2017 Christmas Tour

Merry Christmas! I dearly love this time of year, the decorations, the lights, the cocoa and yes the Christmas treats. The smell of a real tree, a warm fire and wrapping presents.  I love all of it! But especially the decorating, Grandma cottage was a huge Christmas lover and every year she would decorate every square inch of the house

One year she filled an entire room with Christmas village except for a tiny pathway. It was beautiful! This year we didn't fill an entire room with village but, I still think it looks beautiful. So welcome to our farmhouse Christmas tour and our Cottage. We have one rule, anyone who steps through our door is family. So grab a cup of something warm and cozy (and if you have cookies that is even better) and stroll through the Cottage. 

I'm totally in love with the broken mirror trees on our mantel! We snagged the very last ones that Big Lots had. Over the mantel, we hung our Decor Steals wings. We rehomed our silver candlesticks from the table to the mantel with silver ornaments, bronze candelabras, a beautiful floxed pinecone garland from Hobby Lobby and our homemade burlap and muslin stockings. 

 

We swapped out our cream Ikea couch covers for white and paired it with green and cream ribbon throw pillows.

Coffee filter Christmas trees! So easy to make and so pretty, all you need is a cone, coffee filters, and a glue stick. Yep, that's it!

We framed the fireplace with distressed buckets filled with Duraflame logs.

Touches of Grandma Cottage's village grace our TV consul, we added a piece of garland over the TV also.

Fun fact- see that awesome vintage camera on the TV consul? Mr. Cottage brought that back from his time in Germany. Isn't it neat?

Old books and touches of the sea. You can take the girl away from the ocean, but you can't take the ocean out of the girl.

Ok, I admit it, I was on a bit of a garland kick this year. If I hadn't run out, it would be over literally every doorway. *Yes Mr. Cottage you should probably be worried* The garland over the door is actually handmade of our grapevines and live greenery (also from the yard).

I truly love the sound of a record player, that crackly sound as it plays the song- yep heaven. Next to it is one of Grandma's village churches. It reminds me of the one they wanted to build in the Bishop's Wife.

Crocks and Christmas trees, a vintage camera and cotton wreath. We flanked the armoire with two cream chairs and cute throw pillows.

In case you were wondering those furry white pillows on the couch are as soft as they look! We scored them at Burkes.

For the centerpiece on our crate coffee table, we used this adorable crate filled with reindeer moss and this beautiful cupcake holder from Kirkland's.

You might notice as you wander through we have a lot of trees, yeah we kind of like them. This one is our real one, covered with frost garland and glass, butterflies and seashell ornaments.

 White paper packages for beneath the tree we tied them with burlap, blue and silver ribbons and raffia with homemade salt dough tags.

We picked up that giant galvanized bucket at Lowes for 19.99, once we got it home we dry brushed it with American Paint Company "Uncle Sam's" chalk paint to take off the shine.

You may remember our very long kitchen remodel, we finally were able to decorate for Christmas in here (last year we didn't have countertops and the paint was only half finished). 

We put a cotton wreath on our pantry door and one over the stove. On the island, we put trees in galvanized tubs and crocks. On either side of the sink, we put white and silver trees, two bowls, and a crystal candelabra decorates the corner.

For this tree, we used mercury glass ornaments and a cute metal basket to hold it. We placed a cute horse-drawn sleigh and small tree to decorate our Pioneer Woman cake dish.

We replaced the aprons that normally hang here with adorable ticking stockings. 

This is my favorite spot in the whole kitchen, the window seat! Bonus points it's right next to our coffee station!

We decided to use ornaments as napkin rings, I happened to have these burgundy ones left over so I strung them on a piece of twine. To keep the burgundy tones we used a table runner the same color as the ornaments. For the centerpiece, we used fresh greenery, cotton garland, white and silver trees and a small tree in a crock (scored from Burkes).

We used silver trays for chargers and these bone china plates with gold stars. 

We decorated this end table with a galvanized tiered tray, wood trays from Decor Steals and a cute urn we picked up at Hobby Lobby years ago. 

A mixture of vintage and new treasures, those beautiful old books we found at an Estate Sale!

Some more of my favorite village houses and another beautiful church.

In the main entryway is Mr. Cottage's tree, 8 feet of Christmas glory. For this one we go with Americana & nature ornaments collected through the years, we usually add a few things each year. The Santa's hung on one of my Grandmother's tree's (she had an ornament for each child and grandchild) but passed to us after her death. 

In the background, you can see the Remembrance Tree, filled with ornaments for loved ones no longer with us.

Told you I was on a garland kick, this strand runs up our staircase. I clothespinned Christmas cards people have sent us and pictures of some of our favorite memories this year. 

In this family, you are never too old for a fairy tale, so welcome to our fairy tale themed bedroom.

In a fairy tale room, you have to have a fairytale tree so here it is. Covered with roses, pearls, delicate swans, wings, beautiful horses, works of literature and topped with a crown.

 I have to say I love this little guy, we picked him up at Big Lots - I regret nothing!

I usually hang my earrings on here (does that give you an idea of how many earrings I own - don't judge it could be worse) but I decided to spruce it up a little with live greenery and beautiful satin ribbon (way cheaper than the one Brianna wanted to buy and just as pretty).

And finally we come to the Master Bedroom, we used a beautiful winter berry garland over the bed which really popped against the Cottage sign.

The bed is loaded with lacy sheets and soft cream and white pillows. That cute believe pillow we snagged at Big Lots, I just love the way it looks.

We wanted to keep this tree neutral so we went with beautiful white snowflakes for ornaments.

On the dresser, we used this beautiful vintage christening gown and a stack of gorgeous old bibles, treasures from the past we discovered at estate sales.

On the other end, we place willow tree sculptures and a bucket filled with beautiful blue ornaments and a cute little Christmas tree.

Over the top of the mirror we used a piece of magnolia garland, I love how it looks up there.

And that concludes our Christmas tour, we hope you enjoyed it! Merry Christmas! We hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with love and laughter and lots of memory making. May the blessings of this season follow you through the New Year, and may you find yourselves on our doorstep again next year.