5 exclusive handmade ornaments for you

Hi friends! Today I have a really special post for you. For the first time ever, I will be offering several of my one-of-a-kind holiday ornaments and garlands for purchase for your own private collection!

 

Since 2018 I’ve been a contributor to Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, and it’s been so much fun working on DIY projects, recipes, home décor ideas, tablescapes and garden projects.

 

Many of you have asked about these fun Christmas decorations, and now I’ve put together 5 of the latest magazine projects that are now available on eBay for purchase.

 

The first one is this “Let It Snow” Garland I created out of vintage tart tins, scrabble letters, and toy blocks.

 

Did you spot the “Let It Snow” Garland when it appeared in the 2021 Christmas issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse Style magazine?

 

Here it is displayed on a vintage mirror in my dining room, but I think it would also be pretty in a window or on a small mantel. It adds the perfect festive touch to any room!

 

Another garland I created was this take on an old-fashioned paper chain. I used three different burlap ribbons to put this together and it adds a soft neutral element to any farmhouse style home.

 

This is how I photographed it and how it appeared in the same issue as the “Let It Snow” garland. 

I simply draped it along my family room mantel, and then added complimentary evergreen and eucalyptus branches to the top of the mantel.

 

The 2021 Winter issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse Style magazine included two really fun and whimsical ornament projects.

 

This first ornament project is my favorite, and I spent a lot of time on creating these. 

They are little tart tins of different shapes, filled with a little snowy scene each that included a tiny vintage deer, small bottle brush tree and a little bit of snow.

 

With the addition of a background made with French book pages, I think these ornaments are one for the ages... Classic old-fashioned Christmas ornaments that will really stand out on any Christmas tree.

You can spot them above, on page 94 of this issue?

These adorable stocking shaped ornaments were inspired by this pretty musical themed paper I found.

 

They are stitched up with red thread, trimmed with gingham ribbon, vintage buttons and a touch of glitter.

 

So fun for any tree!

 

I’m also including a brand-new garland project that is in the current Winter 2022 issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse Style magazine.

This is a hand-made 3-D star garland made from vintage book pages. Dozens and dozens of star shapes were cut out and then sewn together to create this spectacular garland.

 

This one measures 100” long, so it would look great draped along a mantel, a lovely window or over your dining room table.

 

Remember, these are all one-of-a-kind pieces that were made to inspired hundreds of Farmhouse Style readers!

🎄🎅

Just click on the pictures below for a direct link to each project.

 

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.

 

farmhouse style magazine winter 2024

4 of my projects featured this season

December is off to an inspiring start with the brand-new Winter issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse Style in stores stores now. And I have a little preview for you!

 

Here's a behind the scenes look of how new cover of Farmhouse Style came together with just a few simple ideas. I was truly caught by surprise when my picture was selected to be on the cover of this Winter 2024 issue!

 

Just a few festive touches and vintage finds help to create this simple but unique look that is featured on the cover. You can try this at home! It's as easy as it looks!! See the video here.

 

Lisa Sloan is the new editor of Farmhouse Style now taking over from Susan Wagner, and I love reading the Lisa’s notes from each and every issue. 

It’s the most helpful companion to this magazine and helps me to make sure I don’t miss a thing in this jam-packed holiday issue.

 

Cover photo

Here's the photo I submitted for an article called “Homes for the Holidays.” It’s a playful and pretty look at small-scale houses that can create imaginative and festive scenes in miniature. You can check out all the projects starting on page 6.

 

You can see some of the examples of tiny Christmas houses here.

Check out this video HERE as I explain and recreate the cover shot in my new “dish room”.

For this winter 2024 issue, I have 6 projects and 2 recipes featured and I can’t wait to show them to you! As a contributor to this magazine for the last 6 years or so, my projects and recipes are usually featured in the “Do-It-Yourself Farmhouse” section.

 

Isn’t this a fun project?! It’s so easy to make these Santa Sacks with a pretty but slightly damaged vintage tablecloth. Tablecloths are such a great source of fabric for so many projects!

 

A collection of festive vintage cans and tins are the perfect vessels for planting herbs during the holidays. 

They certainly do brighten up a sunny window and come in handy for using in all sorts of holiday recipes.  

 

Here are the two vintage inspired ornaments I made for Farmhouse Style magazine. The first are a set of real walnut shells filled with a bit of moss and festive little red toadstool, or mushroom. 

I finished them off with a little bakers twine in a fun red and white twisted pattern for easy an display from a Christmas tree branch. 

 

Secondly, I sewed little burlap hearts with a velvet needlepoint thread and then embellished them with a tiny jingle bell.

 

I think they add the old-fashioned farmhouse charm to any tree. Don't you just love handmade Christmas ornaments? They add something so special to the tree.

An advent calendar made from a set of mismatched (but very coordinated) handmade felt stockings is another one of my projects that’s featured in this winter issue. 

I chose a select color palette of felt pieces and stuck to those colors for every little stocking. I also used vintage rickrack, in dark red and white on a few of these guys!

 

Wouldn’t they also look cute as ornaments on the tree?

