Timberland Christmas – 2014 Decor Around the House

December 19, 2014December 20, 2014 / Alycia Nichols / 54 Comments

WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE SEND ME A NEW BACK FOR CHRISTMAS??!??!?!
I have been battling this continuing degenerative disc problem and am now back on a walker with nerve damage. I’ve had an MRI and am scheduled for both an EMG and a myelogram on Monday, then scheduled to follow up with the neurosurgeon on Tuesday. I hope to have surgery either before Christmas or right after so that I can (I hope!) finally get some relief and throw this walker out a window. Ramon has been an absolute angel through these recent days of debilitating pain, and he not only helped with the decorating process (all done before Thanksgiving Day!!!), but the photography. We waited around for a sunny day to make an appearance, but it never did so some of the photos are “iffy.” Three weeks without any real sunshine!!! 😦 Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and Merry Christmas to you and yours!!!
(Click on any photo, then click again to enhance/enlarge it.)

Welcome to the Nichols’ household! The bright KC Chiefs – cum – Christmas red door and simple oversized grapevine wreath with a burlap bow, greenery and jingle bells set the tone for a rustic woodland look (mixed with a little glam!) throughout.

First stop…the library with lots of twinkling white lights. The 4-ft. tree is filled with baby owls, frosted pine cones, jute ribbon, clusters of red berries, and miniature logs from Michael’s that remind us what the season is about. It’s all topped off with a homemade burlap bow and burlap ribbon that meanders throughout the tree. (More on that new & improved photo gallery wall coming up in January!)

The top of the secretary has a frosted pine cone-smattered wreath and a generous garland of red berries. Notice the owl inside the wreath. The owls are one of the ongoing themes throughout the house this year.

On the other side of the room, urns on both sides of the vitrine are dressed up with lighted wreaths and a grapevine sphere. The vitrine bar is dressed in lighted greenery with pine cones and red berry clusters. As we leave the library, there are clear glass cylinders filled with acorns and pine cones sharing space with cigars and brandy on the vintage side table.

What does the fox say? This time of year, a heartfelt “I love you!” This bench sits on the side of the front door closest to the library.

Look up the steps to find an easy arrangement of bark-wrapped cylinders filled with red ornaments and jingle bells.

On the other side of the front door is a vintage double-decker telephone stand with a large lantern topped with snow-flecked greenery, another homemade burlap bow and gold jingle bells tumbling down the side with jute. The lower tier holds a tiny duck on a slab of wood with a little icy greenery. Let’s move on into the dining room!

The 7-ft. skinny tree in the dining room window (purchased at a local grocery store in the floral department at after-Christmas clearance for under $25!!!) is filled with woodland creatures from Pier 1, gold ornaments, “Naughty” and “Nice” wood slabs from Home Goods, multi-colored berry clusters, mini grapevine wreaths, frosted pine cones, lots of burlap, and a diminutive pheasant feather topper. The tree is finished off with a tangle of natural grapevine to add to the whole 3-D look. With the exception of the bow on top, the garland is one continuous piece. By next year I hope to be in better health so I can create a video tutorial on just how to do that.

The centerpiece on the dining table is made with lots of greenery, and a metal French-styled champagne bucket from Home Goods filled with pine cones. It is flanked by 12-point resin bucks from Tuesday Morning.

Additional dining room decor includes a weathered sign with watchwords for the season from Michael’s, my personal valet Geoffrey begrudgingly decked out in a Charming Charlie woolen scarf and Dollar Tree reindeer ears, the bar cart with bark-wrapped cylinders topped with reindeer moss and oversized faux acorns cut from an old garland, and a lighted wreath I made a few years ago to put in our master bedroom. This year the wreath was treated to additional ornaments wired in (for life!) and another owl. In front is a wooden Hobby Lobby “Merry and Bright” sign that speaks to the season.

Let’s head back out into the hallway.

I’ve switched out the artwork on the wall for a gold mirror and put a ceramic reindeer head dressed in burlap and red organza ribbon with a gold ornament over it. On the other side of the hall is the foyer table adorned on top with a gilded vase filled with pheasant feathers, a small wreath to light the way, and old books from an estate sale tied up with a burlap bow, berries, greenery and pheasant feathers. Beneath the table is a basket filled with pine cones, twinkle lights and clusters of berries.

