deck the halls!

Sir Davis, our Douglas Fir Christmas Tree on the lot of
Hanover Pines Christmas Tree Farm in Beaverdam, Virginia.
(Before the blessings and prayers and sacrificial rites.)
We go every year, on the Sunday before Christmas,
and hike a few acres to find the perfect winter companion.
We liked the curly-Q top ala Dr. Seuss. $75 later, he's happy at home.

I'm decking the halls this winter with all things natural:
pinecones, feathers, berries, moss, twigs, herbs, dried fruit,
and evergreen boughs, wreaths and branches in
Fir, Cedar, Cypress, and Magnolia.
It's a veritable winter woodland wonderland in here!
It smells of the woods, herbs, and rotting fruit.

This awesome bush on my boyfriend's property has a whole lotta these blue berries.
We have no idea what it is, but it is simply brimming with them.
I made sure to leave some for the birdies nesting nearby
and trimmed a box-full for wreath making.
With several bunches left over, i slipped them into vintage apothecary jars
and scattered them throughout the house.

A large driftwood plank is adorned with vintage postcards,
and a treasured vintage pic of a young Shirley Temple-esque girl,
sitting on the lap of St. Nick. Blue lights add some festive cheer.

Inside the wooden dish on the crate coffee table is an aromatic collection:

driftwood
dried lemon slices
sage
rosemary
holly
and a pomegranate

Above: Leftover holly and greens find a festive home
snuggled amid the vines of my handmade wreath
and stacked gourds,
still fresh from All Saints Day,
transform into a jolly snowman
with clove eyes and a bamboo skewer nose.