Set The Scene: Mixing up the Christmas Decor

Do you keep things traditional with your decorations every year? Or do you mix things up? Last year after we put the lights up on our tree we almost left it at that. This year we decided to do it. We placed a total of three ornaments on it and it feels perfect. 

This year we decided to keep it simple. We are after a feeling of peace. Of calm. We have a lot of things to focus on with Sam in her senior year looking at colleges and Kate living away from us. It feels like a time to mix things up and make them work for us. (kind of like we are with our other traditions!) 

Trust me there is still a party going on in our living room! Somehow there is neon and disco lights and vintage trees and houses and garland and glassy babies. But I hope somehow it works. And I love making things feel fresh by changing things up.I do know of some families where there would be some protest. Thankfully my family is used to me messing around with things so they are good with it. 

There is something comforting pulling the boxes and bringing out the decorations year after year.  I love the idea that the white church and some of the other small houses have been in my family since my Dad was small. And adding to the village has been so much fun for me over the years. 

There is also something to be said for letting things rest for a year. I have boxes of vintage ornamants that I have distilled down to whats in the lamp base for this year. Just some favorites. And it feels like what this Christmas needs. 

And that leaves room for some touches in the guest bedroom that is waiting in the hopes that Kate and her boyfriend Nick will be staying over Christmas Eve. And that is what these decorations are here for. To set the scene for the important things. Time with my friends and family. How about you? Do you mix it up? 

Set the Scene: Sam's Dance Party

This past Saturday we held an 18th birthday party for Sam. When the girls were young we decided that every other year they could have a big party and thankfully it worked out to have the parties on the big years...and this one feels really big. This feels like the last time we will be throwing a party for our youngest and we wanted to make it count. 

When we started talking about it we talked about her likes and one of them is 80's music and dancing. So we reached out to a DJ at her school, Marcus Poulos who has thrown some great dances of his own. Once we had him it was a matter of setting the scene. My friend and boss Elizabeth was kind enough to lend us the use of our workplace which helped immensely! 

Eighties music was the theme...so that lent itself to the minimum decor that we set up. My smart husband set up a backdrop for us made of astroturf on a frame with a gorgeous and fun sign that was custom made for the party! This became our photoshoot area with guest getting together with the birthday girl for fun photos! 

Once you walked thru a tinsel fringe curtain doorway you were in the dance area! Thankfully once Marcus set up his lights and we set up a couple of disco balls and lined the walls with foil fringe the stage seemed to be set. The enthusiasm of the group was enough to get the party started! 

We went streamlined on food and drink for the party. Sam is a lover of La Croix so we had a mix of them available along with water to keep our dancers hydrated. 

For food we decided to go for salty and sweet, starting with sweet! Sam isn't big on cake but can go for doughnuts. And since they are portable and easy thats what we went with. Of course with pink icing and sprinkles! 

Then at 10 we surprised our party goers a delivery of McDonalds french fries just to keep the party going! This was something we had heard of from another party and thought it was perfect for our party. Both the treats seemed to go over well with everyone taking part in the snacks. 

The conclusion? We loved throwing the party. Sam's friends are fun, inclusive and wonderful to be around! They were up for dancing and laughing and having a good time. It was cool to see that there were kids of all ages and from different high schools there. And the best part? That our daughter is part of this cool group. Though we were tired from the set up and tear down we were happy to do it. Her appreciation and enjoying the group made it all worth it! 

Set the Scene: Valentine Breakfast

We have a daughter that will be spending Valentine's Day in Hawaii with her Grandparents so we did some celebrating early. It's always been fun to celebrate with the girls by having little treats by their breakfast plates before school…which meant that they actually got a breakfast on those school days as well, rather than grabbing one on the fly (which was a gift in itself…I'm not always a morning person.) But this time I enlisted my husband to help with the meal and it went above and beyond. 

Let's just say that if it could be make in heart form, Steve figured out how to do it!  You can't really tell it of the rolls, but we tried. And there was heart shaped bacon, but that was gobbled up too fast to get a photo of. And then there was heart shaped eggs…which I didn't get a photo of either. But they were awesome!  It was funny to see how far he would take it. 

