Opulent Cottage

Our 2017 Christmas Living Room

Merry Christmas, friends! Can anyone believe that Christmas is just a few days away?! I wanted to pop in and share our simply decorated living room with you all before the season completely passes us by.

After finishing our room for One Room Challenge, I really didn't want to change the mantel too much. I brought out the simple red tinsel trees and added red and white glitter stripe bows. But the pièce de résistance is the ornament garland! 

 

I stalked the dollar stores after Christmas last year and found the ornaments for 75% off! 60 tubes of ornaments made their way into my cart for a mere $15 :) I actually counted the ones I used for this garland, because I had to lay them out to figure how many of each size to string on. So 32 large, 72 medium, 56 small and 32 extra small made their way onto a piece of white ribbon from my stash.  (At least 10 or more of the tubes were used to make this wreath.) It took several hours, and honestly would have been kind of a mind-numbing task if not for Hallmark Channel ;)  I'm thrilled with the result, and after seeing some of these garlands online for hundreds of dollars, it was totally worth it!

 

The gorgeous pink orchid is still hanging on. I draped it with a couple of bead strands and filled a chinoiserie bowl with ornaments. So simple, and I feel it really reflects the freshness of our newly redone living room. 

 

These pink pillows are actually the back side of our Xu Garden print pillows from the ORC master bedroom redo last spring (you can barely see the print peeking out from behind). Yes, I have rearranged pillows already ;)  I thought they looked so cheerful with the wool needlepoint snowflake pillows! 

 

And here's our tree this year! It reminds me of gumdrops and ribbon candy!

 

I really didn't intend to buy a new tree, but after seeing Shannon's at Fox Hollow Cottage, I knew I had to have one. I have been admiring all of the gorgeous flocked trees that so many other bloggers have this year, so I went with this simple, tiny one. As in, it's really tiny. I propped it up on a galvanized tub and wrapped the tub in some leftover drapery lining, then draped it with one of the faux fur sheepskins. It's barely six feet tall but the narrow width makes our small room so much more manageable. Especially with presents piled all around! The link to the tree is here on Shannon's blog.

 

Some pillow stuffing fills the tree in, making it seem much more lush than it really is. Secret trick, y'all ;)  A Nordic style metal star is our choice for a topper this year. 

 

When I bought this tree, I envisioned pretty red berries and white sparkly glitter branches filling the bare spots. But Dallas is cleaned out. As in, the shelves at every store I went to are bare! You just can't wait until the week before Christmas to buy anything in this town. I finally found a few glittery snowflake ornaments and some snowflake picks, and that's a wrap for this year. 

 

I'm so happy with how nicely our Christmas wrapping plays with the rest of the room. 

 

There aren't words to express how grateful I am to you all for coming by to visit my blog! This has been such a wonderful year, and while I haven't blogged nearly as much as I wanted to, it's still a blessing to be able to share with you. Your messages and comments mean the world to me! I hope you feel inspired when you visit to create something beautiful for yourself! I wish each and every one of you a joyful holiday season!! Mwah! xoxo, Andrea

Joining

Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday

Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday.

 

 

Cozy at Christmas Home Tour 2017

Merry holiday season everyone! Thank you for coming by for the Cozy at Christmas Home Tour, hosted my my friend Katie at Let's Add Sprinkles! It's my second year to be a part of her event, and I'm super thankful to Katie for inviting me :)  If this is your first visit, welcome to our 1926 cottage! You can read a little about me and our home by clicking the About Me tab above.

Today I'm sharing our Christmas Sitting room. We hang out here more than any other place in our house, so I love to make it feel special for the season. We made over this room for One Room Challenge two years ago, which you can see here. 

 

We have gotten an unusually late start on Christmas this year. The three of us spent Thanksgiving at the beach in Galveston, Texas, for a short family getaway! We usually do most of our holiday decorating that weekend, but we haven't even brought the Christmas boxes down yet, and Maurie just got our lights up this past weekend. 

 

These sweet Pioneer Woman dishes were my souvenir from the beach. I know, I'm a big spender, right?! Yep, I hang out at Walmart even on vacation ;) The pretty colors are perfect for our bright sitting area. I love that they have an Anthropologie-ish vibe without the Anthro price tag.

 

Peppermint candle is from Ross. The gorgeous 1950s-era FrancisI candy dish is my best Goodwill score ever, for 99 cents. (I thought it was a reproduction because the stamp was covered with a price tag. Imagine my surprise!) 

I borrowed the gingham pillows from our bedroom and snagged a couple more of these inexpensive faux sheepskin throws at Ross. I love the wintry feel they give our room! 

