Christmas Cheer

Hi!  I thought I would try and squeeze one more post in before Christmas...as I'm sure is the same for all of you, things are getting very busy!

I never did get any pictures of my tree taken, I guess that will have to be the first thing I do next year.  But I did add just a little bit of Christmas cheer to my favorite cabinet and managed to snap a few pictures of that. 

One thing I have realized over the last few years, is that, while making big changes to a room might have the most impact, it is the little touches and subtle changes that I enjoy doing the most!  So while no one may even notice my Christmas touches to this cabinet, I had fun doing it, and that counts for a lot :))

I had cut up an old burlap sack last year for a project, but saved the scraps in case I might happen to need them for something...since they had green numbers on them, I thought they would look rather festive placed here and there around the inside of the cabinet...

 

I am going to take a couple of weeks off from blogging to focus on my family over Christmas and the New Year holiday, but I will be back in 2011 and look forward to checking in with all of you then!

My warmest wishes for a blessed and joyous Christmas for all of you and your families!!!  Thank you for stopping by and being a part of my little world, I appreciate each and every one of you! 

Merry Christmas!

Tracey

A guest post, a thank you, and some Jeanne d' Arc news!

Hello...I'm back...I know I have been mia in blogland, but I have been fighting a mild case of the flu this past week and just haven't felt well enough to do much of anything.  Hopefully I will be back to 100% by Christmas!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and you are all just about ready for the big day :))

I am over at Flea Market Style blog guest posting if you would like to pop over for a quick visit!

{photo courtesy of Dreamy Whites}

I would like to give a big thank you to my friend Fifi O'Neill for featuring my blog in the current issue of Romantic Country Magazine...there are so many wonderful, talented bloggers in this issue that I felt truly blessed to be included along with them!  I am so grateful to Fifi for all of the support, encouragement, and most of all, friendship that she has given me over the last year...thank you sweet Fifi you are one amazing lady!!!

And, lastly, I wanted to let you all know that I have just put 3 new pillow covers from Jeanne d' Arc up in my SHOP!

Jeanne d' Arc will again be shipping product to the United States some time in 1st quarter 2011...yay, finally!!!  In the meantime, thanks to a friend in Austria, I will have a few new products from them in my shop over the next month...starting with these lovely pillows {photos courtesy of Jeanne d' Arc Living}...

"Bretel" Pillow Cover

French Ledger Pillow Cover

"Aliment" Pillow Cover in white linen

I will be back again tomorrow with a new post!  Have a good night everyone!!!

Tracey

More Christmas Decorating

Good morning!  I'm running a little late this morning, seems none of us wanted to get out of bed with it only being 6 degrees out!  So, I am going to keep the chit chat short today and mostly just stick to the pictures...

As you know, I love to change out this little iron shelf on a regular basis...so I added a bit of Christmas to it this weekend...

I found these beautiful old sheet music pages from the 1800's at the flea market this month...



And I also found a whole tray of vintage clay pots, which I just love...

Hope you all found a little Christmas cheer over the weekend :))

Happy Monday!

Tracey

Baking

Hi!  Just a quick post today as the week has gotten away from me and here we are at Thursday already!  I've been busy baking {and eating} and wrapping and trying to get all things Christmas underway over here!

I needed a quick gift for a friend the other day, so I made a few batches of Cappuccino Love Bites since I know that she loves these particular cookies as much as I do.  I make them every year, even though they aren't very Christmassy looking...I just really love how they taste with a cup of coffee in the morning!!  You can find the recipe *HERE*

Wrapping up gifts is always one of my favorite parts of the gift giving process.  For this quick little gift, I stamped the name of the cookies on one side of a tag and "a cup of love" on the other...

I spend all year looking for interesting vintage containers at the flea market that I can use to put gifts in...I just love adding that little extra something to the gift to show the person you really made an effort for their gift...even for the little gifts...



As the baking and eating continues over here until Christmas, I'd love to hear what your favorite Christmas cookie is to make??!

Happy baking and happy weekend!!!

Tracey

p.s. I am back in stock on the fatigue canvas tote bags for any of you who were still wanting one...

Natural Christmas Touches

Hi!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend...we received our first snowfall of the season!  It always feels more festive with the snow! 

Today I wanted to share with you the Christmas touches I added to my dining room.  This year, more than ever, I seem to be wanting to keep things very simple...and natural for my Christmas decor.  Lots of fresh greenery and acorns {always a favorite of mine}...plus, in this room I also used eucalyptus pods and juniper...

I moved all of my mercury glass candlesticks to the table so that I could put fresh garland on the mantle...I debated about embellishing the mantle further, but decided that just the lights and natural touches were enough...

I alternately hung lime pomanders that I made and acorns on the backs of the chairs...I would have done all lime pomanders as they smell incredible, but my fingers started to hurt making them :)

Adding a few fresh pomegranate seeds to your cocktails is a great way to make them more festive!

Enjoy your week!

 And, a very heartfelt thank you to everyone who left me a kind comment about Halena's room...you girls really know how to make a person feel good...thank you!!!

Tracey

Christmas in Halena's Room

Hello and Happy December!  I wanted to share the Christmas touches I've added to Halena's room...I got a little camera happy in the process, so I hope I don't bore you with too many pictures :)

I found this picture of a little girl on her First Communion in one of the old French letters that I bought from Jeanne's lovely shop, and since Halena made her First Communion this year, it just kind of caught my heart when I saw it...so I tucked it in with a few of my favorite vintage silver ornaments...

And this beautiful lavender pillow is one I bought last Christmas from Sandi...

As with the rest of the house, I tried to use some fresh greenery in Halena's room as well...the mingling of the evergreen and lavender makes for a really pretty aroma.

I bought the paper and glitter clock face while at Farm Chicks this past June...

The vintage prayer card bottles are a project I did last year...you can read about it *HERE* if you'd like.

These sweet little button ornaments are ones I bought at the flea market last year from Judy...

And I just embellished a simple galvanized bucket from Ikea with some burlap ribbon, greenery, and a St. Bernadette medal to house the branches...

I am really enjoying seeing all of the beautiful Christmas decorations out there on all of your blogs...it's truly my favorite time of the year {minus the bitter cold}!!!

Enjoy your weekend!

Tracey

p.s. I wanted to answer a few quick questions that people have been asking me...the bird plates from my Thanksgiving post are from Anthropologie {on clearance right now!} and the color of my pallet table is Granite Dust by Valspar {Lowe's}.