It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas...

....And when I say beginning friends, I mean, I still have a TON of work to do to get this place Christmas ready! We are taking this holiday slowly, enjoying every moment as a family, and not making it a marathon. 

Since I have been spending a ridiculous amount of time experimenting (and stuffing my face) in the kitchen, I thought it was the perfect place to start with the Christmas decor. 

I created some chalkboard art (freehand) and embellished the frame with garland, vintage cookie cutters, berries, and metal stars. The stars were purchased from a German flea market for only two Euro! They fit the song I chose for the board perfectly! If you want to do this in your own home, find chalkboard art inspiration online, blow the image up (with a projector, not a bomb) and trace it. Or, if you don't have a projector, you can freehand it like I did!

For the centerpiece, I used a burlap coffee sack as the base and placed an antique French bottle carrier with vintage canning jars on top. I filled them with extra clippings of evergreen and cheery, red berries. I found silver antlers for a few euro at the Fungrube, spray painted them gloss white and placed metallic candlesticks inside! Since we now reside in a barn, I wanted to keep the holiday decor simple, rustic and not too fussy. 

I love cooking and entertaining in our cozy Christmas kitchen. A new favorite of ours is my friend Hillary's creamy, coconut, curry carrot soup recipe. It is all natural, vegetarian, gluten and lactose free. It is perfect for all guests, even ones with food allergies and preferences. It is so rich and decadent tasting while still being healthy, it will now be a staple in our home. Click here for the recipe and to check out her wonderful foodie blog!

 I am also really enjoying the escargot from across the border... Yum!

I hope you are enjoying this festive season as much as I am!