 

This fun furry runner is from HomeGoods. I originally bought it for our dining table but it's the perfect size for our homemade cabinet. I added some ornaments and these sweet twinkling fairy lights. I posted live video of the twinkles on my Insta Stories this morning if you would like to see them! *Instagram stories only stay up 24 hours

 

As pretty as these settings are, they are about to get cleared away for some more holiday wrapping! In a small cottage every space must do double duty. The dining room table is currently loaded down with dozens of gifts for my husband's clients, and I'm on full-on holiday get it done mode! Once some of the organizing is done, I hope to get our tree up over the weekend to share with you all next week. Wrapping papers are from Marshall's, stripe glitter ribbon from JoAnn Fabrics, curling ribbon bows from Target. 

 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing our little room! Merry Christmas from all of us here at Opulent Cottage!

 

Here is a list of everyone participating in the Cozy at Christmas tour, I hope you'll give them a visit:

 

Cozy At Christmas 

 

Day 1
County Road 407
The B Farm
Decor To Adore
 Let's Add Sprinkles

Day 2
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Ever Evolving Home
DIY Beautify
Opulent Cottage
Joy In Our Home

Day 3
My Heart Lives Here
Patina and Paint
Hyacinths for the Soul 
My Thrift Store Addiction
Ms. Toody Goo Shoes

Day 4
Poofing the Pillows

Botanic Bleu
At Rivercrest Cottage 
White Spray Paint

Day 5

Art and Sand
At Home With Jemma
Monica Wants It 

The Dedicated House

Ash Tree Cottage

 

 

 

Joining:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Cozy at Christmas Holiday Blog Tour

Hello friends, and welcome to the Cozy at Christmas Blog Tour! If this is your first visit to Opulent Cottage, welcome! (You can read about me and our historic home here.)

Our little 1926 cottage gets decked for every season, but never more so than at Christmas! It is truly a labor of love, and makes my heart so happy to see our home sparkle and shine. When you're 90 years old, you need a little something sparkly every now and then, know what I mean? ;) I often think about how families may have celebrated here for the last 90 years, and I feel blessed to have this sweet home to make my own.

Today I'm sharing the mantel decor in our living room. I had intended to share our tree as well, but we had a holiday disaster the other day when our white tree came down from the attic looking like it had been rolling in the mud! Apparently it's not uncommon for white trees to eventually turn a (very un-Christmasy) dark color? Anyway, a new one is on order and I hope to be back in a few days to share it with you all.

 

We have an explosion of holiday brights this year! These red tinsel trees got dressed up with some cheerful green, pink and blue ornaments, repeating the colors in our new pillows from this fall.

 

The gorgeous plaid ribbon is from Martha Stewart, found at Home Depot. 

 

A mix of mercury glass and brass candlesticks fill the mantel, along with red striped and solid green candles.

 

How cute are these peppermint candles, found at our local Ross. These gorgeous turquoise mercury glass candlesticks were a gift from my sister last year.

 

That's a wrap for today -- the new tree has arrived, and I need to get busy so I can share it soon! Thank you so much for coming by!

 

Below you'll find links to all the participants of the Cozy at Christmas tour:

Monday 12/5:  Let's Add Sprinkles/ Hyacinths for the Soul/ Southern DayDreams/ White Spray Paint/ Garden Up Green/ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson/ Ellie and Elizabeth

Tuesday 12/6:  Brookhollow Lane/ At Home With Jemma/ My Heart Lives Here/ The B Farm/ Botanic Bleu/ Kitty's Kozy Kitchen/ Art and Sand/ Ash Tree Cottage

Wednesday 12/7:  Sweet Nothings/ At Rivercrest Cottage/ Opulent Cottage/ Decor to Adore/ Fern Creek Cottage/ The Dedicated House/ Bluesky Kitchen

I hope you enjoy seeing these beautiful homes all dressed up for the holiday! Thank you to Katie at Let's Add Sprinkles for organizing this event!

xoxo, Andrea

I'm joining:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Your Inspired Design at BlueSky Kitchen

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm

Share It One More Time at The Everyday Home

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

The Scoop at StoneGable

Home for Christmas at Cozy Little House

12 Days of Holiday Homes at The Pink Clutch

 

 

Holiday Charcuterie Board

Welcome to Day Five of the Holiday Recipe Blog Hop, hosted by Carol at Blue Sky Kitchen! 

My "recipe" today is one that will make your life easier during the busy holiday season. No cooking involved, and all of the ingredients can be kept on hand in your fridge and pantry! 

