CHRISTMAS

i hope you have a wonderful christmas, celebrating jesus' birth, life, and love; enjoying family and traditions; and savoring each moment as beautiful memories. merry christmas!! this year, i will be enjoying christmas in a christmas-red cast half-way up my leg. promise me you'll take your time down the stairs. if not, you'll end up like me; immobile.

it's the most wonderful time of the year

decorating a small space? decorating with little to no wall space? decorating with a small (oh wait, a zero, zip, zilch, non-existent) budget? decorating with no mantle? decorating with no kids? decorating for your favorite holiday?

welcome to my life. (and my blog). we live in a tiny home, with little wall space and no mantle to show. we have no christmas budget to speak of (who does?), nor do we have any little tots running around. this makes for a lot of reusable, cheap, and totally impractical decorations. take that tree up there (from here) for example. it is balancing (i'm not really sure how) on my table; defying gravity. (side note: for the last two years, my husband has said this is the last year we are doing this). will we do this when we have two toddlers running around our house? are you crazy?! for now, why not balance our trees on tables surrounded by candles? i like this tree, because in small spaces, you have to go UP and this tree does just that. draws your eye upwards.

i love my home. i do. i really do. we have done so much to fix it up ("we," as in my husband and father-in-law), but when i say it's quaint, it is quaint in the literally, smallest of ways. our living room holds 4 people, uncomfortably. we can squeeze them in, but that means you will be sitting on my lap. because of that, i have learned to make do by purging unwanted or unused items, and trying to get creative in our small space. thanks so much for stopping by! if you're here for the first time, you will quickly learn that christmas is my favorite time of the year. if you're not new, you are probably tired of hearing me say that. either way, won't you join me as i show you around our quaint little 800-square foot house? it won't take too long. remember, i said it's small.

PART A
the living room
come on in...

the tight space makes bringing in a christmas tree very tricky. last year, our tree was here. this year, because we had central air and heat put in our home, we removed my favorite little heater. i was extremely sad to say good-bye to my faux-fire place, but happy to have 2-square feet more of living space for our christmas tree. (because that's what really matters 12 months out of the year, where you put your christmas tree, right? that's what i thought).

the christmas village that my mom started for me years ago is one of my favorite things to set up. every year i wish i could sneak into this little christmas town and live for the winter.

my husband became a firefighter back in may, so a crew of firemen joined our christmas village this year.

i wish i had a lake outside our house where we could go ice skating...

penguins became my favorite animal when i was 9 0r 10 years old. this is one of the figurines i actually allow to come out of hiding.

remember i mentioned the totally impractical decorations around our house? these are some of them. the village sits on every shelf of our book case, and is covered in an inch of snow. the first couple shelves are easily reachable by little hands. will i pour 3 bags of fake snow on the bottom shelves of my bookcase when we have kids? probably not.

this really is the point of it all. jesus coming to earth as god, in human form. a gift. a miracle. my mom gave this ceramic nativity to me when i first got married. her aunt made it for her years and years ago. i don't think i need to say that it is very special in our home.

this is where the "reusable" and "cheap" decorations come in. i gathered a few ornaments, beads, snow and a few candles, and placed them on a special cake plate. it's nothing new or innovative, but it sure looks cute and festive, doesn't it?

since my husband and i are equally obsessed with christmas and winter, it was no surprise that we would get married in the middle of january and have a wedding full of wintry trees and snow. lucky for me, i have a couple trees and snowy branches that i reuse to decorate my house with.

can you tell i painted the windows on our door? i guess you can say we are a bit over the top with wanting that "winter" feel in our home. oh, and when you don't have a mantle, where do you hang your stockings? this year we're trying the window. we'll see how that works out.

more easy and cheap decorations. it makes for that cohesive feel in the living room. :)

i think the winter table is always my favorite. since this scenery doesn't exist outside our home like it does for many people, we try to create it for ourselves inside.

last year, this table was full of candlesticks. this year, i decided to add some birch, evergreen, and lots of ornaments. i like it so much more.

and i finally found a home for my little reindeer!

the last stop in my living room is at my christmas jewelry tree. aside from my nativity, it means the absolute most to me. it was made up of my grandma's jewelry one year, while she was still alive so she could enjoy it. you see, christmas was her very favorite time of year. she loved the decorating, the shopping and the gifts. oh, she LOVED the christmas gifts. and the greatest gift she ever received was on christmas day, 1997.

she had been very sick and was in the hospital several days leading up to christmas. we took her presents to the hospital one evening and opened them for her so she could see what we had gotten her. that's how much she loved presents. however, none of our presents that year would compare to the gift she was yet to receive.

early, early christmas morning, while it was still dark outside, my grandma went to be with jesus. she was finally free of her hurt and pain and she walked into this pain-free world on her most favorite day of the year. her entire life, she knew jesus was her greatest gift. but, on that christmas day, she received jesus like never before. every time i see my grandma's gaudy jewelry tree, i think of her love for this beautiful season, and the grace god gave her when he brought her home early that christmas morning.

