Coastal Inspired Christmas

 

 

 In my blog bio on my home page I talk about my decorating style and I mention that I like the coastal/beachy look. I have loved this look for a long time. 

Growing up, we always lived in the Midwest so I was never near water until I was 13 when I took my first trip to Florida and saw the ocean. After this I was hooked! I couldn't get enough sun, sand, and shells and this has always been the case ever since.

So when I started blogging and found other bloggers and online shops that focused on coastal decor I fell in LOVE and began incorporating more coastal elements into my home decor and craft designs.

 Check out these fabulous holiday decorating ideas from Completely Coastal. If you are unfamiliar with Completely Coastal you can check out their blog HERE. They are my one stop shop for inspiration and decorating ideas when I want to add a coastal touch to my home.

 (via Completely Coastal)

Look how the light bounces off the brightly colored sea glass. What a gorgeous splash of color the sea glass adds!

Festive sea shell Christmas trees. 

  

This wire basket filled with sea shells is one part shabby and one part beachy.

 (via completely coastal)

Here is a cute starfish stocking. It looks great up against the old door and surrounded by soft lights shaped like stars.

(via completely coastal)

I just love this burlap stocking with the anchor. When I was in college my sorority symbol was the anchor and I had a ton of nautical decor and stuff with anchors on it, and this stocking reminds me of that time in my life. I have to either get one or make of these for myself!

(via Completely Coastal) 

And if your holiday theme is a coastal Christmas you can still enjoy making Christmas cookies. Check out these adorable, and YUMMY, iced cookies in the shape of star fish, sea horses, and sand dollars. Too cute!

And last, but certainly not least, I leave you with these GORGEOUS Christmas trees decked out with beachy ornaments. ......makes my heart flutter! Love it!

(via Pinterest)

And coastal decor does not always have to include a lot of blue tones.....this coastal design incorporates beige's and red. See the star fish on the chaise lounge chair and sea grass type table? These help create the coastal feel of this room.

(via Pinterest/Completely Coastal)

This room is a perfect balance of shabby chic/cottage style and coastal decor. See the sea shells and star fish on the tree? The sea fans in the background on the shelves and sail boat ornaments, but yet all of this paired with more rustic elements like wire baskets and a true evergreen tree. Not a lot of blue in this one but the look is achieved with other beachy/coastal elements. Very cute and probably my favorite look for coastal decor.

 

I hope these pictures inspired you as much as they inspired me!

I think next year I will go with a coastal theme for Christmas, but right now all these pictures have me dreaming of warm sunny days, the sound of crashing waves, and sand in my toes!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Jennifer

Poinsettia. Red or White? Which Are You?

It seems that you either {LOVE} them or hate them. Poinsettias.

They are a Holiday staple for a lot of us, while others could care less. Me? I love them! I'm one of the ones who have to have a Poinsettia somewhere in my Christmas decor each year. Some years I buy several and place them in a grouping on my fireplace hearth, or scatter them throughout the house. Most of the time I opt for red, but every now and then I jazz it up and go with white.

 

This year I bought a white one and may end up buying more before its all said and done, but for now I chose to keep it simple with one white one on the fire place.

So are you a red or white Poinsettia person? Red vs. White.

Here are some fun facts about Poinsettias:

Did you know that the Poinsettia was introduce to the United States in the 1800's by a man named Joel Roberts Poinsett? Also, at one time the Poinsettia shrub that was once considered a weed. Who could chop something down that was so pretty???!!!! 

There are over 100 varieties of Poinsettias, and red is, of course, the most popular color, but they come in several colors such as pink, yellow, purple, and multi colored.

(Pinterest)

I decided since it is early enough in the season, many of you may  not yet decided on whether or not you will have a Poinsettia in your home this Holiday season, so I am going to help inspire you with some pretty Poinsettia displays I found on Pinterest.

Enjoy the gorgeous displays of Poinsettias!

So gorgeous lining the steps!

(Pinterest-nhmagazine-home of Rob Godin and Thom Glynn)

Gorgeous white Poinsettias with burlap and neutral colors.

Love this one! The red Poinsettia steals the show-center stage!

(heatherbullard.typepad.com)

Oh so cottagey. Makes me smile! Who can resist a red Poinsettia wreath and a white chippy frame?!

(Pinterest)

And here is a bunch of white Poinsettias. Large ones with beautiful leaves!

