Friday, December 30, 2016

Panoply 2016: It's a Wrap!

I started this collage photo summary format in 2014 as a way to capture my year in one fell swoop. It's been an even better year than the one prior, and putting these collages together by subject matters that matter to me are my way of remembering the best of 2016. My life is a true panoply, and I'm thankful for it.

There are no lengthy descriptions, but there are links back under each photo collage header (in the captions). If you're so inclined to read, you can click on the captions, each comma separating different posts on that header. The one marked in bold under each header was my most viewed of that subject. You can also select a label, main menu header, or type the subject into the search block just above my photo on the right sidebar (e.g., garden, tablescape, etc), and related posts will come up. Feel free to dig in. Enjoy!  

Panoply Booth Space Displays - the Love of Styling our Antique Mall Booth Spaces
 Panoply Booth Space Makeovers Jan 2016Panoply Pickin' and Booth UpdatesPanoply Booths RemixPanoply Booth Quick Changes: Transitions to FallPanoply Booths: 2016 Holiday Ready
Tablescapes - Creating Table Displays with my Dish and Tabletop Accessory Collections
Girls and Pearls: "Deco"dence TablescapeIrish Country TablescapeSpring, Easter Tablescape 2016Grandmother's Flower Garden TablescapeSummertime Tablescape: Livin' is Easy!MacKenzie-Childs Inspired TablescapeAmericana Cowgirl Tablescape, Provence Garden Alfresco Dining TablescapeLet's Bee [Farm] Friends - Tablescape!Fall Tablescape: Cornucopia, Canyon, Currier, Color!, England Crown Ducal 'Atlanta' Autumn TablescapeIronstone, Transferware Fall Tablescape: "Meat and Potatoes" China, Polished to Plaid: One Table, Two Looks,     
Panoply Antiquing - the Love of the Hunt and Vintage Finds: Estate Sales, Auctions, Antique Stores
Antiquing in Greenbrier ValleyDrunk on JunkRipley and Other Believe It or Not Vintage Finds, Shopping Vintage: Metro Atlanta GAVintage and Small Business Shopping - Katy, TX 

Panoply's Top 5 Things to Look for at Yard Sales This Year (2016)!
Top 5 Things to Look For at Yard Sales This Year, Panoply Purging: How to Succeed in a Community Yard Sale
Travel - featuring the Tales and Adventures of the Traveling Totes...and more!
Tales of the Traveling Totes: Biding Time Until Spring and a Giveaway!Blenko Glass Factory Experience: Eggstra Special!Miss Luna C's Spring Adventures and a Secret SwapFestivALL: Celebrating the Arts in WVWhere's My Tote?Where's My Tote? - Update- A Winner!Traveling Totes Summer Fun Recap, Another Giveaway!Visit Atlanta's 'Chihuly in the Garden' By October 30!Traveling Totes: Fall Fun, Another Giveaway! 
My Home - the Love of Home and Seasonal Changes with Collections
Spring in the Sunroom 2016Recent Blenko Glass PurchasesAnatomy of a Balcony FaceliftThe Balcony is Complete!The SwitcherooEarly Fall Home and Garden SnippetsHoliday Home Tour 2016 
My Garden - the Four Seasons in Journaled Format
Things Always Seem Better in the MorningNature's Awakening: 2016 State of the Garden, Before the Blooms...and a WinnerEarly Spring Garden Chores: Purge, Divide, Conquer!April Gardening: Fluffing the NestsMay Garden: Profusion of BloomsJune Garden, My 2016 AnnualsMy Home, My HeartIn My July GardenMy Sister's Garden TransformationGarden Clips: Late Fall2016 
Miscellaneous Musings - A New Category in 2016 - Love of All Things Quirky, Random, Amusing
Living By the Numbers,Love Letters from the Greatest Generation, Miscellaneous Musings No. 1, Miscellaneous Musings No.2Miscellaneous Musings No.3, Miscellaneous Musings No.4, Miscellaneous Musings No.5Miscellaneous Musings No.6 - Holiday Edition 
Once again, I've enjoyed meeting so many new friends throughout the year, and look forward to more still in 2017. I've also savored growing the friendships of a few of those whom I 'met' in years before. Thank you to all my loyal readers, and for those who may be new, I hope you'll continue to visit. I love your comments and hope that you'll find my style approachable and welcoming.
Cheers to the New Year!
Best,
Rita C. at Panoply
NOTE:  I created this post, as I said, to organize my year of blogging. It's also the last step I take before ordering my annual "yearbook" from Blog2Print (no sponsorship or affiliation). They currently have a coupon code of ANNUAL which ends Thursday, 1/5/17, for 30% off a book format of your blog posts. If interested, I wrote about the process last year, here, with some tips on how to compile your own book. If you sign up for Blog2Print's email, you will receive subsequent coupons, as I'm sure there will be more to come. This one is a good deal, and it's pretty easy to do, so I wanted to pass it along to my readers.


