O Christmas Tree

Our living room Christmas tree is artificial and eleven years old, but day and night, lit up and decorated with sentimental handblown glass and cloisonne ornaments, it makes us feel warm and happy.

Most of our ornaments were gifts from family and friends or collected through travels; a few were made by the kids; others, I purchased at boutiques, bazaars, and after-Christmas sales over the years. Regardless of its origin, each ornament has a story, and a memory.

This last ornament above is from Austin-based Paloma's Nest; their work is beautiful and makes lovely wedding and baby gifts.


Our tree represents our young family well: busy; colorful; a mix of sophisticated, silly, and sloppy; and very, very joyful.  Christmases are indeed merry around here.

Home for the Holidays: Our Nativity Scene

This Lenox First Blessing nativity set brings the peace of Christmas to our otherwise chaotic family room.

The porcelain figurines are beautifully painted.  I collected them over several years in my mid-twenties; they are now heirlooms for my daughters.

Which pieces of your Christmas decor are most meaningful to you?

(Sharing with A Thoughtful Place)

Mother-Daughter Holiday Tea Party (2011)

Last week, I wrote about the resurrection of our holiday tea party tradition in 2010; you can read about it here.  My then-four-year-old loved every minute of the planning and partying.  So, of course, we had to do it again!

This year, we started with a charming invitation on beautiful paper from Sarah + Abraham which played on the same silhouette theme we used for the older girls' birthday party in May:

(and yes, I realize that a lot is lost by blurring out so much of the text, but you can still appreciate the sweet silhouettes!)

Next, we tweaked tradition with a purple, magenta, and fuchsia color scheme (in which I re-used many of the amethyst elements from my youngest's christening celebration) and invited 42 of my daughters' friends and their moms to the party.  After waiting patiently for our guests to arrive...

...the fun started, and the result was vibrant in every sense:

We served tea sandwiches, madeleines, scones, quiche, fruit, three kinds of tea (including pink princess tea), pink cocoa, wine for the moms, and many desserts --- cake balls, chocolate covered oreos, macarons, cupcakes, cookies, shortbread, eclairs, cream puffs, and fudge.  There was no carbohydrate shortage.

After over two hours of playing, eating, and lots and lots of squealing, the girls raided the pink and purple candy buffet and filled personalized bags with their favorites --- m&ms, salt water taffy, lollipops, peppermint sticks, Hershey's kissses, chocolate balls, rock candy sticks, ribbon candy, raspberry pretzels, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, and more:

Four days later, we are still on a sugar high.  And we feel blessed to have shared this holiday tradition with so many lovely friends.  We're already looking forward to next year!

Sources
Invitations: Sarah + Abraham

Personalized Muslin Favor Bags: Perideau Designs

Custom Chocolate-Dipped Oreos: Sweeties by Kim

Cake Balls: Austin Cake Balls
Macarons: La Patisserie
Candy: Candy Warehouse & Lammes
Ornament Jars: Crate & Barrel
Apothocary Jars: Michael's; Pottery Barn
Amethyst plates and napkins: Crate & Barrel

Special thanks to Kathie Quinn for sharing her photos!


I'm sharing this post with Between Naps on the Porch, Savvy Southern Style, Sweetology, Martha's Favorites, Silken Purse, and Design Dazzle.

Home for the Holidays: Christmas Mantle

The red personalized cableknit stockings, oil-rubbed bronze PEACE stocking holders, and wooden candlestick holders were all purchased from Pottery Barn in different years.  All together, it helps our holiday home feel warm and cozy.


(Sharing with Ten June and  a' la mode)

Mother-Daughter Holiday Tea Party (2010)

Our Mother-Daughter Holiday Tea Party is a family tradition.  My mom and I hosted holiday teas annually when I was younger, even through my college and law school years when I'd come home for Christmas break.  We'd invite friends and neighbors --- mothers, daughters, and sisters of all generations.  Many of our guests told us that attending our tea each year had become part of their own family traditions.  At one point, attendance grew so much that we had to invite people in shifts to accommodate them.

My mom exemplifies southern hospitality with her generosity, and she also has a knack for making even simple things extra-special.  I thus have wonderful memories of those tea parties, and of the days of preparation beforehand.  It was mother-daughter bonding at its best.

So it was with great excitement that I resurrected the Mother-Daughter Holiday Tea tradition last year, when my oldest was four.  She's a party planner by nature and loved the idea of hosting a tea party for her friends. My daughter *loved* all the list-making, decorating, baking, color-coordinating, table-setting, and favor-choosing.  We invited about 20 girls and their mothers, and we all had a blast.  The girls squealed with excitement in their darling party dresses as they drank their pink tea and ate petit fours; the moms indulged in truffles and wine; we all enjoyed a red-and-white candy buffet:

Click HERE to see how the 2011 edition of our holiday tea party turned out!

(Sharing with Savvy Southern Style and Between Naps on the Porch)