a natural, refined, unfussy Christmas
I had planned to write a whole blog post on this topic (maybe next week) but didn’t get to it — sick kids and other things took priority, now it’s suddenly Friday and my to-do list isn’t much shorter than it was at the start of the week. We haven’t had a full, “normal” week since October and it’s starting to wear on me. Rather than getting overwhelmed (and frustrated) with a situation I can’t control, I’m trying my hardest to be grateful for flexible jobs, manageable sickness and lean into + enjoy my favorite parts of this season.
This time of year I am always a little more excited to work on craft projects and put my hands to work making beauty: working with what I can find around me or outside, bringing the outdoors in, drying citrus, collecting pinecones, spending more time in the kitchen, working on those long-forgotten projects, etc. But the one thing I always make time for is to work with live greenery, forage outside and figuring out how to incorporate natural elements into each room. Once all of the green outside leaves for the winter, I love having live greens peppered throughout my house. And the beauty of this tradition is that it is relatively inexpensive holiday decor that looks anything but. Just like this long-time favorite room by Christian Bense, it’s easy to see how live elements may be all that you really need to create a beautiful room for the holidays. Although it’s fun to shop for all of the cute Christmas decor that our favorite stores release each year, I’ve been reminded that if I had to choose just one way to decorate for the season – it would be with live, natural elements. Every time.
Now that it’s December, most of us have our homes decorated for the holidays or are at least well on our way. This year consider using more of what’s around you: clippings from evergreen plants in your yard, foraged twigs or pinecones, citrus, pomegranates and other beautiful fruits, and keep things feeling extra beautiful and thoughtful this year.
lately
I had the opportunity to share a walkthrough of our house on Everyday Mamas this week. It was fun to share all of the different rooms in our house and think back on the work we’ve done on this home of ours. I’m still answering questions about the trees we have up for Christmas – our “main” tree and the flocked tree for the kids in the dining room. You can shop both, linked below.
The front room got a “new” vintage coffee table that I found on FB Marketplace last weekend! I had been looking everywhere for a small-scale coffee table to work in this room. I really didn’t want to pay $$$ for something that will probably get accidentally colored on so I was thrilled to find this perfectly sized table close to home. Once again — vintage for the win.
what’s in my shopping cart
Truth: I forgot about Black Friday this year. I realized on Saturday that I had totally missed the big shopping day and decided to check in on a few items I need. I ordered a handful of gifts + these three things for myself – which are all still at a great price. Shop my favorite slides, trusty black jeans and the cutest star topper for the kids tree:
Happy Friday!
XO —
