Good gifting

The Christmas Season is officially upon us! We're feeling jolly and festive coming out of the long weekend... we have our lights up outside, decorations inside, and even found the perfect tree at our favorite lot (more on all of that later). For now, we are are excited to bring you great gift ideas with true Modern Cottage appeal. Here are some of our favorites this season...

1. Gorgeous pottery by Jill Rosenwald. This is the utensil holder.

2. Alister, the most amazing handmade elephant in classic menswear fabric. (Also available: Eli).

3. Personalized leather bookmarks, a perfect stocking stuffer (We recommend giving it with this book).

4. This wreath will look fabulous year-round!

5. Our favorite typewriter-font coasters. You may remember seeing them here.

6. Hands down the BEST dog bed cover design we've ever seen. Love the raw simplicity of it. Scout has already put in a word with Santa on this one.

7. A friendly paper mache bird to keep you company perched on a desk or shelf (Can you have too many birds? :).

These are just a few of the items we're loving at the moment. We've got lots more gift ideas and decorating tips in store, so we hope you'll stay tuned in. Happy Holidays!

Vintage ornaments

We at Modern Cottage adore vintage ornaments, especially those striking and unusual color palettes that just don't seem to exist anymore ... plus the way the finish changes over the years makes them quite beautiful, as well as interesting. Our collection contains mostly blues and greens, although we've seen some really lovely yellows and pinks, too. I love how the tops are missing on these little blueish-silver ones, above. It makes me love them even more!

These soft green ones were a welcome find last year. I really love the lemony-green glow.

We generally like to group by color for a fresh and modern display (and in this case, we could not resist adding the lone stripey one, which makes it a bit more playful).

In some instances, where the ornaments are uniform in size and finish, they look quite festive with a pop or two of the unexpected! The antique metal mold makes a for fun pairing.

We love vintage ornaments simply nestled in a pretty bowl or unusual vintage container, but there are limitless ways to use them ... for instance, you could string them into a garland or wreath, scatter them along a table runner among tea lights, hang them individually from clear wire or ribbon overhead a table, or (novel idea :) put them on your tree!

Happy vintage ornament shopping.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a beautiful dusting of snow yesterday to make this Thanksgiving holiday feel even more authentic, complete with masses of sledding kids (and many parents getting to be big kids again). We also have one happy snow-dog on our hands (as evidenced by the huge grin and sideways tongue). He literally bounced all the way down the hill, with a few impressive leaps and twists along the way. Here's hoping you have an equally good time this Thanksgiving!

Under the tree

My hilarious cousin Kate welcomed her first baby, a girl, just two weeks ago, and when I saw this in the DWR catalog I thought how perfect it would be in the nursery (or just about anywhere!). As is probably evident by now, we tend to love anything white so long as it's clean-lined and uncomplicated. It's called the Eames Elephant.  A bit spendy at $290, but isn't it fabulous? How much fun it would be to wake up to this under the tree.

Hello, holidays!

It's almost holiday time!! I know not everyone is in full holiday swing, but I am seeing the most important signs: Starbucks is serving peppermint lattes in cheerful holiday cups, and stores like Home Depot and Target have stocked giant holiday sections. What got me most excited however was when I was flipping through radio stations in the car two nights ago and realized that the station that plays "All Christmas, all the time" during December had already started this year, early! I know it sounds cheesy but I am a huge fan of Christmas music, ever since I was a little girl and my mom and I would listen to a tattered old Johnny Mathis Christmas cassette tape over and over again as we belted out the tunes in unison. (Fortunately, my husband is very tolerant of my Christmas music addiction, as well as my singing). Anyhoo, we hope you'll stay tuned in to our blog because in anticipation of the upcoming holidays, we will be featuring some fresh Modern Cottage decorating ideas, gift ideas, and more!

A Modern Cottage moment...

I love how a camera lens can capture a distinct, specific view in the midst of all the things around us constantly beckoning for our attention; and one which gives you a completely different perspective than you might otherwise realize without it.

We're really loving our wrap-around porch - turns out it's the perfect spot for our trusty chaise loungers. The tulips in an old paint can make it even more inviting. To me, this image is a "zone" of reflection and relaxation.

Here's hoping we'll have a few opportunities before the rush and excitement of the holiday season to put ourselves in this picture and simply gaze up at the trees, breathe in the fresh fall air, or doze off for a time and dream of wonderful things.

Winning colors

In honor of the Giants' World Series win last night, we present a little Modern Cottage inspiration in team colors! I know, it's not an easy feat... and while we do love their colors for a sports team, the combination is a bit more tricky when it comes to Modern Cottage design. The designs above however are pretty great.

From Apartment Therapy, Etsy, Martha Stewart, and House Beautiful.