 

 

A Charcuterie Board is a great crowd pleaser any time of year, but I can't think of a better time than the holidays, when we are all so rushed and our to-do lists are so long! With just a few ingredients found at almost every grocery store, you can have a last-minute quick meal put together in no time, or create a beautiful dish for a holiday party. This is also a great way to use the meats and cheeses that come in those wonderful holiday food gift baskets.

 

This recipe is about as simple as they come! Here are the four main ingredient staples that make up a classic Charcuterie Board:

*Meats -- A varied selection of meats is the foundation for this platter. Be as fancy (or not) as you please! If prosciutto isn't your thing, go with a nice quality sliced deli ham. Regular grocery store pepperoni makes a good replacement for pricey smoked salame. Today I am using Uncured Black Forest Ham, Tomato Basil Chicken Sausage and Truffle Mousse Paté.

*Cheeses -- Mix up a few types of cheeses - a mild cheese like creamy brie, Havarti with some herb-y dill, and a rich, strong cheese such as bleu or aged sharp cheddar.

*Extras -- Olives, nuts, pickles, mustard, jam, veggies.

*Bread and crackers -- Simple crackers and a french loaf or baguette are great choices.

Honestly, this doesn't have to be served on a board; a marble cheese plate  or even just a serving platter will do! I'm actually just using my everyday cutting board here. 

Let's build our Charcuterie Board together -

Place meats and cheeses around the board or tray. It's perfectly acceptable to lay a sheet of wax or parchment paper first, if you like.

 

Add your extras directly onto the tray, or in ramekins or other small dishes.

 

Now some veggies and nuts --

 

If you like, add garnishes -- herbs, edible flowers, and fruit. 

 

That's it! Bring out some pretty napkins and a nice bottle of wine, and enjoy a relaxing meal while you mix and match flavors to your heart's content.

 

By the way, I picked up all but a couple of the ingredients for this Charcuterie Board at Aldi, for less than $20 (the paté is from Trader Joe's). And see that jam in the center?! It's made with BACON. Salty, slightly sweet, and a little spicy (I added a dash of cayenne). This will certainly be on regular rotation! The recipe is here, it has a secret ingredient that you would never guess!

 

 

Need a special (but simple!) appetizer?! My Sundried Tomato Cheese Roll is a deli lane dish that can be made in no time!

Here is another great sundried tomato appetizer for you tomato/pesto lovers.

This great holiday breakfast casserole is a perennial favorite for the young and the younger ;)

An easy and festive holiday treat to give as gifts is here.

 

*Once again, here's the lineup for the Holiday Recipe Blog Hop! Enjoy!! 

Monday

Bluesky Kitchen  Belle Bleu Interiors  White Spray Paint  Southern DayDreams

Tuesday 

Ash Tree Cottage The Painted Apron  My Midlife Kitchen Starfish Cottage

Wednesday

Ramblings of a Southern Girl At Home With Jemma  My Thrift Store Addiction  Let's Add Sprinkles

Thursday

Jenn's Farm Table Botanic Bleu  Celebrate and Decorate

Friday

Kitty's Kozy Kitchen  Intentionally Eat  The Dedicated House  Opulent Cottage

 

I'm joining:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Your Inspired Design at BlueSky Kitchen

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm

Share It One More Time at The Everyday Home

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

The Scoop at StoneGable

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

 

More Christmas in the Kitchen

Happy Christmas Eve, dear friends! I thought I would pop in and share a few more photos of our holiday decor this year!

The new sitting area is being enjoyed every day, and is decorated with just a few simple items and some holiday pillows.

 

The shelves and side table are a mix of blue and white, Spode Christmas Tree, Bordallo cabbage plates, Christmas plaid, and Pioneer Woman's Country Garden salad plates.

 

The baker's rack holds a basket for extra holiday plates, and my vintage plaid thermos collection. Extra holiday napkins and towels are stashed in a pretty salad bowl.

 

From our home to yours, we wish you a very merry and blessed Christmas!

Love, Andrea

Christmas in Texas Tour 2015

Welcome to our Dallas, Texas 1926 home! If you are coming by for the first time on the Christmas in Texas Home Tour, thank you for visiting! I'm so honored to be part of this event showcasing bloggers in our great state of Texas. We live just north of downtown Dallas, in a historic neighborhood affectionately referred to as the "M Streets." You can read more about me here. Let me show you around!

 Come on in, and welcome to our diminutive foyer!

 

This room is decorated to welcome our holiday guests with color and charm! You can read about our tiny entryway and see it decorated for fall here.

