I think I am ready for New Years Eve...let me see

Hats, 

streamers, 

noise makers, 

confetti, 

lots and lots of poppers, 

Yes, everything is here.

~~~~~~

The champagne is chilling and the prime rib is in the oven.

Let the fun begin!

Wishing you all a wonderful, happy. and healthy

2016

Christmas greetings ~

Mantle, garlands and Miss Twiggley ~

 The mantle was left to the last this year, I couldn't decide exactly what to do.

I even bought some new garlands at Michaels hoping that would inspire me, but I ended up taking them back and using what I already had: cuttings from the Home Depot Christmas tree lot, my very, very favorite crunchy garlands, that sparkle and glisten in the light...

 some of the frosted ornaments I made last year, lots of wired ribbon...

silk flowers, fairy lights, jeweled fruit...

and this is what I got.

Miss Twiggley loves it and so far although she has spent time inspecting she hasn't knocked anything down.

Her favorite Christmas spot this year is here...

I think she is waiting in the window for Santa's sleigh, little does she know that her gifts are already waiting for her under the tree!

Merry Christmas

A holiday table ~

One of the things I enjoy about the holidays is that it gives me an wonderful opportunity to entertain...twinkling lights, decorations and Christmas music all seem to add magic to an evening.

When I had guests in a few evening ago I really wanted the table to look like Christmas, so I combined traditional red and green Christmas colors with gold accents: pierced Portuguese dinner plates, green majolica salad plates, gold chargers and antique pressed glass bread plates. The crystal is Country Garden from Miller Rogaska. 

The center piece is made up of pine and eucalyptus cuttings and floral picks on a mirrored tray.Very easy. The votive candle pillars were purchased from Bombay Company. I collect crystal candlesticks and these have a lovely simplicity.

I made the tapestry place mats, I always mean to make some others but so far I haven't gotten around to it...some time in the future perhaps.

The napkins have been folded in my standard fold. One of my first blog posts was a tutorial on this fold, I probably should re-post it because it adds a nice touch to a table and is so easy to do.

I took these pictures in the afternoon, it looked quite romantic and lovely that night in the soft candle light by then I was far too busy acting as hostess to stop and take photos.

 But no matter how nice the table looks it is the people around it that are the most important.

Thank you for visiting

~ Happy Holidays ~

Santa's bakery ~

My whole kitchen has been turned over to Santa this Christmas he even has a bakery where...

.

he and his elves have been very busy cooking up lots and lots of yummy treats...

for all the good little girls and boys.

Gingerbread men, tarts, cakes, candy canes, lots of candy...

and other special delights.

But alas nothing for Miss Twiggley. I think she is a bit disappointed but don't feel too sorry for her because one of Santa's helpers has been to the pet store and on Christmas morning her socking will be full.

Perk up Miss Twiggley, the best is yet to come.

Thank you for visiting. 

Merry Christmas

A holiday favorite ~

Each year there seems to be one particular decoration that I like the best. Last year it was this snowball stand I put up in the kitchen. All of this was used this year to make a snow ball  tree with little birds for the entry hall, très naturel and very cute.

In the same corner in the kitchen is

hands down my favorite holiday decoration for 2015, a combination of  succulents from the garden, pine cones, and red apples stacked with some of my white tea pots. 

Succulents have to be the most versatile plants...decorations now but after the holidays I will simply pot up these cuttings for transplanting later into the garden. 

So easy. I guess this is a Californian's substitute for all of the beautiful evergreens that people in colder climates have available. The only problem, succulents don't have that wonderful pine scent... 

for that I will drop by Home Depot and pick up some free tree clippings from their Christmas tree lot...a big bouquet of those in a basket sitting on the floor would be nice.

The rest of my kitchen has been turned over to Santa this year, I will share that with you in a later post.

Thank you for visiting.

Happy Holidays