Happy Holidays and welcome to the official kickoff of our 2017 Merry & Bright Blog Hop Series! I’ve teamed up with some incredibly…(and when I say incredibly I mean AMAAAZING!) bloggers to invite you all into our homes for a tour. These tours will be each featuring the same room and will be posting every Monday through Christmas. We simply can’t wait to share with you all what makes our homes full of the Christmas spirit . We hope you can find some inspiration for your own homes as there will be lots of beautiful pictures to behold. I will be linking these talented bloggers at the bottom of this page.

And now without further ado…

I’d like to welcome you to my Christmas Home 2017…

The Entryway

My theme this year is inspired by my old country…the one I spent most of my childhood in: Denmark. I have been in America for 20 years now, but recently this past summer I had the opportunity to go home for a visit. It brought back oh so many beautiful memories of my childhood . Especially the Christmases that were epic…. I really can’t explain it ..lol.

Now as a mother I’m trying my best to bring it home to my own children.

I have always included lots of Danish traditions into my decorating and with my family, but this year I tried to go a little bit more Scandinavian than usual…

So…..Welcome to my home….

This is the entry that greats our guest when they come. This view is from the office.

A “Glœdelig Jul” (thats Danish for Merry Christmas) DIY scroll is what you first see when entering. it was an easy DIY, made from a Painters Masking Paper roll and a sharpie pen. Just print out your design before hand and trace it onto the paper as it is a bit see-through. So easy…so fun! I attached it to this old PB driftwood star and it was a match made in heaven. lol….

This antique highboy dresser is one of my prized possessions! I recently refinished it, and i love it so much better now. Just sanded it down to raw wood. It brings oh so much more light to this sometimes dark space.

I’ve always loved decorating with fresh greenery. And that is a sure staple in a Scandinavian home. The Winter days are so dark there so we bring the green inside together with lots of candles of course. You will see this in some of my future posts to come. Juniper berries, eucalyptus and pinecones are some of my favorites. I just love the juniper though… I remember when I was about 7 years old at school in Denmark playing outside in the wintertime, and there was this enormous juniper bush. I saved many of my friends from eating the berries …lol. But I remember collecting them because they smelled oh so good and the dusty blue color just made me happy. For this I used a mix of faux and real garland. The real garland makes the house smell like Christmas!

Adorned with fresh Pomegrantes, this highboy dresser stays simple but festive. And who doesn’t love fresh pomegranates? I know I do…and so do my 4 children whom I have had to keep from stealing my decorations for a yummy treat..lol. Don’t worry…we have plenty left in the fridge.

I added this cute footed wooden bowl to the mix. It keeps things rustic…and gives it some character…

The sugar pinecones do the trick as well…..love it!

And now to share with you one of my favorites….Eeeeek! Okay, let me try and contain my excitement. I made this beautiful sleigh at my last Crafts 2 You parties.  If you haven’t heard of what that is, you have been missing out! Crafts 2 You home parties is a local to northern Utah company that makes wooden crafts kits. Anything from signs, home decor and outdoor accents. How it works is you book a party with the most lovely gal Natalie. You invite your friends, you make sure you preorder any of their lovely wood crafts kits,  and Natalie comes to your home with everything in hand for your projects….paint…wood…stain…brushes…everything !  And then the best part….You spend a whole evening creating these lovely pieces for your home- as you are having the best time with your girl friends! I am so addicted now.. its THAT fun! Her family run business even does custom orders as well, and I will be sharing some of those of my own designs with you later on in this tour.

For this sleigh project I simply stained it with this light wood color and than painted the feet black, then distressed it to bring out the more rustic in it. I love how it turned out even after all my internal debating of what to color to paint it. lol

These yummy Christmas bells are some of my favorites as well. The quality and beauty of these are something that I am thrilled to own. Seriously…you can tell a good bell when you’ve got one right? lol. They are heavy, solid and just so pretty. And the sound….WOW… when you hear them its as if santa himself is pulling up to your roof….no joke!

I purchased these online at this lovely boutique White & Fig.  They paired perfectly with  ribbon and added greenery..

Ribbon is from Target H&H collection….I couldn’t decide what color ribbon I wanted to tie on the sleigh…so I have two options….which do you like better? Only the Plaid Ribbon or with the Red? I just don’t know! lol…

I added these little trees to my entry way this year. I usually keep them outside on my porch but I’m loving the festiveness they bring to the inside of my home. I’m even thinking about flocking them…hmmm. To be continued….mmm no wait…I think I will..lol.

Tealigth houses….where do i begin? I’ve been looking for these for YEARS I tell ya! They are a Scandinavian staple…I even looked for them when I was in Denmark this past summer but with no luck. Now they are all over the place here in the US and it’s making my heart oh so happy! On the other side of this window I will be putting up some lighted greenery and hopefully when it’s turned on the little houses will light up. that’s the plan anyway…lol. I even bought a large Zinc house as well…but it doesn’t fit up there so I am on the hunt for a spot for it. I want to add more Zinc houses eventually throughout the years to come.

A fresh Cider Pine garland is what I added to this chandelier, and it really creates interest and hygge to this space. Plus it smells devine! Oh and a little tip…to help preserve your greens…spray them with hairspray .

No Danish home is complete without a pair of wooden clogs. I think the first time I owned a pair (they were red) it was when I was 2 or so years old. My dad tells the story of how I would not let them take them off of me…and so I frequently slept in them! These ones pictures below I’ve had for years. They are still my favorite “run outside real quick” go to shoes….

But…. I have however moved on from sleeping in them. My husband appreciates that. lol

Well…there you have my entry to my home…all decked out for the holidays… (with still choices to make as you can see with my sleigh and “to flock or not to flock”…ha ha. I would invite you to come and sit down for a while and visit (so we can chat it up) but, that will have to wait until next weeks blog hop post : The living room……

You can however hop on over to visit the rest of our tours

Merry & Bright Blog Hop

Country Girl Home

Jones Sweet Homes

Camelot Art Creations

Old to New Blog

Sweet Rose & Wren

Crate & Cottage

Thanks for stopping by friends…and happy holidays!

oxoxo

Cat

Foyer Source list…

White Ceramic Tealight houses  Target

Wooden Nesting Houses Hearth & Hand by Magnolia @ ….Target

Zinc Metal Tealight House  Bed Bath & Beyond

Eucalyptus Leaves…………….Ikea & Hobby Lobby

Fresh Cider Garland………….Home Depot

Wooden Sleigh Kit……………….Crafts 2 You (shipping NOT avail)

Decorative Black and White Plaid Ribbon  ….Hearth & Hand with Magnolia @ Target

Fresh Pomegranetes………….Sams Club

Gold painted Rustic Metal Bells with Jute Rope………White & Fig