Friday, December 16, 2016

Miscellaneous Musings No. 6 - Holiday Edition

Welcome to the holiday edition of Miscellaneous Musings (No. 6) - otherwise known as Rita's Random Ramblings. You can click on my menu tab to see all prior posts of this nature. Today's musings just happen to all be holiday related.
1991 Christmas Eve, recreated by my girls, 23 years later
I started decorating for Christmas the week before Thanksgiving. Getting the 22 flickering window candles and all their batteries - all 44 of the size D - is about an hour-long task. Easy enough. You can even do this while in a turkey coma on Thanksgiving Day. The hardest part is hurrying to turn all the switches at the same time so they'll all come on/go off consecutively each day thereafter (Mr. P. helps me git 'er done).
Luminara Flickering Window Candles
Nice 'n easy.....until the batteries wear out. I bought these candles and batteries in 2013 (before this, we went around the entire house, every day and night, flipping switches for the electric kind). I segregated these batteries and stored them after each holiday, just like decorations. They lasted right around 100 days (30 days for 3 years), at about 5 hours each day. This year, they started going out, one by one, so I replaced them all. Too confusing to keep up with one or two going out each day, and hearing that nerve-grinding, "you have another candle out" coming from Mr. P. If I were considering a revenue-based blog, a sponsor for batteries would be a great starting point.

Now, THIS (below)! This is decorating. I've got one neighbor who does some very creative and unique displays each year with his outdoor decor. Last year, he slingshot strings of lights wrapped around golfballs to get to fall over the branches of his HUGE tree. He then attached the light strings to large, lighted sheres, and dangled them above trees strategically placed on the ground beneath. Cool, huh?
Although he didn't slingshot lights over the tree branches this year (the tree was limbed up quite a bit this fall, so I guess the target distance was much further away), he was, once again, clever.
I didn't catch the decor all lit up at night, but look closely and you can see he took one of his trees and turned it upside down this year. It has red lights this year, and looks very cool, among some other traditionally positioned trees.

Why do things always seem to break when you're about to have a lot of company, why? At the same time all the batteries were failing me (and trust me, those above are just the tip of my battery iceberg), our hot tub was leaking. And the toilet paper holder in the guest bath/laundry/mud room fell off the wall. While Mr. P. was tending to the hot tub repairman, I got out the butt crack and fixed the TP holder. It's a cheap, builder grade thing.
Wonky Toilet Paper Dispenser
You see the one screw (but two screw holes) on the left, correct? Well, the bracket attachment to that little plate kept falling off. The way this thing is positioned (left of toilet), one invariably tugs right to pull the paper, loosening the bracket. And the frickin', teeny, tiny screw that holds the bracket to that little plate got stripped when I had to stand on my head to get it unscrewed from UNDERneath. Nothing in the newer, even cheaper builder grade kit fit the same, but I masterminded taking the 2 screws from the existing right side plate and put them on the new plate on the left side with washers to hold them. All is well on the king and queen's throne again, thanks to butt crack.

