December to Remember Day 3: Tablescape Thursday

No words beyond this point, as I hope the photos will convey the soft, casual feel of this dinner. Tomorrow though, check back for If I can Do It Friday when I show you the fun and unexpected making of this centerpiece, because afterall, if I can do it ... so can you!

Thank you to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting another beautiful Tablescape Thursday.

December to Remember Day 2: Peacock Christmas Tree

In 2006, I saw the most beautiful ornament at a Hobby Lobby in Texas. Scott and I thought about purchasing the ornament in depth before putting it and 22 others in the cart. They were beautiful, and they captured the light like faceted crystal - even though they weren't. Not only that, but they were the perfect colors: a base of glittered green and blue with a beaded cloak like attachment in purples, blues, greens, and even a few golds. Now, you're probably thinking: "Why were you in such deep thought over an ornament? Even 23 ornaments?" Well - because we both knew that it meant hundreds of more ornaments that we had yet to find. Hundreds of ornaments, equalling hundreds of dollars and the headache of moving totes of ornaments to New York, afterall - we already knew we were moving.

Ultimately, obviously, we decided to buy them. And now, three years - and - 123 ornaments, 698 feathers, 5 spools of ribbon, and 8 strands of beaded garland later. We finally have it:

The peacock Christmas tree - unlit. In our foyer, where the secretary and blue and white Chinese porcelain lives during the summer months. The walls are a beautiful sort of coral/terracotta color in this room, and even though it's pretty narrow the tree fits perfectly in this corner. Don't you find that warm wall color a great complement to the blues and greens of this tree?

The peacock Christmas tree, lit. Note the beautiful Moroccan lanterns in the center of the tree. Those beautiful lanterns were a clearance find at TJMaxx at $22/each. They weigh about 6 pounds and were wired onto the tree stand. I filled them with blue lights and green lights, to give a little whimsy to the already non-traditional stride.

The staircase railing is free of greens and garland, as I figured there are enough of those throughout the house - anymore here would have just been overkill. So I opted for 5 blocks of oasis, glued and wired together to hold this arrangement of green glittered poinsettia blossoms, beaded garland strands, glass ornaments, and several beautiful peacock plumes.

We'll be seeing more of this tree in the future installments of the December to Remember around CdlV, as I'll be giving a couple of these ornaments away in later days. But for now, let me show you a few of our favorites:

I'm in love with these peacock feather covered balls. They came on stems, perfect for adorning the tree in this tree-topper. They came 2 to a stem, both with different circumferences, and are available at HOBBY LOBBY for $4.99. Mixed in with the peacock feathers I waited what seemed like years to receive, and a few "snow" covered birch branches ... the crown to this tree was born. From that point ... I moved onward:

making my way down the tree. I picked up some of these mirrored ornaments at TJMAXX because they reminded me of the Moroccan lanterns that I picked to give the tree it's center. Fortunately, my friend Melisa was kind enough to pick up a few more to finish off the tree from a HomeSense in Canada.

Of course, the lanterns are beautiful, but still not my favorite. Even the peacocks (did you notice them) take a distant second to these gorgeous finds! Can you spot them? Do you think that you know which ones I'm talking about?

Well, come back Sunday to see my favorite ornaments on this tree, and to enter the giveaway for 2 just like them! I promise, you won't want to miss this!

So tell me, what do you think? Is a peacock tree in your Christmas future?

December to Remember: Day 1 - The Exterior of CDLV

Remember when I told the story of my childhood home? Well, CdlV couldn't be more different. I grew up in a single story ranch style home, with a large front porch and no real landscaping to speak of. The interior was small, but had an open floor plan which made for easier entertaining when my mother had the time, and at Christmas the whole house was lit - inside and out - with multi-colored lights.

I think back on those windows lined in lights and sprayed with canned snow, the paper cutouts that read: "Merry Christmas" and "Ho Ho Ho", that lopsided tree that took an entire day to put up, and all of the handmade, sometimes less than perfect, and certainly less than chic ornaments my younger brother and I were allowed to decorate that leaning tree with, and smile. It's not a thing like what I do today - but I thank my mother for letting her children have their moment ... I'm sure it's helped to define my taste today. And what is that, you ask?

Firstly, a much more natural approach. Live greens make a 5" wide garland. A few extra pieces of greens I got from a logged pine tree make a beautiful crown.

Then I pulled the final colorful stems from our front bushes. I think their coral/orange color is really beautiful ... and though they won't last through the winter, for now, they give great texture and color to the arrangement.

My friend Dorothy was kind enough to fashion this beautiful ribbon bow for the whole shebang, which gives it a second, third, maybe fourth layer of texture ... depending on where you start counting.

Then of course, the urn. Filled with twigs cut down by the power authority at the gorge edge, greens from a logged pine tree, berry branches, unteachable vines from our grape vine, sugar pine cones, and hydrangeas.

