Holidays at Diva Central

Since a few clients and readers have asked me what the Holiday decor is this year at my Cottage, I thought I'd share a few photos of what I came up with. Essentially, I took my inspiration from my displays at the Willows Lodge decor seminar (silver, gold, and white) and combined them to create our decor for this year.

It's encapsulated in the photo above: tarnished silver, dried hydrangeas, old spalted glass balls, ivory velvet poinsettias, old sheet music & book pages, and lots of letter 'K's. Sort of a 'tattered & torn Holiday', straight out of an ancient stone grand house somewhere in Texas, one that has been a bit timeworn and abandoned. It's warm, it's heirloom, it's elegant but worn, it's comfortable, and actually quite a bit masculine. Compliments our rooms without competing - and to me, in a small house, that's very important. I love the browns and ivories...like wearing cashmere!

I still have birdnests out, plus some beautiful branches from Seasons of Cannon Falls that are brown, white, and ivory. I used lots of ornaments, drippy beads (thanks, Dona, I bought some of yours!) and very old real silver tinsel to add sparkle to the scheme.

In this photo, you can see the tree reflected in the mirror. It's actually two trees: a six foot vintage chrome tree (with color wheel!) and a four foot white tree, which I am not quite finished decorating yet. We nestled them together to create a fuller look. I"ll post a photo of the completed tree sometime soon!

On the game table, wood game pieces (Scrabble, Jenga, Pogs) sit waiting in silver bowls. A rusty birdcage holds candles.

See those cooooool ornaments? They are ivory glass with cream flocked damask designs. I found two packages of three at TJ Maxx, and actually yelped out loud when I saw them! GORGEOUS! The silver julep cup with dried hydrangea & a poinsettia made from vintage chenille is something I made and have for sale in my retail space. (Oh, yeah, I haven't told you about that yet, have I??!!)

The 'K's are cookie cutters, metal letters, wood letters, paper letters covered with ivory glitter, and even old woodworkers' rulers that I formed into our monogram. Our son came up with a saying a few years back: "Merry Kennemas!', so the K's are a reference to that sentiment. (And yes, it was his version of Kramers' 'Happy Festivus!'!!)

SO now that I've spilled the beans, I'll direct you to retreat - a new venture that my husband and I are creating together, and we are beginning by selling our designs at Faded Elegance Antique Mall in Everett, Washington. We'll also be doing shows in the future, and my books will include a great deal of these projects....so much underway! If you are in the Seattle area, I invite you to stop in at Faded Elegance - it's on Hewitt Avenue in Everett, near the Events Center.