After all the maintenance hassles during decorating, the next thing I did was get the tree up from the basement. While on the stepladder, I discovered something I didn't even know I missed - an ironstone tureen! Apparently I had stashed it on top of the bookcase shelf when I was arranging holiday vignettes....LAST YEAR. Heck, maybe even the year before that, I have no idea. It was below the sight line. So, I added a new piece to hide up there this year.
Top of bookcase - hidden storage!
Seriously, it's hard to transition seasons in household decor, don't you agree? Where do you keep all your 'stuff'? I like to think I'm organized but gee whiz. It took me about six hours to UNdecorate fall before I could even start Christmas decor. Textiles were the easy part.
Seasonal textile transition
One thing led to another, and I ended up in the basement, reorganizing all the Panoply inventory I had bought through 2016 - that I said I wasn't going to buy - whew! That's where most of my six hours of UNdecorating was spent - organizing stuff unrelated to Christmas.

Holiday sales - playing the game of discounts & what I didn't need but bought anyway....
Let's make a deal!
Oh my. You see the paper ads, email ads (from signing up just to get the ads and first-time shopper discounts, lol). You resist, then they come at you through your Facebook feeds, the blogs you read, pings on your phone from apps you've downloaded (again, just to get insider coupons, lol)....alright, alright, alright, I'll buy something! It's a game, really. Retailers tempt you, bloggers tempt you (did you notice all the bloggers sending their gift ideas posts with affiliate links in November?).

Just like the stock market, timing is everything. Who's going to make the steepest discounts, when, and can you stack the discounts?? I even play the game with "$4.53 to free shipping" messages they post in your cart. Hmm, let's see....any dish towels on sale? Napkin rings? This year I fell into several traps deals.
Just some of the junk add-ons to get free shipping for various online orders


The most noteworthy deal was on Cyber Monday, for some very overpriced pricey outdoor holiday decor topiaries I've been coveting a few years now. These items have sold out for three years straight. Well, they were marked 20% off list price, then another 30% off on Cyber Monday (making the price now 45% off list) with free shipping. Boom! Purchased. Which led to this quick project.....
"Urning" for my new topiaries
Mr. P. says, "What about the urns? Do you have those?" Yes, I said, especially when I saw their price of $149 each (seriously). I went to the shed, pulled out my old ones from storage and got out my black spray paint. Had to run to Lowe's for more, but got the job done. My latest order status says the new holiday topiaries will ship March 28, 2017. Are you kidding me?! Just when I'll be wholly and totally sick of seeing the last leftover fleck of glitter from Christmas on my kitchen floor??

Speaking of glitter, "that's so Rude-olf"! My sister called me on the 8th and said she just watched a segment titled as such on one of the daytime shows. She was laughing, saying one of things they talked about was sending glitter cards. "That's so Rude-olf"! If you know me, you know I deplore glitter (sorry all you DIYers). When my family gathers on Christmas Eve, they know the drill - contain the glitter when opening presents. When I get Christmas cards with glitter they get quarantined into plastic bags.
Glitter bomb!
So that glitter bomb card (above) came on the 8th from a good frenemy friend. When I started opening the envelope, it felt like sandpaper. I told Mr. P. I couldn't even open the card, there was so. much. glitter. It was as if my 10 yr old niece had taken a 6 x 8 cardstock and spread Elmer's on it, and then sprinkled two whole bottles of glitter on it. I couldn't even quarantine the card, just threw it away. When I do my cards next year, believe, me, I won't forget my good frenemy friend sending that.

I've been using fallen birch trees from my landscape in my decor for several years. Below are some of my Christmas uses for just the Christmas season, all from my original stash (bottom rt frame, below).
There's $$ in them thar sticks!
Kroger's was selling some super-skinny branches this year (as in what was on my tablescape, top R) - 3 to be exact - for $13.95. At that rate, I could stand to make a few bucks selling my stash. Or, maybe even picking up sticks on the riverbank and painting them and selling those. Won't be the first time I substituted something 'er other for decor.

