My Dad (to whom we lovingly refer as "The Wizard") would tell you that this step is the most important one. He has a 10ft tall faux Frasier Fir that he puts over 1100 lights on every year. You have to put your sunglasses on just to enter his home through the front door. I am not as patient as he is, though I do believe you need a well-lit tree. If you have a pre-lit tree, then just plug in and you are ready to roll, unless of course some of your lights won’t come on! If you are putting your own lights on your tree then start at the bottom of the tree at the back and begin to work your way around. You also want to run the lights up and down the branches as you work your way around so that your tree has lights in the center as well as the outer branches. Remember you should have no more than 3 strands of lights connecting to each other. If you have a large tree you may need to run an extension cord up the center of the trunk to start a new strand of lights. If you end up with extra lights at the top of the tree you can run them down the center of the tree to help illuminate it from the inside out. 

Step 2: The Topper 

Many would save the topper until last but I like to put it on before I do anything else. If you choose to use a classic simple topper then this will not take you long. If you like to have a bow at the top of your tree, it is good to put it on first so you can place the tails where you want them without having to worry about bumping your ornaments. I like to put unusual things in the tops of my trees. You will see from the sample pictures that the sky is the limit! From wooden reindeer to chandeliers, we are willing to try anything! ​

If you choose something like a chandelier that lights up, you will need to run a separate extension cord up the middle of your tree to the top to plug the topper in. Do not plug this item in to your lights! If you choose to use a bird’s nest, or bird cage, wooden cut out, etc. you will need to affix it to the top of the tree with a little floral wire. If you will wrap the wire with floral tape first it will not damage or scrape your decorative items and will be easier to work with. Sometimes I also like to add large branches, or stems of berries in the top of the tree. These will usually secure themselves in the braches but if you have trouble, just grab your trusty floral wire. 

I hope this little tutorial was helpful! Try out these tips and post your pics to The Southern Mercantile Facebook page. We’d love to see your handiwork! 

Don't forget to stop by our Holiday category to take a look at our Christmas selection!

The entrance to your home is very important. Whether you are welcoming guests through your front door, or you think back door guests are best, the entrance will form your guest’s first impression when they walk up to your home.  I think choosing the right exterior door color is the first step in making sure that the entrance to your home conveys your family’s personality before anyone ever steps foot inside.  

When choosing a color for your exterior doors, don’t overthink it!  Doors are small and easy to paint.  You can change your door color once a year if you want to.  Painting a door is an inexpensive project that will give your nest a whole new look!  I have a friend in town that changes her door color all the time.  In fact, I should have interviewed her before writing this to ask just how many colors it has been since she moved in.  (Yes, Candace, I am talking about you!) It is so fun to drive by her house and see a beautiful new color waving at you from the front porch!

​You may want to try something bold, if so, here are my favorite picks right now for a bold front door:

​If you aren’t feeling so brave, here are a two hues that will give you a softer color pop:

​ I am a believer that your doors should all be the same color.  You may have different style doors in different areas of the house, solid doors, French doors, etc. Painting them the same color will give the outside of your home some unity and consistency.  I do have one exception to this rule.  If you think you want to try a wild and crazy color on the front door to make a real statement, but you are not sure you can commit to this color on every door, then keep the other doors very simple.  Black doors are great on most houses as a neutral and you can always paint doors your trim color, a white or off white. I hope this has inspired you freshen up the outside of your home and try a new look!  Remember, it's just paint.  You can change it if you don't like it!  Happy painting y'all! 

It's still warm outside here in the South, but there is a change in the air and we know that fall is on its way!  Time to spruce up those front doors and welcome in this pleasant time of the year. I thought it would be fun to help you make a beautiful fall wreath for your home.  If you are feeling crafty, then grab your hot glue gun and let's get started!

Here's what you'll need to get started:
-hot glue gun
-scissors
-wire snips
-floral wire
-floral tape
-grapevine wreath
-fall floral picks
-ribbon

All of these supplies will be available at your local craft store. For this wreath, I used two colors of wool grass (two stems of each color), two picks with fall foliage, one pumpkin pick and one gourd pick. You are free to choose whatever fall stems that speak to you! The design concept will be the same, even if you choose something different than what I have used today. 

First, you need to wrap your wire with floral tape.  This will make your wire much easier to work with. Learning to wrap your wires with floral tape is life-changing, and you will never want to work with naked wire again! Start by wrapping the tape around the top of your wire and then pull the tape as you twist it down the wire.  

