As of Tuesday at noon our 50% OFF ALL HOLIDAY GIFT WRAP, ORNAMENTS AND STOCKINGS SALE IS ON! Click here to visit shop and see the three categories on the left (stocking are under holiday)

 

Hello! Thrilled to announce that after almost 5000 total votes, you have selected a winner of this years Holiday Love contest! Congratulations goes to Laura F who submitted this beautiful picture-

Please email your shipping info to [email protected] so your first of three Enchanted Home goodies can be on it’s merry way!

Congratulations to the runner up and all of the entries, they were all worthy of being in this contest and did a beautiful job showing us what holiday love is all about.

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Moving along…..I cannot believe it is just days away from Christmas. I learned a lot of lessons this holiday seasons and actually the entire year. I will do a post on that subject in the coming days. Somehow someway I got it all together and was able to deck my halls to fulfill the vision I had in mind.

Of course having a Christmas party for 80 (will do a post on that next week) definitely keeps on you track and is an instant motivator to make sure it gets done. So not much narration necessary, here is how my home looked this holiday season-

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Of course it all starts with my tree and I must say despite it nearly toppling over TWICE and requiring buckets of water almost daily…it’s my most favorite tree to date! I loved using all my beautiful blue white ornaments on it, with the white twinkling lights…it was just as I had hoped and envisioned-

The last thing for me is wrapping presents, I have really made just a dent but boy am I having fun with my gorgeous new holiday papers!! (and stunning tags from Dixie Designs Collective)

Then you know how much I love to “deck my halls” with flowers and fresh greens. I didn’t buy any new decor this year, just fresh greens which I love and can’t get enough of. Here are various vignettes throughout the house-

This above is right when you walk in, my beautiful faux amaryllis had everyone fooled, then I added the fresh greens to it:)

One of my most favorite arrangments above, huge beautiful glossy magnolia leaves from Weston Farms with fresh greens, it stands over 3 feet tall!

Made another for outside (night of the party) this one is almost 4 feet tall!

More faux amaryllis, beauty of this is being able to display it early in the season without worrying about them dying! Plus when displayed with the fresh green garland, it really looks real! I will offer these next year too.

My secretary in the dining room got a little holiday makeover

More fresh greens with blue and white

More living room shots

Don’t forget about dressing up powder rooms-

Of course you know how I feel my beloved tulipieres, love them every season! They look smashing in red, added fresh greens and holly berry to the mix

Another holiday vigentte

Really liked my pointsettas in the large blue and white fishbowls, will repeat this again next year

Adore my “frosted” pinecones thanks to a can of spray paint:)

In the dining room loved this vignette, the white azalea topiaries in my new planters were a match made in Christmas heaven-

Here are some pics from my flocking fun-

Before

After

My beautiful mixed green werath was about 40″ and super thick and gorgeous, really didn’t’ need another thing except a box!

Finally have just started to set my Christmas day table, some things I don’t do until the day before so maybe by Sunday I will have more to share but this is it so far-

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A few takeaways-

I always have one box of sugar cones and one box of Jeffery cones on hand, they can be used over and over…they are huge pinecones that are such a great bang for your buck. They work beautifully on tables, consoles, mantles, just about anywhere. Next year if you can’t find them, let me know I can get them for you

Greens, lots and lots of fresh greens. To me, nothing is prettier than gorgeous fresh greens on mantles, console, dining tables, etc…..I like mixing in with faux and honestly you would never know

Buy faux berries, though real ones are lovely, they don’t last long and when they start falling off, they are a pain to clean and can stain floors, faux berries look real and can be sued with fresh greens, best part you get to use them every year

I bought tall (14-20″) clear glass cylinders this year and love the effect with candles in them, they are beautiful, so dramatic and look great on mantles, dining tables, chests and coffee tables. They are not expensive and once again a big bang for your buck

I am more convinced than ever that blue and white is so beautiful during the holidays….so my collection will continue to grow:)

Always burn candles with holiday scents and crank up that music, really elevates my holiday mood

Flocking! This year was a flocking kind of holiday, had so much fun flocking my greenery, pinecones, etc…..next year who knows! Amazing what a small can of spray paint can accomplish, so make sure you have one can of white spray paint handy

Take full advantage of after Christmas sales…..nothing like a bargain and having some shiny new toys to start decorating with next year!

I always have small envelopes of $20-40 in them for last minute emergencies (safely in a kitchen drawer) like the Poland Spring guy coming or the UPS man, etc…

Take time for mini breaks, sometimes even during the most hectic days, I would stop and take 15 min to take a power nap, or make myself a cup of coffee and settle down with a magazine, sometimes you need to “cut” the madness out of your day for even a few minutes, then you feel recharged to carry on….

Start planning in August. I do not do this, HOWEVER next year I am going on a 4 month Christmas planning schedule and i will invite all my readers to join me, it will be like a support group/motivational meeting once a week to stay on track for a stress free Christmas holiday:)

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Well that’s a wrap for Christmas 2017. I am pretty much done all except for having many gifts to still wrap, thankfully running out of gift wrap is not a problem:)  Wishing everyone a wonderful end to your week and a fantastic weekend as we all begin the final countdown to Christmas! Until next time….