Let’s go on into the family room!

My husband spends a lot of time watching TV and working on charts in our cozy little family room, so I wanted this space to have a nice rustic feel for him. Of course, there’s a little glam thrown in for me! 🙂 In this room are lots of burlap-tied books and another wreath with an owl in the window. The fireplace is one of my favorites. I hung felt stockings with a moose-in-the-forest motif and then slung a chipwood initial over each one (all from Hobby Lobby). A wooden santa stands guard over the plain brown paper & jute-wrapped gifts. My very favorite part: a stump salvaged from a miraculously still-healthy limb of an 150-year-old tree we lost this summer to carpenter ants. (See collage above!) I surrounded the bottom with cotton snow and plopped a hungry squirrel hoarding acorns on top.

Alycia Nichols, Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One, www.tabletwentyone.wordpress.com, ”Timberland Christmas – 2014 Christmas Décor: broken 18th century golfers

This is how they looked when I first brought them home.

This is another favorite part of the room because of the creative solutions applied. My Mom bought me a couple of resin 18th century golfers missing their clubs on the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby this past summer. (See thumbnail of the “Before” above.) Making lemonade out of lemons is a specialty of mine…I just gave them weathered wooden sleds instead! It looks as if they were made to haul their Christmas trees instead of taking a golf swing! To put them in more of the Christmas mood, I added a woolen scarf to one and hot-glued a little greenery, a tiny pine cone and some berries to the top hat of the other. Not bad for a $5 investment, huh?

The fireplace mantel is simply dressed in a little pine greenery with white lights in front of the mirror. I kept the whole initial thing going on our stockings with the big red “N” from Hobby Lobby that represents our last name. On the television armoire is more greenery garland with pine cones embellished with natural deer sheds.

Our Christmas tree in the family room is loaded with lots of woodland creatures (mostly from Pier 1) including squirrels, owls, gophers (“Caddyshack” anyone? 😉 ), porcupines, flocked deer, and sequined pheasants disguised as peacocks for the season. Other trimming includes snow-covered pine trees (Dollar Tree), frosted pine cones, antlers (Wal-Mart), jingle bells, hobbit Santas, lanterns (Wal-Mart), miniature grapevine wreaths, various sizes of gold ball ornaments, clusters of white berries, and burlap ribbon. The tree is topped with lots of pheasant feathers and a homemade bow with its tendrils intermittently tied in love knots for a different look. The luxurious fringed tree skirt is from TJ Maxx.

Moving on to the kitchen…

The pantry/desk area has a few little goodies to bring it up to par for the Christmas season. I didn’t change a lot here…just added the white Z Gallerie squirrel nut bowls filled with acorns, a few clusters of red berries, and a stack of Southern Living Cookbooks collected over the years.

Other kitchen decor includes the Hobby Lobby resin rooster with a fancy necktie of icy berries and lady apples. On the breakfast bar is a tall black lantern filled with berry garland and pine cones with a homemade burlap ribbon on the handle. Behind the kitchen sink is a wooden box (previously seen HERE as part of the centerpiece in an autumn tablescape) filled with 3 lighted miniature faux pine trees, Spanish moss and shiny red jingle bells. It looks great from the street and really lights up that corner of the room!

In the eat-in area, are a duo of lighted trees in black urns tied off with burlap and wool tartan ribbon and embellished with shiny red jingle bell napkin rings doubling as ornaments. In the window is another lighted wreath with an owl coyly peeking out from the center. I used a red velvet cord cover to disguise the unsightly cord in the center. The same tartan ribbon used on the urns is used at the top of the wreath.

Before heading downstairs for the last leg of the tour, I thought you might like to see the burlap wreath designed by Kelly Acock, owner of The Monarch Flower Company, finished off with red velvet ribbon and ornaments.

And FINALLY down to the basement level!!!

At the base of the steps is a vignette of 3 lighted trees festooned in a garland of red berries, another pair of ice skates (found at a thrift store!), and a vintage Royal Racer sled (circa 1952) I found at a flea market earlier this year. Regular readers may recognize the tartan ribbon & pine bough arrangement featured here from the post “Tartan on the Tee” earlier this season.

