Swirling Holidays & Inspirations

The holidays are swirling all about.

Boxwood begs me to take a few cuttings so it can hang out with pumpkins.

Somehow November and December vibes are intertwining everywhere you turn.

And if you happen to go out shopping you might just get bitten by the holiday bug – it happened to me.

I ended up going home with two plaid pillows and a throw, oops!

I've slowly been taking out a few baubles to see what direction my décor wants to take this year.

I like to set a few things out that inspire me and see where that leads.

It's a mixture of Thanksgiving and Christmas, which is odd for me because I usually do not decorate for Christmas until December 1st.

It seems every year things get sooner and sooner – I mean Halloween seems to happen in August now, haha!

But I am enjoying getting infused by the holiday spirit here and there.

Plus, the time goes by at the speed of light, so I can see why people like to start early.

I like to just forage for bits and pieces I have – kind of the same way one would crack open spices whilst preparing an impromptu meal.

Just gather a whole bunch of odds and ends that I'm in the mood for and toss them on the table.

It's super fun to make a little heap of pretty mess.

Sort of like an inspiration pile.

I love the droopy evergreens from my trees.

I actually let them overgrow all summer, with the sole purpose of trimming off what I need during the holiday season.

Gold paper leaves and stars always hit the spot.

I have a cabinet filled with some of my favorite vintage baubles.

I love when the insides wear a bit, it just creates such a beautiful dimension.

I'm loving my white walls.

I had two venetian plaster walls (in a buttercream color) in my house and one day I woke up and was done.

I normally always love white walls but it was hard for me to part with the yellow, they were done so beautifully.

Alas, one day I just decided it was time and I have not missed them at all, poor walls.

My whole house was white except for those two accent walls - 

Oh and I painted the mahogany wood mirror gold and then gold leafed it and heavily distressed it.

You can't really tell how distressed it is from here, but there are closeups in my Instagram feed.

Nothing like doing big projects during the holidays.

Why does that always happen?

My parents are doing a major garage clean up starting today, and I'm like, why now?

It's funny how we tend to do that.

The busier we are the more we pile on.

I'm either beyond relaxing or doing 500 things at once.

I have almost zero middle ground, how about you?

So, I still have some pumpkins bobbing around.

I'll likely roast them for Thanksgiving pie baking at the country house.

I can't wait!

I love those holiday baking days the most.

Some music, warm oven, baking up pretty things.

Cold days and baking are just too super cozy aren't they?

It's still a little warm here so I'll enjoy it because one day, out of the blue, it'll just freeze at night and all my gardens will go to sleep.

I have lots of projects going on at both houses.

Building an adorable little back door for my tiny gallery that I used to do shows in.

It turned into an office for a handful of years (too many) and now I have it back.

I'm having so much fun playing my pump organ that's in there.

It'll be my little shop for my online art business.

The peach trees are turning orange leafed and the pecans are ready for picking.

There are dahlias and zinnias in all my gardens and a huge wave of butterflies have arrived, just as they always do in November.

I think they are just passing by on their way to Mexico somewhere for the warm winter?

The bees have been very pleased with me for months, with clusters of them gathering on zinnia, mint and basil blossoms.

I will make sure to keep them happy year after year.

I had not seen this many bees in ages, so delighted!

Well, I'm going to paint a big cabinet and might begin tonight, so excited.

Hope you're doing peachy out in your neck of the woods!

Fill me in if you'd like.

I'm answering comments in the comments section, I just wish there was a way for you to get a notification.

I'm also saving any comments from going to spam, so rest assured I'll find your comment and post it if it doesn't show up.

One thing I am really missing is that bar at the end of my posts featuring other posts you might like from within my blog.

The service is gone, and I can not seem to find anything comparable.

So many folks told me they enjoyed that, I am still searching for another option.

Miles had a bath and is so silky snuggle soft, he always wants my attention when I'm typing so off I go my friends!

I'll be back soooooon!

 

Love, 

 

Vanessa