cozy cottage christmas curio cabinet

A little touch of Christmas here and there is all I need right now, but brrrrr, there is a chill in the air this morning.

 

I may have to get my “fa la la” on much earlier than expected! I might even break out the holiday tunes today…

For now, I’m sharing the cutest and most useful of all curio cabinets I’ve ever seen! Just a little something I recently found... 

It’s really the cutest and most charismatic of all curio cabinets I ever did see. It’s so fun to style it for the holidays! 

 

I can’t wait to style it for spring with all sorts of little daffodils, bunnies and more!

Have you noticed this piece has a classic shabby chic design for a wonderful vintage look? The patina is perfect!

 

 

The design is just so sweet! I love that this little wooden wall cabinet features a cottage-themed window design with a 2-tiered shelf and two arched doors with a metal screening… it’s just perfect!

 

 

ciao fabiana

 

For lots of fun extras, follow me on Instagram!

 

 

 

You can check out some of my favorites here at “Tablescaping Essentials” 

 

 

 

Please note that this post may contain affiliate links.

 

 

a favorite Christmas movie

 Christmas in Connecticut  

One of my favorite Christmas movies of all time is Christmas in Connecticut, made in 1945 and Starring Barbara Stanwick who plays a wanna-be domestic goddess and expert on all things home and garden. It’s so relatable to me, and that’s why I love it so much.

Made just after the Second World War, this film starts off with a Navy hero who recovering from being lost at sea, is on bedrest and is absolutely enamored by all the meals and fabulous recipes he reads about in Smart Housekeeping magazine while he’s in the hospital. 

Then the attention quickly to turns to Elizabeth... the fabulous home and garden writer for Smart Housekeeping magazine...

  

This is when we first meet Barbara Stanwyck as Elizabeth Lane, the ever so popular writer of Smart Housekeeping magazine. Liz is a modern-day Martha Stewart who is the most popular women’s magazine writer and personality.

The trouble is she's a columnist for "Smart Housekeeping," THE magazine for all aspiring homemakers in America. Her popular monthly column called "Diary of a Housewife."

She goes on and on writing about cooking, practically brags about her idyllic home life on her Connecticut farm with her husband and darling baby (who don’t really exist). 

For months and probably years she’s been putting on this farce, and doing it quite well, I may add!

The thing is, she really lives in a tiny and humble Manhattan apartment, alone, with less than picturesque views and she can't cook to save her life. 

With the help of the darling restauranteur “Uncle” Felix who inspires every gourmet meal she that writes about, she has no trouble getting away with being this domestic imposter.

 

As you can see, I can totally relate to this role of Elizabeth Lane, right down to the scene where she is forced to show off her flapjack flipping skills!

The most intriguing part of this movie for me is that she’s such a fabulous writer and with her vivid imagination, she pulls off being the popular Elizabeth Lane persona without a hitch.

When I sit down at my own computer keyboard, I'm often inspired by this first scene of Elizabeth at her typewriter. The words and wonderful pictures she paints with her stories are always in the back of my mind.

Here's an example of Elizabeth's writing style, as expressed in this first scene that she appears in...      

“From my living room window as I write...

...I can look out across the broad front lawns of our farm...

...like a lovely picture postcard of wintry New England. In my fireplace, the good cedar logs are burning and crackling. I just stopped to go into my gleaming kitchen...

...to test the crumbly brown goodness of the toasted veal cutlets in my oven.

Cook these slowly.”

It's simple, quite effective and right to the point!

 

Meanwhile, there are undergarments and other laundry drying on the clotheslines outside her slightly dreary NYC apartment. 

The radiator blasts a poof of steam that in her mind translates to a dreamy stone fireplace with “good cedar logs” burning. 

She’s eating a breakfast of sardines right out of the can. I love how the whole scene is beautifully juxtaposed.  

 

So off we go to spend a Christmas in Connecticut! And of course this movie is set during Christmastime, so this is where the fun and love begins…

 

A lot is riding on her made-up charming life and ultimate deceit, and of course, love blooms between Elizabeth and the handsome war hero.

There are moments of light screwball comedy in this movie, but overall, it’s a fun and festive holiday movie.

 

Mr. Yardley- “I remember what you said about the charm of an attractive woman...

...performing her homey little task of flipping flapjacks...

...with the smell of good coffee and sizzling bacon in a sunny kitchen.

I'm homesick for a sight like that.”

 

Felix- “Oh, Lizka, Lizka. You give me goose pimples. Watch now. 

I show you how to flip-flop the flop-flips. On...  up!  Ah.  You see?  

It's easy.  Now you try it. Throw it up. Up!  

Not on the stove.  In the pa...  Now.  

Throw it with this. High, high, high, high.  Oh...  Up! Ah. Up. 

Take this. Throw it up. High, high, high. 

Oh, up! Lizka!

Better you cook on the typewriter.”

Elizabeth- “Oh, Felix, what am I going to do?”

 

“She can't cook, but what a wife!

What a Christmas!

What a Christmas!”

ciao fabiana

 

For lots of fun extras, follow me on Instagram!

 

 

 

You can check out some of my favorites here at “Tablescaping Essentials” 

 

 

 

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set up an easy hot cocoa bar

Hi, friends! 🎅🏻 🎄 I’m sharing my simple and festive hot cocoa bar today. This is as simple as setting out some cute mugs, a cozy plaid throw and a fun little electric kettle!

 

Everyone can serve themselves and garnish with their favorite holiday treats like candy canes, marshmallows, and warm spices. It's a win-win for everyone!

 

A seldom used counter space next to our family room fireplace is the perfect spot to set up this cozy cocoa bar. I recently purchased this handy copper colored electric kettle and I just love how fast it heats up the water.

 

Most everything you see is vintage except the kettle and the fun Hot Cocoa Recipe sign. The sign is actually a print printed on canvas from Olive Branch Farmhouse. From a distance, it really looks like an old vintage chalkboard sign.  

I recently found this wonderful plaid throw at Marshall's. It's the quintessential tartan plaid for Christmas! 

  

Of course, we must have Santa mugs! These are vintage, and somehow drinking out of an adorable Santa Claus mug makes the cocoa taste a little better.

  

Here’s another little fun vintage-inspired hot cocoa bar I set up last year in my kitchen. I brought together some of the same cute holiday collectables that remind me of a cozy winter's day.

 

My favorite time-saving tip is to use chocolate milk for the cocoa and keep it warm in a mini crock pot. 

Here’s another take on hot cocoa… a Snickerdoodle Hot Chocolate! Yes, it’s worth a try. It’s soooo good.

 

This is one of my recipes was published in Country Sampler Farmhouse Style magazine a few winters back.

 

It’s really quite simple to make and a fun way to surprise your guests during any holiday celebration.

 

In case you haven’t heard, I started a new Instagram page in October and named it Claudia FabianaHome. My former page, Ciao Fabiana, is still up, but after getting a new phone, I was no longer able to log into this account, so the new profile was born!

 

I hope you’ll follow along with me on Instagram for all the latest projects and décor I will be sharing in 2025.

 

 

 

ciao fabiana

 

For lots of fun extras, follow me on Instagram!

 

 

 

You can check out some of my favorites here at “Tablescaping Essentials” 

 

 

 

Please note that this post may contain affiliate links.

 

Christmas poinsettias are all I need

 

Poinsettias are the quintessential Christmas flower! No flower evokes the true beauty of Christmas quite like the poinsettia.

 

Of course, the traditional vibrant red variety is a holiday classic, but my favorites are the white ones and the varieties that have just a hint of blush on their leaves and petals.

Armstrong Garden Center is my favorite place to find the prettiest color choices and the healthiest looking plants. 

One of my favorite yearly holiday traditions is stopping in to pick up my most preferred ones because I know they will add such holiday charm to my home.

And poinsettias are super easy to take care of, while offering an instant pop of holiday color! It’s fun to add one or two here or there among the Christmas decorations, but I love at least 5 or 6 of my favorite varieties grouped together to form an easy arrangement on their own!

They do SO WELL in a group! Put them down as ones “who work well with others!!” It’s true, the more the merrier!!

 

They can easily be placed in a favorite cachepot or basket, but my favorite way to hide the nursery pot is to just leave it in its brown paper sleeve, trim it down and add a pretty ribbon.

 

No muss, no fuss! That way your display has an understated cottage-farmhouse look, and it’s so easy and quick too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed viewing all the ways I love to arrange poinsettias here in my breakfast room.

 

And as a bonus, here are the names of my favorite poinsettia varieties, all available right now at Armstrong Garden Center!

 

In case you haven’t heard, I started a new Instagram page in October and named it Claudia Fabiana Home. My former page is still up, but after getting a new phone, I was no longer able to log into this account, so the new profile was born!

 

I hope you’ll follow along with me on Instagram for all the latest projects and décor I will be sharing in 2025.

 

 

 

ciao fabiana

 

For lots of fun extras, follow me on Instagram!

 

 

 

You can check out some of my favorites here at “Tablescaping Essentials” 

 

 

 

Please note that this post may contain affiliate links.

easy Christmas projects and recipes

I’ve been contributing to Country Sampler Farmhouse Style for more than 6 years now, and today I want to share some of my favorite Christmas projects and super yummy recipes with you.

First up is this hot cocoa bar that was in the 2023 Winter issue. I wanted to create a sort of campfire vibe for this shelf in my kitchen. I gathered several vintage spice tins and plaid accessories as the start to this whole look.

My secret to delicious and easy hot cocoa is to just buy your favorite carton of chocolate milk and then keep in nice and warm in a small crockpot or “slow cooker” as they now call them.

 

If you don’t have the room or the budget for even a small Christmas tree, then this project is for you! It starts with a fun vintage crock, but any similarly shaped container would work.

The secret is to add a little pyramid shaped piece of floral foam, the wet kind, to the crock. Water it, and then add small little branches and cuttings of foraged evergreens and winter berries. I like to start at the top with a strong leader branch and then fill it in from there.

 

Covering a small crate with festive plaid wrapping paper is another fun project. I decided to create a little farmhouse winter scene in mine, complete with a cheery red barn and lots of bottle brush trees. A little moss around the bottom of the landscape finishes off this idyllic scene. 

Now for a couple of non-Christmas projects… they both involve thrifted treasures. The first one is a little lamp made from a small ironstone pitcher. 

The bottom of this lamp is actually a spare metal chandelier medallion that I had on hand in the garage. It was the perfect size for the base of the lamp. I bought a lamp kit online and put this little beauty together. The shade was an extra little chandelier shade I had left over from another project. 

During the pandemic, I found a whole box of Fiestaware on the curb that someone had set out for free. I took a long wooden board and decided to glue the cups and saucers on the board for a fun and colorful utensil holder.

 

A few little “s” hooks do the trick for holding whisks, wooden spoons and other kitchen gadgets.

 

recipes

I'm currently working on four more projects for the Autumn 2025 issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, and then we head straight back into some winter and Christmas projects and more recipes for 2025.

 

What a surprise it was to have my picture selected for the Winter 2024 issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse Style...

 

Did you read this one? I have several projects and recipes in this one too! I’ll share those with you all in a few weeks’ time.

 

ciao fabiana

 

For lots of fun extras, follow me on Instagram!

 

 

 

You can check out some of my favorites here at “Tablescaping Essentials” 

 

 

 

Please note that this post may contain affiliate links.