Our Last Holidays at the Farmhouse

THE FARMHOUSE

Happy Holidays from our Farmhouse! Today I wanted to share a few holiday moments from around our home. We’ve taken a low-key, low-stress approach to decorations this year and it’s been my favorite holiday season yet! Come on in…

This year’s early snowfall has been magical! It caught us all off guard (there were still so many leaves on the trees and on the grass!) but magical none the less. We had big plans to add lights to the freshly-painted exterior, wreaths in the windows, and a big blowup Santa for the kids (a surprise they’ve been begging for for years!) but after a couple viruses hit our house, we ended up doing more movie watching and less decorating. We may still get some lights up, but for now, I’m happy to let Mother Nature do all the decorating ;)

I put together a ‘winter garden’ wreath for the kitchen this year. I foraged greens from our property, herbs from our garden, and dried flowers and seeds from Nana’s garden. The end result is wild and unique and I love it! Of course I went against my own advice and hung the wreath over the hood vent so it’s totally getting dry and crispy, but I love it anyway! It adds just enough of a holiday punch to make the kitchen feel festive but not so much that I dread taking decorations down in January, if you know what I mean.

The cafe curtains were an early holiday addition. I bought a classic red toile fabric and sewed them in an afternoon. They feel so much more festive than the lemon print I had in here (which I’ll bring back in Spring). I’m not a huge fan of red in my home, but this time of year a little bit is really fun.

Our new advent calendar has been the crowd pleaser of the season. The tiny drawers are filled with 3 candies each, and every morning the kids run down to the kitchen to open up the next drawer on our countdown to Christmas.

We’re hosting Christmas this year and the guest bedroom is all made up and ready! We have cold temps in the forecast so I layered the bed up with extra blankets. They’re all linked here, but I went with sheets, a thin gossamer blanket, cotton quilt, down comforter, and then a duvet. Our old house can get drafty in the winter but our guests will stay cozy. Oh and the ruffled pillow was a sale pickup from Heather Taylor Home’s collection with West Elm - it’s a beauty!

While my garlands were soaking in the tub this year, I put together a wild little wreath for the primary bathroom. This space was made for greenery!

We had big plans to cut down our own tree up in the mountains - an annual tradition - but with me sick we skipped it and instead Garrett and the kids picked one out at a lot. They decorated it all themselves while I stayed in bed. It turned out perfect. We’re ‘sentimental tree’ kind of people and many of the ornaments are handmade and date all the way back to when Garrett and I were kids. My favorite ornaments though, are the ones the kids make in school with their pictures. The best!

We did a fair bit of crafting this holiday season - mostly me, but the kids helped some too. I made wreaths, wallpaper ornaments, dried oranges, cafe curtains, and sisal bottle brush trees. Along with baking, it’s my favorite thing to do this time of year. There’s something really nostalgic and thoughtful about handmade holiday decor IMO.

Wishing you health and happiness this holiday season!