Are we all dragging this morning from sugar over load? I had to peel my kids out of bed to get them to school today! However, Halloween night is always well worth it to me… I love seeing all of the kids dressed up, and especially spying some superbly creative costumes out and about town. As Halloween comes to a close, I am pretty much throwing myself into Christmas because I have had to work on getting my space ready for the Sweet Clover Holiday Kick-Off which starts tomorrow! Before Halloween was even over, I was at home crafting ornaments and styling my space for the holidays (with Emmy’s help on both fronts!). Our sale starts tomorrow November 2 and runs through Sunday November 5. You can find all the details here if you’re local to the Maryland/DC/Northern Virginia area. I’ll be working both Thursday and Friday and would love to see you! Without further ado, I wanted to share with you my space all ready for the holiday shoppers.
Pardon the photos as they aren’t exactly my best…. It was a rainy and terribly windy day Sunday when Emmy and I finished up and I shot it.
As you can see, I brought in the white industrial cabinet that has been in my dining room for almost a year. I love love love it, but I don’t need it and it just takes up space and collects things, so I decided to part with it. I also had an idea of how I wanted to stage it, so I was excited to bring it with me. We filled the nooks with fresh sprigs of greenery, glittered pinecones the kids and I made years ago, and smaller boxes of vintage ornaments. In front of it I placed a reclaimed star that looks awesome on a porch for the holidays.
On top of the cabinet, I gathered vintage brass candlesticks and deer, as well as vintage snowball ornaments that I thrifted (missing their hook holes, but look great in a bowl) that I placed on the candlesticks.
To the left of this vignette, I placed a vintage typewriter, and printed out a little “Dear Santa” letter for it with a little Christmas humor.
As I am trying to pare down my own collections, I’ve decided it’s time to part with my vintage flocked tree and have brought it to Sweet Clover as well. It’s such a beautiful piece and I’ve loved decorating it every year, but I know that next Christmas we’ll have an infant in the house, and I know I won’t be able to use it for a few years anyhow. I recently gave a little vintage dollhouse a fresh mini-makeover as well to bring to the shop, and Emmy staged the inside for me with miniature furnishings. The house is painted in the same seagull gray as the midcentury dresser behind next to the tree.
The tree itself is adorned with lights, vintage ornaments, and a collection of ornaments I’ve created for the holidays. I am not one for wholesale, so in order to bring in the holidays, I needed to create some fun little pieces to sell. My favorites are the wood burned slices. (I’ll be sharing these DIYs later this month as well!)
I shared many of them on facebook with my friends and the animal faces seemed to be popular. I used wood slices to paint these as well and created 5 different woodsy animals. I’ll be sharing all of those with you soon. 
Last year I created peg doll chicken ornaments (you can find that tutorial here) and I also painted several woodland animal peg dolls but never got any further with those. This year, I finished them off and added them to the tree at Sweet Clover.
Lastly for the DIY ornaments, I created some clay boho style ornaments.
None of the ornaments are perfect, but they’re not supposed to be… they’re hand created and add a nice whimsical and simple touch to a tree. As I mentioned, I will share the DIYs with you soon so you have plenty of time to make your own for the holidays. I promise you that they are all rather easy!
To the right of the tree, I set up a vintage porcelain Santa doll next to a vintage Santa Claus book for a little Santarrific vignette.
Along the wall behind Santa and the tree, I’ve hung a collection of vintage paint by Numbers in wintery and late fall scenes. The long narrow one with the deer is my favorite, and if it doesn’t sell, there will be no tears shed here.
Above this wall, I still have my seashell macrame hangers that have yet to sell for some reason, so I did what any reasonable person would do and glammed them up with some shiny disco balls! I totally love this look and again, no tears if they’re left behind. 😉
I shared this dresser last week and mentioned that a client had an appointment to see it at Sweet Clover. He kept delaying and as it was getting close to the sale I decided to put it in my space and he can come see it at the sale. Life is a little too hectic at the moment!
On top of it, I’ve placed a vintage navajo saddle blanket with a pop of red, and an old milking stool with a vintage plaid blanket on top. Little vintage deer complete that side of the dresser. Aren’t they adorable?
On the other side of the surface I’ve set a vintage coleman cooler in green with little handmade Scandinavian style gnomes. I made these a few years ago, and thought they would work well in my space.
My vintage brass gazelle made it into my space, along with a pair of vintage green splattered sawhorses that I thought made great little “trees”. I strung one with lights and the other with garland.
My bar cart is still in my space, and it’s styled for a black and gold holiday party…. all you need to finish it is the alcohol!
And of course, I have been collecting some boxes of vintage ornaments, so I have those as well, including some oversized and beautiful gradient shiny brites I adore! It’s the box in the middle below.
I am so looking forward to this sale! I know that for some people, Christmas can come off as such a commercial time, and trust me, I believe that often, too. But at Sweet Clover right now, it feels magical! I am inspired by the vignettes the other vendors are creating, and I love the magic of the vintage sparkle here and there. The whole place is just buzzing with happy energy at the moment, and I’m looking forward to a great start to the holiday season!
Sweet Clover Barn
4051 Stanford Ct, Frederick, MD 21703
Thursday Nov 2 9-5
Friday Nov 3 9-5
Saturday Nov 4 9-5
Sunday Nov 5 9-5
