Swedish Country Christmas and a Lynch Creek Farm Wreath Giveaway

 I'm in love with my Lynch Creek Farm wreath and thrilled to be able to do another

wreath giveaway this year to one of my readers.  This year, the inspiration 

for my living room was a Swedish Country style Christmas.

 Lynch Creek Farm is a family run business located in Washington state. 

They make exceptional wreaths, all of them measuring out to a full 26" width

with a weight of 7 pounds (compared to the average Christmas wreath of 4 pounds).  

That gives you an idea you how full these wreaths from Lynch Creek are.

My husband unpacked my wreath and was very impressed with the quality,

 calling it "substantial and really nice"! 

I chose a country themed wreath, with a red plaid bow and a bird theme.  

In New England, two families of  red cardinals nest in our yard, 

and its always a delight to see them at my feeder.

After enjoying it inside for a bit, I will hang it outside on the 

door of my garden shed,  where my bird feeder sits in front of the shed,

where it will last longer, being in the cold weather.  Mist wreaths indoors,

to extend their life

 Last year, I chose a pair of Blended Bay wreaths for my French doors 

and they lasted well through the winter months.  

Piper loves posing for the camera, 

and this year with our new wreath is no exception.

The Swedes love using red and white, as well as blue and white.

The striped blue and white Danish couch seemed a perfect match to 

try the Swedish Country Christmas look!  Take a look at all the various

styles of Lynch Creek Wreaths and create a fresh holiday look for your home.

To enter the giveaway, head to Lynch Creek Farms (click here)

and pick out your favorite. Then just leave a comment on my blog

letting me know which wreath you would like to win. 

Thats it!

I will pick a winner Sunday, December 2, 2018.

Note: There is free shipping on all wreaths and no taxes, for those who

order directly from Lynch Creek Farms.  I sent wreaths as gifts last

year, and they have a bulk discount if you want more than one or two

wreaths to hang on the doors or windows of your home.

A PunchBowl Centerpiece for Thanksgiving

 This Thanksgiving will bring one new family member to sit at the big table. 

 Its Reeve, my year and half  old granddaughter. 

This is her place setting ~ a smaller sized  dinner plate with roses and a mountain scene,

 along with some baby silverware.  I am so excited to have her join us

 and can imagine the years ahead with her, with her as my little helper one day.

 Setting the table for big dinner parties is always a lot of fun, and this year I grouped all

the fabric pumpkins in my big silver punch bowl from Brimfield for an easy centerpiece.  

A couple of years ago I made a bunch of purple velvet pumpkins, one from needlepoint and checkered fabric and even a toile pumpkin too.  Along the way I found some inexpensive velvet pumpkins from various stores and together they make a pretty centerpiece.  

When the turkey comes out, it is easily whisked away to another spot. 

 Little bouquets of fall flowers dot the table in the silver baby cups I collect. 

It couldn't be easier!

 And of course my table is littered with purple transfer ware, 

including a "new" old gravy bowl with a double spout that I found last year.

 I was lucky to find a bunch of silver-plate napkin rings at a thrift shop when I 

went to Connecticut for the Nora Murphy book party.  They hold the big French napkins

nicely.  Even Reeve will have her own gigantic napkin.

The big turkey platter is the star of the show on this day, of course!

These are quite rare, even more so in purple.  I got mine from the biggest 

trnasferware dealer in possibly the world, Nancy Roberts.

Her website is Nancy's Daily Dish, just in case you are looking...

it could make a nice Christmas gift to yourself, haha!

 If you have a punchbowl, think of the possibilities 

it has for any holiday or party centerpiece.  

Holding a plant such as an ivy topiary or a big poinsettia, 

it may be just the thing you need for your next holiday party.

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving! 

Thanksgiving week brings a dollhouse for the dollhouse and more

Thanksgiving week is upon us, and I will be hosting dinner this year, which

is pretty much the norm.  I have yet to set the table, but when I do I will bring out my

"good" camera and take some photos.  This year baby Reeve will join us all, and I just bought her

a booster seat so she can actually sit at the table instead of in her high chair.  She will bring

much joy to the celebration as all her uncles and aunts gather round.

Switching over to my dollhouse obsession, I have made much progress and will

share just a few highlights until I can write a full on dollhouse post.

 A friend gifted me an iron "faux bois" table for my potting room and I 

think it is the perfect addition.  On top of it is a French enamelware pitcher I 

created from paper and paint after fiddling around trying to copy an antique 

pitcher I picked up at Nora Murphy's book launch party in Connecticut last week.

So much to tell you, and the Nora story will be coming right after Thanksgiving,

as I dragged my pal Matthew Mead along to the party and then we went to Nora's house!

What a treat that was!!

 But I digress....

So the potting room has some rose prints on gilded

wood plaques that decorate the walls and an exact copy of 

my painted tarp that hangs over the utility sink!  I still need to do some trim around the 

window as you can see....but its the tiny embellishments that recreate special

things in my life that are extra fun to make for the dollhouse.

One thing I have been fantasizing about is having a dollhouse for the dollhouse.

After much deliberation, I decided to buy one instead of making a simple one.

Mostly because, well, I couldn't resist this amazing 1/144 scale teeny dollhouse!

 Incredibly elaborate, I found it online at Miniland.ca

There are several different styles of these extra tiny houses, and the scale

is what is correct for a dollhouse to be in a 1/12 scale house. Its 1/12 of 1/12th!!

Mind boggling to me....but this teeny house can open up and it can be decorated too,

which means quite likely at some point this 1/144 house will have a dollhouse of its own.

Imagine....it is NUTS. I know.

 So the dollhouse hallways are narrow and yet they needed something to make them

interesting.  The dollhouse fits perfectly there on display for the dollhouse residents to 

admire.  I created the curtain fabric using a color printer and fabric, printing off a pattern of

an Aubusson rug, then cutting it in half and stitching it up into a pair of panels. A copper wall

sconce was added to illuminate the dark hallway, so we could admire the fancy tiny dollhouse.

 The doorways were embellished with some frescos to add some pretty details and make it more 

fancy and yet still whimsical.  

After adding some printed designs I found online that were romantic, pretty 

and French looking, I handpainted  borders to give it a finished look.

I don't imagine a perfectly historical house.  It's got to have the wow and the whimsy

 and the shabby and the French and all the things I love. 

 That is what is so fun about decorating a dollhouse. 

 Its not real, so you can have anything you WANT!! 

 The next hallway task was to paint the unfinished dollhouse.  It ended up

looking like this, which I call "Very Versailles".

The gilding wax applied on the trim really gave it the wow factor

and it looks beautiful put back in the dollhouse landing on the second floor.

Warning: This blog will be containing a lot more dollhouse updates,

between Thanksgiving and Christmas!  

Until then, wishing all my readers a Happy Thanksgiving!