Putting together this breakfast with Steve was so much fun. And doing things like this for my family is fun for me as well as them.  The shopping, the planning, the event. If they don't remember the funny glasses, the place cards (done by the lovely Brittney at Spruce), the chalkboard paper cloth, I do hope they remember the feeling of being loved & celebrated. 

Set the Scene: Christmas Mantel

Some Christmas decorating has been going down around here, and from the photo you can probably tell that what I really need this year is some more work with the camera. But what I am asking for is more along the lines of something from Kate Spade! But that is off the subject. I have fallen in love with honeycomb. I think it started with the huge balls that Carly and I found for Halloween. There is just something nostalgic and fun and happy about them! So I found a few and tacked them up to look like large ornaments on the wall. This is phase one as I just can't stop messing with things. More to come...

Set the Scene: If we were hosting Thanksgiving

This year we will be spending Thanksgiving at my sister & brother-in-laws place. And the menu is sounding a little relaxed and fun. Turkey pot pies, roasted veggies and salads. But I was getting a view of what our table would look like if we were hosting. And frankly it's been too long since I pulled the "good stuff" out of cupboards! 

So I went ahead and set a table. I like a mix of natural and sparkle, just like the mantle and went from there. The "placemats" are actually fun papers from my favorite paper place Spruce. I have tablecloths but they really aren't my thing. The place settings are just some paper tags, gold twine and rosemary. I did the initial by placing a letter sticker on the tag, painting lightly over it, then peeled the sticker off! 

Then I just scattered some filler paper that I will show soon how to make (I use it all the time!), pumpkins, the pinecones from the pinecone garden (yes, I took it apart), white pumpkins, and some rosemary that grows like crazy in the yard. 

It made me realize that we need to host a dinner soon to get all this fun stuff out and use it. The only reason to have it is to use it. The girls may find themselves eating takeout pizza on it and drinking root beer out of crystal! But it will be worth it! Are you hosting this year? 

Set The Scene: Christmas Advent

I know, it feels early to be talking Christmas. But there are just some things that take planning, and an Advent calendar is one of them. My lovely friend Carly has re-stocked her Etsy shop with her clip frames that I love year round for use as inspiration boards & photo boards. But at Christmas time they are perfect for Advent, especially with her free PDF forms.

I've set up a little corner in our kitchen with the frame and the related activities. Of course it looks colorful and crazy, a bit like our family. Activities include watching our favorite movies, paying for the coffees of people behind us in line, eating holiday chocolate, etc. It was a good exercise with the family deciding what to include!

Here is the overall look of it which makes me happy and very excited about the Christmas season. You should go and check out Carly's set-ups which are very elegant and lovely, much like her. You will find them here, along with her PDF's and the link to her store! I invite you to check it out! 

Set the Scene: Thanksgiving Mantle

I realized I had yet to share our Thanksgiving mantle. It's a bit quiet, but I have to say it's the calm before the storm of Christmas and all that decorating. I like a mix of the found and what I have around the house to make things easy. So I dragged out a bunch of our pumpkins, books, random glass pieces and voila! 

And working at a vinyl company made it easy to make a centerpiece. The "gather" is something that we have been shipping out to the companies that we supply with vinyl and I knew that it would look lovely on a platter. As it's vinyl it's not permanent as I will need that platter in the future! You can find our products at the suppliers listed on our website, Decorating Your Life. I honestly made things as easy as possible since things are about to get busy and fun with Christmas coming! 

Set the Scene: Halloween Mantle

 I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween. I hate the scary, the bloody, the icky parts of it. I love the sugar, the dress up, and of course the decorating! So, I am greeting October 1st with a Halloween mantle, dressed up in some vintage, and vintage look goodness. What do you think?

My friend Carly and I had a fun Inspiration day a while back and ended up at the very inspiring store Common Folk where I picked up these amazing crepe paper globes. I am in love. It's not always easy to fill this massive mantle and these did the trick.

Round it out with some fun vintage items that I keep in my prop closet (yes, I have one of those, don't you?) and voila! We are ready for Halloween! The multi-colored garland is a fun DIY that I will share soon! Happy October!