Here & Now: Winter Light

Winter decorating is all about brightening up a dark house, and adding some glamour to a season otherwise bundled up in fleece and flannel.

I arranged my collection of apothecary jars on top of the china cabinet, where the glass and a garland of glittered fronds catch the light through our bay windows. Each vessel contains a speckled mercury glass vase (remnants from our wedding decor). In the evenings I turn on flickering LED candles and the effect is magical: golden glow and silver reflections on every surface.

Our new chandelier is dressed for the season as well, sporting candles with a gilded finish. There's certainly no rule that says you can't accessorize an accessory!

How do you add extra light and sparkle to your space?

Resolution: Wake Up Earlier

Not a resolution I'm thrilled to be sticking to after a long and lazy vacation. Oh, caffeine and pretty things, please get me through the day...

Starbucks Cinnamon-Infused Ground Coffee & Bodum Chambord French Press

Molly Hatch Menagerie Glass from Anthropologie, Retro Coffee Print from Etsy

"Coffee" Lettering via Pinterest & Vintage Continental Raymond Loewy Script Coffee Pot from Etsy

Chanteclair Chihuahua Print

Flea Market Resolutions

Adam and I are taking one last day off, not so much for vacation, but rather for everything that we avoided during our vacation. There are two cats overdue for a bath, two stockings waiting to be tucked away until next year, what looks like two weeks worth of mess to tackle, and two people who need to get a good night's sleep before returning to work tomorrow.

Why are we yawning? Well, we may have procrastinated on chores, but we got an early start on our resolutions. Very, very early. We watched the first sunrise of 2012 as we arrived at the flea market! I wrote about my goals for a new year of antiquing in this month's issue of The Point, the official magazine for the Alameda Point Antiques Faire.  

It is awfully fun to see my photographs on glossy paper! If you couldn't pick up a copy at the Flea, you can access the digital version of The Point here. 

We added some choice vintage prints to our ever-growing pile of loot (both scavenged and gifted) that has yet to be shared on this blog. If the sun comes out today, I'll add a photo shoot to my to-do list. Right after my nap.

Happy New Year, friends.

Christmas Wrap-Up

If you couldn't tell from our holiday card, I was slightly lacking in Christmas spirit this year. I went through the motions, to be sure: decorating the tree, drinking hot cocoa, horrifying the cats with loud accompaniment to Bing Crosby carols... but I couldn't help but miss the company of my family and friends. I had a blue Christmas- and maybe that influenced my gift-wrapping?

I've been using the black and white herringbone wrapping paper for everything lately- including the envelope liners for our wedding invitations! It's graphic, tweedy, and absolutely practical. It looked appropriately fun on the boys' stocking stuffers, paired with humorous gifts. For the girls, I went for maximum sparkle.

The glittered take-out boxes are filled with tinsel, foil-wrapped treats, and some accessories for the holiday party season. I added pieces of gold tape to cardstock to make palettes of colorful rhinestone earrings for my sisters-in-law. 

I love wrapping gifts *almost* as I love giving them, and I always try to add some creative sparkle. Of course, I love getting gifts too... I'll show off what I got next week!

Seasons Greetings

'Tis still the season, right? We missed it? Bah!

So I'm a little late. Oh well- the sentiment remains the same. 

Happy holidays, thank you for reading, and here's to another year of differing opinions from the WarLock household!

Here & Now: Newlywed Christmas

Newlywed Thanksgiving was so much fun we thought we'd give Christmas the same treatment. That, and the husband is out of vacation time. Regardless, we're here, and we're making the most of it- with twinkle lights, glitter, and a Christmas tree that's taller than Adam (proof of this will be posted on the StB facebook page later today).

Some very dear friends gave us Crate and Barrel's Angelique Stockings and Tree Skirt as a wedding gift, and they inspired this year's decorating scheme: neutrals and metallics. Does that combination seem a little familiar to you? Let's just say the tree looks right at home in the WarLock house. 

Our tree is wearing something old, something new, and quite a few things borrowed from the wedding! I used my collection of basic ornaments to give our tree a subtle gleam: crackled mercury glass orbs, chartreuse bulbs, and little spots of gold. The pearl-encrusted baubles were a bargain at Target, and they're a good match to the trim on our new stockings. We also replaced last year's roosting owls with a sparkling star tree-topper that sits at a jaunty angle (so endearing- and I love the size). I  added a bow with long curling tails that I saved from a wedding gift. Actually, all of our ornaments are tied on with snippets of ribbon left-over from wedding projects and wrappings! Old, new, borrowed, but nothing blue- I prefer to buy led string lights with a warm, old-fashioned glow.

Simple and sentimental- just right for our first married Christmas.

Giveaway Ending Soon...

A pencil skirt helps infuse even the coziest of outfits with secretarial sex appeal. That vintage pencil necklace I blogged about would certainly be the Joan Holloway finishing touch, no?

 The Francine Pencil Skirt from Shabby Apple, featured with the Pumapard Blouse & Dusted Tights from Anthropologie, Dainty Square Ring from Banana Republic, Faceted Button Post Earrings from Express, Pewter Metallics Skinny Belt from Eddie Bauer, Fossil Vintage Reissue Leather Weekend Bag from Macy's, and Emmie Flats from Piperlime

Only a few more hours left to win the Shabby Apple Francine Skirt, and your odds are pretty darn good! Head over to the original giveaway post and follow the steps to enter- I'll draw the random winner at noon.

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And the winner is... Kathy! Congratulations!

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Holiday Cat-astrophes

"You better watch out, you better not cry" might be a good behavioral deterrent for little kids, but there's no gimmick that works on pets. "Santa is watching" does not prevent Phineas from gnawing on the Christmas tree. If I hide an elf on a shelf, you'll find Matilda up there with him (probably biting him, actually). You better believe that both of my cats are on the naughty list.

Really, who can blame them? This is a season of enticing foods, drunken strangers, and tail-pulling babies. We bring a perfectly climbable tree into the house and put shiny temptations on every branch. It's no wonder that every year we experience a bit of cat-related holiday mayhem. Just look at our Thanksgiving aftermath...

Our kitty mishaps have ranged from amusing (Tildy's obsessive pilfering of faux cranberry vase filler and Phinney's sneaky turkey tasting) to slightly stressful (like the cat + dog chase that led to a broken mirror). 

The key to avoiding disaster is simply to know your pets. Between Phinney the plant-nibbling ribbon-swallower and Matildor the Destroyer, we have our hands full.

• If we're expecting a house full of guests, I know that Phinney will hide under the bed until the party has died down- but Matilda loves to mix and mingle. I put a bell on her collar to prevent her from getting underfoot.
• Ribbons are Phinney's ultimate temptation. A pricy trip to the emergency vet in the middle of assembling wedding invites taught us to keep loose ribbons and bows out of reach, and to skip the tinsel on our tree.
• Matilda likes to bat at baubles, so we tie ornaments onto the tree.
• Phineas has a sensitive belly, so we don't overdo it with the treats.
• Knowing that Tildy holds grudges (she's been hissing at my brother for years now), we're careful to make slow introductions to new people and animals.
• Like many cats, Phineas can't keep his teeth off of the greenery- so we avoid poisonous poinsettias.

So, a few questions for you in the comments section:

How do you keep your pets out of trouble during the holidays?

-and-

What's your most memorable Christmas Cat-astrophe?