 

I thought I would have a little fun with one of our seasonal favorites, Texas' own Shiner Cheer ;)

 

Although somewhat impractical for everyday use, these skates are fun to have displayed for the holiday season ;)

 

I never pass up a striped, colorful scarf, for wearing or decor!

 

Let's see the showpiece of our Christmas decor, our ombre ornament tree!

 

I can't even tell you how much fun this tree was to decorate! I have been wanting to try this for several years, and when I found this white tree for a bargain, I knew this was the year :)

 

But can I tell you a secret? I grabbed this tree up so quickly that I neglected to read the box, and had no idea I was buying a tree with pink, aqua, and yellow lights! I added a few more strands with white lights, which blended in perfectly.

 

Soon this tree will be bursting with gifts, but I'm enjoying a few simple decorations for now.

 

This sweet girl just sits and admires the tree. Well, maybe she does a little more than that, since I keep finding ornaments on the floor :)

 

On our mantel, the theme this year is Chinoiserie Christmas! 

 

I fell head over heels in love with these ornament trees at Target. Even though I had vowed to not add to my somewhat *vast* Christmas collection, there was no leaving these pretties on the shelf! They are the perfect mate to my blue and white ginger jars. 

 

I actually got my craft on for the first time in a while, and created some Chinoiserie ornaments with Mod Podge! I knew I needed a reason to buy the gorgeous blue and white Caspari napkins :) #obsessed

 

My favorite trick of adding colorful throws to our slipper chairs has been repeated again! The blue lattice pillows moved from our new sitting area (you can see it here), and continue the blue and white theme. 

 

 

Earlier this week I posted our Christmas Kitchen, and you can see it here. 

 

Please stop by again, as I have lots more Christmas decorating to share! You can stay in touch by following me on Bloglovin' here, or Facebook here, or Instagram here! You can also subscribe on the top right sidebar, above. 

I so appreciate your visit! Next stop on the tour is Laura's lovely home:

 

If you haven't already, please visit the other bloggers in the Christmas in Texas Tour:

Poofing the Pillows

Blessed By 3 Miracles

Hyacinths for the Soul

Botanic Bleu

Lilacs and Longhorns

Estelle's

Sweet Nothings

Fern Creek Cottage

It's Overflowing

Hunt and Host

Queen in Between

Southern Day Dreams

Bluesky Kitchen

Ash Tree Cottage

My Heart Lives Here

Linda's Life Journal

White Spray Paint

Let's Add Sprinkles

The Dedicated House

Decor To Adore

At Home With Jemma

Hospitable Pursuits

A huge thank you to Stacey at Poofing the Pillows for organizing and hosting this event. I'm proud to call her a friend in real life also, and I can honestly say that she is  one of the loveliest people I have ever known.

Wishing you all a Very, Very Merry Christmas,

xoxo, Andrea

Joining:

Jennifer at Dimples and Tangles.

Share It One More Time at Lilacs and Longhorns

Holiday Home Party at Design Happy

12 Days of Christmas at Evolution of Style

2015 Christmas Kitchen

Welcome to our 2015 Christmas Kitchen! 

 

Our kitchen is pretty cheerful on an ordinary day, but the Christmas season brings it to a whole new level of happy. :) Let's have a look around!

 

My apron is kept handy on a hook made from a chinoiserie knob.

 

And a couple of vintage door knobs, mounted on the bead board backsplash, create another spot to decorate and keep an extra towel handy. The darling pom garland is from the Target Dollar Spot.

 

It's hard for me to believe sometimes that this charming spot was once a grungy pantry! I still love decorating these shelves for every season. This year's display is a fun mix of thrifted Christmas plaid plates, Spode Christmas Tree, Churchill Blue Willow, and the unexpected Pioneer Woman Country Garden floral.

 

I'm definitely feeling the *Cheer* this season!

 

The other side of our little galley kitchen is ready for some holiday baking

 

Have you all tried the Andes Peppermint Crunch chips?! My favorite recipe using them is here. You won't regret giving these a try! But grab the Peppermint chips up now if you see them, because they seem to disappear early every year. 

 

I spent quite a few hours the other day cleaning out these cabinets, and did that ever feel good! All of the unused items have been donated, and I was left with room to display my fun striped bowls and some Christmas glassware. 

 

Have some pretty fruit sitting around? Why not make it into a happy vignette?! 

 

And I'm enjoying this sweet tree for a few days until it goes into a client Christmas basket :) They were only $10 at Kroger and add such a special touch.

