Christmas Delivery

I hope you receive all your packages for Christmas...

and you get everything you asked for!

via BBB Flickr group

It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life has to be my favorite Christmas movie.

I still cry every time I see it.

Christmas Brunch

Presentation is everything... Add red tulle around your glasses, and

make sure to stop by the florist for a beautiful centerpiece!

This puff pancake with grapes and nectarines looks divine!

and add a little twist to your regular waffles,

with this ginger-pumpkin waffles recipe

country living, bhg, taste of home

Wrap it Up

{watercolors available for purchase here}

Can you believe there are 7 more days until Christmas?

If you are a procrastinator, you better get a move on!

Enjoy these links to give you some ideas!

"Wrap it Up ~ from A to Z"

amazing show!

bright ideas at Anthropologie

candy-cane cocktail!

decorating with pinecones

etsy!

my flickr group

gracious Christmas dinner...

holiday appetizers

iPod cozy

j crew sale

knitsimple mag

llbean gifts

mistletoe ~~ fresh!

new arrivals at j crew

online markdowns!!

15 designer place settings

lovely quote

rachel : hit or miss?

season's hottest toys at Target

outdoor trees lighting

ugly Christmas sweaters!!

la vie... Jaime

DIY cupcake wrappers!

spanx

your after party survival guide!

find it at zappos

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

I just saw the Rockettes for the first time this week. Their Christmas show is something I have wanted to see for years ~~ and it was everything I had imagined and more!

If you want to get in the Christmas spirit, go see the show.

Holiday Decor

Isn't this glass vase so unique? Fill it with red berries, and

place on your favorite side table!

Holiday Decorating Ideas

Change it up a little... instead of traditional

green and red, why not pink and red?

Have a bright, bold, and beautiful room for the holidays!

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{via hostess with the mostess}

Bold Colors

A vibrant tablecloth accented with mini gold Christmas trees

really makes a statement. I love the festive garland around

the light fixture as well.

via country living

Holiday Decorating Ideas

Dress up your tree with pearls and ribbons...

Be creative, and have fun!

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image via Country Living

There's A Party Going On Across From Bloomies

Designer Richard Keith Langham hosts a holiday dinner.

Location: NYC across from Bloomies.

" It is adorned in foil icicles, lights and balls — from the inside out and the top down — a job that requires scaffolding and a cherry picker. Allowing the twenty-foot tree to dominate the space, 

Langham simplifies his festive formula for the rest of the interior: loads of fresh balsam, fir and pine, and everything else drenched in red.

I am definitely up for a Christmas Party.

Especially If I could just drop in after shopping at Bloomies.

"The thrust of the whole room is its verticality," he says. About a decade ago, Langham fell in love at first sight with the space, a freestanding former savings-and-loan institution across the street from Bloomingdale's."

The soaring space is uniquely suited to elegant Christmas partying, and 

drop-by guests are always welcome. 

With native Southern charm and a nod to his stint at the University of Alabama, 

Langham sums up his delight in the season: "Let the yuletide roll."

His design tip:

"Anytime you have lots of people in, 

it is important 

to have decorations up above everybody's heads. 

As the room fills up, anything at eye level is lost."

He says that his ornaments are all dime store ornaments.

But he has thousands, and the tree takes 5 days to decorate.

Would you have a tree this big if your space would allow it ?

I say " hell no."

But I would if I had a staff to do the work....

I mean what could be prettier than a huge Christmas Tree?

Click Here to read article from Veranda

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....
Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Ft.Lauderdale,Design Service, Window Treatments, TurnKey Interior Design Service,Paint selection, Floor-Plans,Online Interior Design,
Design Center of The Americas, D.C.O.T.A.,Christmas

Christmas Ornaments

I have to mention a good friend of mine who makes these wonderful glass ornaments.  They really shine in the twinkling Christmas lights.  Teresa Babb is a very talented and creative person.  I encourage her to make her glass available on Etsy.  Here are a few pics of the ornaments I bought this year.  She has a lot more ornaments that I do not have pictures for.  She also makes jewelry, so check her out!

I always call on Teresa when I have a DIY project.  She always knows what to do:)

See ya tomorrow!

-A

Hershey's Kiss

Every day deserves a Kiss! Happy Holidays!

Don't miss the Holiday Planning guide for your next gathering.