The tape is stretchy and will stick better if you pull/stretch it as you wrap the wire.  Cut your taped wire into two pieces, one to use for your hanger and one to use for your bow.

To make a hanger for the back of your wreath, lay the wire over two fingers, pull down, and twist, creating a loop at the top.

Wrap the straight end of your hanger around a chunk of the grapevine on the back of the wreath, pulling the straight end up, and wrapping it around itself. Make the hanger extra secure with a little dab of hot glue.  

Next, you will need to break down your floral picks. By breaking down your picks and stems, and cutting them into smaller pieces, you will make what you have go a lot further. In the end, this will make your project less expensive to make.  

I am starting with the long wild grass that was part of my wool grass stems.  Start by gluing a piece of the grass down and work your way around the wreath, continuing to glue the sections of grass. *Helpful Hint: Put glue on the end of your stem and then shove it down into the wreath, rather than just gluing to the top.  This will make your stems more secure and help hide your glue!

Next, add the wooly tops. Divide your wooly pieces in half, using half for the first layer and half for the second. Glue the wool grass to the top surface of the wreath, alternating colors as you work around it.  The first layer will all be glued right along the top. 

As you start the second layer of wool grass, start to fill in on the outside and the inside of the wreath base.  This will help build out the shape of your wreath and make it look more full.

Now that all the wooly pieces are attached, go back and fill in with the extra foliage that you separated out when you took the stems apart.  

You can see how the wreath is really starting to take shape and fill out.  The trick to this type of wreath is to build it up, layer by layer.  We've laid the foundation, now let's add the fun parts!

Next, add the bow.  You will need about 2 1/2 yards of ribbon to make a simple bow like this.  Start by leaving a tail.  At the top of the tail, make a small loop that will be the center of your bow.

Pinch and twist the remaining ribbon before making your next loop, which will be a little bigger.

Continue making loops, making sure that you twist the ribbon between each loop.  You should end up with five loops total, one small one for the center and four larger loops.  Find the center of your bow, where it all started.  You will have three loops on one side and two on the other. Lay the taped wire across the center of the bow. Tightly pull the wire to the bottom of the bow and twist it on itself.  

After securing your bow with the wire, you can fluff up your loops.

Some folks would add the bow at the end, but I like to go ahead and attach it now, so that I can work around it as I fill in with the rest of my fall foliage.  I decided to place my bow off center, which meant I needed to move one of the wool grass tops.  This is no problem!  If you decide you don't like where you've put something, just clip it out, move it, and re-glue it.  

To attach the bow, wrap the wire around a chunk of the grapevine and twist it on itself until the bow feels secure.  

Fluff your loops up and place your tails where you want them to hang so that you will know where to start placing your next layer.

Next, add the different elements of the deconstructed fall picks.  First, I filled in the bare spots around my bow with the leafy greenery.

Next, decide where to place the pumpkin and gourd. I placed one on the top of the bow at the center and one on the bottom.

Fill in with some extra grass.  Something like this will be available to you at your local craft store.  This grass just helps to make the wreath look a little fuller, while also adding to the wispy-ness.

Now, start to build out the base of the wreath, out from each side of the bow.  I added fall leaves to each side. 

Next, add in some fall colored paper grass and berry pods, again building out on each side of the bow.

Fluff up your bow one last time and voila!  You have a beautiful fall wreath for your door!  You can see in this picture how I used all the extra pieces to build out the bottom of the wreath around the bow.  The top of the wreath is just the base of wool grass that we started with.

If you are running a little short on time, or if your creative juices are just not flowing, you can buy one of these beautiful wreaths that I've already put together for you!

If you're feeling crafty and would like to take on this project, we have made the elements we've used available to you!

I am so excited to talk to you about my kitchen because it has turned out to be my favorite spot in this little house.  It was definitely the room that needed the most work in this renovation! I think I mentioned in my previous blog that I don't have any pictures of the space from before we started working. Apparently, it was so horrifying I didn't want to remember it too clearly, haha! So let's get to it so you can find out how my kitchen went from this....

to this!!!!  A bright, happy, CLEAN, efficient kitchen work space.