With a small family room like we have upstairs, it’s often necessary to shuffle furniture around during the Christmas season. This chair found its way to the lower level. I used a partridge-covered throw from TJ Maxx and a cute plush reindeer couple from Home Goods to dress it up a little. On top of the bookcase is a winter goose sitting amidst snow-kissed lighted faux pine branches and finished off with a tartan bow with spiraled tendrils. Sitting in the bookcase is a miniature sled with antler feet found at a thrift store.

Over on the other side of the room is the bar. I placed a red Waechtersbach bowl of candy on the bar accompanied by a trio of Ugly Christmas Sweater (Tuesday Morning) carolers. Notice the 2 on the sides have their “arms” crossed over the back of the center caroler. I used a pearl-head pin to set that up. Looks like they’re really in the loving spirit of the season!

And FINALLY…

Other vignettes around the room include a wine bottle in a Mrs. Santa suit (Tuesday Morning) standing over a bowl of corks and a gingerbread-scented candle, wine butlers holding more Ugly Christmas Sweater carolers, and a fun plush Santa door hanger picked up at an estate sale over the summer.

As I said, I am hoping to have back surgery before the end of the year, so I won’t be doing a New Year’s Eve post this year. I will try to slip in one last Christmas tablescape before it’s all said and done for this year. My time on the computer will become more and more limited, but I will be thinking of you and wishing you all the very best of the Christmas season and a very safe, happy and fun New Year! I have no Get Out of Jail Free cards left over to offer, so PLEASE be good! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Other Christmas Home Tour posts on this site from years past:
Waking Up to Christmas – Master Bedroom Decor
Christmas Decor 2013
Christmas 2012

Christmas tablescapes on this site:
Cardinal Christmas
Christmas in the Woods
Tartan on the Tee
Confectionery Christmas
Christmas Progressive Dinner
Black, White & Red All Over
Frosty the Snowman
Checkered Christmas
March of the Penguins
Woodland Men’s Tablescape
Contemporary Christmas – Fire & Ice
Pink & Purple Chocolate Christmas
Black Friday Luncheon Tablescape
Winter Dinner
Christmas Through the Red Door
Sugar High
Celebrating the Season
Roman Holiday
Winter Cardinal
Merry & Bright
Kaleidoscope Christmas
Cranberry Christmas
Cranberry Christmas – Squared
Get Me to The Church On Time
Noel Progressive Dinner
Christmas Fiesta
Warm Metal Christmas
Christmas Coffee
Winter Brunch
White Hot
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Progressive Dinner
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
Tuscan Holiday

And if you’re looking for ideas for ringing in the New Year:
Life is a Cabaret
Platinum New Year’s Eve
Ringing In the New Year
Hooray For Vodka!
White Hot

Linking up this week with Between Naps on the Porch

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year, all!!!

Christmas in the Woods

November 23, 2014 / Alycia Nichols / 37 Comments

This is the last of 3 posts from the recent “Garlands & Gatherings” event to raise funds in support of Hope Haven of Cass County.

This final tablescape for the Christmas-themed fundraiser was casual with a lot of natural elements to celebrate the season. This table for 6* would work well for any holiday event from Christmas dinner and other seasonal parties to rehearsal dinners and December adult birthdays.
(Click on any photo, then click again to enhance/enlarge it.)

Classic tartan is back this year in a big, big way (thank you, Ralph Lauren, King of Classic!), and it plays a big part in making this table stand out. I started with a hunter green full-length tablecloth from LinenTablecloth.com. Dark green, like black and some purples, has a nasty little habit of absorbing everything on it, so I used a pair of tartan flannel ribbons as a dual runner to add color, texture and pattern to awaken the eye. (TIP: Layering fabrics in winter adds to the look of “warmth” for your tablescape.) Wood slice chargers (craft wood from Michael’s and Hobby Lobby that, with a coupon, cost about $9 each compared to $25 at places like Z Gallerie) anchor the place settings, topped with a bright holly red dinner plate. Hunter green napkins are embellished with a length of tartan ribbon and tucked beneath the plate.