Be sure to download BB&B on your iPhone iPad or iTouch today.

Go to the iTunes App Store and Search: Bright Bold and Beautiful

Have you heard of Bamboopink! It's coming your way soon!!!

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Alphabet Ornaments

I saw these adorable alphabet ornaments

via Apartment Therapy today.

My mind is full of ideas for these... So cool, right?

Available at Ballard Designs.

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Christmas has come early at our house

My friend Fiona and I have been crafting. Me....who never does any sort of craft work! We made Christmas banners for two of my mirrors.

I must thank Terri at Windlost for the idea. I was struck by her lovely banners and thought they looked like something I could tackle (with a little bit of help). And I know it is 11 months til Christmas season starts, but I wanted to do it while it was fresh in my head, otherwise it was very likely it would never get done at all.

I'm really happy with the results. There's no way I could have done it on my own. Fiona is a very talented crafter who taught me lots of tricks and she has every crafty gadget known to man! We even made the freshwater pearl garland that the 'joy' tags hangs on.

Here's a close up of the letters. You can see I chose paper embossed with Christmas words. Little details like this matter to me. It was Fiona's idea to stitch around the edges, and I think it added that finishing touch.

And here's the other one.

We went for an aged look with this banner. I chose a caligraphy paper, written with Christmas phrases for the background. We scanned and photoshopped the paper because I didn't want the original blue colour - we went with a soft grey instead. Once we cut the paper, Fiona taught me how to 'age' the paper using a couple of different types of ink.

We used black velvet to string the letter tags up. I used a hot glue gun for the first time - a very useful gadget!

I love the little pewter brad on each letter. I didn't even know what a brad was when I first started!

Now I can't wait til Christmas so I can put them up!

But the best thing about the whole event, was getting together with my good friend Fiona and chatting and laughing while going through 'the creative process', with our kids playing happily in the background.

Deconstructing the tree

Stage one of the Christmas tree deconstruction began today: removal and storage of ornaments. Stage two: lights and actual tree disassembly will happen tomorrow - you can't rush these things you know, especially when you have an 8 foot high tree.

Being a fresh year and all, I like to think that I'm going to be super organised and on top of things, so I decided to go a little bit Martha and store my ornaments properly.


Ok, I didn't go so far as to hot glue gun paper cups to cardboard, but I did dig out some egg cartons for my new delicate heart ornaments, which didn't come in a box of their own. So now they're nestled in their little carton, all safe and sound.

Another Martha idea is to wrap your lights around pieces of cardboard, like so: I like this idea, because detangling lights does not bring out the festive spirit in me, in fact there was a little bit of swearing going on this year, which is not very Christmas-ey at all. But I think my lights are way to long for this idea, so I've decided to go with the idea of wrapping them around an old postage tube instead. I'm interested in knowing if this works, but I guess I won't know until next year when I go to unwrap them. Have you tried it? Please tell me if it works.

But I did use Martha's idea for my beaded garland instead. Only thing is I think I should have used a longer piece and wrapped it wider apart. Oh well, next year!

Still in organising mode, I'm thinking of creating an under-bed wrapping station, like the one in the picture below. I'm tired of opening my cupboard in the study and all the rolls of wrapping paper tumbling out, so this might be just the trick, with little compartments for ribbons and such. I'm the sort of person who files her guarantees and instruction booklets alphabetically, so any little nifty organising idea appeals to me.

If you haven't braved the deconstruction of your tree yet, I wish you good luck!

Images from Martha Stewart, Better Homes and Gardens and me

Christmas blessings

I'm terribly fickle. After having bought a whole bucket load of deep red, matt baubles this year, I think I'm going to go for a restrained white, green and silver theme next Christmas. So the red baubles might stay packed away next year, but they'll come out another Christmas.

I think visiting all the ethereal, white white white Swedish blogs have inspired the more restrained palette. These lovely pictures helped inspire me too....

All images from Better Homes and Gardens

An understated doorway sets the scene....


Mercury glass baubles....

A twinkly tree, all aglow in white and silver...

...white cashmere stockings, lots of mercury glass candlesticks and baubles, and a dash of tasteful greenery....how beautiful.....

A black sideboard set with silver, glass and white crockery....fabulous.....

A room with just the subtlest touch of Christmas greenery.....

