Beautiful From The Inside Out

Vintage Garden Inspired Christmas


Merry Christmas! I wanted to share with you my fave table centerpiece ever! I placed it all on a ceramic palm leaf I found in a vintage store on an old Florida road. Tall, statuesque cedar trees welcome guests, Paperwhite Ziva Bulbs bring serenity and hope, as well as their glass vases making the arrangement airy and refreshing. I added a center candle for the season’s glow and vintage, round ornaments in sage and turquoise to add nostalgic charm. 

This year, as I began to decorate, a garden theme just seemed to arise! I love when you’re decorating, and a theme naturally takes shape. I think it’s an expression of the story within us becoming part of the welcome home we are creating.

I began by adding White Hydrangeas. Fresh and cheery, they add a bright holiday welcome. The ladderback plant holder becomes a cheery garden spot, indoors, anytime of the year! This Christmas, I filled it with sage botanicals, white blooms and an evergreen so delicate it reminds me of air!

The traditional reds and greens of Christmas, for me, don’t express a Florida vibe, so I bring in turquoise, creams and soft sage. Our mantle is a soft escape of sparkling turquoise, cream, silver and our favorite seashells.

All of the blooms and white hydrangeas, I will be able to add to my outdoor flower garden when Christmas is over!

I’ve wondered why my Christmas decorating seemed to take on a gardening theme this year. And then I looked up, at a canvas print I had hung on the wall. It’s new, and available in the boutique.

It’s a picture of a vintage water jar I found in an abandoned garden beside a spring. Everything about it...delighted me. What a treasure! Looking back, I wish I had brought it home! Instead. I began photographing it. There’s such a rich story in it! This is my art design from the photograph “She Left Her Water Jar.” For me, it is a reminder of the woman at the well in the Gospel of John, who left her water jar upon meeting Jesus. It makes me think about what I might need to leave behind this Christmas in order to accept something new. 

Whatever your beliefs may be, it’s a picture full of story...set in a garden. And that’s where I think this Christmas garden theme truly began.

This year, each room of my house, flung out in Christmas decor that’s garden inspired, seems to breathe with new life. Simple. Natural. Elegant.

 

It’s funny how simple things at Christmas can fill you with wonder and awe. As I was photographing this morning, I realized the morning light was touching this plant in an almost...magical way. 

 

Simple leaves, resting...until the sunbeams touched them. Light is such an important part of our Christmas story, isn’t it? Twinkling lights we wrap around trees...we even talk about the ways in which people’s faces “light up.”

Perhaps this gardening theme means awakening and growth that only happens when it’s touched by Light. Light is always...ultimately Love. 

Whatever your home story is this Christmas, I hope this has inspired you in some way. That you and I will find and be Light this Christmas, delight in the simple wonders and find the awe in moments of gathering with others when Lovelight touches the room. 

And, perhaps it’s time for new growth and  new blooms in our journey as we begin to dream our way into 2019!

May your days be merry and bright,

Nan

You will hear what you listen for...