O Christmas Tree

Nell Hill’s O Christmas Tree ****.*

by Mary Carol Garrity

I’m joining Jain with my Edible Book Review at Food for Thought, a delicious blog for readers with an appetite for the written word.

“Mary Carol Garrity and her home furnishing emporium Nell Hill’s have become synonymous with delivering creative and stylish advice on all facets of home decorating and entertaining. Inside Nell Hill’s O Christmas Tree, Mary Carol offers seasonal decorating tips for all tastes and budgets by inviting you into her own 130-year-old Greek Revival home decked out in the season’s liveliest shades of evergreen, pinecone, and holly.

To showcase how her holiday tips can transition into different design styles, Mary Carol also takes you inside a suburban ranch, an urban condo, an arts and crafts bungalow, a new-construction town home, and three historical period homes in Kansas City. Deck your halls like never before with Nell Hill’s O Christmas Tree.”

The most recent Nell Hill’s Christmas book for your coffee table, hostess-with-the-mostest, or Christmas lover~ full of inspirational eye candy. . .

. . .while some of the reviews found on Amazon are mediocre for this book (it’s true there is less glitz than her previous Christmas compendium), its natural evergreen focus is a feast for the senses for someone who likes to “deck the halls with boughs of holly.”

 You can practically smell the piney boughs & cedar along with the fragrance from the seeded eucalyptus wafting from the pages. . .

“Our Christmas trees—and the traditions we honor while decorating them—hold tremendous emotional power. Trees connect us to our past while we are reinventing and celebrating the present. A home is truly ready for the arrival of Christmas Day when the tree is placed in the right spot and decorated. It brings us back to the wonder and excitement of our childhood as we reenact our traditions and also reinvent the holiday for new generations.”

 

“So often we try to do all things with our holiday decorating, and we miss the mark not because we didn’t try but sometimes we try too hard. I favor of uniformity in theme, with surprises tucked in.”

Inspired by the ‘What a Dish!’ section I got caught up in playing with trayscapes . . . so I’m also joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday as part of this Edible Review.

 My Fitz Floyd tray, with a Lennox salad plate~

 I picked up a set of four plaid salad plates from Target this season & paired them with my Fitz & Floyd St. Nicholas Bread & Butter. . . presented on a red lacquered tray, also from Target with a side of candy canes :-)

 A library tray serving a sledding Santa~

Christmas Home by Royal Stafford accompanied by a chalkware Santa~

 Silver with a dusting of snowflakes~

 

 Jewelry for the table is always fun :-) I fell in love with these snowflake napkin rings from Pottery Barn ~

“In the history of Christmas traditions, the gift of fruit holds an important position in our customs. Receiving fruit in our stockings dates back to earlier times when it was hard to find fruit in the winter, and one orange was truly a rare treats. High prices were paid for fresh foods that had to come long distances to arrive at our Christmas doors. The use of fruit today is still an honored tradition that you’ll find at Christmas celebrations and a symbol of the bountiful gifts of the season.”

 

“To me, fresh produce can be just as beautiful to look at as newly picked flowers from the garden. Fruit adds texture and color to the table, too, and is easy to arrange because it looks so pretty just stacked up, and it reusable after the party is over.”

This gorgeous outdoor area with the columns swagged with greenery is the perfect setting for a ‘dessert prom’ where a dollops of meringue are served alongside the silver & champagne~

Food for Thought was easy with Trader Joe’s Vanilla Meringues~

 

 Pretty, ready-made, and you can have four cookies for 110 calories if you’re counting :-)

“May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope; The spirit of Christmas which is peace; The heart of Christmas which is love.”

~ Ada V. Hendricks

 For Book Love visit Food for Thought ~

 &  Dish Love visit Between Naps on the Porch ~