A simple pinecone in some snow-like substance with candles all aglow....

But now I have to be honest with you, people ....I'm a bit of a Christmas Grinch. The over-commercialisation of Christmas gets to me, the crowded shopping malls drive me barmy, and the fact that I only get to see my son for part of the day makes me feel sad and lonely. I also only get two Christmas presents - a $20 family Kris Kringle, and a $10 work Kris Kringle (which I usually end up donating to charity...naughty me). And this year is my first Christmas without my father who I loved so much.

But you know what? If that is the worst I have to contend with, I'm doing pretty well. There are so many people out there who have so much less than me and would tell me to stop being so ungrateful. So this Christmas I'm counting my blessings......

I'll be spending time with my son who I adore.

I have a well enough paid job that enables me to lavish my little fella with lots of fantastic presents which I know he is going to love.

I'll be with my lovely mum and my family.

We will have a bountiful table and we'll be eating yummy white chocolate cheesecake for desert (made by moi). I'm a white chocolate fanatic!

I'll be able to have a sleep-in on Boxing Day because my son will be tuckered out and sleep late.

I earn enough money to buy my own fabulous Christmas present!

I hope you, my lovely blogger friends, who brighten my day, every day, have lots of blessings to count too.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Catherine xx

The Most Romantic Time In Paris Is Christmas

We went to Paris during the holiday season.

' Isn't it Romantic ? '

Very Romantic. ( for my brother and his little woman )

It was Moi, my brother & his wife, and my big sis.

We stayed in the 7th. and everywhere I wanted to be was a metro ride away. I am a 6th. district kinda' gal. The apartment could not have been any nicer. It was roomy, well decorated, clean, and again, too far from where I wanted to be.

This is the floor, plan if you care.

Living room & dining room.

We went shopping everyday and had such delicious 'everything & anything' to nosh on.

The kitchen bar , and the kitchen had EVERYTHING you could possibly need for cooking and dining at home .

This was the master bath. It was great , it had washer & dryer ( hidden of course ) , and the elegant shell sinks.

My brother and sister in-law stayed in this room, it had the view of the Eiffel Tower.

This was the guest room.

Oh, did I mention my niece came as well ? She stayed here.

This was my little bedroom, it had a beautiful bath, very euro high tech. I loved it.

My own little heaven , I could close the door and be alone. I like ' alone' .

These are typical city street views during the holidays.

This is taken in the 6th. near San Germaine, my turf.

I spend quite a bit of time in this area. ( 6th )

I love the way everything is wet , clean and the streets are reflective and shiny . I imagine I will always stay a big city girl at heart. I love the city right after a good rain.

This is Rue Buci, and Rue Jacob is around the corner where I have a few choice antique shops that I buy from. That is a great street for you when you are there. ( Left Bank )

Everything is prettier in Paris .

Everything.

Have you ever seen such adorable cherry tomatoes.

What , do cherry tomatoes not have permission to grow unless they promise to be chic, and grow in a little straight line ?

I love that.

From left to right ;

Moi, My sister ( Nancy ) , my brother ( Danny ), and sister in-law ( Liz ).

This pic looks so corny. I hate corny. And I am all weird, tilting my head into my sister, what is up with that ??

That is soooo not me.

I blame this on Liz, because she loves Hallmark Cards, and clearly I have temporarily lost my mind caught up in all the warmth.

My sister Nancy ( who has lived in London for more than 25 years ) and Me .

I love, love, love, love, her ! She came over on the Chunnel .

I bought her that hat in Paris as a surprise, from a lovely Iranian shop.

I had no idea ,( but I think Nancy knew ) but that particular hat is worn by The Taliban in Afghanistan.

I have since seen many pictures on the CNN & BBC of these terrorist donning these wool caps while posing with their high powered rifles.

Nancy is as gracious as she is beautiful....so, of course she wore it !

This is the view from our apartment ( in the 7th district ) in Paris where we all stayed.

I took this in the morning.

The Eiffel practically blows up at night, the the light show is unbelievable. And it is all going on right next to the sofa.

More just shopping around .

I love my job. I get to shop with other peoples money !

"Such A Deal" ( spoken with a Yiddish accent )

Go here to see xmas trees all over the world : http://anythingbeautiful.blogspot.com/

( enlarge any picture for more info and a closer look )

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her blog of her Adventures in Design