The Perfect Holiday Party

This time of year brings together all of my loves, decorating, baking, cooking and entertaining.  This was the year of the Black Christmas and the theme carried into our annual holiday party.  With the tree twinkling in the corner there wasn't much left to do but to string up some lights and garlands and add little pops of life with poinsettias all around.  I have managed to keep some of my poinsettias alive from years past and now they are a bright shade of green, mixed with some new additions of bright white poinsettias add life throughout the house.

As for any party, the menu is very important.  I have stashed away some sure fire recipes but I also did a lot of research and brainstorming on Pinterest to find some new and exciting recipes.  I kept the menu mainly finger foods to make it easier to stand and mingle.  I love tartlets and crostinis but I also added some more substantial meat entrees.  The menu went as follows..

Porcini and Rosemary Crusted Beef Tenderloin with a Port Wine Sauce
Swedish Meatballs (from Ikea, always a favorite)
Kale Salad with olive oil and salt
Mushroom Tartlets with Garlic Herb Cheese
Red WIne Caramelized Onions & Goat Cheese Tartlets
Grilled Caprese Kebabs  (added tortellini)
Baked Brie with Balsamic Rosemary Cranberry Sauce
Goat Cheese Toasts with Walnuts, Honey and Thyme
Smoked Salmon on Mustard-Chive and Dill Butter Toast

The next important element for a perfect party is a signature cocktail.  This year I went with a Pomegranate and Rosemary White Sangria to keep things light, fruity and festive.  I made this the night before so that it had at least 24 hours for the flavors to blend and meld together.  I don't like really sweet sangrias and this one was light while being boozy from the cointreau and savory from the rosemary.  There was also a variety of white and red wines and beers cooling on the porch.

Lighting is important for setting the right mood.  I kept the ambient lighting low and strung lights around the interior to add a twinkle and sparkle.

We brought up the porto-bar which was perfect for our cocktail and wine station.

I hope your next party is successful and full of cheer.  Happy Holidays! 

Spread Holiday Cheer

peace&love

Rebecca

to decorate a #BlackChristmas

This is always my favorite time of year.  It's a time when I can transform the house into a magical wonderland.  Adding sparkles into hidden corners and garlands and lights everywhere.  Every year is a opportunity for new color combinations and arrangements.  This year I chose an unconventional Christmas color, Black, and I had a lot of fun with it!

Almost as soon as Thanksgiving dinner is done and I am able to move again, I set out in search for the perfect tree.  It's not such a difficult task since my Grammy has the final remains of an x-mas tree farm on her property.  This year I searched for a rough and rustic tree.  I am getting tired seeing perfect trees everywhere and I wanted to give life to a Charlie Brown tree.

Some staples for my tree and the interior are lots and lots of tinsel.  I love to drape gold and silver, yes I mixed both together, all over the house.

I've always wanted to use a popcorn garland.  The matte look of the popcorn perfectly complements the shine of the tinsel and gives my tree the rustic feel I am going for.

I used three types of garlands, tinsel, beads and popcorn.  I draped them in swags, asymmetrically yet balanced around the tree.

This is where I had a lot of fun with the spray paint, black ornaments.  I took some old ornaments and burnt out light bulbs and sprayed them in high gloss and stain finishes.  

The black ornaments add a nice contrast to all the bright lights and gold ornaments.  My trees always has at least three different sizes of lights to add an extra twinkle.  My secret is to wrap a strand around the trunk of the tree to add a twinkle from within.

My new favorite thing is black and gold shells.  They make a surprising and classy arrangement in a glass bowl or use them to class up your presents.

As a quick and simple decoration I gather all of my glass vases and glasses and fill them with the leftover ornaments and lightbulbs.  Depending on your color scheme and theme, you can fill these containers with almost anything!

As always, don't forget the gift tags.  These simple gift tags are perfect on any present!

Be Inspired. Be Bold. and Spread Holiday Cheer

peace&love

Rebecca

Tis the Season to Decorate

Need some last minute decorating ideas?  Here are some simple ideas with objects already in your house!  And don't forget the gold spray paint!

For this holiday season I wanted to create a winter wonder land inside.  I picked  a color scheme of white, gold, silver and browns (with touches of green).  I had fun mixing colors and textures, shiny and rustic, living with dead (or dried).  Here is what I came up with..

 On this windowsill I mixed different floras, a green poinsettia (it had survived from last year!), a white poinsettia and some cacti with some freshly cut pine branches.  I kept the vases simple, clean and crisp by using tall glasses and a salsa jar wrapped in twine.  Go through your cabinets and find glasses of all shapes and sizes and start filling them with cut branches and flowers.

 At another window I followed with the same theme mixing succulents and a white poinsettia.  Here I filled a glass with small gold ornaments.  As you will see I went a little crazy filling jars and glasses with random objects, but its a fun way to get a pop of color into a room!

 Next to my white poinsettia I have two glasses filled with gold light bulbs.  I took the burnt out light bulbs from our outdoor lighting and sprayed them gold.  They also look nice unsprayed and you can mix and match depending on your color scheme.  Some years I do all red and others all white and sometimes all the colors!  I also have a square glass container filled with small pinecones that were sprayed gold and sprinkled with gold glitter.

 I'm loving my mantle this year.  It was one of the first of the decorations I put up and it acted as my inspiration for the rest of the decorations.  It is the mixing of natural and sparkly that I wanted to capture through out the house.  In every arrangement I tried to include a living green element with a gold, glittery, sparkly element.  And the conch shell just tops it off!

 I also went a little crazy with the garlands.  I used a lot of gold and silver garlands mixed with some hand made garlands.  Here I took the gold painted light bulbs and put some wire on them to make them into an ornament, then tied them to a piece of twine, and voila, a garland!  All these supplies I had lying around and almost anything can be made into a garland with some wire and string!

Don't forget to string some lights throughout the house.  On a snowy winters night, its nice to turn off all the lights, plug in all the strands of lights, and the perfect mood is set!  I also have pinecones scattered throughout the house.

I hope this sparked some inspiration for your holiday decorating.  It's the holidays, why not go big!

be Merry and Bright.

Be Bold in your Designs.

peace&love

Rebecca

be Merry and Bright

My favorite time of the year.  The trees, the lights and the holiday cheer!

Decorating for the holidays is one of my favorite things.  I have found that choosing a color scheme really helps to unify and bring your decorations to the next level.

 My color theme for this year is gold, snow and natural woody elements.
Classy sparkly meets raw natural.

 I love mixing shapes, sizes, textures and colors.  The variety creates depth and always gives you something to look at.

It's also fun to take common objects and use them in new ways, but more on that later..

Have fun decorating this holiday season!

Be Bold in your Designs.

peace&love

Rebecca