The Handmade Family Table.

A couple of weeks ago, we put together this gorgeous rustic & elegant holiday table full of texture, color, and light. We started by layering our simple handmade woven burlap runner on top of brown kraft paper run down the center of the table. We just love the idea of using simple (& affordable!) materials to offset luxurious linens, crystal, and china. Plenty of votives, and an incredible collection of mercury glass filled the center of the table adding a wonderful sparkly glow to the whole room. A handful of wood branches, and crystal cups filled with bright red cranberries, added festive color and texture to the table.

Velvet ribbons, fresh bright cranberries, and rustic pebbles worked in perfect harmony with the collection of gorgeous mercury glass. 

And of course we couldn't resist bringing in our signature favorite to complete the look... BOWS! 

*If you follow GatheredEvents on Instagram, you're quite familiar with the obsession. ;)

Our labor of love, hand embroidered place card flags. They were super fun for the kiddies!

We had so much fun making, designing, and styling this special family table for the holidays. 

Email gatheredlaura@gmail.com TODAY for inquiries on how you can have Gathered Events style your next party or event!

Tropical Holiday

It's November. The evenings are darker, Thanksgiving is two weeks away... and I'm still in sunscreen and t-shirts. Having lived my whole previous life as a northerner (IL, MO, RI, & NY), this is very confusing. Normally, by now, I've changed over my wardrobe to boots and tights, put away the bathing suits, and started digging out the holiday decorations to combat the wintery-gray weather that has already hit. This year, November hit me like a slap in the face. It came out of nowhere. Right now, it's bright and sunny, people are outside in shorts, I still know where my sunglasses are - it's weird. But the sun sets at 6pm now, so my internal clock has finally caught on to the supposed changing of seasons. Last night, I forced myself to put on holiday music and search for heart-warming soup recipes. Fake it till you make it, right? Although it certainly doesn't feel like it, the holidays are, in fact, upon us. And now, I'm kind of stumped. How do I decorate for Christmas in a place that never turns white?

The brightly colored holiday baubles I've collected throughout my years up North just aren't doing it for me this year. Those Northern cities become drained of any color as soon as the leaves fall, and bright decorations always helped me feel cheerful when the weather was dragging me down. Down here, we get sunshiny color almost everyday. What's a holiday-loving, decoration-obsessed, crafter to do? I refuse to start throwing around painted palm trees and starfish, as some Floridians do. And somehow, evergreen swags and holly berries seem out of place too. With no christmasy-cold weather on the horizon this year, maybe I need to focus on creating the Southern version of that magical feeling that comes with the first snow of the season. When the noises of the city become muted and all the lights begin to glow under a soft layer of winter white. The comfort and warmth of snuggling up in a space filled with romance, love, and joy whether it's cold outside or not.

I've spent some time collecting ideas for creating a beautiful sparkly white Christmas in our sunshiny Florida home. Here are a few of my favorites:

How are you creating holiday joy in your space this year? Comments are welcomed and appreciated!

Credits: HomeDesignPins, MarthaStewart, RealSimple, APlaceIdLiketoCallHome

Check out these Etsy Sellers too! Mellsva, StudioKahn, SewnNatural, NestaHome

Follow me on Pinterest for more holiday (and everything else) inspiration~ GatheredLaura