I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!  We got back from visiting family for Thanksgiving late last night and even after a long ride in the car, decorating the house for Christmas was on my mind as soon as I walked in the front door.  I saw my newly sanded wood floors, the house was clean and tidy and my decorating brain started working.  Of course, decorating at 11:30 at night was a bit impractical, so I waited until after church today.  We were all dragging a bit, so there was some loafing, napping and relaxing, but I did get a bit of a start. I started with a simple project I’ve had planned for a while…making an advent wreath out of an ironstone ring mold. Obviously, you could use any ring mold for this project.  I checked out Etsy and spotted several aluminum and copper ones for

Some of you have mentioned that you notice my style evolving, especially over the past year.  I have been making an effort to get rid of things I don’t really, really love and that editing has made a big difference in my home.  Most of the furniture is the same, but stripping away the excess is putting the spotlight on the special pieces I own. As I’ve been thinking through decorating for Christmas, I am taking the same approach.  I want to edit, so my style can shine through. I’m carefully selecting everything from the papers to the ribbons to the candles and I can’t wait to start putting it all together in my house. I’m pulling inspiration from my childhood in Europe and want to have an advent wreath this year. (via Mad & Bolig) I’m planning to mustardized it, though, and make one using an antique ironstone ring mold.