I love the beautiful mahogany color of the branches against the greenery. And the color of the hydrangea compliments the color of the ribbon at the front door.

Of course, the urn is special in and of itself, but I think that this natural and more masculine winter display certainly suits it well.

So there you have it, in a nut shell. From multi-colored twinkle lights and spray snow from a can, to a live, natural, and masculine approach to Christmas.

Come on in! :) Tomorrow we'll take a that tree with all the feathers ... and Thursday - a Christmas Party tablescape. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the exterior decor of CdlV this Christmas. Happy December!

It's Almost December ...

And you know what that means? Well, it means 31 days of fabulous on Color Outside the Lines! At least, I hope you'll find it fabulous. I can't tell you all what it means to me to have you vote in the poll on the side bar to let me know what you're looking for when you take time out of your day to visit. I'll be having just a bit of everything this December ... but you can bet there will be crafts, pictures of Casa de la Vanderdogan, decorating ideas, and dinner party ideas - including tablescapes thrown in the mix.

Look for the Friday Craft posts entitled: If I Can Do It ...; these informative step-by-step craft projects will help you decorate your home for the holidays, cook festive and fun holiday desserts, and dress up your Christmas trees all simply, and beautifully - because if I can do it, so can you!

I've been working away getting the live greens outside just so, in order to share on the blog, and will soon festoon the Dining Room tree with the final ornament. Check back in Tuesday for the big reveal of the CdlV porch! Think ladders and thorns ... and each day in December I'll share a few pictures of the CdlV Christmas decor, so check back often ... there's even a giveaway or two thrown in there.

Happy End of November!

Tablescape Thursday: Thanksgiving Table

I've been working my little, ok - not so little, fingers to the bone it feels like - trying to get the house ready for Christmas. The Living Room and Foyer are almost finished, with just a few tweeks to be made. The Dining Room will be taken care of tonight, and then we only have a few days before we start the December posts of Casa de la Vanderdogan. I really appreciate all of the votes that you have cast so far on the sidebar to let me know what you'd like to see more of. If you haven't had the chance to vote yet, please do. You can choose as many as you'd like.

Ok, so back to tablescapes! Firstly, thank you to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting this fabulous event! Secondly, the table for Thanksgiving is pretty simple. We're having 3 friends for dinner at 2pm, and the menu, though delicious really won't include any fancy gourmet recipes. So, simple was best ... and this is what I came up with ...

A festive sort of color palette, rusts, reds, deep ambers, and copper mixed with the rough textures of linen and burlap, ironstone and metal. I made the table runner for the table out of a yard of burlap and scrap pieces of the Kravet fabric that Pottery Barn used for their very popular Simone collection this fall.

Of course, I used our ironstone plates. Scott decided not to do a salad this year and appetizers will be served in the living room, so just a charger and a plate ... how simple is that? Copper handled silverware is a nice color compliment to the rusty brown tones in the tablerunner banding and in the flower arrangement.


A mix of alstromeria, mums, roses, filler, and pomegranates in one of the ironstone tureens gave the real color story here, or at least the beginning of it. The picking of flowers was very slim for some reason, so with some thought I decided that this was Fall and Holiday all in one.

A great arrangement to look at for all of 2 seconds before focus turns to the food, and everyone settles in for a wonderful afternoon of laughter and good food - thankful all the while.

Thank you to everyone of you who read this blog! Your constant support is an inspiration, and I appreciate you all more than I could ever express. Enjoy your holiday, and make sure to take the time to run back over to Susan's blog to see all of the other fabulous Thanksgiving Tablescapes.

December to Remember Poll

What would make you enjoy reading Color Outside the Lines even more in December? Take the poll on the side bar, and if you'd like - leave a comment. As I work through projects and decorating in the hopes of having daily posts filled with information - I wanted to make sure that everything you want is there and more!


Don't forget to VOTE FOR GARY P. in Velvet & Linen's Drawing. Info below, and links on the sidebar!

A Table for three?

Some of you might have been privy to the giveaway that the delightful Brooke from Velvet & Linen was hosting on her blog. Three (3) Brick Makers tables from the ever inspiring BoBo's Intriguing Objects and Mark Sage.

The top 10 are posted, and although I didn't make the ranking, I am asking each of you reading to do to click on this LINK and vote for my good friend Gary P. The voting reel is on the right side bar! Many of you know Gary from the blog as GinCT. We were lucky enough to take a tour of his Connecticut Farmhouse HERE.

Gary has amazing taste, and uses interesting objects to jazz up interiors completely throughout his beautiful home. Remember the bathroom he remodeled with the stone sink and table base?


Yes, Gary is a visionary, and I for one am excited beyond measure to see what he'll do with the BoBo table.