Good tidings to you!

Greetings!

I have so enjoyed the moments I've shared with each of you this holiday season!

learning of your traditions,

catching a glimpse of your beautifully decorated trees,

peeking at your perfectly wrapped presents,

gazing at your vintage ornaments in all their glory,

sharing the joy of what Christmas means to each of you.

This has been a wonderful holiday season for us filled with

family  

friends

smiles and

joy!

 

 

We wish the same for you!

Merry Christmas to you all!

 - xo -

Christmas sparkle in the boudoir ~

 I am joining Kathleen's White Wednesday party once again this week!

Sharing a few photos of how I've added some Christmas sparkle to our bedroom.

 I had these branches that are so shimmery and sparkly but I just

wasn't sure what to do with them.  I took my inspiration from Kate at Salvage Dior who uses 

natural branches in her decor and it always looks so lovely!

I tucked the branches into an old ironstone pitcher and, of course, used vintage shred

to keep them anchored...

 Then I just added a few pearly balls to make it a little more festive...

 I simply had to have a white tree somewhere in the house, and here it is...

I already had this white tree that I've used as a shop prop for a few years.

It's base was missing, so I just plopped her into an old rusty urn and shoved

mass quantities of fine paper shred in there to keep her steady.  It has worked

fine so far.  I embellished this tree with a shimmery silvery gold leaf garland

and added some of my most favorite ornaments.

 sparkly reindeer - Dollar Tree - two for $1!!

These next few ornaments are so sweet!  Petite little paper pulp ornaments

embellished with gold tinsel bows and pearls.  I bought them from

my friend Keely's booth last year...

 you can see just how little they are here!

And I leave you with one last photo!  A sneak peek at one of the elements

contributing to my upcoming master bedroom makeover that we will be working

on this winter!  Mickey and I found a pair of tufted french chairs at Heritage Square

Antique Mall a couple of weeks ago.  He bought them as part of my Christmas from him!

They will be placed at the end of the bed with the french table the white tree is sitting on

in between them.  Originally, I thought I would paint them white, but after placing them in

here, I don't think I will.  I think the creamy velvet and the white table create enough

contrast against the wood of the footboard.  Although, who knows, that may change as 

I really get into the makeover!

 These chairs were such a great price!  $79 for the pair!  The lines, the fabric, the tufting....they

are just what I was looking for!  I have so many ideas swirling through my head for the bedroom.

It has been the bane of my existence since we moved in here.....just can't get it right!

Hopefully it will better reflect our style very soon!

Don't forget to pay a visit to Kathleen's blog, Faded Charm, for White Wednesday!

You are sure to be inspired and awed by all the amazing ladies who participate!

a little Southern Comfort ~

This past weekend, we invited my husband's family over for a Christmas

gathering.  This has become our new tradition, as his Dad and stepMom go to Arizona

for the actual holiday.  It's just a small casual family affair, but I always try

to make the house look festive.  Each year, I change things up for the food selection.  In the

past, I've done heavy appetizers but this year, I made a traditional turkey dinner complete

with homemade bread stuffing, noodles, and mashed potatoes.  Yes, we were

craving some good old comfort food during this winter snow!

I always like to have a cocktail ready!

This year, I served a wonderful little drink called the Scarlet O'Hara.

 

She's the perfect shade of Christmas red and is simply delicious and

so easy to make.  I got the recipe from a Bunco friend a few years ago.

Scarlet O'Hara

1 can frozen Limeaide

1.5 cans cranberry juice (pour it into the Limeaide can to measure)

1/2 can Southern Comfort (40 proof)

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Whisk it up and add ice.

It's a very very very sweet drink, so one tiny glass goes a long way!

I also thought I would share photos of what I did in my

dining room for Christmas.  Which, is, truthfully, not much!

And, I'm really liking the simplicity and ease of this room!

We had leftover pine garland from outside, so I draped the windows with it.

The boxwood wreaths stay on the chairs all year, but look especially festive at Christmas.

For the table, I just brought in two of my rusty garden urns and placed white trees and 

vintage book page shred inside to anchor the trees.

 

I filled my largest glass jar with pearly white bulbs and boxwood cuttings

and added a couple cloches to the vignette as well.

I found the set of three nesting baskets at Heritage Square Antique Mall recently.

Love the texture and warmth they add to the space.

In between the urns, I brought in this vintage aluminum carrier and filled it with

jars and candles.

More pretty pine above the window.

Paired with Glade's cedar candles, my house smells divine!

 Just slowing down, taking a deep breath, and enjoying the season now!

Merry Merry!

my Christmas porch and the stairwell ~

My husband's family was over for a little Christmas cheer today!

It was quite a lovely day, and I so enjoy having a little one running

about the house!  He loved Mickey's train and pup-pup and the

many candy canes I had stocked at the candy station!

Sigh, the joy of a little one is so contagious!

Before I turn in for the evening, I thought I would do a quick post

with pictures of our front porch decked out for the holidays....

This year, we chose to swag pine and white twinklies around the porch roof and

around the front door.

 I felt so inspired by the urns at a local law office last year that I

tried to recreate them using my old fiberglass urns from Big Lots.

I bought branches that were already sprayed white from our local 

greenhouse and poked those down in the center of the urns.

Then I filled them with blue spruce, boxwood, cedar and white pine clippings.

I paired the urns with my trees that we found at a flea market a few years ago.

 

For the front door, I opted for a cedar spray topped with vintage skates

hung by a big burlap bow...