PART B

the kitchen (this is real quick. don't blink, or you'll miss it.)

when you live in a small space, you decorate your refrigerator. and your stove-top. and your message board. and your adjoining door. and your empty wall. you squeeze it all in. everywhere.
our kitchen doesn't really match the rest of the house at all. it's pinks, reds, and greens. but i like it that way. although my favorite decorations are the blues, silvers, whites, and golds, i love the playful colors in the kitchen. who says it all has to match anyway?

PART C
the dining room

our dining room decorations are some of my favorite! i love the combination of evergreen with birch, snowy branches, and all my little rustic animals.

i purchased the birch tree on the left a couple years ago for several dollars at an after-holiday-target-sale. i also had a bag of birch chips from pottery barn (that i never really knew how to use), so i decided to make a little tree to go along with the big one. i had some left over birch, so i decided to make a wreath too. not much beats cheap, and nothing beats free. birch chips, a foam wreath (that i already had from michael's), fresh cranberries (yes, they will die and i will pull them off after christmas), fresh evergreen trimmings from our tree (again, they will die, and i will re-glue new ones next year), and lots of hot glue.

i am loving the combination of natural elements with ornaments... here i have pinecones, snow, birch, and more evergreen mixed in with ornaments.

*thanks for stopping by! i wish you the happiest christmas season as you celebrate what's most important: jesus, love and life* AND, if you haven't gotten enough of christmas decorations, head on over to christmas tour of homes, and check them all out!
PEACE. LOVE. JOY.

a christmas tour

this year i am joining the ever-growing "christmas, tour of homes" with the nester. i thought, hey, why not! it's really no big deal, just a fun way to look at other people's decorations, while sharing some of your own. because i love christmas so much, i love to see what other people have goin' on in their home. do you like to be nosey too? if so, you can join too! all you need is a blog or flickr account, a camera, and some festive decor to share. (go here for complete directions.) either way, if you are stopping by here sometime monday, i would love for you to come on a little tour of our home with me!

until then, have a wonderful week (hopefully) full of christmas music, christmas movies, and hot cocoa. :)

eye for an eye

i love christmas decorations so much, i wish i could leave them up year round. that would be weird though, wouldn't it? if you came to my house in june and there was a christmas tree in the living room? a dead christmas tree nonetheless, since my husband and i don't believe in fake ones. so no, i don't think i'll be leaving it up all year, but i sure wish i could.

you know what else i wish? i wish i could see all your pretty christmas decorations. even if i don't know you i want to see them. i want to see christmas through your eyes. will anyone let me? pretty please?

if i show you mine, will you show me yours? eye for an eye, right? (wrong context? well, you get what i mean). can we set a date? any volunteers? i know you have some pretties out there that we all need to see... c'mon... JUST DO IT (oh, wrong context again...)

well, i will post mine if you post yours. give me a date and i'll be there... (i promise i won't stand you up).

new things, new places

i hope you had a lovely thanksgiving with your friends, families, loved ones...and with all that food. :) i am so happy we have officially entered the holiday season; it really is my favorite thing. our home is decorated in pine, snow, ornaments, and smells of cider; and most importantly, full of thankful hearts for who jesus was and IS in our lives.

those of you who visit this blog from time-to-time, expect my postings to be somewhat "event" related, and oftentimes they are just that. but many times, my posts are completely unrelated to events or design, and focus more on personal thoughts and adventures. why? well, for one, this is my blog and there are no rules. and two, while i own an event design business, that business does not own me. what i mean is, this little, tiny business is just a fraction of my life. there are so many bigger things that make up who i am, and in essence what this business is. if i were to solely post event related talk on this blog, it wouldn't be ME. i like to talk about the flowers i see outside and the birds chirping out under my bedroom window. i like to go on and on about how much i love christmas. and i really like to brag about my nieces and nephew. do any of these have much to do with planning your wedding? no, but for me, it has much to do with living life and being inspired by it all.

so, this is one of those times. a time when the post has absolutely nothing to do with events, design, planning parties, or arranging flowers. what this post IS about, is living LIFE, risking some, and embarking upon new adventures. i said here, almost a year ago, that this was going to be the year of completion - the act of finishing something; bringing it to an end, and entering into a new season. i even proclaimed on my blog: here is to NEW things, NEW seasons, and NEW growth. happy NEW year and NEW seasons to you. never in 30 years did i think those NEW things, NEW seasons, and NEW growth would lead my husband and i to where we are today. that is where this post comes in.