 

Two showstopping desserts I made are also featured in this issue starting on page 108. I had never made a Kransekake or a Pavlova before, but I’m always up for any challenge, and they proved to be worth every drop of sugar and egg whites to make these 2 beauties!

 

A Krasekake is a traditional Norwegian dessert translating to “wreath cake” and features 18 stacking rings of different sizes. It truly is breathtaking and soooo very delicious!

 

 

This Pavlova is a light meringue and fruit dessert that’s out of this world, and is even topped off with a yogurt and cream mixture for an even greater contrast in flavors and textures.

 

A variety of fresh berries and mint sprigs give this luscious dessert all its character and good looks… it’s a Christmas showstopper, for sure!!  

 

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.

 

 

our new Christmas tree

We’re absolutely loving our new Christmas tree by King of Christmas. It looks so realistic and beautiful that it's fooled everyone who's visited so far. This isn’t the first artificial tree we’ve had, but it’s by far the best! An added bonus is it came set-up with 900 LED lights, so there’s no need to add any extra lights, like we have with other trees. 

The seven and a half foot tree fits perfectly in our living room which has 9 foot ceilings. The room is small, and the tree's slender proportions are ideal in this space. It looks so pretty "naked", without any ornaments on it and we enjoyed it that way throughout the long Thanksgiving weekend.  

In keeping with our “white Christmas” theme, I chose some of our favorite silver, gold and white ornaments from our family’s collection. I have a soft spot in my heart for all the vintage ornaments we’ve acquired over the years from parents and grandparents. 

It’s so nice to incorporate those with a few new ones (above) I found at Pottery Barn and West Elm. Aren't the little white houses precious? They even come with their own white bottle brush trees in the front. They're cardboard and light-up with the flick of a switch on the bottom. 

Sitting in the dining room now has it's perks. 

The tree topper we had was very ordinary, and I couldn’t find one that spoke to me, until I looked on ebay. There I spotted the same pretty paper ornament that my family had when I was a young girl. Oh, the memories came flooding back! 

The same vintage tree topper with the cherubic angel and the spun glass detail was available on ebay! Gold wings, and pearly white clouds, perfect! Done and bought! And the best news is, it arrived today, and I love it just as much now as I did back then!  

ciao! fabiana

a rose gold christmas tablescape

Do you ever get inspired by a little something that just catches your eye? When this rose gold glitter table runner got my attention, I knew I wanted to base my whole  Christmas tablescape around this fun piece. 

I don’t know what it is about me pretty shiny objects… I’m a pretty focused person normally, but when a little sparkle catches my eye, I drop everything and just go all in!  Especially at Christmastime.

These sweet vintage-inspired Santa ornaments were the perfect little whimsical touch that my table needed and I love that they come in three different pastel metallic shades, silver, rose gold and a soft verdigris.

The juxtaposition of the sparkling glitter works perfectly with the natural wood tones of the charger plates and the flatware. The wood texture naturally grounds the table and makes it less formal and more fun! 

This copper lantern set adds a little bit of old-fashioned charm to the table. I found that copper and rose gold work perfectly together and a little silver compliments the other metallic tones. 

Then to tie everything together, I chose  one single variety of evergreen to keep things simplified.

These little Santas have the cutest expressions! 

Just the right amount of color and vintage style was added to the table with these Snowy Trees napkins from World Market. I love how they look with the simple wood handled flatware, also from World Market.  

Oriental Trading has these beautiful snowy large sisal trees this year, so I ordered them right away, without hesitation! You can’t have too many bottle brush trees, and these are a really nice size. The color goes amazingly well with all my holiday decor!

I also found this pretty little set of pierced rose gold votive candle holders at Oriental Trading. These sparkle on the table and look gorgeous with the rose gold table runner.

I’m really happy with how this whole look came together.

Simple, fun and little glamorous!

Now I just have to concentrate of finishing my shopping and planning my Christmas menu. What do you traditionally have for Christmas dinner? This year I’m thinking of either making paella or a nice shepherd’s pie for Christmas eve.

We usually have our big meal on Christmas eve, and then we plan on ordering Chinese food on Christmas day. We did that last year and it worked out great! It was a Christmas gift to me not to have to cook another dinner, just like in the movie “A Christmas Story”.

I can’t believe Christmas is next week!

How’s your holiday prep going? 

ciao! fabiana

And it all came together like this:

Dinner Plates:  Home Goods

WoodBaroque Charger Plates: World Market

Green Glasses:  vintage

Snowy Trees Napkins:  World Market

Wood Handle Flatware:  World Market

Copper Lantern Set: Oriental Trading

Pierced Rose Gold Votive Set: Oriental Trading

White Sisal Bottle Brush Trees: Oriental Trading

Santa Ornaments:  World Market

Rose Gold Glitter Runner: Oriental Trading

Rose Gold Glass Ornaments: Kurt Adler

Spiky silver Ornaments: Crate and Barrel

White Pillar Candles: Amazon

Thank you to Oriental Trading for sending me these products to review. 

The opinions expressed in this post are truly my own.