Just to recap, there were only a few, old cabinets that all had to be removed. There was also a wall that separated the kitchen from the dining area. Obviously, the floors had to be completely replaced!  The original floors were long gone and the existing layers of rotten plywood were so termite eaten that they started falling out when my carpenters starting jacking up the house to replace the joists. You can read more about my adventures in flooring HERE. We took out the wall in the kitchen (it was super rotten anyway) to create a more open space.  I did close up one window in the kitchen so that I could put the stove there.  To be such a tiny house it certainly had plenty of windows so I didn't sacrifice any of my nice natural light by doing this.  

The next step was to get the floors sanded and stained, and the walls and ceiling primed and painted and ready for cabinets! I used the same paint colors in the kitchen as I did in the living / dining areas, treating this as one large room so it would flow and be cohesive.

After doing a little research and some price comparrison, I decided to go with Ikea cabinets.  I could get the look that I wanted and get the most bang for my limited bucks!  *Disclaimer* If you are not a handy person and are not up for a project, then this is probably not the route you should go.  I am very blessed to have some handy folks in my life to help with projects like these.  I will tell you that I had no experience designing kitchen spaces and I found it very easy to use the online design program that Ikea offers on their website.  It took some time to play around with things and learn the program, but I was able to come up with a design that I was happy with.  Matt and I headed up to Atlanta where we were able to have an Ikea professional review my plan to make sure there were no major issues and to purchase the cabinets.  It was a bit overwhelming, being first time cabinet buyers, so we stopped for margaritas and Mexican food at one of our favorite spots before heading home!

I did pay to have a professional to install the cabinets and I highly recommend this! I had a close family member, who had recently been through a kitchen renovation in an older home, suggest to me that I should not try to install these myself and I am super glad that I listened! You might recognize Phillip, (now, Tara's husband) from previous Southern Merc blogs.  He did an amazing job installing the cabinets and counter tops for me.  Because he is so experienced, he was able to deal with things like walls that are not straight and floors that are still slightly uneven.  I was glad he was there with the knowledge to improvise when things weren't working out exactly like I had planned.

I am so happy with the end result.  I was able to stick to my budget and get the fabulous kitchen that I wanted.  When we moved into this house I was coming from an even smaller rental house that had a very small kitchen with minimal cabinets.  For me, this was quite the upgrade!  I also had not had a dishwasher for the previous 12 years so, to have a nice new one has been thrilling!

There wasn't room in this little corner to squeeze in a cabinet so my dad helped me build little shelves to display some of my favorite treasures.

My farmhouse sink also came from Ikea and was quite a deal!  If you have been wishing for a farmhouse sink but didn't think you could afford one, you should check these out.  There are two sizes, one like mine and one that is larger and divided.  Your existing cabinets can usually be manipulated to accommodate this type of sink with the apron front.  I opted for mostly drawers with the lower cabinets.  The large drawers on the right contain all of my dishes and serving pieces.  The cabinets in the corners have two shelves that pull out completely and then swing back towards the wall when pushed in so that no space is wasted.

A very special friend painted this cow for me and named her "Roxanna". It makes me so happy to look up and see her above the fridge.

My favorite cookbooks are proudly displayed on a shelf by the fridge and my favorite ceramic tray corals things like salt, pepper and garlic cloves that I use frequently while cooking.  I keep everything I need to enjoy my morning coffee right next to my coffee maker, including a crate full of my favorite mugs!

You may wonder why I am choosing to show you my ugly old microwave and toaster.  I just want to stress that you can set up and organize your small (or large) kitchen in such a way that your necessesities are made to look as nice and neat as possible.  You don't necessarily have to line all of your kitchen appliances up on your counter top, and if you have a small kitchen, you don't need to have them taking up that much precious counter space!  These wood and metal shelves sit by my refridgerator and hold a lot of important things that I use everyday but, I try to keep it organized and tidy!

Since our house is small, we don't really have a desk or office area where it would make sense to keep things like bills, pens and tape!  Instead, I have a little station set up by the side door to catch all of those types of things.  We also have a designated place to hang all of our keys becuase I am the world's worst to set my keys down and not remember where they are!

I wish I could have you all over for dinner so you could see things in person, but since I can't, I hope you've enjoyed all of the pictures!  

​Like a few things that you have seen?  Visit the Southern Mercantile store to check out these items that will help you get the look!  
(This blog was origianally posted in August of 2016 so these items are no longer available.  We hope you'll take a look in the store and check out our current merchandise!)