 

I have so much more to share in the coming days, my friends! Tomorrow is the beginning of our Christmas in Texas Tour, and I'll be back with links to all of the wonderful homes. On Friday I'll share our Christmas lights and front display, our entry, and our Christmas living room, with a first-ever special surprise! See you soon!

xo, Andrea

Joining:

Show and Tell Tuesday at Momfessionals

 

 

 

Christmas in Texas Tour Sneak Peeks

Just popping in real quick to say hi, and make a fun announcement! I'm so excited to announce that next week I'll be part of an amazing tour of Texas bloggers' Christmas homes, hosted by the ever-adorable Stacey at Poofing The Pillows! Over 20 bloggers are lined up to share their holiday homes, all of us residing right here in the great state of Texas. The fun starts on Monday, December 7!

 

How about a couple of peeks? Because believe me, you don't want to see the rest of the chaos that's going on in my house right now. It seems like there are about 843 Christmas boxes crowding every empty space (actually it's more like 30, but who's counting).

 

But! I have so many sparkly, colorful, festive vignettes planned to share with you all, the chaos will be totally worth it!

 

Also, I realize that I promised to come back and share all the details of our One Room Challenge makeover. But now we're all in Christmas mode, so how about we do that in January? When there's nothing else to talk about lol. If you have any questions, please email me and I'll try to get an answer to you right away!

See y'all soon, and merry merry!!

xo, Andrea

Joining:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

 

Christmas 2014!!

Merry Christmas everyone! How is your holiday season?!! We have been merrymaking and decorating and I finally took some photos to share with you all. I did keep it a bit more simple this year. I haven't been blogging as much as I used to, but you can find me on Instagram posting more often here, I would love for you to follow!

Now that it's three days before Christmas, I'm just going to post a few photos for you all to enjoy, and keep my chatter to a minimum!

Our mantel this year --

 

Baby reindeer in the mantel center --

 

 

I repeated my trick from fall and used printed throws to jazz up our slipper chairs! These were found at Walmart and were only about $5. Talk about a lot of impact! I adore the bright Moroccan Tile pattern.

 

Glossy white spray paint gave our urns a fresh finish, and were topped with red tinsel trees --

 

Four strands of garland, three kinds of ribbon, two strands of white lights, crochet star garland, red mercury glass ornaments, white and silver snowflakes make this garland sparkle!!

 

Just a bit of leftover ribbon was tied to make the lanterns festive --

 

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope the season finds you happy and healthy, with the comfort and joy of loved ones all around! Thank you for your comraderie this year, and I look forward to sharing more in the near future!!

Love, Andrea xoxoxoxoxoxo

Joining Kim's Wow Us Wednesday.

Christmas Baking Station

Hellooooo from the deep freeze that is Dallas, Texas!! It's a frosty 21 degrees this morning, and we are all still recovering from our recent ice storm. It's been a real job the last couple of days to keep everybody fed and warm, inside and out. Our birdies and wildlife and outside (feral) kitties are just not accustomed to this kind of cold. We have been busy refilling feeders, breaking up ice in bird baths, and making kitty shelters. 

 

What better time to bake some goodies and warm up the kitchen?! I set up a baking station in my favorite corner of the kitchen to keep supplies handy for the holiday baking season. Plus, I really needed a reason to show off my cute Christmas spatula and whisk :)

 

These baking cups are just too cheery and cute to stay behind the cupboard doors! As are a couple of holiday take-out containers, ready to be filled with goodies to be delivered, and the red and green baking chips that I found at Aldi. 

 

I did manage to hobble down some mostly ice-free roads yesterday to make use of my 25% off World Market coupon. Even though I was there to pick up gifts, this pretty apron made its way into my cart :) As much as I cook, I convinced myself that it made sense, you know, to save a couple of winter tees from being ruined. And there's just something so festive about donning a pretty holiday apron when you're baking up goodies for your loved ones! A thrifted red stool awaits some little helpers who may stop by, in hopes of enjoying a hot cookie :)

 

Santa came a few weeks early, and brought this red Dutch oven, after going to *four* different Aldi stores to find the requested color. I have made almost every meal in it for a week now, really, how did I ever cook without this? I have heard folks say for years that food tastes so much better when cooked in a Dutch oven, and I'm a believer now! And for the bargain price of $30, really not much more than a good quality take-out meal. Lamb Ragu, Mushroom Risotto, and the famous No-Knead Bread have been our favorites so far. I Pinned some wonderful recipes on this board, click over and see them if you're a fan of Dutch oven cooking. I hope you find a new favorite of your own.

 

Well the sun is coming out today, and I'm waaayyy behind on holiday gift buying, so I'm heading out into the frozen tundra! I hope you are having a happy and stress-free holiday season, and staying safe and warm! 

Joining:

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday

From the Farm Blog Hop

Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper