Happy Holidays!

From my home to yours, wishing you all a very happy holiday!!

It has been a great gift to travel this road with you.

Thank you so much for reading, commenting and continuing to inspire me.

Wishing you peace and happiness in the New Year!

xxx-Gina

`Indian Architecture and Art-The Jew Street,Fort kochi

Visiting Kerala every year during the summer vacations and Cochin being my maternal house, we keep travelling to many places in and out of Cochin. Rekindling childhood memories of Fort Kochi, we started out on a tour to the streets of Fort Kochi.

The spice markets on one side, antique stores on the other and the synagogue in its pride and glory, brightly painted walls and houses are all things which fetches Fort Kochi its name. It is one of the oldest Jewish settlements, when the jewish traders came to Cochin in 700 BC. Now there is only a single Jewish family here in this street.

Overflowing spice boxes,when we reached there,they were just starting to spread out their wares.

Antique shops lining the streets,their display is a sightClock tower and the synagogue at the end of the lanes.Star of the David can be seen on the gate opp the synagogue door, as in Israel's Flag along with candelabras.

what a name for a book shop.,"Incy Bella"

Embroidery units

Sarah embroidery is by "Sarah auntie", a jew whose family has been in kochi for years. The sign in Hebrew says "Shalom"

The lane going to the synagogue were painted in stark colors,green,blue,brown,yellow

Even we had our quiet time in Jew street, going through the various shops and their antiiques and I did find some things for our house too..

WEDDING DESIGN: I COULDN'T RESIST. . .

I know I thought I wouldn't post again until after the wedding, but I couldn't resist showing you a few more items for the wedding and getting your opinion!

The little flower girls basket.  You have to picture it full of flowers!

Medallions for the Popcorn jars

The leaf covered cones - also try to imagine these full of flowers. ..

A fun crystal tasseled medallion...

The sparkling rhinestone cake topper

And I'm finally done .... well almost....

Now to ship to Dallas.

My Living Room Evolution

I wanted to share with you the evolution of my living room.

(click on any photo to enlarge)

My living room is a warm and inviting room with windows on two sides and sun coming from a third side through the Conservatory. I have always been hesitant to cover the windows with any window treatments - as I hate to block any light. But, clearly my living room needed some softening. Above is the before.

After a long search for perfect Belgian linen and a tutorial from Joni at Cote De Texas on curtains (do click this link - it is a fabulous resource) the day came to have the drapes installed. I hired a professional drapery installer. I am a good at many things, but this area is best left to a professional.

Here is the after (please disregard the wreaths in the windows as they are part of my holiday decor.) The curtains are Parisian pleat tops, double window width with a trouser break bottom. The rods are hand forged iron and sent up from New Orleans by my dear designer friend, Millie. You can see the richness and softness the new window treatments bring to the room.

Here is the living room from another angle. You can see my cherished Mora clock to the right. For the story on how I acquired that clock click here. Notice the sweet Gustavian chair in the bottom right of the photo.

Here are the Gustavian chairs from another angle. The painting is a lovely work by Cape Cod artist, Anne Packard. We usually put our Christmas Tree here.

This angle is taken by standing at the Mora clock. Also notice my new "soft" seagrass rug- which really is very soft with white cowhide rug overlay - to learn more about cowhide rugs click here.

I added a few more holiday decorations in this shot. Notice the garden urns by the fireplace filled with berries, branches and evergreens.

I added more oversized mercury glass ornaments to compliment the ones on the mantel and also to pick up the sparkle from the mirrored trees in the Conservatory. I also love the texture and smell of the Rosemary Topiary trees.

Finally here is a close up of a reliquary and pedestal, as well as a close up of the garden urn. I love the warm colors and the way that the evergreens and mercury glass add a holiday sparkle to my room. Let me know your thoughts, should I add more holiday decorations or leave it as is?

(all photos property of Willow Decor)

CHRISTMAS DECOR: Blue and Brown - Traditional - Nativity Display

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. . .

except for the drive to Riverside for a client - which proceeded at an amazing 5 mph.

the bird's eye view was moving no faster

but, with Christmas carols on the radio it was still a pleasant, albeit long, drive.

The week was full of decorating - both regular and holiday.

Each client's home unique in its own way.  Blue and brown for Lisa.

 

Accents of red in a blue and white bedroom

Little details for fun

or sparkle

Non traditional colors

or traditional...

a few greens can make an impressive centerpiece

A little Charlie Brown skinny tree becomes a showpiece by setting it into an urn and adding handpicked beautiful ornaments, collected over the years.

Candy stripe ribbon finishes off a staircase newel post.

In between decorating for clients, there was artwork to finish for the Sing Noel program

Decorating for the community event - "Follow the Star"

a live nativity

with an amazing creche exhibit, featuring creches from all over the world

Rwanda

Africa

Germany

Peru

one created entirely from ghourds

and one from Iceland - home of my ancestors. 

Over 300 different creches in all!

THE HUNT FOR WEDDING RHINESTONES

required a trip to L.A.  in the rain. . .

but rhinestones we found!

and then rewarded ourselves by a dash in the rain to the flower mart

to find the exact perfect roses for the wedding

and pick up a fresh green wreath for my front door

The rain was inconvenient, but did not stop us from getting our delicious hot dogs from the street vendor

So good

Worth the trip!