Welcome to my home! I am so excited to share with you my finished (well, mostly finished) spaces with you!  Just to recap, I'll be sharing before and after pictures with you so you can get a handle on just how extensive this renovation was.  Brace yourself, the before pictures are pretty scary! Apparently, the front rooms of the house were so bad, I didn't take any before pictures of the rooms before we started working!  Here are a few that I snapped after we had made a little progress.  

Use your imagination and visualize a wall where my dad is standing, that divided the kitchen from the living and dining area.  This wall was completely eaten by termites so, it had to go.  This made me very happy because I really wanted to open the space up so that the room would feel larger.  I did have to have a support beam added in the attic space as this was a load bearing wall.  

Here is that space now, so much brighter and happier!

All of the interior walls, ceilings and floors of this little mill house are made of pine and most of them were salvageable. While I do love the wood for texture, stability, and the ease of hanging whatever I want, wherever I want, they were just so dark!  The whole house was the same dark color, top to bottom, just crying out for a coat of paint! I had several folks stop by while we were working and say, "I can't believe you are going to paint that pretty wood". To all you wood preservationists out there, sorry.  But I think the end result is fabulous!  Lightening up the walls and the ceilings made the house feel twice its size!    

Here is the happy and bright "after" picture of my beautiful living room!  I am happy as a lark to sit here in the mornings and watch the news or to gather and visit here when we have guests.  This small space is both comfortable and functional.  Even though the house is small, I've found plenty of room to store things away and special places to show off my treasures.  I decided to have the fireplace closed up as we would never use it and it just wasn't an option to invest in gas logs right now.  I do, however, love to decorate a mantel so I kept a faux version of the fireplace.  The mantel is not original and it is not old.  Just a treasure I brought over from my last little house.  

As you look at the pictures of my home in this blog and the ones to come you may see cords, mail, electronics, etc.  I did not try to hide every little thing for these photos because, well, we live here.  There are some unattractive and/or useful things that are out for all the world to see!  If you are reading this and are currently living in a small space and struggling to find homes for all of your "stuff", here are some creative storage ideas that can make your "stuff" a little more attractive.  On my bookshelf in the living room I used patterned cardboard storage boxes, sewing machine drawers, a vintage locker basket and an old paint crate to hide some of the items that we need but don't have room for in a closet or drawer.  If you have to store items in plain sight in your home, get creative in using different kinds of containers to house those things.    

I was blessed to receive a lot of hand-me-downs while renovating this home and since I have been on such a tight budget, I was grateful for them! These Pottery Barn drapes were passed to me, and they turned out to be just perfect in the living area!  They were a little too short to hang them as high as I wanted, so to make them the correct length, I sewed a band of patterned fabric to the bottoms. This made them the perfect length and gave them a more custom look.  I did sew these but if you don't have a sewing machine, you could easily get this look by using an iron-on "no-sew" hem tape.

Our little table doesn't seat many but it has already been a happy gathering place for many of our friends and family. 

This little table is extra special to me because my dad built it.  The table top is made from old tongue and groove boards that came out of the 100-year-old building that houses my shop!  

Here are the colors I used for the living, dining and kitchen areas.  Sea Salt has become one of my most favorite colors ever!  Way to go Sherwin Williams!  It truly goes with everything and reads as a neutral while still giving you such a nice hint of color.  The ceilings are painted Spare White, which is just the lightest shade on the Sea Salt color strip.  All of the trim in the entire house is just your basic glossy white.  

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of my living and dining spaces!  If you saw something you like, be sure to check out the items below.  We'd love to help you get the look! 
(This blog was originally posted in August 2016 so some of these items are no longer available.  We hope you will take a look around the store and see what's new!

It seems like I have been working on this little house forever!  (It probably seems like that to you too!)  It has definitely been a labor of love, and is still a bit of a work in progress, but I am finally at a place where I feel I have tended to enough of the details to let you have an in depth tour. At 980 square feet, this house packs a lot of character into a very small space!  Matt and I have been thrilled to settle in to this little mill house and make it our home.  Living in a small house or apartment doesn't mean you have to compromise your design aesthetic.  There are plenty of ways you can bring style and organization to a small space, while keeping to a strict budget and I hope I can give you a few tips along the way! 

 I am pairing a "before" picture with each room / porch, just in case you have forgotten the horror!  If you are new to The Southern Mercantile, be sure to take a peek at my previous renovation blogs, to see the whole process!  
​Alder Street Social Club
Alder Street Renovation
Alder Street Renovation-The Floors

​Now, just to recap, here's a little reminder of what the house looked like on the outside when we began our work.  