in this process of god closing doors and opening new ones, we have found ourselves 43 days away (fittingly one year after the "year of completion post") from boarding a plane, destined for west sussex/surrey, england, where we we will live for approximately 3 months as we partner with an amazing organization called YWAM. our first 3 months will be full of training as we participate in the DTS (discipleship training school) program. the last 3 months will be spent (most likely) in a third world country, where we will get to share the love of jesus with other people, in other cultures. words really can't begin to express how excited and honored we are to do this. we know it's not all going to be easy, but still so worth it. i share this with you, mainly because this is a huge change in our lives! but also, because this blog will look very different in the coming months. i am not sure exactly what will hapen, but it may become stagnant for those 6 months, or become more of an update hub for our friends and family and anyone else interested in following our journey. for now, here is our home (along with the picture above) for the first three months: holmsted manor, in west sussex, england.


i suppose we will drive down little streets like this...

isn't it amazing to look back - in hinds site - and see all that has happened in one year? it is exciting to think what will happen in this coming year... happy christmas season! and thanks again, for stopping by. ;) ~rachel

BEFORE & AFTER: a bathroom

a couple months ago, my husband and i had the pleasure of doing our very own "extreme home makeover" on a small, small scale. my mother-in-law called me months ago and asked if i would be up for re-decorating (in her words, "sprucing up") her bathroom. i OF COURSE said YES! how can i pass up an opportunity to design and decorate, while spending someone else's money?! i can't.

the plan was to get the bathroom done in ONE day, but it didn't quite happen like that. i am proud to say though, that we started the shopping and measuring on a sunday, and the bathroom was complete by thursday! we went with a light brown (taupe), champagne, and white color palette. take a look...

BEFORE:
AFTER:

(new light fixture!!!)

by just changing the light fixture in this room reallly helped out, but my husband's brilliant idea to add a frame to the mirror really took it to that next level. that project was his little baby... he thought it up, designed it, shopped for it, and built it; and i think it turned out lovely! that piece alone really updates the bathroom.

some new hardware to update the space.

the ginkgo sconces were a great find, because my mother-in-law loves ginkgo trees. i was thrilled when i found these on CLEARANCE for $6! they were both an iron black, so i spray-painted them white to match the space.

because this makeover was on a smaller scale, we mainly did decorative fixes. we couldn't afford to change the flooring or the yellow-tiled counters, so we needed something a bit dramatic to alter the space. i was so excited when i found this big shabby chic etagere from target because it really transformed the little space. plus, it created storage space and many more places for me to decorate. :) here is a look inside...

(new light fixture!!)

i had so much fun shopping around for old glass vessels to decorate with. i ended up buying about 7 pieces, mainly clear, but wanted some more color; so, i added water and blue dye to the decanter below. i really love the contrast it creates between the blue water and the taupe walls.

i love this old brown pharmacy bottle

i scored this miniature milk-glass trifle for $6 at the local antique store! i filled it with cotton-scented wicker balls, which not only look cute but bring a nice scent to the bathroom.

i bought this little white dish with the idea that my MIL could place her jewelry in it at the end of the day, without the fear of forgetting where she last left it.

i just love the clear bottle below. it is actually a beaker from an old chemistry set; how cool is that?!

this was a really special project for me. these three frames hang on the back wall, opposite the mirror. prior to this makeover, there was no art in the bathroom. it was important to me, to bring in some art to make the space more personal and intimate. however, i didn't want to just throw up any piece of art that i liked because this space wasn't for me. i really wanted it to be special. i was thrilled when the idea came to me to frame pictures of three of the main crops my in-laws grow. i found pictures of each crop and antiqued them to get a vintage feel. from the top down is: cotton, almonds, wheat.

although a perfectly fine chrome towel rack came with the pack we bought, i really wanted to make a custom towel rack for this little bathroom. it was a fun and more importantly, cheap, little project. i picked up 2 corner blocks or crown molding and a thin piece of wood (sorry i can't remember the size). i also bought two iron hooks to hang the towels on. i realllly wanted to get two different antique-looking hooks, but they were all so expensive at the antique stores! so, i opted with the $1.50 special at lowe's and you would never know the difference. (if you look closely, you can see a screw. yes, i still have some touch-ups to do).

(i realize these pictures are really quite horrific. i have a nice camera, just don't know how to use it. ESPECIALLY in a small dark space. aaagh.)

thanks for stopping by!

REAL WEDDING: jeff & giorgiana IV

the reception! we did three different centerpieces... a manzanita tree with hanging button mums and spider mums, which sat on the base of the tree that was filled with large river rock. the base was covered in brown butcher paper and a chartreuse ribbon.

the second was an extra tall cylinder filled with large river rock and curly willow, topped with a pom-pom of spider mums and bear grass.

the last centerpiece was an average sized fish bowl, filled with large river rock and floating button mums. it was topped (using a clear floral dish) with spider mums, button mums, ivory roses, curly willow, and lemon leaves, to mimic the bouquets.

the bride and groom met in a skate shop, so their favors were skateboard sugar cookies. how cute is that!?


i've already shown you this cake before, but it's so cute. why not take a look again...


i am so drooling over these landscape portraits. the beautiful mountain/fog/lake backdrop would have been perfect for our winter wonderland. especially if those mountains were snow-capped!