Look How Much Spring Five Dollars Buys You

Christmas decs came down yesterday and now the house is looking kinda bare. Working on more permanent ways to remedy that, like perhaps some new artwork and some kind of festive-in-a-non-holidays-way treatment for the front window. I don't know if I'm ready to go full-on spring quite yet; I kind of feel like we've been robbed of winter thus far. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not missing the bitter cold, but a bit more snow to help enjoy cozy days inside would be alright, until it's the proper time of year. It's been so warm, my daffs came up, I think it was early December, and that kind of weirds me out.

But regardless, I couldn't resist this bouquet at Whole Foods yesterday, for $5! They must have been cleaning out the cooler post holidays. Way more that $5 worth of loveliness here. And actually, it's not really too spring-y. Just every so cheery.

♡,

Erin

P.S. I am loving the Hipstamatic Foodie SnapPak. I think it's $.99. As you can see, it's great for flower shots too!

Martha Stewart Living January '12

Well just before I sat down to do this post, I checked the mail and there was the February MSL. So do quickly run to your newsstand of choice (real or virtual) and try to grab the January issue (we're only one week into the month after all, not too late to enjoy a January mag at all!), because despite it's skinniness, it's chock full of, hehehe, "good things". 

First off, Martha takes us on a tour of her new homekeeping room in a converted outbuilding at her Bedford, NY farm. Lots of great organizing ideas for supplies of all sorts, and I have to admit, her work/storage pieces for Home Decorators Collection are pretty sweet. Running all over the house trying to gather shipping supplies to send off Little Green Vintage orders makes me especially covet this packing station.

A little spread on staying warm stylishly had three ensembles, country rustic, city chic and this middle-of-the-road option that was my fav.

Loved this cheery little workspace.

Easy-peasy diy gilded bookends definitely look like more than the sum of their parts.

Last weekend Greg and I went to Sage American Bistro for the first time and we had a fabulous frisée salad, so it was kind of fun to come across the above left in the Easy Entertaining menu. Sage's version was tossed with white balsamic vinaigrette and included goat cheese, bacon, pickled red onions, and was topped with a poached egg rather than hard-cooked. Yum. And in a story on the combo of lemon, parsley, and parmesan, this bread with prosciutto and egg stood out, kinda reminiscent of Northstar Café's prosciutto and poached eggs, which is out of this world. 

Loved the white and gray palate of this kitchen. Carrera marble counters ♥. 

Need some of this. Not sure for what yet, but if I'm going to get craft-y this year, it sounds like a nice versatile thing to have on hand.

And finally, on the subject of making, a great article chock full of beautiful knitting projects.

Like these gorgeous stool covers...

and this cozy modern blanket. I think getting some supplies and some form of beginner instruction might finally be in order this month. I've been inclined to try knitting for awhile, and this spread is great motivation to get started.  

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

♡,

Erin

X-Mas Décor

As promised. Starting off with our Charlie Brown-est of trees, actually a windfall branch from the maple out back, 

stuck in the urn I bought once-upon-a-time for some verdant curly willow that kicked off shortly after transplant. We decided not to commit to hauling home and finding a place for a big tree, and most all the little ones we saw on last weekend were a little too rotund for this corner. Unfortunately after it was all said and done I did come across a few ickle ones that would have worked. Definitely next year we'll look harder to start with me thinks.

We did drag in some greens (cedar, ivy, boxwood, and blue spruce, thank you previous owners of our house for your excellent evergreen planting choices) from the yard and made little bundles for the front and kitchen windows. 

With double faced satin ribbon and white lights (in the front) things came together nicely, inspired by this image from Anthology mag via Apartment Therapy.

(Kitchen window.)

I set out my grandmother's sled each year. Used by she, my dad and aunt, and then myself, it's got three generations of snowy child entertaining and probably 100 years under it's belt. 

Paperwhites are blooming. Excellent timing.

Greeting card display as horizontal space is at a bit of a premium in the living room.

Greeting from a different time. Postcard sent to my great grandmother in 1918.

Decided to leave the antlers I found on Old Worthington Market Day au natural for now and finally just hung them up over the telly. They seemed game for a bit of adornment.