Speaking of something 'er other...see the striped stocking hats on my little statues in the garden? Exactly. Those are stockings. As in slipper socks.
"Why yes, I often wear my socks on my head"
Another task I always do for holiday prep is syncing all my holiday music on my iPod, which I place in my Bose docking station in the sunroom. I still use that method, but I've been listening to Pandora a lot more this year. Last year, my daughter suggested the Indie Holidays station and sent me the link.
Pandora's Indie Holiday Radio
The only thing about Pandora free radio is you have to listen to occasional ads interspersed, and you have to tell it you're still listening after a period (maybe 3 hrs? Idk). Nonetheless, it's really good listening, and I would highly recommend it for my readers too. Email me and let me know if you want the link but can't find the station.

Speaking of my daughter, she is 31, married, and works full-time in the Arts. She has been in Nutcracker performances since she was 6 years old. First, she was in the Mother Ginger scene. In 1996, she joined the ballet as a corp member, and danced in the roles of snowflake and flower (aka Waltz of the Flowers). She graduated to demi-solo roles (Spanish, Flute), then had the solo role of Dewdrop Fairy and, finally, Clara. An old pair of her shoes hang with my Nutcracker vignette.
Nuts about Nutcracker
In 2003, Mr. P. and I had the unique opportunity to dance in the adult party scene as guests, while both my daughters danced other roles. It was memorable. Well, older daughter has come full circle.....this year she plays an adult party guest. May the circle be unbroken.
Nutcracker family tree
Chris Missy sold! Thank heaven for small favors. I did NOT want to haul her a$$ home and store her for another season. It took two holiday booth display years for her to sell, which meant hauling back and forth in storage in my basement. Not one of my favorite things.
But you know what are a few of my favorite [holiday] things? Chick Fil A's Peppermint Shake and McDonald's Peppermint Mocha.


Don't even look at the nutrition content. Just go get one (or two or three) before they're gone. Christmas calories don't count, remember?
Okay, if you do count calories or feel guilty for being naughty, here's another alternative I love this time of year - Donut Shop Peppermint Bark flavored coffee. I may have left a box or two for you at WalMart.
And here is one of Mr. P.'s favorite things....sweets!
I call this stuff (below) Christmas crack. When I was trying to decide from a few different variety mixes offered, I asked Mr. P. for help in choosing. He said, "Get what you want. I'm not going to be eating it". Famous last words. Last time we went to the store, we bought two more.
You know, I sometimes feel guilty about what I do and don't use for Christmas decor. Here's a case of something I use and feel guilty for it.
Let it Snow! Just kidding.
I loved the pillow cover (above) because it was made with buttons. It says, "Let it Snow". I don't really mean it. I really don't like snow. Unless the snow is somewhere I can go and visit, I don't want it at my house.

We just wrapped up watching Season 33 of "Survivor" this past week. Love this show, and Jeff Probst, the host and Executive Producer. This year's results were remarkable (no spoilers here).
I hope you enjoy your holidays, however you celebrate! As always, I appreciate your readership.

Rita C. at Panoply

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Naples to North Pole: Palm Frond Reindeer

While pulling out wrapping paper for Christmas gifts, I had totally forgotten about a palm frond I picked up on a trip to Naples, FL last spring. Literally, picked up off the ground and stowed in my carry-on to bring home. I had plans!
A little free-hand pencil sketching, a few craft paints, and about 15 minutes later....a palm frond reindeer!
I added a piece of baker's string on the back of each antler with duct tape, but you could just as easily punch a hole and knot the string through the antlers.
The sunroom is where I decorate with a little more whimsy than other areas of the house, so I hung the reindeer on my leaded glass windows, but there was too much reflection with all the windows.
Then, I took him to the laundry/powder/mud room, where I also decorate with whimsy, and hung the reindeer on the back of the door with a grain sack. It's a little too dark in there.
I ended up hanging the palm frond reindeer on the thermostat against the brick wall in the sunroom, above a Build-a-Bear Santa daughter #2 made on her first job there in 2004. With a little sled and light string pillow, it's just right.
What an easy little craft, turning a palm frond into a reindeer, especially for those of you who live where palm trees sway!
Rita C. at Panoply