Menus were created on my home computer using hunter green, red and cream cardstock. To carry on the natural theme (and hide the staple used to keep the layers together! 😉 ), I hot glued a cinnamon stick to the top.

The centerpiece started with a sad little beat up candleholder I found on clearance at Pier 1 after Christmas last year. It had greenery, some bay leaf and pine cones with a few woodland animals wired in. In the center I placed a bark-covered vase filled with fresh, fragrant greenery. I jazzed up the base with clusters of brightly-colored berries and a bit more of the fresh greenery, then added antlers for more dimension and light.

The centerpiece is extended down the length of the table with bark-covered vases filled with natural elements like star anise, acorns, cinnamon sticks and buckeyes.
(Other elements you might use: chestnuts, rose hips, coffee beans, sweetgum balls, hypericum berries, cotton boles, bay leaves, pine cones, whole cloves, nuts in the shell, feathers, fake snow, unpopped popcorn, grain. To see a more complete list of accessories for detailing your winter tablescapes, click HERE or on the “Winter” tab above and scroll to the very end of the posts.)

I bought these burlap-wrapped votive holders last year. They’re OK, but they needed a little extra pizzazz. I bundled cinnamon sticks – that kind of look like logs AND repeat the element from the menus – with a length of green raffia and tied them onto the votives. As the heat from a candle burns, the fragrance of cinnamon fills the air!

The final touch was to add wine bottles to the table dressed in fun Christmas sweaters and Santa hats from Tuesday Morning. This bit of whimsy furthers the theme of being out in the cold on a wintry day. (Every time I look at these sweaters, I think of the Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams Christmas specials!)

*The table used for this demonstration is only 30″ wide and therefore tends to crowd the tabletop elements. Your table at home is likely 42+” wide which would provide at least 12 additional inches of space.)

More Christmas tablescapes on this site:
Tartan on the Tee
Confectionery Christmas
Christmas Progressive Dinner
Black, White & Red All Over
Frosty the Snowman
Checkered Christmas
March of the Penguins
Woodland Men’s Tablescape
Contemporary Christmas – Fire & Ice
Pink & Purple Chocolate Christmas
Black Friday Luncheon Tablescape
Winter Dinner
Christmas Through the Red Door
Sugar High
Celebrating the Season
Roman Holiday
Winter Cardinal
Merry & Bright
Kaleidoscope Christmas
Cranberry Christmas
Cranberry Christmas – Squared
Get Me to The Church On Time
Noel Progressive Dinner
Christmas Fiesta
Warm Metal Christmas
Christmas Coffee
Winter Brunch
White Hot
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Progressive Dinner
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
Tuscan Holiday

I’ll be back next week with another traditional Christmas tablescape!

I’m linking up this week with:
Christine at Rustic & Refined for Table It!
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday

Pheasants & Pumpkins

November 19, 2014 / Alycia Nichols / 43 Comments

INSPIRATION: A pretty resin pheasant purchased for $3 at an estate sale.

Thanksgiving is a week away! Here’s one quick final fall post of a laid back setting that might help fire you up if you’ve not yet decided on a tablescape for the big day.
(Click on any photo, then click again to enhance/enlarge it.)

I’m going with a “woodsy” look throughout the house for both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. This casual table for 6 has no tablecloth so the wood of the table can be an integral part of the overall look. A tightly woven jute table runner (Pier 1) lightens up the table, anchors the elements of the centerpiece, and brings in the colors of the place settings.

Each place setting starts with a glossy chocolate brown charger (Hobby Lobby) that is topped with a pumpkin-colored dinner plate (just $1 each at our local grocery store). The salad plates from Z Gallerie feature the image of a lone pheasant. Striped napkins from Pier 1 pick up on the color scheme and work well with the runner. Simple, inexpensive glassware from Old Time Pottery and faux mother of pearl flatware from Target round out the setting.

The centerpiece was created using a weathered wooden box that I’ve had for years. I filled it with faux pumpkins, berries, fall leaves and a bittersweet garland. A few real pheasant feathers were added on one end only for an asymmetrical look. My inspirational pheasant was borrowed from the family room arrangement to pose in front of the box. (This, of course, is a demonstration tablescape. For your actual table, consider using real mini pumpkins, leaves, bittersweet, and perhaps whole bunches of grapes to achieve this organic look.)

