interior home: December 2011

Merry Christmas from my home to yours

what I'm gifting this year

Have you seen Anthropologie's charm necklace collection?

When I saw it, I knew exactly who would love this for a gift. My Mother-in-law, a huge fan of Anthro and a huge fan of my little boy, her one and only grandson. So I "designed" a necklace for her.

I felt like it was a bit of a risk spending $100 for a piece of jewelry online. Worried about it looking chintzy and cheesy, I went ahead because of free shipping and the insurance of returning it. But, it arrived today and I'm so pleased!

A crystal for chakra (something very meaningful to her), a wooden A for Alan and an adorable golden frog locket.

Inside, a couple of recent portraits she hasn't yet seen.

But the part I think is the sweetest is a note from the gifter, her grandson, folded up inside the locket box.

And how adorable is the felted pouch it comes in? Anthropologie does it again!

For my parents, my sisters and I together splurged on engraved His and Hers iPads.

Pocket helicopters for my nephews.

And cake ball makers and supplies for my nieces.

The teachers are getting Nordstrom gift cards:

The mailman is getting a gift certificate to our local burger stand which just happens to be across the street from the post office.

And the bus driver gets $ in this cute box I found at Wal-mart.

The class gets goodie bags with hot cocoa and a candy cane.

But my favorite gift to give is a little donation to the Salvation Army because when my dad was a tot from a very poor family in Paris, Texas, the only sign of Christmas was the Salvation Army delivering candy canes and oranges to them. Because of this story, I never mind the bell ringers and always let my little boy fill the kettles.

You won't believe what my son is asking for this year. More on that later : )

Josephine Ryan house in Provence

Josephine Ryan is a wonderful antiques dealer with a very distinctive taste and also the author of three great interiors books. She spent three years looking for the house of her dreams, and when she visited this house in Provence, halfway between Nimes and Montpelliers, it was love at first sight. The house had been abandoned for decades but she loved everything about it from the first moment she saw it. When she found the name of her mother's maiden name carved in a stone of the house, she understood that it was her destiny. But turning the abandoned house in a nice and pretty home required a lot of work and creativity. The decoration is a perfect example of Josephine's signature which she defines as a mix of modern, rusty and eccentric. She feels that there is a very strong emotional bond that links her to the place. She realizes that the peculiar characteristic of the house makes it a life commitment, a neverending work in progress because there is always some work to be done. You can visit Josephine's website here :

http://www.josephineryanantiques.co.uk/

white lights or colored lights (inspired by Tracery)

I won my very first blog giveaway today from one of my favorite blogs, Tracery, a design shop in Rosemary Beach, Florida, with this comment in response to their question: what is your favorite, white lights or colored lights?

"As a child I had colored lights, then when I moved out and got my own tree, I decorated with the popular white lights for 15 years. Until this year, when my bright-eyed 6-year old boy asked me why we had all boring yellow lights (I guess they don’t look white to him). So we have switched to a perfect combo of half white and half multi-colored lights mingled throughout our garlands and tree. It’s happy, nostalgic and my little one is estatic about our colored lights! So, I guess I have to say, that my new favorite is this perfect combo of both lights."

Merry Merry!

Luxurious Decorated Powder Bath

Another pic I snapped at a Lake Travis home in Austin, Texas. Silk taffeta, dark Venetian plaster wall treatment, mercury glass bottles, a copper vessel sink, crystal chandelier. L O V E.