And, ta da!  Here's my beautiful front porch now!  Don't you just want to come on up and visit for a while? Matt and I have already spent many evenings here in the spring and the fall, sitting on the glider, sipping a glass of wine and, catching up on the day! I had concrete board siding and trim put on the house which helped greatly in making it more energy efficient and will hold up much better in our damp climate than the original wood siding.  I did have to install all new windows in the house and the porch received new columns.  

On to the side porch!  You may remember, the side porch did not originally exist.  There was a small stoop with steps leading up to the side door.

I decided to expand a little by adding a small side porch.  As it turns out, adding this porch was, by far, the best decision I made regarding the renovation.  I just love it!  I love coming home, parking in the driveway, and walking up the steps to be greeted by this happy little spot!  The side door enters into the kitchen so it is perfect for the usual coming and going, unloading groceries, etc.  There are steps each side of this porch, one set leading down to the front yard and the driveway and one set leading down to the back yard (and the soon to be patio).

If I am home alone on a pretty evening or a Sunday morning, this is where you will find me.  It is a little more private than the front porch and such a happy place to sit and drink my coffee!  I know you can see my stash of yard tools, under the table.  I have future plans ready for a cute little gardening / storage shed but that project is down on the priority list a ways.  For right now, the side porch also serves as my storage area for gloves, yard tools and bug spray.  This cute drop leaf table has been a great outdoor storage solution for me.  My vintage drink crate acts as a nice cubby for small items.      

I have a few more projects waiting in the wings to finish things up on the outside. I am currently saving for a metal roof and underpinning.  This spring I started to attack the yard but I still have a good bit of work to do there!  I am also planning a little patio area that will be right off the steps that lead to the back yard and I have a feeling that will become my new favorite spot!  

Just in case you are interested, here is the color pallet for the exterior of my home.

Did this inspire you to spruce up your own porches?  Here are a few items in The Southern Mercantile store that can help you get the look!  Click a picture below to view it in the store! (This blog was originally posted in July 2016 so some of these items are no longer available.  We hope you will check out the store and see what's new!)

I love to walk in to my bedroom and see a made up, super cozy bed just waiting for me to crawl in.  I won't lie to you though, I do not make my bed everyday!  I know, shame on me.  Because, when I do leave the house with the bed made, it makes me so happy!  I wanted to share a few tips I have picked up along the way to make your bed a place you can't wait to crawl into!  Making your bed as cozy and inviting as possible will help to make you love your home even more.  

The most important element of your comfortable and cozy bed is the mattress.  If your mattress is not comfortable, you are not going to feel cozy in your bed, no matter how many pillows and blankets you put on it!  If you aren't in the position to run out and buy a new mattress, (I feel ya) there are several things you can do to make your existing mattress more comfortable.  A memory foam mattress topper is a great investment!  This will increase the level of comfort on any bed. You are also going to want to invest in a nice mattress pad.  A quilted mattress pad will create a nice comfortable layer between your sheets and your mattress/topper.  You don't have to break the bank to get a nice mattress pad, as T.J. Maxx usually has a nice selection! 

Comfortable sheets can make or break your sleeping experience.  You don't necessarily have to look for the most expensive with the highest thread count to find the softest and most comfortable.  There are so many different things you can look for when buying sheets like: thread count, type of weave used, type of cotton used... etc.  I say, just open the package and feel them!  You won't know if a sheet has the potential to be super comfortable until you touch them.  You are looking for a nice, heavier weight, with a tighter weave that is soft to the touch. Nobody wants to sleep on sandpaper sheets!  Hehe.   

In order to give your bed a luxurious look you are going to need layers!  I believe in sheets, a blanket, a comforter, a bed skirt (if needed)  and many pillows!  When making your bed you can either pull the sheet all the way to the top, as I have done, or fold it back over the blanket.  You want to pull the blanket back so that you can see the sheets and then pull the comforter down to the foot of the bed. Sometimes I fold the comforter in thirds, sometimes just in half.  There isn't really a right or wrong, you will know what looks good to you!  

The picture below is of my guest bed.  I keep the sheet and the blanket pulled to the top of the mattress on this bed so that I can keep the sheets fresh and clean and ready for guests!  