(funky junk interiors)

 

(sjarmerendejul.blogspot.com via pinterest)

(funky junk interiors)

Poinsettia garland across a mantel. Very unique!

 

(Terrys Village via Pinterest)

Some tips on preserving your Poinsettia:

Keep in mind, Poinsettias are tropical plants so they need sunlight and moisture. If your house is drafty, do NOT sit them near cold windows where their leaves can touch the window.

And for those of you who are thrifty chicks and want to keep your Poinsettias year after year to save money, HERE is an article that walks you through the process step by step so that your Poinsettia will bloom year after year.  

For me, I typically throw them out and start over each year, but it CAN be done. I have watched others preserve their Poinsettias and they bloom again, but I personally don't have patience a green thumb to do this.

Here is my Poinsettia displayed on a small red bench in the corner of our fireplace hearth. I love the white and green against all of the neutral colors I am using this year.

 

So will you or wont you have a Poinsettia displayed in your home this Holiday season? If so, will it be RED or WHITE?

Decisions, decisions! Let the battle begin! Red or White????

I'd love to hear your vote.

Jennifer

Linking Up to These Great Parties:

http://www.craftberrybush.com/2012/11/happy-hour-linky-party-11.html

Front Porch Winter Display With FREE Greenery

Sheeewww! What a busy Thanksgiving break. I got a LOT done but still have a lot to do.....probably like everyone else. We're just getting started with the Christmas/Winter season so there are plenty of posts coming your way now that I am getting back into the swing of things after Thanksgiving.

 

I was up for two days straight as I went from Thanksgiving dinners straight into black Friday shopping at midnight then on into the morning at 6am and didn't stop until about 2:00pm Friday afternoon, then had to be at our 3rd Thanksgiving dinner at 6pm Friday evening. I was exhausted and took it easy Saturday.

Today I had more energy and  spent time working on some projects that I will reveal one by one throughout the next week.

Here is one of the projects I worked on today.......our front porch.

You know me...I am a thrifty chick so I knew that I wanted to ultimately create a warm and welcoming front porch without spending much any money, so here is what I put together.

For starters, I picked up some FREE pine clippings from HD. Tip of the day......the hardware stores have to clip the bottom of the trees to shape them so they have a PILE of pine branches sitting in a bin for the public to take. It is their TRASH but YOUR treasure! As we all know, fresh winter greenery can be costly, but HELLO! They are throwing it away so why not do them you a favor and take if off of their hands for them! :)

So this is what I did. I helped them out LOL

Gasp! ....What a waste! I just HAD to help them out with their trash problem. LOL

I could have taken more but this will work for now. I didn't want to be too obvious or look greedy.

And this is what I used for my project......FREE greenery and FREE burlap from the hardware store, FREE wood from my house, and FREE pine cones from my neighbor-not pictured.
(I helped her out too!) LOL

If you follow my Thrifty Finds posts you may remember when I found this really cool galvanized tub at the local thrift store and I wasn't sure what I was going to use it for...until now!

Here is the bucket  put together with the wood, evergreen clippings, pine cones and burlap ribbon. Since I was going with a rustic feel, I decided to add a simple "Welcome" message to the front of the bucket by freehand with a Sharpie, to welcome guests up to our front door.

Then, on the other side of the porch as you walk up the steps I added a black lantern and dwarf spruce tree in a black urn.

Again, if you follow my Thrifty Finds posts, this lantern was a thrifty find back in the Summer. (You can read about it and all the other finds that week, HERE).

I debated on whether or not to paint it a different color but in the end I stayed with classic black and displayed it with more pine cones and evergreen clippings, with a creamy white vanilla candle.

I just {LOVE} how everything turned out. It was all virtually FREE, or things I already had on hand that I used to create a warm and inviting Winter vignette on the porch.

So lets recap the thrifty tip of the day.....run, don't walk, to your local hardware store and ask for their clippings. They consider them trash, but for YOU this is a home decorators treasure!

I hope you enjoyed my front porch and were inspired. It should not cost you a lot to create a warm and inviting home. Just look around and use what you already have on hand then embellish it with simple touches of free things provided by Mother Nature.

Have a wonderful week!

Jennifer

Linking Up to These Great Parties:

 
"/>

http://www.craftberrybush.com/2012/11/happy-hour-linky-party-11.html