Distressed pumpkin orange wood finials and a pair of faux artichoke votive holders round out the centerpiece.

The bar cart in the corner is prettied up with a small arrangement using some of the same elements as the table centerpiece and a bark-wrapped vase of pheasant feathers. The painted white pheasant (with tiny specks of clear glitter) was purchased at the same estate sale as the more colorful one.

Across the room on the china cabinet, a vertical spread of bittersweet is punctuated by a trio of pheasant feathers at the feet of a pumpkin-colored serving platter.

That’s it for the tablescape! I hope you were able to gather a few ideas from it. Below, in case you’re at all interested, are a few quickie snapshots offering a glimpse into what fall looked like in a few areas of the house this year. I’ve already begun the arduous transformation to Christmas and hope to bring you those photos in a couple of weeks.

Foyer table with large basket of pine cones underneath, pheasant plates on sconce shelves

Alycia Nichols, Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One, www.tabletwentyone.wordpress.com, Pheasants & Pumpkins: Fall lantern, pheasant with binoculars collage

Pheasant on stack of decorating books embellished with a flourish of autumn leaves. Binoculars for bird watching or pheasant hunting. The large lantern in the window is filled with a pumpkin stack, gourds, berries and fall leaves. The handle is embellished with a Rapunzel-like cascade of raffia and fall leaves.

Alycia Nichols, Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One, www.tabletwentyone.wordpress.com, Pheasants & Pumpkins: Fall mantel

The fireplace mantel is covered in a swath of fall leaves and bittersweet with raffia-tied, pumpkin-colored chunky candles on each end. The huge initial on the hearth is from Hobby Lobby.

Alycia Nichols, Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One, www.tabletwentyone.wordpress.com, Pheasants & Pumpkins: Fall arrangement in violin case in library collage

The secretary in the library is crowned with a large leaf- and pumpkin-laden birdcage. The antique violin in its original case is decorated with a squash, leaf and pheasant feather spray. Those letters in the violin case are from the 1930s from my Dad to his Mother.

Alycia Nichols, Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One, www.tabletwentyone.wordpress.com, Pheasants & Pumpkins: Fall decor on breakfast bar, in master bedroom collage

The breakfast bar is really more of a wine bar around here in the fall! The other pics are of a corner table in our bedroom.

More fall tablescapes on this site:
September Harvest Breakfast Table
Most Egg-cellent Breakfast
Casual Fall Harvest Dinner
Italian Honeysuckle
Quick & Casual Fall Dinner
It’s the Great Pumpkin
Serape High Style
Raining Orchids
September Wine
Pumpkins & Peacocks
Autumn Blues
Pears & Pinecones
American Royal Tablescape
Shake Your Tail Feather
Autumn White Wedding
Simply Bittersweet
Ap-pear-ently Autumn
Copper Zen
Autumn by the Embers
Celebrating Longview Farm
Morocco for Two
Thanksgiving 2012 – A Contemporary Tablescape
Best Laid Plans
Wondrous Wheat
Thanksgiving 2010

I’ll be linking this tablescape up with Susan’s “Tablescape Thursday” on Between Naps on the Porch. Tablescape Thursday goes live at 9:00 a.m. CST on Thursday.

Woodland Men’s Christmas Tablescape

December 17, 2013December 20, 2013 / Alycia Nichols / 60 Comments

INSPIRATION: Fleece fabric found at Hobby Lobby

We’re getting so close to Christmas, and I just had to get this masculine tablescape in! This tablescape filled with organic elements is another of the tables created for my Winter 2013 “Art of Tablescaping” class taught through MCC-Longview in Lee’s Summit, MO.
(Click on any photo, then click again to enlarge/enhance it and see up close details.)

Our library is to the left just as you enter the house. It’s kind of dark and moody with lots of wood elements, just the perfect location for a guys’ informal dinner gathering.

