
The very best part of the sale was running into my friend Katherine, who used to be my neighbor, and who I hadn’t seen in 10 years. Why did I not think to take our picture? I guess because we were too busy running back and forth to visit each other’s booths. I made some new friends too, and I’m hoping we all get together for another sale soon.
I’m still making client gifts, and we’ll be in line tonight at the bulk mail center downtown to send holiday packages! Yikes! Still decorating, too, and shuffling merchandise and holiday houses. And shopping for gifts. Oh well, it’s the madness of the holidays. Let’s just enjoy it!
xo,
Andrea
I’ve been saving a few holiday photos, waiting for Rhoda’s Home for the Holidays blog party! We’re no where near being totally decorated here at the Haywood’s, but I do have a few areas finished. I’ll show the mantel today, which is so different from anything I have ever done before that I can’t stop looking at it.
Remember the reindeer collection that I started last year? Well, the collection has grown, and not. A few of the reindeer suffered an early demise due to a curious feline. We’re left with a few, though, and I did add two new ones to the collection. They have moved to the mantel this year. All done up in silver and cream, it’s a soothing departure from my usual blast of color.
My garland is simple this year, as the Contemporary Teen in our home declared that she was not sure she could look at sunflowers on a Christmas garland ever again. I added white lights and these unfussy burlap bows – another new and fun look for me.
The green urns that always sit on the mantel got dressed up with a bit of cedar from the yard, and a few branches that I glittered after my neighbor’s tree was trimmed. I couldn’t resist adding a tiny bit of red with some faux apples and berries that I found in one of our Christmas boxes.
These mirror mosaic trees came from the 99 Cents store! And the large ones were found at Dollar Tree. Contemporary Teen loves them. I think they’re lovely, also, but I especially loved the price.
The vintage reindeer are still truly my favorite Christmas item.
This pretty reindeer is a Robert Stanley design from Hobby Lobby. They have beautiful new designs every year. I always head there straight away on the 26th, with Christmas money in hand, to snap up the bargains. It’s worth going again later in January, too – last year I bought gorgeous, large glass ornaments and light strands for 90% off.
This pretty silver bowl was a thrift store find. It looks like something from Pottery Barn, don’t you think?
Did anyone else see these trees at Big Lots last year? They were only $10 for the set of three, which are all attached on a wood base. BUT, I got mine 75% off!! I think they were still hanging around when it was almost Valentine’s Day. I was not sure at the time how I would use them, but they sure helped this mantel display come together.
I’ll post more of our holiday decorations here in the next few days! I certainly scored some wonderful bargains this year that I can’t wait to show you all. And this weekend I’ll be at Bishop Lynch High School for the B.L. Brigade Holiday Sale. I’ve cooked up some fun merchandise and clever displays, so I’ll photo those to share also!
I hope you all enjoy Home for the Holidays at Southern Hospitality! It will be a wonderful resource for holiday decorating inspiration.
Happy happy,
Andrea
Here are a few photos from our annual Holiday-Palooza at my friend Molly’s this past weekend.
Remember the colorful flocked trees of the 70’s? These bottle brush Christmas trees have been given a dose of retro color … why should we all live with just green, when it comes to holiday trees? In a minute I’ll show you how to make these colorful guys. And I loved making these ornaments from vintage paperback books. They’re glam and green!
My friend Lee made these gorgeous wreaths from evergreen trimmings. In the background you can see my tea towels, which have a holiday granny-twist to them this year.
These yo-yo barrettes are always a big hit with the girlie crowd. I crocheted some belts and flower scarfs, too.
Lee’s burlap coffee bag pillows are so fantastic. Yes, they really were coffee bags!
I thought you all might like to see how easy it is to make the colorful bottle brush trees. And it’s DIY Day at Kimba’s so let’s go! They’re so easy and the result is so wonderful, for such a simple project. Fun to do with your kids, also. You’ll need bottle brush trees (the real ones, not the plastic kind), dye from the fabric or craft store, some glue and glitter. That’s all!
Start with a large bowl or plastic tub that you can fill with water and a little bleach. I used a large plastic storage tub, because I was bleaching 3 large bags of trees (found at Home Depot). I didn’t measure exactly, but probably used 4 or 5 gallons of water and ½ cup of bleach. If you’re only doing a couple of trees, you could just fill up a large bowl and add a splash of bleach. Submerge the trees and let them soak in the mixture overnight.
This is what you will have the next morning. They’re pretty enough like this, also. I’ll glitter a few of these as they are. Rinse the trees and set them aside to dry.
The green dye was little dark, so I just squirted some of it into a bowl of water, which created the lime green color that I wanted. I soaked these trees in the dye a little longer. For the lighter pink, I used a package of Rose Pink Rit Dye. I added about ½ package to 1 cup of hot water. I did rinse and re-dye them a few times to get the right shade of pink.
Let the trees dry, by color, on a plate or platter lined with paper towels. If you let the different colors touch, you WILL have tie-dyed trees! If that happens, just re-bleach them. When they’re dry, fluff them up, paint on a little school glue, and dip the edges of your trees into some snowy-looking glitter. We're gonna keep it real here, so here's the photo of the mess that my family came home to!
Aren’t they pretty, and fun? So 1970’s! Who out there is old enough to remember?!!
