If Santa Was a Woman....

.....we would all find one of these under the Christmas tree!:

{Kelly Bag in Playful Pattern}

From here:

Or we might find one of these:

{Incredible Hermes Silk Scarf}

Or even one of these:

{An Hermes Watercolor Set!}

With it all, we'd wear one of these:

Or these:

{Bracelets With Lots of Jingle While We Browse}

{The Hermes Christmas Website}

{The Wings of Hermes}

{The Entertaining Portal of Hermes.com...

You'll Get Lost for Hours!}

.............................................................

Let's Chat About Your Design Project!

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Well, I Said There Would Be Grapefruit!

This is my Christmas centerpiece! I used a yellow vintage iron stand, applied some gold leaf to it, then piled in ruby red grapefruit that I also gold-leafed (sparingly...hey we're gonna eat these things!) along with bunches of green mandarin oranges from our tree out in the far back yard where there is not quite enough sun for the mandarin oranges to ripen...ever!

I finished it off with some random gold ribbon and some of that floral netting poked in here and there. I think it looks rather rusticly elegant for decorations that will soon be standing in for breakfast (see brunch recipe here) !

Centerpiece for the Dining Table

Featuring Ruby Red Grapefruit

in the Starring Role!

Voila! Ready for Christmas festivities! And it didn't cost the world: grapefruit, $6 for twenty pounds at Costco, gold leaf $9 at Michael's, floral net, pennies from floral supply, container, flea market find.

Ruby Red Grapefruit

Play a Supporting Role

on the Mantel Next to

the Icon of Mary and Jesus

Soon I will feature a portrait of the Christmas tree and how I made that skirt work with it, then, that's it! No more holiday stuff! I think.

{elegant, sustainable, pragmatic:

the Chic Provence way!}

.......................

.............................................................

CONTACT:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Scarlett Johanssen Is Giving Goats For Christmas!

{ A very kind thing to do this season!}

You can give this adorable little guy

to an indigent family for $50!

Give one sheep to a family for $50,

a pair of sheep for $90;

A dozen baby chicks to a family for $40

You can give the gift of mosquito

netting to a family for $25

:

You can help women start

a small business for $100

{ Please click on images to link to information! }

a la prochaine!

.............................................................

CONTACT:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Glamorous Tree Skirt from My Favorite Brocante

beaded embroidered detail

Just look at this gorgeous beaded Indian-inspired full circle silk skirt I found at the flea market for a song...it makes a fantastic Christmas tree skirt! Not for my little tree this year in the corner there (I tried to make it work, but alas, too much!), but for a magnificent, tall, gorgeous tree worthy of such splendor!

isn't this beautiful and Christmas-y?

a la prochaine!

.............................................................

CONTACT:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

The {Rustic Chic} Oranges of Christmas

A Christmas tradition from my southern childhood, creating pomander balls by sticking cloves into oranges (or, more quickly, into limes and lemons) then hanging by ribbons or piling into a silver bowl, is a soothing, low key way to spend the rare quiet evening during the hectic holidays. I spotted these yesterday at Emily Joubert in Woodside, one of my favorite go-to shops for rustic elegance and naturally decorative things.

Pile these lovely creations into a silver bowl for chic and thrifty

elegance...photo courtesy of Emily Joubert in Woodside

The word pomander comes from the French "pomme d'ambre, meaning apple of ambergris." The ambergris was placed in decorative cases of gold, silver, ivory, or wood and worn around the neck or waist to protect against evil spirits and to sweetly scent the wearer. They originated in 16th Century France. Today they are a stunning, thrifty and chic way to add fragrance and atmosphere to a citrus-inspired Christmas!

An antique silver pomander,

of spherical form on domed foot,
divided into six segments released
by a turning top,
the exterior depicting dense foliage and flowers,
the interior engraved with hatched floral motifs,
each segment numbered and with slide-off cover

The Low Countries,
circa 1640

courtesy Wartski

This little lemon is covered completely

with cloves, and thus, will last

for years, giving wonderful

scents to closets and drawers.

Should you wish to gather the family around a fire and good music, with perhaps a raclette and some Nouveau Beaujolais for sustenance while you create, Organic Made Easy has a post on just how to make scented pomander balls!

Raclette, yum!

Nouveau Beaujolais

Single pomander gracing silver branches

courtesy of Gail Bartel, That Artist Woman!

***

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design