This table for 5 starts with a 108″ round white tablecloth from LinenTablecloth.com and is topped with this great piece of fleece fabric found at Hobby Lobby last year. The motif suggests the wilderness and hunting and Christmas all at once. While I didn’t have it at the time I created this tablescape, a third fabric layer of a jute tablecloth between the white and fleece would have worked out really great!

Men kind of like it to the point, so I started with a wood slab charger and topped it with a plain white Corelle dinner plate. You can buy wooden chargers from the Internet or places like Z Gallerie, but this option is less expensive and just as workable: it’s a natural wood slice from the wood crafts department at Michael’s priced at just $10 which becomes just $6 when you arm yourself with a 40% off coupon! That’s quite a bargain compared to the $91.80 for a set of 4 at Z Gallerie!!! I love Z Gallerie, but c’mon!!! I’ve also seen these at places like Hobby Lobby and Jo-Ann’s.

The flatware is Hampton Silvermith’s “Patriot” and the clear glass pilsner is from Tuesday Morning‘s clearance section this past Spring. Now let’s talk about this favor/Christmas gift at each place setting! Guys may or may not take to the notion of a little gift, but if it’s something that doesn’t challenge their manhood in any way, they’ll probably be OK with it. Here I have wrapped in plain brown paper a small Swiss Army pocket knife. That’s a pretty manly gift, right? The package is simply tied with twine with a crudely hewn tamarind tree pencil as a little somethin’-somethin’ extra. (They can throw it in their toolbox and use it for marking measurements!) I bought these pencils at TJ Maxx.

I wanted to bring lots of rustic elements into the centerpiece. I started with 3 bark-wrapped vases, one filled with snow-kissed pine, one with pine cones, and one with fresh green moss that gives off that terrific woodsy scent. I added a pair of antlers, a miniature replica of a crudely crafted sled, and a few burlap-wrapped votive candles.

I have always wanted to do a rustic-looking Christmas tree but never tried until now. I didn’t want my first turn at it to prove a disaster, so I kept it very sparse. (Look out next year, though! I’m goin’ for broke!!!) This 4-ft. tree is adorned only with white lights, burlap (Hobby Lobby), hardware store twine twisted into ribbons, and a few wide-eyed owls peeping out from the branches. The packages beneath the tree have the same wrapping paper as the favors on the table, are all tied up in twine, and dressed up a little with ornaments.

On the secretary next to the tree is an aluminum tub filled with pine cones being visited by a woodland friend who just flew in from Home Goods. 🙂

The top of the old secretary has a tiny forest of trees in vases made of birch bark. A lone burlap-swathed stag (Home Goods) stands among the trees.

A side table holds the pitcher of beer for the guys atop two wood slabs. A burlap wreath created by internationally acclaimed floral designer Kelly Acock of the Monarch Flower Company is the backdrop. I added just for fun this cool Swiss Army-style camping tool that belonged to my late father-in-law, an avid outdoorsman.

Last, a comfortable leather chair to kick back in after dinner.

This tablescape would work great for the “civilized” part of a modern day bachelor party where guys mostly just want to get together to eat, have a few drinks, and good-naturedly mourn the death of bachelorhood. 😉

To see another masculine tablescape on this site:
After the Hunt – Gentlemen’s Winter Retreat

To see other winter/Christmas-related tablescapes on this site:
Christmas Fiesta
Kaleidoscope Christmas – Multi-Color Kids’ Tablescape
Merry & Bright – Multi-Color Christmas
Christmas Through the Red Door
Pink & Purple Chocolate Christmas
Black Friday Luncheon Tablescape
Winter Dinner
Contemporary Christmas: Fire & Ice
Celebrating the Season
Sugar High Payback
Cranberry Christmas
Cranberry Christmas Squared
Checkered Christmas – A Snowman Theme
Get Me To the Church On Time
Christmas Progressive Dinner 2011
Black, White & Red All Over Christmas
Frosty the Snowman
Warm Metal Christmas
Winter Brunch
plus NINE additional posts on a single page under the “WINTER” tab!!!

I’ll be joining Cuisine Kathleen for her weekly blog party “Let’s Dish!” on Wednesday after 6:00 p.m. CST and Susan for “Tablescape Thursday” on Thursday anytime after 9:00 a.m. CST. Join me for lots of great ideas from tablescapers all around the world!