On to what I have decided is my absolute most favorite Christmas decoration

this year!  It is so simple, so easy, yet gives such an impact!

But unfortunately, my photography skills don't do it justice.

All I did was place a vintage jar on each step in our dark interior stairwell.

Each jar is adorned with fresh boxwood tied on with twine and

filled with epsom salt and a battery operated twinkly tea lite...

I keep walking up and down the stairs just because it feels so enchanting to me.

Yes, I know, it doesn't take much to get me all geeked up!  :-)

I hope you are enjoying your holiday festivities and cherishing

the special moments with your families!

Good night and sweet dreams!

Linking up to:

Cottage Instincts Make It For Monday

If you've never been over to Cindy's blog, you must stop by!  Her Christmas decor is

quintessential Christmas cottage!  Her colors are so inspiring and festive!  I always love

stopping  by to see what she has been up to!  Plus, her Make It For Monday party brings 

so many bloggers together who love making their house a home!

happy pink poinsettias ~

 Greetings!

Just sharing a few more holiday house photos tonight!

I found this large chalkboard at the Scott Antique Show last month and

decided to hang it in the family room above my french ammunition basket.

It is made of chunky vintage molding in the prettiest shade of peachy pink...

Not sure why, but I've really been drawn to pink lately!

I've also really stepped out of my comfort zone this Christmas by buying LIVE plants!

I definitely do not have a green thumb, and I've always worried about the cat

deciding to eat the poinsettias.  I've always heard they can be very harmful to animals.

But Grayson {the cat} is getting old and is a lot less active.  She hasn't even shown a slight interest in them.

I lined the french ammo basket with a large trash bag before placing the poinsettias inside.

I used some vintage shredded book pages as filler.  Kinda quirky, I know.  But I kinda like it!

See that round basket with all the cozy blankets piled in?

It's actually a cooler!  It has a round styrofoam cooler that fits perfectly inside.

It also has a lid, and when it's on, it becomes a nice little table.  We take it with us to

picnics and such, but I decided to use it in the family room to hold blankets since we

won't be doing much picnicking with all this snow!

I'm so glad I went with my heart and added these beautiful posies to my holiday decor!

They make me happy!

This fuzzy hat makes me happy too!

Some days just require a hat, and I always look forward to wearing it.

It just made it's winter debut yesterday because there's was lots of shoveling to do

and the snow just kept falling ALL.DAY.LONG.

It was gorgeous. and peaceful. and serene. and lovely.

I heart snowflakes.

 Be happy.

Be merry.

Be YOU.

and enjoy the season! 

Linking up to:

Coastal Charm - Christmas Open House

Common Ground - Vintage Inspiration Friday

a Christmas craft project for White Wednesday

 A couple posts ago, I told you that I had been working on

a little holiday project that involved a lot of glue!

It's finally done, so I thought I would share.

I found this cute handmade plywood tree at the thrift store last week.

Of course, my mind went immediately to white paint.

I just knew it would look better with a coat of white paint...doesn't everything?!?!

And white paint would have been an easy fix.

But as I was driving home, my mind started wandering to all the

other ways to beautify this lost tree.

And it was settled.

I went with Mod Podge and antique music pages.

 

This tree presented a bit of a challenge with all those

curved edges and odd angles.

But I got her done.

 I tried to use every tiny bit of the sheet music because it absolutely

pained me to throw any of it away!  The small pieces were easier to work with around

those edges too.

All the massive amounts of glue that I used also helped to sturdy 

it up.  It was slightly wonky before being glued to death.

There you have it!  A fun Christmas project taking some

cast off tree and turning into a vintage treasure!

Linking up to White Wednesday at Faded Charm......just wait

until you pop over there!  Kathleen is showcasing some beautiful ornaments

and lichen covered branches that are just swoony!

be merry!

a tree, a train, and all the trimmings ~

 'Tis Christmastime here at the Sassafras maison!

Our new slim tree is trimmed, the ever growing railroad train is

humming along each evening.  Mr. Sassafras is loving that the smaller tree gives him

more space for train track.  It goes around the entire room!

I placed the tree in an old galvanized feed bucket that I already had on hand.

I decided to turn my cubby into a gift wrapping station....

All the presents that I've wrapped so far have been packaged and sent along their way!

More wrapping taking place tomorrow!

Did you ever DREAM of being a professional gift wrapper as a little girl?

I did!

I loved watching the ladies at Lazarus do their thing making all the gifts look beautiful with

perfectly folded corners, double stick tape, and sparkly ribbon.  I always look forward

to wrapping the gifts.  The package should be as much of a present as what is inside!

I downloaded Emily's Christmas tags and am using them on packages and as decorative accents throughout my house.  She was so sweet to offer these as free printables on her blog Jones Design Co.

I fell in love with this brown velvet ruffled ribbon at Hobby Lobby....

 

Some of my favorite ornaments this year include this wonderful Eiffel Tower that was a birthday

gift from my sweet friend Janet of Open Market Style.  The amazing burlap ribbon was a gift from Janet too!

 I filled a few glass ornaments with vintage shred and just love how they turned out!

 I attached twine to a few of my handmade muslin rosettes and added them to tree...

 Found these petite french envelopes at the French Hen Farm barn sale....16 in a package.....

I love them tucked into my tree....

 My booth partner Keely had a bundle of these cute vintage silk brown and white striped ornaments.....I just had to have them!

From our home to yours, we wish you good tidings this holiday season!

"At Christmas, all roads lead home."
~ Marjorie Holmes, American writer.

Linking up to:

Kelly's Korner

The Nester

Be merry!!