On this bed I used four standard pillows, two to rest your head and two for propping and reading.  I have also incorporated two vintage embroidered shams and one extra decorative pillow.  ​

I prefer using a duvet and cover as opposed to a printed comforter.  This makes it super easy for me to take the duvet cover off and wash it more frequently than I would a traditional comforter.  (It is also more cost effective than taking a bulky comforter to the dry cleaners multiple times a year!)  I love a down duvet but they make me so hot!  I have down on the guest bed and a "down alternative" duvet on my bed.  

​The last layering piece to consider is the bed skirt.  You may have a bed that does not require one but if your bed is elevated off the floor at all and doesn't have decorative wood panels, then you need a bed skirt.  Most ready-made bed skirts will not be the right length as bed heights vary.  Ready-made bed skirts are usually not available in many color/fabric options, so you will be limited in this area as well.  I recommend having a custom bed skirt made or making one yourself if you are in the D.I.Y. mood! 

My sweet Aunt Janet made the bed skirt below that is on my bed.  I chose a cute embroidered polka dot fabric that coordinated with my other bedding pieces.  My bed is old and very tall, so I needed a bed skirt with a little extra length.  

For the bed skirt in the guest room, I re-purposed a pair of curtains that I bought at T.J.Maxx.  I needed to get it done in a hurry, so I covered the box spring with a fitted sheet and pinned the fabric to the sheet, box pleats and all!  When the bed is made up and put together, you would never know it!  I got off cheaper than buying fabric by the yard, and the curtains already had hemmed edges so that made this a "no sew" project.    

Just in case you haven't figured this out already, I love to mix prints and colors! This is a good way to keep your bedding looking fresh and interesting.  My bedding is such an eclectic mix!  I have picked up bedding items at Pottery Barn, West Elm, T.J. Maxx, Target and Anthropology.  If you are not feeling confident in your mix and match capabilities, then by all means, just pick up your favorite home decor catalog or log on to your computer and order yourself some fantastic bedding!  There are lots of good bedding options these days that come as a set but still give you a nice variety of textiles within the collection.  You may not like the look of all my patterns and colors, and that is okay too!  You can use a neutral palette for your bedding and still mix textiles and textures to create a much more interesting look!     

Don't get stuck in a bedding rut.  I know that most of us cannot afford to change all of our bedding with the seasons, but there are small changes you can make to your bed to keep things feeling fresh!  Changing your throw pillows now and then can give you a whole new look!  Here is an example of my bed with new pillows.

I hope this post has inspired you to change things up in the bedroom!  It doesn't have to be expensive to get a new look--you can even work with what you already have!  

If you are looking for a sweet new addition to your bed, check out our hand embroidered pillow cases in the store!  

You’ve all heard me talk about my Fairy God Children and the joy I have found in being a Fairy God Mother.  Several months ago, my Fairy Godson, Zach, came to let me in on a big surprise and asked me how I felt about being a Fairy Grandmother.  Of course this thrilled me to pieces!  My first Fairy Grandbaby was on the way!  Needing an outlet to focus my excitement, I immediately enlisted Jorjanne and Tara to help me plan a little baby shower for the parents-to-be. 

We decided to host the party in the dining room of our Café (as my house is too tiny to hold all those people).  Zach and Natalie are having a girl, so pink, pale green and mint blue were the colors for the day.  Natalie is using a beautiful floral pattern in the nursery so we decided to carry that theme through to the shower.  The theme of the day was to “Shower” the baby with love. 

I got a really cute idea from pinterest to hang umbrellas from the ceiling.  I recruited my Dad to help with the decorations because, as I have told you before, if I can dream it up, he can make it happen.  We may or may not have gone a little overboard with the umbrellas.  Here is my inspiration picture from pinterest: cute, sweet umbrellas. 

Here is what we came up with: three gigantic pink umbrellas.  I always say, go big or go home!  Hahaha! The dining room is rather large with high ceilings so the extra-large umbrellas brought a nice touch of whimsy.

I have a large collection of vintage containers used by florists for baby-themed arrangements.  These were perfect to use for silverware, food items and table decorations.  I used fresh greenery snipped from the yard to fill the containers used on the guest tables.  This is one of my favorite quick and easy things to do.  We didn’t use any water or oasis as the party was not to last long.

The menu was kept simple for this Sunday afternoon soiree.  We served cranberry pecan chicken salad on fresh baked croissants, cheese straws from Holt’s bakery (a local favorite), strawberry truffles and a pink ombre cake.

