Wishing you all a happy holiday season filled with peace and joy...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
A Garden Christmas Beverage Bar
Monday, December 11, 2017
Fall has just flown by, it seems, and now it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house. During the holidays, I often like to serve hot tea, coffee, and chocolate in the garden as this year we have beautiful sunshine and crisp cool afternoon air to enjoy. I use a French press and heated carafe of water with the tiered beverage bar to serve hot drinks on the patio. As much of our winter garden is evergreen, with only blooming cyclamen and citrus, it makes a very relaxing space for a choice cup of Christmas cheer.
To reflect the spirit of the season, and for holiday entertaining at home, this year I prepared a Christmas beverage bar filled with treats for this memorable time in the garden. Here is a simple and fun idea using any tiered stand and a few Christmas dishes with ornaments or other embellishments.
For this year's Christmas beverage bar I chose a Woodland theme that would fuse with the patio garden and kitchen. It is a rustic birch bark tiered stand, lined with garlands, filled with Christmas mugs, a few bowls, and winter bird ornaments. Then I added coffee, instant cocoa, tea bags, and Christmas complements like candy canes and chocolates.
The part of the winter garden I most love is the birds scampering about, so having bird embellishments on the edges of the trays seemed fitting.
I hope you have a lovely holiday season and enjoy the beauty of this wonderful time of year!
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An Artful Table,
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Floral Styling for the Holidays
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Creating a festive floral arrangement can be a fun and easy way to welcome guests to your home during the holidays. This piece was designed using fresh market flowers and a few decorative embellishments packed away in a Christmas box.
To create your own version of this design you will need a pedestal vase, greenery clippings, two fresh bouquets of seasonal flowers, something sparkly, floral wire, several branches and a few Christmas ornaments.
This pedestal vase is one I keep filled with faux greenery throughout the year. When styling in fresh flowers, I line the vase with a plastic bag and then insert a watertight jar inside the bag to hold the fresh stems. This prevents the urn from getting rusted and ruined.
For this design, after preparing the vase I added the greenery to provide structure in the arrangement. The seeded eucalyptus brings a unique texture to the piece.
Next I put in fresh seasonal flowers. Our living room is decorated in soft greens, grey blues and ivory for the holidays, so I chose white alstroemeria, mums, and roses with a mixed bouquet of dried lotus pods and flowering kale.
After inserting the fresh flowers into the vase I selected some glittering poinsettias from our Christmas decorations and integrated them to add a touch of sparkle to the arrangement.
Lastly, I included a few faux ranunculus blooms and curly willow branches for height and hung glass ornaments from the branches. Floral wire was used to attach the smaller ornaments.
I hope this arrangement inspires you to make fresh flowers a part of your holiday tradition. It really doesn't take much to create a festive display using just a few blooms and whatever decorations you have collected.
Happy Holidays!
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Fresh Floral Styling,
Holidays
Creating a Mix-and-Match Thanksgiving Table
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
The holidays are coming fast and designing a seasonal table for Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite traditions. This year I created a harvest table to use throughout the fall as well as on Thanksgiving.
Choosing mix-and-match dishes and linens is an easy way to entertain without having to restyle the table for every dinner. In order to accomplish this, it is best to commit to a color scheme at the beginning of the season and design a worthy centerpiece that will last.
The dried hydrangea wreath made from summer blooms and a small pumpkin surrounded by acorns and olive branches is displayed on a small cake plate covered with a glass cloche for the centerpiece. To see how the wreath was made visit this post.
I was inspired by our recent journey to the wine country, where olive trees abound, and used olive branches with baby white pumpkins throughout the table. A cozy throw blanket that usually lives on our reading chair became the tablecloth for the season.
These pewter bird salt and pepper shakers are nestled into the vines and always prove to be a conversation piece.
The amethyst dessert dishes I often use for fruit salads are the perfect size and shape to hold a miniature pumpkin at each place setting. They are set on vineyard toile linen napkins, which are layered with an amber glass salad plate and a white embossed dinner plate. For Thanksgiving, I'll replace the pedestal dishes with the festive turkey salad plates below instead of restyling the entire table.
Furniture polish works wonders on acorns to bring out their natural color and make them more decorative. We found those used in the centerpiece while walking under oak trees. They also make beautiful autumn vase fillers and are strewn throughout the table for accent.
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An Artful Table,
Autumn,
Holidays
Holiday Wishes...
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
During these last moments before the holiday celebrations begin, I'd like to express my gratitude to all of you for making The Gilded Bloom such a pleasure to create. Without your friendship, all of your thoughtful comments, conversations, sweet emails, likes and follows, it just wouldn't be what it has become. Thank you for sharing my world this year and for being there.
May the spirit of the holiday season bring you hearts filled with joy and many blessings in the new year. See you in 2016!