And finally last but not least, this Santa with his sack of presents, sled, and reindeer have been around in my family forever.

I've had so much fun scoping out holiday decorating ideas on Pinterest and around blogland this year. Sort of makes me hope I catch the holiday spirit earlier next year so that perhaps I can tackle some of the fun projects I've saved.

For a couple more lovely holiday décor blog posts check out junkaholique and lobster and swan. They're two of my faves any day of the year, and both ladies have given me serious sweet little tree envy. :)

♡,

Erin

Growing Gifts

I hope everyone in the States had an excellent Thanksgiving yesterday. We are in Illinois for the long weekend. We had a traditional turkey dinner yesterday with Greg's family and today we're on to a beef roast with mine. Monday I think I will be on to some sort of in-between-holiday detox and workout regimen. As today is Black Friday, tomorrow is Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday will be here before we know it, I wanted to share the paperwhite forcing gift sets I put into Little Green Vintage earlier in the week. 

I have two single bulb sets in these lovely silver goblets. Just the perfect size to snug the bulb in with just a bit of room below for water. They are engraved "Gene & Shirley 10-1-83", probably wedding favors once upon a time, and come tied off with vintage red and blue taffeta bows. 

I also have one three bulb set in this frosted Diamond Point pattern Indiana Glass compote, finished with a big bow of vintage silver ribbon and polished creamy colored river rocks for nestling the bulbs in.

All sets come gift wrapped. (And I'll soon have a gift wrapping option with the same basic materials available for everything else in the shop too, should you want to gift any of the other vintage goodies I've got on offer.) Inside a lidded gift box, vintage dictionary and silver tissue shred keep things padded and safe (compote will be bubbled and wrapped in tissue for extra protection). Bulbs are wrapped in tissue and tied up with twine and forcing instructions.  

Gift then comes wrapped in silver tissue and embellished with jute twine, green and white sparkle-infused baker's twine, a silver chenille stem star, white gift tag, and sprig of fresh cedar. 

All right, it's official, I've got the spirit. Bring on the rest of the holly-days!

♡,

Erin

Enjoy Co

Greg works in Granville, OH which is about 30 miles east of Columbus. It's a lovely New England-esque town (it was founded in 1804 by a group from Massachusetts and Connecticut)in a beautiful setting on the western edge of Appalachians. Granville is home to Denison University, a small liberal arts college, a picturesque downtown full of shops, restaurants and old churches, and loads and loads of gorgeous historic homes. (I will take you on a tour sometime after warm weather comes back around.) And Enjoy Co., a very nicely curated home and garden shop which I finally visited for the first time last week.    

Lovely leaves at the side of the shop.

Enjoy Co. sums up their aesthetic as "vintage, industrial, natural, and contemporary". The bright space the shop occupies showcases a neutral palate of silver, steel, bronze, wood, glass, jute, wool and leather with green accents in the form of lush potted plants. 

Wish I was a knitter so I could have justified a skein or two of this yarn. Have to try it out sooner than later.

Love, love, love the mini tinsel garland! (Getting closer to having that holiday spirit.)

I wish I had taken more store-wide shots, but I just kept zooming in on all of their great little vignettes. 

Reusable wooden gift boxes. ♥ 

I also wanted to bring home this porcelain votive house...

and this plushy, faux mossy wreath. Perhaps next time.

I did come away with some sparkle-infused bakers' twine for wrapping up holiday things...

and a few paperwhites for forcing. I just got this one nestled in today to my "Best Scholar Freshman Fencing 1934" cup, the lone specimen in my vintage trophy collection, but my peepers are always open. 

I am going to have on offer in Little Green Vintage a few paperwhite forcing gift sets of a similar vintage persuasion in the very new future. I've been wanting to have the "green" in Little Green Vintage refer to growing things for awhile now, and I'm super excited with how they're turning out as I put them together. I hope you'll like them too!

If you ever find yourself in central Ohio, do visit Granville and if you visit Granville, do stop into Enjoy Co, located just east of downtown and open Thur. - Sat. It's a beautiful, inspiring place. In the meantime, check out their website, as it is likewise!

♡,

Erin