I found this blue metal tray at the end of summer at Michaels for a few dollars.
I loved the bright color and it matched the other bright blue decor I had going on
in the living room. I used it on the coffee table for awhile - stacked magazines in
it - then the tray was banished to the basement for the fall.
Since I've been incorporating gold accents into my decor now since fall, and gold
also being a lovely color for Christmas decor, I decided to spray-paint the tray
gold and resurrect it from the basement. So, here's the tray before:
And, the tray after:
I am not getting ready for Christmas just yet - I'm one of those who believe the
holidays should be celebrated one at a time - so Thanksgiving is definitely
first. We'll be having dinner at my mom's house on Thanksgiving so Mom is
making the turkey, but I'm the designated veggie person. I've been looking at
some vegetable recipes in magazines, blogs, and Pinterest and have come up
with a few that sound really good. Anyway, last night Brian and I window-shopped
around what me and Penny affectionately call the "Fancy Pants Mall" and I must
say that some of the Christmas displays were really pretty. This tree is in
Pottery Barn - interesting, but in reality, who would really put these gigantic
woodland creatures in their Christmas tree? Each to their own, I suppose.
Maybe if you lived in a big log cabin house with soaring wood ceilings.
Crate and Barrel was more my style. Always has been. Even as an older teen,
when I worked at Marshall Fields (now Macy's, much to this Chicagoan's chagrin)
in a mall, I would go to Crate and Barrel on my lunch break and look at all the
beautiful home furnishings and decor and daydream about what my house would
be like someday. I still have some wooden Christmas ornaments that I bought back
in the early 80's before I was married. Crate and Barrel still has a nice assortment
of unique ornaments; some were as little as $2.50.
Typical man - "You go ahead and look around, honey - I'll relax right here on
this comfy couch."
Hope everyone is having a great weekend...it is so cold here today! Going
down to 8 degrees F tonight. So thankful for my warm home.
He is so accommodating. Now why is it I never could find a man like that. We don't have that store here. Drat!
ReplyDeleteBrenda
Yes, he is. He is very patient, kind, and loving. I think I'll keep him. :-) Sorry to hear you don't have a Crate and Barrel near you - one of my favorite stores!
DeleteMelanie - your tray turned out really pretty. It will be nice for Christmas - wouldn't it be pretty stacked full of gold Christmas ornaments?
ReplyDeleteJudy
Absolutely! I'm going to play around with it come December. :-)
DeleteI love the tray. Gold is very in (I say without sounding like I care about trends!). Abby has switched out the silver earrings and I see it more and more. Some pretty gold and green ornaments would look lovely in that!
ReplyDeleteI love store displays. I suppose those huge ornaments are attached with florist wire. The owls are a little scary. I saw the Crate and Barrel holiday selection...they've always been a "modern" store to me and it's very rare I like their stuff. I am so totally done buying Christmas decorations!! i hope to make a few things but for now I'm focused on Thanksgiving and then doing some gift shopping.
It is SO cold!! We have a fire going and are eating donuts! lol!
XO,
Jane
I was always more of a silver person too, so I'm surprising myself with liking the gold. Guess it's a good thing that we don't get stuck in our little boxes and are willing to try something new! I love store displays, too. I was telling Brian last night that I would love to have a job creating store displays. That'd be fun. Hmm, I never thought of Crate and Barrel as "modern". Sure, they have SOME modern stuff, but definitely not overly-so. Their decor tends to be more eclectic and original. They have a fantastic furniture and curtain selection, as well as beautiful dishware and glasses. All I bought there last night was some chocolates for our overseas friends that we mail a package to, a little glass owl (one of the $2.50 ornaments), as well as some tiny red and white striped candies to go in a pretty dish for Christmas. Believe me, if I had the money, I could've gone hog-wild in that store last night. ;-)
DeleteWe always wait until the second week of December to decorate. Otherwise, it's just too early!
ReplyDeleteI also mourn the loss of Marshall Fields. Macy's is everywhere now and I don't particularly like Macy's!
xo
Claudia
Too early for me to decorate too, though I like looking at the decor in stores! I don't shop at Macy's. ;-)
DeleteI agree about one holiday at a time. I must be old school but growing up, Christmas started with the Advent season. The Advent wreath, and the lighting of the first candle on a Sunday signaled the start of the season. No decorations went up prior to that. Then there were decorations after but the tree, being live, probably didn't go up until a week or so before Christmas. But that way, things were more special ( I think : )
ReplyDeleteNice job on that tray! :)
I totally agree with you, Deb. Who cares if that's considered old-school thinking...they had it right!
DeleteI love the way the tray looks in gold! You're so clever and you have excellent taste. I agree with you about Pottery Barn vs. Crate and Barrel! The latter is much more my speed too. The first time I ever went to was in Boston when I was in college and my friends couldn't drag me out of there. :)
ReplyDeleteYou are so sweet and kind with your comment, Jennifer. Thank you. I don't think you and I had better shop together in a Crate and Barrel store - we'd be dangerous together, lol.
DeleteMelanie,
ReplyDeleteI love, love, gold!! You may see some in our Tis The Season Tour from our house too:) I feel as though it went away for awhile, but now it is back in it's full,
glorious and warm color-can't wait to see what you do with this beautiful transformation!
xx-
Jemma
Funny how our tastes change and how different colors and decor go in and out of style, isn't it? I remember when gold jewelry was the big thing when I was in high school and now it's coming back. Like my husband says, what's old is new again.
DeleteIt's possible that my retail years killed my holiday spirit, but I think I will put up a tree and a few decorations this year. I think the decoration part just got too overwhelming, so my plan is to whittle my Christmas collection WAY down. I'll also concentrate mostly on decorations that I can throw away afterwards like poinsettias, fresh garland, berry branches, etc. Maybe, just maybe I can get my Christmas back. And having time to enjoy it this year is huge!
ReplyDeleteI can totally understand all those years working in retail at Christmas spoiling your holiday spirit. I think you'll enjoy Christmas much more this year, knowing you're not stuck working horrendous hours in that store! I whittled my Christmas decor stuff way down last year. I bagged up a lot of stuff and gave it to a young friend with little kids. She was more than happy to take it off my hands.
DeleteI love Crate & Barrel's Christmas display. I see your store had the same red ladder displays. I could have gone crazy for Christmas there.
ReplyDeleteMe, too! I was looking for the Paola Navone flatware and this particular store did not have it on display. I guess that was a good thing because I certainly can't afford it right now and it would've just been agonizing tempation! ;-)
DeleteHi Melanie! Glad to have heard from you after I emailed. I am posting on my blog again so stop over and take a look. I will be posting more later in the week too.
ReplyDeleteI love your gold tray. No Christmas decorations here yet either. I agree about waiting. Thanksgiving is all about autumn after all.
I do love the tree with the forest creatures. My tree at the cottage is all birds and nuts as I think that fits there being in the middle of the woods. :-)
Hugs from Holland ~
Heidi
It is so good to hear from you, Heidi - and I'm so excited that you're blogging again! I think a tree with forest creatures is a wonderful idea; it's just that these creatures were so huge!
DeleteNo Christmas decorations at our house either! We'll be out of town for Thanksgiving, so I didn't bother with anything other than my fall stuff I put out in October. My coworker recommended a spinach salad with roasted butternut squash, craisins and pumpkin seeds that she ate at a local restaurant. I found the recipe online and thought you might be interested. Here's the site:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/09/baby-spinach-salad-with-honey-roasted.html
Oh, wow, Vickie - you know what kinds of foods are spot-on with me, don't you? Thank you so much for the link! Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels to you.
Delete