HOLIDAY DECORATING - Getting Started................

One of my favorite things is a woodburning fire especially on  cold and cloudy winter days. Yesterday,  I lit my fire and a few candles, and ..........

I gathered all my old December issues of Martha Stewart, Veranda, Southern Accents, as well as a few of my favorite holiday decorating books to find inspiration for decorating for Christmas.  With a cup of hot chocolate ( Emma Bridgewater Toast & Marmalade cup & saucer), I sat near the fire and flagged my favorites.  

These are all the greens I purchased Saturday morning on a trip to our local farmer's market.   Look at the beautiful silver blue eucalyptus pods and  leaves.  Now I have to gather some greens, branches, and berries from the woods.  Having lots of galvonized buckets and containers makes it handy to store the greens until I am ready to bring them inside.   I couldn't wait to get started.......

I decided to begin with this fabric (Ralph Lauren) covered table in our family room.  The sculpture was a hand me down from my Mom.  This dictated the rest of the elements - I knew glass wouldn't work with this, nor would something shiny.  It needed items that had a matt finish so I found an old olive jar (can't see except for the handle as it is behind the sculpture), a small urn with reindeer moss and a candle, another urn just like this one which I turned upside down to use as a base for a taller candle, and lastly I used two old leather bound books to provide a base for the sculpture and an old Taaken mold of a curtain finial.   Since the sculpture would not show up well with the wood cabinet behind it, I decided to fill an old pot with a mix of  eucalyptus, eucalyptus pods, cedar incense and another tall green which I can't recall the name.   Working with natural elements and neutral colors is truly my favorite.