Friday, December 9, 2016

Holiday Home Tour 2016

Christmas is traditional in our home and garden. I may add a few things to my mix each year and create new vignettes (with old things, staying true to my vintage and antique dealer self), but the basic underpinnings are the tried and true, year to year, in mostly red and green. Welcome to Panoply's home and garden in its Christmas decor!
Front of gate, our holiday home
Once the landscape garden is pruned and mulched for its winter nap - no later than late November - the exterior holiday decor is kept at an understated level. Magnolia & pine swags and wreaths on the brick fence pillars and doors, respectively, are the basics I use every year, along with a few pops of red via the landscape garden flag and statuary. The landscape uplighting pretty much takes care of the rest in making the outdoors festive.
Landscape in holiday attire 
A wooden sled, carolers, and lighted tree are placed on the front porch, and flickering welcome candles (on timers) are positioned on all the windowsills to greet visitors. Lights, especially battery-operated lights, are one of the best and easiest ways to make a home holiday ready!
Holiday front porch
As pretty as the night lighting is, it'll be easier to show you around in the daylight so, come on, let's go inside for a look at some of my holiday decor!
Holiday entry
Holiday area rugs
Besides lights, the next best (and easiest) thing to make your home holiday ready is by use of textiles! If you noticed upon entry into our home, the rug there is a festive French horn with holly and ribbon trim. One of the first things I do for a little holiday cheer is switch out my area rugs at all the entries, baths, and even under my desk.
I spend a good bit of time rotating my textiles through the seasons, and Christmastime is an especially fun time, layering with throws, pillows, runners, and even a few stuffed animals whimsically tucked in a room or two.
Holiday textiles
Our tree is placed at one end of an open-concept living space (the family room). It can be seen from the dining room, kitchen, breakfast area, sunroom and, of course, the TV / family room. This year, I added twisted ribbon trim to my tree, so some of the ornaments did not make an appearance - at least not on the tree. ;)
Christmas tree, beribboned
After the ribbon was on the tree, I began the sentimental journey of decorating. Unwrapping each ornament sparks memories of past events and loved ones, and that's why I love keeping the tradition of re-using ornaments year after year. As just one example, I have one sister and brother-in-law who have been gifting us with a Wallace commemorative candy cane ornament for each year we've hosted our family's Christmas Eve celebration. I love unboxing those candy canes and counting the years. Being the youngest of nine siblings, it gets harder and harder for everyone to come together. Our home is the designated "I'll be home for Christmas" celebration station where everyone comes, if they are able. I love hosting them, typically between 25-30 each year.
Wallace candy canes
Ornaments from travels, hobbies, family and friends - all of which I love - are hung on the tree.
Christmas tree, decorated, highlighting various ornaments
I create vignettes around some Christmas items, and fill the family room's wall unit shelves with different themes for each.
TV/family room with Christmas tree
Vignettes are also set on tabletops in the family room.
TV room tabletop vignettes
Little lights (most real, but a few by virtual enhancement) are used in the bookshelf spaces, helping to lighten the otherwise natural wood cubbies.
Santa bookshelf
The bookcase beside the tree (left of fireplace in room photo above), has one shelf holding several Santas: a trio of porcelains, hand-made by a sister; a tiny, reverse-painted ornament (how do they do that?!); and one made from each of coal and clay. The trees are vintage bottle brush, hand-beaded, hand-blown glass, and there's even one of spooled yarn. My Hummel Nutcracker duo are also displayed on this shelf.
On the opposite end of the room, I created a sort of "walking in a winter wonderland" on another shelf.
"Walkin' in a winter wonderland" bookshelf
I turned an ironstone sugar bowl upside down and placed it inside a tureen, and used the small base as a platform for a pinecone tree. The lights and pine/berry wreath veil the construction details. In the left corner is another tureen, holding a couple of oversized, shatterproof ornaments, while a third one is perched on the right. The trio of graduated birch logs is from a fallen tree from my landscape. A feathered owl ornament, a trio of felted snowladies and some jingle bells finish the scene.
Nativity, Primitive Scenes Bookshelves
The bookcase unit in the middle of this long family room has the two shelves pictured above. The top shelf is reserved for my nativity, while the lower shelf vignette is something I assembled this year. Within the wicker tray (another great trick to garner vignettes!), I placed a snow globe Santa, standing next to a red transferware bowl with a winter cabin scene. A wooden spool as tree, topped with a red jingle bell, sits in the bowl filled with a collection of all green buttons. Another string of lights and some cypress cuttings finish it off. A vintage postcard of two little girls sledding is propped beside the tray with use of a fork-turned-easel. An antique sleigh bell on leather strap rests in the lamp's base.

