well, thanksgiving is just a full belly behind us, and ’tis the season to start our holiday decorating. i’ve never been one for traditional red & green christmas decor, but i love a lot of shiny metallics — gold, silver and bronze with lots of white candlelight is the kind of holiday vibe i prefer. i’ve never tried out a faux tree before, but rather than chop down a living tree, martha stewart living invited me to try out one of her beautiful pre-lit trees with pinecones and alaskan Spruce wreaths. i have to say, they look quite real, and the tree has a perfect shape and was so easy to put up — no swearing under my breath and struggling with those oh-so-pretty, but often pesky and tangled little white lights.
my mum came over to help and we decorated the house together, listening to old christmas tunes and baking cookies and had such a lovely afternoon. i don’t have a fireplace (sigh) but we created a little mantel-like area over my dining room buffet — adding the pre-lit wreath and pretty gold glitter christmas tree and reindeer figurines from martha’s holiday collection. we added a few candles, my vintage gold sconces and voilá, a warm, festive feeling ensued! we then went to town decorating the tree — we hung almost 200 ornaments and finished with the Winter’s Wonder Glass Tree Topper. we discovered one of the really surprisingly nice things about the martha stewart living ornaments is that she has two shatterproof collections . we used a mix of regular and shatterproof, and unintentionally tested quite a few, dropping them from high atop the ladder with that sinking ‘uh-oh’ feeling, but they stayed happily intact! you can find martha stewart living’s beautiful holiday decorating collection at home depot. let the decorating season begin!
• photography by lily glass for sfgirlbybay.
I have partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. for this post. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own.
Okay, not going to put down Martha’s stuff, but your vintage sconces made that look! You take them away and the look is only so-so. You rock,girl, and don’t forget it. Also so glad you and your mum got to do this together. One good result of the move.
Just lovely. The warm gold with the greenery is so cozy and festive. And those gold candleholders are darling!
Victoria,
I enjoy your blog but have become very cynical – almost every post is a sponsored one. I get that you make money from your blog but when there is so much stuff that is being given to you to write about, it is less enjoyable.
I understand how you could feel that way – this season has been very busy and lots of opportunities have come my way. I’m not unaware that this month has been heavy with sponsored content (the holiday season is very often like this). But I can assure you that the non-sponsored content far outweighs the sponsorships and I choose those very carefully. I wouldn’t run something that I didn’t feel we could style and photograph for hopefully inspiring, original content – like these decorations. I say no to so many more posts than I say yes to, and I only post those brands that I think align well with the blog. Having sponsored content is what allows me to pay a few employees, photographers, stylists and florists and anyone else who contributes to the blog. I take to heart how you feel, and would appreciate you might consider this is my career, and unlike a magazine you might pay for (full of advertisements) I provide free content 5 days a week, at least 2 posts per day, and I can’t do that without supporters that I trust and admire.
I know this took serious work, but it’s seriously perfect. I finally got my parents to go with the pre-lite tree and they were more than ecstatic about it. No more tangled lights and definitely worth he purchase. We never used real trees anyway so it wasn’t much of a leap for them.
Jess
http://www.citycomfortsdc.com/winter-10-dresses/
thanks, jess! we had fun doing it. and it was so much easier for us! happy holidays!
Everything looks so well pulled together!
Kari
http://www.sweetteasweetie.com
Victoria. It is beautiful. I really don’t mind sponsored posts when they are authentic and beautiful and give us ideas of how to make objects we can buy from familiar brands, look really gorgeous in our own homes. I prefer to shop in indie stores but I also shop larger brands so I like to hear about both. Have a wonderful holiday season–it looks like you are off to a great start!
I appreciate your thoughtful reply – thank you for taking the time. I truly wish you well even if I don’t completely agree.
I’m sorry, but I’m afraid Martha’s things look pretty sad when compared to your own. You did your best with the tree, but it looks plastic, mass-produced, and matronly. I believe the people who work for Martha Stewart have the capacity to make something lively and modern with a much younger feeling. Maybe next week they can give you something better to work with.
Great looking tree! What about copper? Christmas worthy?
copper is very christmas-y! :)