Christmas 2015 Part 2

As another Christmas season comes and goes, here are a few photos of the kitchen and family room.  All the decorations will be down by the end of the day, boxed up and stored for another year.  Hope you enjoy!

On the kitchen island, I keep this Tiffany silver trumpet vase and change the flowers depending on the season.  It doesn't take up much room, so that I can serve or prep when needed.  If you look behind the vase, I hung snowflakes from the window valence.  I used a tension rod, and hung the snowflakes with white thread and ornament hangers.  At Christmas I use a butler's tray table in the corner to hold extra Christmas trays and wine glasses.

For Christmas morning breakfast, I again used my Christmas china, with red chargers and Lunt flatware.

For the centerpiece, I used decorated greenery and gilded fruit, silver antler candleholders, and red votive candleholders, which match the sequined red chargers.

 The centerpiece bowl is a unique piece--silver and crystal--with four taper candleholders.  It's one of my favorite estate sale finds.

For beverages, we used champagne flutes for our mimosas and vintage glasses for water or milk.

Above the patio doors, I added these love and joy signs.  They are battery operated, but I had to climb on a step stool to turn them on.

On to the family room.  On the cocktail table, I used a garland with a gold ribbon, my gold reindeer that I love, gold trees, and ...hmm are those artichokes? pineapples? acorns?  Well, whatever they are, they were used on the cocktail table vignette with gold battery operated pillar candles, which were on a timer. The candles provided a nice glow when coming into a dark room.

A shot of the family room in the evening.

The main Christmas tree was again gold and bronze.  I added some new decor this year, musical notes, large bronze snowflakes, deer heads, and lots of grapevine.

I changed up the mantle and placed my garland straight across instead of swagging (is that a word?) it.  I found these stick garland mini lights, which I added, as well as the gold pieces on the end.  Have no idea what to call them, but they were sort of a paper mache and I have ornaments shaped exactly the same way, so I had to have them.  I also used musical ribbon bows, and decorated with the same notes that I used on the tree, and cupids playing different instruments.  

Here's a close up of the decorated mantle.  Behind the garland, I used gold finials that I found years ago at Kirklands, with tall gold candleholders on each end.

 I made this little arrangement for the hearth using a lantern, greenery, and other gold/bronze accents.

 Big items have big impact, but sometimes you just need something small.  I found these petite gold Christmas trees and thought they were cute on a silver tray.

The bookcase was decorated and I again used my silhouette angels for the top.  This year I ordered votive candles on a timer so that they would come on automatically in the evening.  Yay!  No climbing up to cut them on!  Worked like a charm.

 I have used this woodland scene vignette before, but this year I moved it to the end table with my leopard lamp.

We were again blessed to have our son and daughter home.  Our son finished up at Virginia Tech in December, and is beginning the job search.  Our daughter is still in New York and is in a show called "New Dawn" at the end of the month.  If you are in the area, I hope you will go check it out.  

Christmas night we had 30 of my cousins over for a Christmas get-together!  Everyone brought an appetizer, and we had a lot of fun.  2015 was a great year, and I am very thankful for my family and friends!  On to 2016!

 Happy New Year to you and yours!

Foyer Re-do with Christmas Decor

As usual, I am behind with my blog posts.  I have lots of pictures to share, but just haven't had the time or opportunity to blog.  So, I will start with the foyer.

A while back--actually I think it was maybe a year and a half ago?--I had an accident in the foyer.  My very large crystal chandelier fell from my 18-foot ceiling after 11 years.  For no apparent reason.  It just decided to fall.  

So began a foyer re-do.  We replaced the floor with black granite, had the walls re-painted, and changed the spindles on the banister from black to white.

The foyer before was a gold faux finish with a solid black banister and spindles.  After the accident, we had it painted.  Below are pictures of the foyer with the Christmas decorations.

The paint is now a warm taupe/silver faux finish.  The spindles are painted and decorated with garland, twinkle lights, and gold/silver/white decor.

The new chandelier is very different than the old.

The new floor is absolute black granite.

The floor reflected the lights from the tree and banister.

The tree holds white ornaments hand-made by my mother years ago.

I added silver mesh ribbon and other decor to my garland this year.

The foyer table vignette is pretty much the same, but I changed the candles from gold to glittery white.

A view of the top staircase and tree.  Since both my cameras are broken, I had to use my cell phone to take these photos, so the lighting is not the best!

Tried to catch a few pictures at night--

And, since it is New Year's Eve, a few celebratory tables from a few years back!

Wishing you all a happy, safe, healthy, and prosperous 2015!  Come back soon for my Christmas table settings!!

Happy New Year!!

A Lake View Setting for Fall

Fall days in Virginia can be the best time of the year to be outside.  Without the humidity we often experience in summer, and the mild temperatures, it is pleasant and enjoyable.  So we were off to spend an evening at our lake property right outside of Blackstone, Virginia, in Nottoway County.  

Just an hour from our home, we were excited to have some close friends join us for dinner and conversation. Photo courtesy of Bill Fischer

The road leading to the lake is cut right through a soybean field, which, I believe, is ready for harvesting.  Photo courtesy of Bill Fischer

We have had quite a bit of work done this summer, and now it is an enjoyable retreat with a beautiful view of the lake.  Before we had the patios built, I set up a table in the same spot.  See it here.

We often joke that we put the cart before the horse, because there is no house or cabin on this property, only a camper.  But to have a working bathroom and electricity is a beautiful thing.

Using the upper patio as our dining area, I set the table simply with a floral runner and a pumpkin centerpiece.

Using an artificial garland as a base, I added fresh greenery and nandina berries.  I curved the garland around the centerpiece and added taper candles.

Adding extra flowers, berries, and greenery to an artificial garland really makes it full and lush.

The napkins and runner have a white base, with the orange and green leaves which are so appropriate this time of the year. 

I felt like I had hit the jackpot when I found these dishes a few years ago at a TJ Maxx store in South Carolina.  I like the fact that they are white, but with the colors of fall.  

For my centerpiece, I started with a white pumpkin from Michaels and carved out a hole in the top for oasis. Then I added alstromeria, berries, and fresh greenery from my back yard.

I tried to use the oasis on the top of the pumpkin by attaching it to the stem per pinterest tutorial, but it didn't work so well for me.  It was easy to cut open the top and add the oasis.

With limited storage here, I have to plan ahead and cart all my accoutrements from home.

With all the trees, it always seems to be a breeze here.  After setting up, we had a little time to relax

and enjoy the view with a cocktail.

All ready for the guests to arrive!

I use these pumpkin plates quite frequently in the fall for salad, appetizers, or dessert!

This is the upper patio taken from the lakeside.  The steps that were added look like stone, but are actually a man-made product.  We chose these because they were level and still had a great look.

The landscapers we used also help us at home.  They were so excited to do this job, and it shows in the quality of work that was done.

After our guests arrived, we began to prepare dinner.  Nothing like steaks on a wood fire!  Photo courtesy of Bill Fischer

While the steaks were cooking in the firepit, we were also preparing grilled chicken, corn and asparagus on the green egg.  (sorry for the grainy picture, used my phone)

A view of the area from above.  Photo courtesy of Bill Fischer

Candles are lit!

Even though the lighting for pictures wasn't great, here are a few taken in the evening.  Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting, hope you enjoyed your visit.  For more on the evening and my friend Bill's Chinook experiences, visit his blog, http://chinookconcourse.tumblr.com/