As you can see, it's pretty easy to create your own vignettes, and you can use things you already have. Side tables where guests will place their drinks are great places to position books, cloches, ironstone pieces - or any favorite vessel(s). Adding ornaments as flourishes, and grouping one to three items makes an easy vignette, depending on the table's size. Or, simply adding an ornament to an already pretty wreath and hanging it on an inside door, window or even a side chair is also a nice touch.
Various holiday vignettes
I generally focus my decor in the public spaces on the main level of my home, and typically only use textiles in the upstairs bedrooms and baths (and candle lights in the windows). The stairway is right as you enter the house, and it is draped in garland with bows and lanterns. The living room is often overlooked as guests enter and the door swings open, but there is a Nutcracker vignette behind the door that's visible at least as guests exit. There's also a vintage ceramic tree in the living room (that I most always forget to turn off. It's about the only thing not on a timer!).
Holiday entry, stairway, LR
Nutcracker vignette
After coats are dropped at the hall closet by the entry, the dining room is just beyond.
Holiday dining room
It's really the first space where company gathers. This year I've pulled much of my sterling and silverplate collections out to create vignettes in the dining room.
DR side table with silver service
I opened the game table (pictured above) to frame up the vignette I created there. I'm showcasing part of my napkin ring collection in a tabletop curio.The large silver tray is centered on the table's open end-turned-frame, and on the right is an old estate find - a domed food server.
Detail, curio with part of napkin ring collection 
Two glass and mirrored tabletop curios were stored for years, but I decided seeing my napkin rings not only makes me smile, but makes for nice decor. On the wall opposite the game table is the second curio, resting beside a Madonna and Child Capodimonte porcelain.
DR sideboard with Madonna, second napkin ring curio
I love collecting old napkin rings, especially monogrammed and figural types.
Detail, second curio of napkin ring collection
In the far corner of the dining room is my antique French vitrine where I normally store all my silver pieces. The vitrine only stands about 5' tall, so I made a vignette on its top ledge (pictured below). It's also visible in the mirror reflection of one the photos above.
DR vitrine vignette
I placed one of the two lighted boxwood topiaries used (here) from my holiday tables, and beside it is a framed and lighted reproduction print of a famous Bouguereau painting ("Virgin of the Angels"). The tole lamp makes three company for the vignette.