The cake (made by Tara) was absolutely gorgeous and quite the crowd pleaser!  Tara is going to share her recipe and tips for creating your own ombre cake a little later in the week.

The afternoon was a little chilly so we served white hot chocolate garnished with pink marshmallows.

I love to use unconventional items as the “guest book”.  You may remember that, at Tara’s wedding, we used a book full of water colors and photographs of old churches, including the church where she was married.  At my own wedding reception I used a vintage art book of Van Gogh paintings that Matt brought to me as a souvenir from one of his trips to Italy.  For this party I used a very sweet little print that said “You are Loved”.

As guests arrived, they stopped to sign the print and leave well wishes for the new baby.  As usual we had a gift table full of festively wrapped gifts!  The couple was blessed by many thoughtful and generous gifts from our Fourth and Cherry family.

This little party is a great example of keeping things simple but oh so sweet!  You don’t have to break the bank to host a special get together to honor those that you love.  Whether it be a baby shower, wedding shower or birthday party, if you infuse your gathering with love, then your party will be enjoyable and memorable to all of your guests!

My talents in life may be few but there is one thing I am confident of: I am very good with color!  One of my favorite things to do with clients is to help them choose a color palette.  Whether it be for their walls or their wedding, I love to work with color.  It is a language that I understand, unlike Math or French. (sorry Mrs. Roberts and Madame Coley!)
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Choosing a paint color can be very overwhelming.  You think to yourself, “it is such a big purchase” or “there will be so much of it, I have to get it right”. Or the cop-out “maybe I’ll just go with white”.  Just relax, take a deep breath, and realize that it is only paint.  When I moved into my first little house after college, I painted the kitchen a horrible shade of bright blue.  I managed to live with it for two days and then started slathering on the primer so I could start over.

It was a mistake that was easily fixed with a little extra time and a new gallon of paint.  So, don’t over think and stress yourself out.  Here are a few tips that I think will help you choose a color that you will be happy with for a long time!
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Color is the New White!
One important thing to remember is that neutral does not always mean white or tan.  You can choose a neutral color that will go with everything but is still a color!  Most of the inside of my house is painted “Sea Salt” by Sherwin Williams.

 This shade of pale blue/green has proven to be the perfect neutral for me.  I have yet to find a color that I don’t like with it.  Red, teal, brown, mustard, green, gray, cream…… they all work with “Sea Salt”.  There are a lot of good neutral options with a hint of color.
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Have a starting point.
When choosing a paint color, whether for indoors or outside, it helps to have a starting point, something for inspiration.  Your starting point can take many different forms.  It can be a piece of furniture, a pillow, a rug, bedding or even a painting for the wall.  I have worked in situations where all of these are true.  If you are not a person that feels super comfortable with color, then start with something that you are already in love with and go from there.  In my bedroom, for instance, I already had bedding that I was in love with so I used those items to help guide my color choice for the walls.

Use the many resources that are available to you.
​When searching for inspiration, remember that there are endless resources available to you online, in magazines and at the paint counter.  Pinterest is a wonderful place to find more color inspiration than you could ever imagine.  If you can’t feel inspired by all of the beautiful pictures on Pinterest, then I am sorry, there may be no help for you!  Follow our “Southern Color Palette” board on the Southern Mercantile Pinterest page to keep up with the color trends that inspire us. 

Sherwin Williams offers many great tools on their website to help you choose the right color for your home.  Use their “snap it" button to turn any image into a color palette.  You can see in this example that I used one of Tara’s beautiful wedding photos to create a stunning color palette.

You can draw inspiration from the nature around you, your favorite outfit, or even your last vacation destination!  The sky is the limit.  The Sherwin Williams “ColorSnap” visualizer lets you upload a picture and virtually “paint” your room different colors.  It’s a great way to try on different color schemes.

Most paint suppliers sell small sample jars of their paints.  Once you’ve narrowed down your search you can pick up a few samples to try out before making your final commitment.  Of course, I do it the old fashioned way by taping the paint chip to the wall and “living” with it for a few days. 

Listen to your Home.
My final tip (and maybe most important) is to let your home and your belongings help guide your color choice.  Don’t try to make the house fit a color scheme just because it may be your favorite at the time.  Make sure the color scheme fits the house.  

You all know my little cottage has been quite the work in progress!  My husband and I franticly moved in right before Christmas last year, my busiest time of the year!  Needless to say, I did not get to decorate for the Holidays.  I was so excited to get to unpack all of my pretty Christmas decorations this year, so I wanted to have you all over for a little Holiday Home Tour.  Welcome!

