Christmas Inspiration 2012 - Yes, It's Not That Far Away

Yesterday was a busy day, first I battled the wind to do my weekly shop at La Cigale market. I usually always follow this with a latte and almond croissant at the market, but this week after over indulging at my sons 30th I decided to sacrifice the almond croissant and pop over to the monthly antiques fair in Avondale. On my way home I called by Corsa di Fiori looking for summer cushions for my living room and again had to battle the wind from my car to their front entrance. When I entered the shop I was surprised to see the normally overstocked shop looking far more sparse, I think the salesman saw my look of surprise and said, "oh were making room for Christmas"... "Christmas! I thought to myself, but it's only October, it's almost three months away". I then realised that 3 months is not long at all, and before we know it we will be making our Christmas cakes and rushing around doing last minute shopping. I have absolutely no idea where this year has gone and wonder if you  feel the same or is it just me?

This week I've been so busy with mum's house that I haven't had time to put my usual "Inspiration from the blogasphere" post together, and as I'm now thinking about Christmas I've been wondering how I might decorate my Christmas table. This year will be my first Christmas without my mum so I've decided not to overdo my table, there will be just my boys and my mums friend and her son. I'm not sure I will feel its a time to celebrate so I'm going to keep it simple and not use traditional Christmas decorations on the table, I'm therefore, finding this years inspiration from some wedding decor below and hope you find some inspiration too...

Pretty and romantic, and I do love gold...

You can't go wrong with white...

Or what about a little colour....

Last year my Christmas was mauve and silver, this year? If your looking for more Christmas inspiration check out my Pinterest Boards below

A Turquoise Christmas

Gold and silver Christmas

Jars of Prettiness - Confectionery & Refreshments

Jars of prettiness, what a lovely way to decorate your table for a wedding, summer picnic, courtyard luncheon, or just pretty up your coffee table with treats for your guests. Love the idea of cucumber slices in spring water rather than lemon alone. A simple ribbon tied around a jar of striped straws adds such a lovely touch. I'm definitely going to put some pretty jars on my coffee table and can't wait till Summer to create a lovely table for luncheon with friends.

Collages created using Style Me Pretty, see more of my boards "here"


If you love macarons, you can find a previous post and recipe "here"

If your looking for pretty coloured straws like the ones above, please see my post "here"

sharing this week with:

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek Cottage

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Time Travel Thursday at the Brambleberry Cottage

Show and tell Friday at My Romantic Home

At The Picket Fence

I hope we've filled you with inspiration

Table Top Inspiration

I've been searching nearly a year now for a suitable dining table for my open plan living area. My area is not very spacious and I envisioned a table I could place against the wall  to display some nice items  while not in use. You might think it easy to find a suitable table but it proved harder than I thought.  The only table that would work for me was a drop leaf but most of the vintage ones had ugly legs or they were too low, and modern drop leaf tables seem to be a little elusive.  NZ is a small country of only 4 million in population (yes we do have 50 million sheep), but sometimes were not as fortunate as my USA and UK readers in our choice of places to shop.  Last week however,  I was lucky enough to find the perfect table, well almost perfect, it's antique pine,  circular, seats 6 people and drops down to stand against the wall. The not so perfect part is the turned legs have been scratched and gnawed at by some animal, I was told a cat but looks more like "Jaws" to me :(. I am currently working on repairing this and plan to paint the legs and skirting  in a French style similar to the table below.  I will be posting my makeover and the look I am putting together soon.  Meanwhile I am looking for ideas to display on my table top when I'm not entertaining.

Oval drop leaf table from Layla Grayce - US$1,338 (I wish Layla Grayce were in NZ as this table would have been perfect for me).

Some Table Top Inspiration

 click on the arrow to scroll through the slideshow - created through Houzz

My little pup is begging for attention so have to dash...

Lee x

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