Showing posts with label bottle brush trees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bottle brush trees. Show all posts

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Winter Cottage Giveaway...

I realized it has been a year (almost to the day) since I hosted a giveaway, so when I received a 20% off coupon for The Christmas Tree Shop last week, Amanda and I headed over to see what we could find...


Being from New England, I thought it would be fun to offer a Winter Cottage giveaway.


So I found a sparkly little cottage ornament, complete with smoke coming out of the chimney.


And a glittery red bottlebrush tree to match the cottage roof.


And every winter cottage should be surrounded by birch trees, cardinals...


... and snow that glistens like a million little diamonds when the light hits it just right.


I thought this little Winter Cottage vignette looked nice displayed on this red, green, and tan woven placemat (white tray not included). This is a very simple (and not at all costly) giveaway. Anybody who lives near a Christmas Tree Shop can attest to that! But if you would like a chance to win it, just leave a comment on this post and I will pick a winner after midnight of Friday, November 26th! I'm sharing these goodies I found on Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home, so be sure to stop over and see what everyone else is sharing this week!! Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
COMMENT UPDATE: I've had a few queries - yes, this contest is open to everyone, even those outside of the States. Thanks for asking!
Donna

Monday, December 14, 2009

Winter white, silver, and green for the mantel...

Of course the winter white is year-round since it's the color of our walls, our painted furniture, and our slipcovers. I don't know why I'm so afraid of color. I love color! I drool when I visit blogs with bright colored walls, and furniture painted in blues, greens, & reds, with vibrant slipcovers in florals and stripes. Maybe someday I'll get over my fears, but until then... winter white!

(click any photos to enlarge)

Alrighty, so in my last few posts I've shared the dining room, including my bird tree and the dining room hutch. As you can see from the photo above, the hutch is actually located in the living room, right next to the fireplace (because our little dining area is too small to accommodate it!)


So come on into the living room with me... Oops - don't go too far! Mm hmm, that's the end of the living room already, right where the corner TV armoire is. Very tight quarters in here, especially at this time of year.


The tree has been set up where the loveseat usually sits. And the wing chair, because it's smaller, was moved over next to the tree. It usually sits next to the fireplace.


As you can see, it's pretty cramped over here by the fireplace, with the loveseat and coffee table plunked right in front of it. But instead of saying cramped, let's call it cozy. That has a nicer ring to it!


I tried the mantel with green glass balls hanging from the garland...


...but ended up switching to silver.


I guess I have a bit of a winter woodland theme going on. There are lots of trees on the mantel - all sizes and varieties of bottle brush trees, as well as some birches.


There are also woodland creatures, in the form of deer (stocking/garland holders), cavorting about...


... as well as mirrored snowflakes (again, stocking/garland holders) and sparkly silver trees of all heights and textures.


I wish I could remember the name of the woman that I purchased these stockings from years ago so I could share it with you - aren't they pretty? This one has a cream crocheted doily-type border at the top...


... while this one has delicate lace and ribbons.


The finishing touch is The Christmas star, sparkly white with silver tinsel edging.


I also decided to tucked my peach and green floral lap quilt over the loveseat sitting area for a little change of pace, trying to coordinate with the green floral sheet I'm using to cover the old brick hearth (we don't actually use the fireplace so the sheet is safe!). So that about does it for our cramped, I mean cozy cottage living room!
I still need to share my collection of Night Before Christmas books with you, and I also have a few things in the family room to show you!
But now you should head over to visit Cielo at The House in the Roses, to see the incredible mouth-watering meal she has prepared for Sunday dinner with her family! You'll also find a list of bloggers who are participating in Show Off Your Cottage Monday...
Then after that, be sure to head to Nesting Place for a huge list of Christmas homes to visit!!
Stay safe and warm, wherever you are!
Donna

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Holiday Home Tour

Today I'm taking part in the 2009 Holiday Home Tour hosted by the lovely Tracey of Notes from a Cottage Industry. Please be sure to visit Tracey as she has posted links to many other bloggers who are sharing their Christmas decor! Thank you, Tracey!!

(click any photos to enlarge)

We took advantage of our daughters being home for Thanksgiving to trim the tree. It's definitely more fun when everybody is here to decorate... We bit the bullet a few years ago and bought an artificial tree (I'm not sure either girl has quite gotten over this yet, but when the last 'real' tree we had dropped every needle the day after Christmas, which meant we were still vacuuming up remnants of it the following summer, we decided it was time to go artificial.)


I wasn't able to download all of my photos, so I'm just going to share a bit of the living room for now... In future posts I'll show you the fireplace & mantel, the vintage birdcage all decked out for the holidays, the dining room, and much, much more.


Our living room is quite small so every year, in order to make room for the tree, the furniture has to be rearranged.


The tree definitely takes up quite a bit of the room, but it's well worth it - especially at night when the room is illuminated by just the tree lights...


In a future post I'll share the sentiment behind this year's window decorations.


I'll also show you more of my "Night Before Christmas" collection (I never get tired of looking at the beautiful illustrations in these books... The artwork is amazing, with each individual artist depicting this Christmas classic in a style that is unique to them)...


I often take advantage of after-Christmas sales to pick up heavily discounted bottlebrush trees in all styles and sizes. I've used them in several of my groupings around the house this year...


...including on the pie safe, where I plunked them down on top of my small collection of button vases. The glitter reindeer are from Target last year - can you ever have too much sparkle at Christmastime? I don't think so!

Now I'm off to finish downloading more Christmas photos! Thank you for stopping by to see the first of my holiday decorating posts! I wish you all a joyous holiday season...
Donna