It's no secret that I love my porch and I love entertaining outside.  In South Georgia our winters are usually rather mild, which makes for perfect outdoor entertaining!  I keep my festive pillows ready to toss on the glider when guests come over.

I love the look and smell of fresh greenery.  Most of my décor this year incorporates faux greenery but I did snag this cute fresh wreath to hang on my porch.  Fresh wreaths are usually rather inexpensive and will last a good month as long as the weather is cool. 

Decorating mantels is one of my favorite things.  My mantle this year is decked with mercury glass and tinsel garland.  Our stockings are hung with care, and labeled with my letter ornaments from Pottery Barn.

My grandmother Crain was a very creative lady.  She died when I was in kindergarten, so I didn't get the chance to know her well.  Not only do we look a lot alike, but I am certain we would have a lot in common.  She made this little red bird ornament for me when I was little so I have it lovingly displayed here with her beautiful picture.

Bell jars are a great accessory to have in your home year round.  You can change what you display in them with the seasons.  I am loving my giant pine cone and extra large ornaments displayed under this bell jar on my coffee table.

,I'll be hosing Christmas breakfast at my house Christmas morning for a small group of my family, so I decided to go ahead and set up my table so I'll be ready.

I have quite a love affair with dishes, linens and silver so setting fancy tables is sooooo much fun!  Here, I have used faux Magnolia leaves and extra large mercury glass ornaments to create a centerpiece.  I didn't have just the right runner or cloth so I used a long piece of wrapping paper as my runner.  I have already confessed to you my love of wrapping paper.  This a great example of a different way you can use it and why it is great to have on hand!  My fine china and antique silver plate were all wedding gifts and I love to use them on special occasions.

My little home is cozy and ready for company!  Christmas time is so fun because it seems to be the only time of the year that it is acceptable to swath your home in greenery and glitter and all things fun!

 My Christmas tree was so fun to decorate!  After decorating so many at my shop, you would think I would be tired of trees and ornaments but every one is a work of art to me!  This year I used a felt-like rope as the bow on the top along with large glittered snowflakes and silver tinsel picks.  I have mixed new as well as vintage ornaments and all in shades of cranberry, dark teal, gold and silver.  If you missed my helpful tips on tree decorating, you can click the link here to read it and brush up on your skills.

The little striped ornament is my favorite vintage ornament.  It has all my colors, gold, silver and blue and is just so darn cute!  The bells, flowers and polka dot ornaments are all new but still some of my faves.  Some of them are available in our store.

You know I love a thoughtfully and beautifully wrapped gift.  If you missed my gift wrapping guide you can click this link to check it out.

I've devoted one small corner in my hallway to one of my favorite places on earth, our family vacation spot in Colorado.  This may sound very glamorous but I kid you not, it looks very much like the ornament.  (And is about that size too!)  I am so blessed to have a water color painting of this special place painted by my good friend Mary Ann Cox.

This guest room is ready!  Now I just need a guest.  Adding a cute Christmas pillow to the bed and a small, festive arrangement on the side table was just enough to brighten up this little room.

Even the bathroom got the holiday treatment with silver tinsel garland over the mirror and bright colored bottlebrush trees on the chest.

My bedroom is my sanctuary so it got the holiday treatment in the form of cozy pillows, tinsel tree and fresh flowers on the bedside table.

There are little touches of Christmas throughout the kitchen.  Including the fresh, mini poinsettia.  Wish I had a dozen of those!

These Christmas trees made of sheet metal are the perfect home for my special Christmas cards of friends and family.

Ok y'all, confession time.  Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes are my all time favorite holiday dessert.  I can resist Little Debbie snack cakes all year long but when the Christmas Trees hit the shelves, I just can't help myself!  Call me crazy but give me a glass of eggnog, (spiked of course) and a Little Debbie Christmas Tree and I feel as though I have died and gone to heaven.

I am so glad you came over to take a peek at my little nest.  Christmas really is my favorite time of the year and it makes me happy to share so many of my favorite things with my guests.  Many of my favorite things are available in The Southern Mercantile Store but, if you saw something you like that is not listed in the store, chances are it is available in our brick and mortar store, The Shoppes at Fourth and Cherry.  Shoot us an email, we'll be glad to answer any questions that you have!  Merry Christmas!