Enjoy,
Love,
Andrea
Looking for holiday gift ideas that are inexpensive and easy? Crafted from scrap fabrics and leftover trimmings, this is a truly green homemade gift that every girl would love to receive!
You will need:
2 pieces of fabric, measuring 5” x 9-1/2” for outer case
2 pieces for lining
2 pieces of felt for padding
Miscellaneous trimmings for embellishment
That’s all you’ll need! Even if you don’t have leftover fabrics, you can make a case with 1/8 yard of fabric. For an even thriftier gift, check the remnant bin in your fabric store for smaller pieces that are usually half price.
Pin or staystich the felt to the outer fabric pieces. Apply your embellishment to the piece of fabric you will be using for the front. (It’s helpful to go ahead and stitch them on with the felt padding already in place. However, if you are using a thick fabric such as felted wool, you may not need the felt padding.)
Sew lining pieces to front and back at top edge. Press seam toward lining. If desired, understitch to keep the seam in place.
With right sides together, sew along sides and bottom edge of fronts, leaving bottom edge of lining open. Trim corners of bottom fronts, make turning the corner out a bit easier.
You can also trim away a bit of the felt, if you are comfortable cutting close to your stitching.
Turn inside out. Carefully pull out the corners with a pin or your seam ripper. Fold in ¼ inch on bottom lining and stitch closed.
Fold lining to inside of case. You can use a pencil or chopstick to press corners into place. Press, with a little steam, to flatten the seams.
Imagine the possibilities! Here are some of the different embellishments I have used on my eyeglass cases this holiday season
Felted wool cutouts
Vintage buttons
Fabric yo-yos
Crochet flowers and circles
I’ll certainly be having some late nights these next few weeks, finishing handcrafted items to sell, and crafting gifts for loved ones. I hope to have time in the next few weeks to share more of my handmade, creative items. This time of year I always think of the many other artists and crafters also burning the midnight oil, making handmade gems to sell and items to gift. I wish for all to have a prosperous gift season! For the first time, I’m linking in to Kimba’s DIY, with my crafting soul sisters – if you are looking for holiday how-to’s, it’s the place to be! I hope you all pick up some crafty inspirations for yours elfs ….
For dinner last night: these delicious fries from Whole Living, made with the organic sweet potatoes that came in my produce co-op bin this week.
With Italian chicken sausage and sautéed bell peppers, onion and garlic.
Too yummy to describe. Definitely the best sweet potatoes I have ever eaten. I did slice them like matchstick fries, rather than the larger oven fries.
Can’t wait to make this again!
My friend Evie Knodel sent me this great recipe the other day, sweetie that she is. It’s called Apple Pie for Two, and she found it in P. Allen Smith’s newsletter.
I’m a pretty inexperienced baker, so mine don’t look exactly like P. Allen Smith’s. OK, they don’t look anything like his! But trust me, a hungry teenager has dug in so fast, that they’re halfway done and then say, is this apple pie? And anything I bake anything in this house, I have one pretty happy family.
I couldn’t resist adding a sprinkle of sugar on top. (Trying to camouflage my crumbly crust.) Since almost anything looks better in a cute little ramekin, I think they’re still acceptable.
The other nice thing about Evie’s email was that she introduced me to the P. Allen Smith website, which is fantastic. I have seen his show on occasion, but had not found the website before.
Photo from P. Allen Smith website
And do you think folks really call him P. Allen? Or just Allen? Maybe “The P.”
Photo from P. Allen Smith website
He has a weekly newsletter that you can sign up for here. It’s full a great organic gardening tips, recipes, and holiday and entertaining ideas.
Today is Foodie Friday! I’m headed there now. And thank you Evie, for the lovely recipe!
For today’s Tablescape Thursday, I brought out the Thanksgiving decorations for our breakfast table, in the kitchen.
These Native American figurines were the inspiration for the table. I headed to Hobby Lobby one morning, intent on buying Pilgrims, but these caught my eye instead. Her gorgeous, fringed white deerskin dress was just irresistible. His cape is beautifully fringed, also. Their faces are so serene, so peaceful. And they are half price right now, so I had to buy them!
My vintage Fostoria cake plate gives these statues a regal platform to stand upon. I added a few pretty leaves from the front yard, pecans from the back, and these crazy acorns that I found down the street. They’re huge! I’m not sure what kind of tree they are from.
The same yellow plates from Halloween work for this tablescape, also, paired with more of the brown transferware. Just for fun, the cereal bowls are holding tiny ceramic turkeys. I don’t usually use paper napkins, but I was charmed by the faux zig zag stitching and vintage vibe of these.
Aren’t these forks lovely? I bought them last year at Target, on holiday clearance, for something ridiculous like 29 cents each. I need to go back and see what they have this year! The fall-colored tablecloth was another Target find from years ago. I always enjoy using it every year for Thanksgiving. That’s when you know you have made a good purchase!
These little leaf plates have been around forever, too. They seem to end up someplace different every year.
Just this morning I found these green goblets at Dollar Tree. The lady who was ringing up my sale said she thought they look like something from Pottery Barn. I agree! They have flutes and martinis available, also. I think they’re pretty for some homemade apple-pear juice. We have been making a lot of fresh juice, thanks to the bounty of fruit that comes in our co-op bin every time. If you haven’t made fresh juice before, be sure to put one of these on your Christmas list – you won’t regret it!
Don’t forget, it’s Tablescape Thursday! If you have a holiday table to share, come join in the fun!