After creating my holiday tablesI really liked the polished look in the dining room (and so did many of you, thank you for the feedback), so I started with the pedestal mirror, crystal candlesticks, and silver ball ornaments. I added a crystal bowl in the middle, and filled it with another collection of buttons, this time white and ivory (pictured below).
Overview of  tabletop centerpiece, DR
A crystal pick and some cypress, along with a couple of silver mint juleps as vases for carnations, is where the centerpiece currently stands. The mood for the table is set to be quiet.
Holiday tabletop centerpiece, DR
However, things in the corner of the dining room are set to get a bit rowdier. I've completely dismantled my bar cart of its usual transferware and coffee service, and am decking it out with some real barware. Although we are not drinkers (but I'll share a toast), we certainly don't mind our guests imbibing. We just tell them to be sure to bring their designated driver with them. ;)
Holiday bar cart, DR
The "Coal Fairy" is ready to dole out little lumps to whoever decides to be bad. The champagne is chillaxin', ready for someone to mix up a batch of holiday mimosas or pop a toast. A perfect segue into the week following is the vintage photo of me with my family, circa 1960. It's a favorite, since there are so few of all of us together, even back in the day (being #9, I think they got tired of photos). Last year, one of my nieces gifted that photo as an ornament - did you notice it earlier?
Detail, bar cart elements
The sunroom is my favorite room to decorate, and I am fearless in there when it comes to mixing patterns and layering textiles. Right off the kitchen and breakfast area (two entries), it's a perfect space for traffic flow when using the kitchen island as buffet service. With all the light that floods the room, it's also where I love reading, addressing cards, and wrapping gifts. It has year-round climate control.
Holiday sunroom
Holiday sunroom, opposite angle view
My cozy space in sunroom
The owls, which were part of one my holiday tablescape looks, are now perched on the dining table in the sunroom.
Holiday tabletop centerpiece, sunroom
Also in this room, I brought back a couple vignettes I created new last year (with more vintage and antique items, of course). Again, use of battery-operated string lights and trays to contain the vignettes makes moving them around easy.
Recreated holiday vignettes in sunroom: cloche with baby cups; lamb cake mold
The stepback cupboard in the sunroom (visible in one of the long shot photos above) is welcomed new storage since summer, when it was moved in. It's also my new canvas for creating seasonal vignettes. Right now it's set for dessert service, but I'm sure it will change as the dessert menu is actually fleshed out. The wall opposite this cabinet has a wet bar with cabinets and counter space, so I'll toggle between the two in how I ultimately set them both.
Stepback, holiday style, sunroom
For now, it was fun decking the shelves with a few woodland scenes. My orphaned lambs and deer have found their adoptive protector in the woodland elf on the top shelf.
I bought the felted wool lamb in Moab, UT during our great American road trip this past summer.
Old scales and another of my topiary trees on the second shelf....
Bottom shelf "Ornament Fairy" is hanging out with utensils, straws.
It's the little things that spark creativity and inspire me when decorating for the holidays. I hope your visit here today leaves you with a similar feeling. I've shared various other vignettes of our home's prior holiday decor here (2015), here (2014) and here (2013). And if you're wondering how I stay organized for hosting a large family gathering, you'll be sure and want to read My Ten Tips For a Highly Organized Holiday Event

As if all that's not enough, I am participating with all the other bloggers listed below for their current holiday home tours. Be sure to check out any or all of them. If you're like me, there are plenty of talented bloggers who will inspire you. If you can't get it done this year, then certainly pin it for future reference in years to come. A special thanks to Chloe from the blog, Celebrate and Decorate, for being our host who organized us all for this holiday tour of homes. It's always a pleasure having your visit, your readership and your comments.

HOLIDAY HOME TOUR BLOG HOP SCHEDULE
MONDAY

 Everyday Living | Bluesky Kitchen | Rustic-Refined

TUESDAY

Rattlebridge Farm | Starfish Cottage | My Kentucky Living | B. Lovely Events |

FRIDAY
Panoply (you are here!) | Farm House 40 | Celebrate & Decorate |  Major Hoff Takes A Wife Twelve on Main


I hope you'll be as lucky as I was to see this guy coming through your neighborhood! It may have been a dry run, seeing as he was cycling, but I definitely saw him as I was drafting this post!
Santa, cycling through the neighborhood, early December!
Thank you, and Happy Holidays!
Rita C. at Panoply