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Holidays,
Reflections
Sparkling Lights and Natural Whites
Thursday, December 3, 2015
December is here and its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! This holiday season I'm keeping our decor very natural and rustic. Cinnamon scented pinecones fill the air and white poinsettias are strewn throughout the house to add a wintery feel to the rooms. I added snowy greens and sparking lights to our wreath for a bit of Christmas cheer.
The poinsettias are from Duarte Nursery in Hughson, CA where we go to see the grand display of Christmas poinsettias. You can read all about them in this post. There are so many stunning varieties that it is hard to choose, but white is my favorite. Some of the other less traditional poinsettias are shown below. They all have a beauty of their own.
Hope you're enjoying the excitement of the holidays!
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Faux Floral Styling,
Holidays,
Wreaths
Winter Wreath in Champagne Gold and Silver
Monday, December 15, 2014
The holidays are coming fast and I have been busy with many events and creative projects. So little time to blog! However, I want to share this custom wreath with all of you. I just finished it today and it will soon be delivered to its owner...
This winter wreath in golds and silvers was requested by a friend who wanted a shimmery, metallic look to hang through early January. Gold-dusted ivory poinsettias mixed with champagne tone holly and snowy pinecones capture the feeling of winter while providing sparkle for the holidays.
The soft gold poinsettias are shown with neutral silver glittery vines and champagne holly touched with rose for accent.
Ornaments in matte and glittery golds highlight the soft metallics throughout the wreath and add punctuation to the flowers.
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DIY,
Faux Floral Styling,
Holidays,
Wreaths
Scenes of the Season at Morris Nursery...
Thursday, November 13, 2014
It's time to decorate for the holidays and the annual Christmas displays at Morris Nursery in Riverbank, CA are always an inspiration! Morris' garden shop is completely transformed into a Christmas wonderland during the months of November and December when trees throughout the shop are decked out with ornaments, garlands, and beautiful ribbons.
Every corner of the garden shop is filled with holiday embellishments in a multitude of color schemes and themes. Red, green and white candy-cane striped decorations are shown near a fanciful white tree glistening with green ornaments.
A vineyard-themed tree adorned with grape leaves, purple poinsettias and glittering gold ornaments catches the eye with its opulent colors...
This Parisian pastel tree in sugary winter colors surrounded by hanging snowflakes is one of my favorites. The pretty pink stockings and jeweled garlands give it a touch of glamour. If you look carefully, you can see the Eiffel Tower ornaments.
Finally, the crown jewel of Christmastime at Morris Nursery is the Department 56 Christmas village and electric train that is set up in the back of the store. It is a family treat and such a heartwarming sight!
In addition to having everything one could possibly need to decorate the home beautifully for Christmas, Morris Nursery carries lovely plants and trees to enhance the yard and garden this holiday season and throughout the year. Stop in for some festive fun!
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Holidays
Easter Breakfast Bar
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Creating a breakfast bar is a ready solution for a busy Easter morning with guests. Having a light breakfast when sunrise services and egg hunts may fill the early hours is a fun and easy way to start the day.
Freshly cut flowers from the garden, arranged with bunny figurines and chocolate eggs, create a casual welcoming table and fill the air with the scent of spring! For this arrangement, I used blue delphiniums, white azaleas and pink mandevilla accented with pink and white variegated tulips and white iceberg roses from the garden.
To set up a breakfast bar like this one, choose a patterned scarf or tablecloth in Easter colors such as blue, green, pink, lavender or yellow. Drape the cloth over a buffet or table and begin adding dishes in coordinating colors. I chose blue and white plates in mixed patterns with lavender glassware.
Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins are placed under a glass cloche for guests to help themselves. Plates are stacked on the table near ribbon-tied flatware and juice glasses with lemon wedges are by a pitcher of water.
Hard-boiled eggs are easy to make the night before and place on the table for breakfast. They are also decorative and add to the Easter spirit! Of course, one could use colored eggs, but we prefer white.
Blue majolica mugs are set out in a tray with fresh coffee, cream and sugar while another smaller floral arrangement of azaleas, mandevilla and a yellow tulip fills the carafe in the background.
The recipe for Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins follows. They are best made with fresh strawberries and eaten within a day.
Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
8 oz sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups diced strawberries
1 cup white chocolate chips
Cream butter and sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer. Add eggs one at a time and mix. Then add vanilla, sour cream, and milk. In a separate bowl sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt then add to the batter and mix.
Cut strawberries into small pieces folding them into the batter along with the white chocolate chips. Fill regular muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes on 350 degrees.
Makes 24 muffins
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Tagged:
An Artful Table,
Holidays
Sprinkled with Light...
Sunday, December 22, 2013
A few recent photos of our pink poinsettia collection here at home sprinkled with light.
Wishing you peace and happiness this holiday season...
Lisa
