Christmas Milk Carrier Centerpiece

I had a lot of fun decorating the kitchen and adjoining sitting and kitchen dining area this year. I still have Christmas decor I haven't located, so I tried to make use of the things that I could find. I brought out one of my old milk carriers to hold a Christmas Kitchen table centerpiece. I'm a sucker for any kind of carrier, tote, basket, especially when they're filled with seasonal kitchen goodies. So I grabbed some red transferware, a red Holly tea towel, a candle, a tiny ironstone pitcher with boxwood, and a faux paperwhite... instant centerpiece!

I needed to get the "feel" of what Christmas could be like in here. Having just moved a little over two months ago, I'm still trying to decide how to decorate this space. I added one of my kitchen valences to the window for a little color, and so RED and some PLAID seemed the way to go. I still don't have prints up or any wall decor. I have a ton of boxes labeld "prints" and "mirrors", so I need to wait to get them all unpacked before I start hanging things up. I don't think I've lived with bare walls this long, ever.

My Toile pillow, some Tartan wool throws, French ticking pillows, and a PB pillow dress up the white wicker and add to the Christmas color.

My Sheep Head and my French Country frame are on The Chippy Old Door in the corner. I wanted to add some color in, so I choose a French Country fruit wallpaper design to use as a backing. It adds just the right amount of Christmas reds and greens. Click HERE to see what I did last Spring and HERE, this Summer with these two.

My chandy with the vintage Shiney Brites, garland, 

and a birdnest. I did this specifically to drive the kitties crazy...

Let's just say the bird's nest was found on the floor a few days ago.

hmmmm....

just sayin'...

I'm so glad my "Sunporch" baker's rack and wicker set are in a warm spot at this house. The sunporch at the old house was just too cold this time of year to enjoy, other than looking at it...brrrrrr....

Even the vintage pitchfork got a little "Christmas"!

Extra ornaments found a basket for display...

If you missed the China Cabinet fun, Click Here

I added a Christmas Home Tour of this year and the Christmas Home Tour from 2013 links to the "Pages" section under my new Christmas Header. See what was going on last year if you have a minute. Those pics are a sweet memory, but I'm glad to be here, at our new home. Just wish I could find my spatterware coffeepot and Santa Mug!

Have a great weekend,

Hubbs and I have a grocery shopping marathon to attend.

joining in with these party places:

Shabby Art Boutique

French Country Cottage

Common Ground for Come as You Are Linky

xoxo,

Finding the Old Door and a Lesson for Blogging

When I was placing furniture here in the kitchen sitting area I knew I wanted it to have the "feel" of my previous sunporch. The old sunporch was full of vintage pieces, each of them with aged and chippy white paint. Anything vintage felt at home out there, and it was one of my favorite places to decorate and photograph.

An old white paneled wood door that was angled in the corner sort of grounded the settee, and gave me a place for a mirror and seasonal wreath. I have sold so many of my favorite white chippy pieces, but I saved the door and wanted to use it again, and so after a week of searching the storage units, I found it in the back corner with my white metal gate and gray shutters. (Hmmmm...was Hubbs subconsciously hoping I'd forget about them?) That wasn't going to happen. Anyway, the new sitting room felt off balance and odd with that corner hanging out all bare behind the wicker settee. I just had to try that door. 

We brought it in to the kitchen and for a moment the "new" of the new house tried to tell me that it was too chippy and banged up and that it's old hinges would damage the walls and that it would scratch the hardwood floor. The "new" house said "it will look out of place and everyone will think you're nuts for having some old crummy door in your kitchen". But once it was in place, I knew it was back home where it should be.

My clay sheep's head and the old vintage oval frame are here for now. Maybe this will be a place that I can change things out seasonally. I'm still looking for the mirror and wreaths...

Now my settee has it's old partner again, and I can sit here and enjoy a cup of tea in the afternoon, or read through a magazine while dinner is on the stove. My quilts, coverlets, plaid blankets, and pillows all have their old spot back.

Just a little more time to enjoy the hooked pillows and warm Fall blankets. And then it will be Christmas time, and I'll get to change it all up again.

I'm learning that there can be a balance of the things we love. That living with and decorating with "vintage" things is my first love. Capturing a feeling or essence of what makes a home comfortable, enjoyed, and reminiscent of our past is what's more important to me. I've realized this last year how much I've missed documenting the Seasons and Holidays the way I used to. While I admire all the bloggers that can give you 6 ways to do this, or 5 ways to do that, I know that that's not the real me. Finding the right light to show a flame of a candle, a delicate flower of a paperwhite, or an old religious print, is what I'm more about.

Oh, I'll always have a project to share, a painted something or other, and my latest decor idea, but this last year having had most of my things packed away, I've learned where my heart really is in blogging... and that's right where I started. Be yourself, and blog about what you love. Don't cave to the pressure to turn yourself into something you're not comfortable with. Take a rest and find your joy in life. It will show.

I'll be joining these get togethers this week:

Dwellings
Coastal Charm
Cozy Little House
A Stroll Thru Life
Cedar Hill Farmhouse
Savvy Southern Style
Mrs. Olson's
From My Front Porch to Yours

xoxo,