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Christmas Tour-Playful Woodland Retreat

 Hi there! Welcome to my Christmas Tour-stop #27! I am so thrilled & honored to be sharing my home with all of you today as a part of Jennifer Rizzo’s  Annual Holiday Housewalk sponsored by Balsam Hill.

If you are stopping by from The Yellow Cape Cod, I am happy you came by! Wasn’t Sarah’s home gorgeous!!  I felt like I was transported to a magical winter wonderland, what a beautiful tour.

If you are new to the tour you can begin the FULL tour HERE.

The yellow cape code house 26

If you are new to my blog then let me introduce myself, my name is Jen. I live in a small town along the coast of Long Island, NY. We have the most magnificent summers & very long winters. My crew includes my handsome & very patient husband John and my beautiful boys Shane & Jack.

For me Christmas is a magical time of year, it is a time for me to connect with past traditions and memories of my mother and to be able to make new ones with the people I love most in the world.  Growing up my parents jumped through hoops to create holidays that were amazing & special in every way. I cherish those efforts and want to do the same for my own boys. This year I wanted to showcase spaces I did for them. My boys wanted colorful, mismatched, imperfect & cheerful, so that is what I gave them.

Playful Woodland Retreat Christmas Tour-City Farmhouse

You will not see my full house today, I do have a good excuse though:). I still honestly cant believe what I am about to write. BHG Christmas Ideas Magazine will be coming to photograph my home for the holidays!  Since I wasn’t able to show you my main living floor I thought I would change things up a bit from my normal neutral décor for this tour.

This year I used lots of grays, creams, added red buffalo checks & plaid. This gray felt wreath was a DIY and boy did it take a lot of balls{325}. I do fancy it though, it adds that rustic texture & keeps things fun.

Rustic Retreat-Holiday Front Door Christmas

The bow is actually from an old shirt.

Holiday Front Door + Felt Wreath City Farmhouse

Ahh, my Christmas tree, which I adore to pieces. It is from Balsam Hill & you can find it HERE. We elevated it a bit and placed it in a weathered galvanized tub for extra height.

Balsam Hill Vermont Spruce Christmas Tree + Faux Fur Tree SkirtI added a faux fur to give it that cozy layer and added gifts with lots of DIY wrapping ornaments. THESE polaroid’s I made last year & still love using them. It is a quiet reminder of who & what is important especially around the holidays.

Meaningful Holiday Wrapping

There is something so magical about the Christmas Tree, on any given morning or evening in December you will find us snuggled on the couch enjoying its glow.

Rustic bowl from Birch Lane filled with ornaments

Balsam Hill Vermont Spruce Christmas Tree + Fun Wrapping Ideas

My boys wanted to be a part of the decorating the tree so they helped me make some ornaments. I wanted them to feel like this was their tree. As a child my mother made a BIG deal on the tree trimming night & I hold those memories so close to my heart, if I close my eyes I can still picture it. Every year she would make or gift me a special ornament that had a significance and give it to me that night. I do the same for me boys. It is one of traditions I am more than happy to carry on.

Balsam Hill Vermont Spruce Christmas Tree + DIY Ornaments

 The hoop ornaments are a DIY from that same shirt that made the bow on my wreath & the pillow is from H & M Home.Balsam Hill Vermont Spruce Christmas Tree + Meet Me Under the Stars Pillow

 Onto  the upstairs….

You can find this beautiful Wild & Sweet Canvas HERE from Lindsay Letters.

Lindsay Letters Holiday Canvas-Peace On Earth Just making the hallway fun with a simple reindeer chalkboard & some star garland.

Playful Holiday Touches-Glitter Garland + Reindeer Chalkboard

These stockings were the best thing I bought last year. They are from PB kids & I scored them for $12 at the outlet store. I love how cozy they are.

Pottery Barn Kids Knit Stockings  Using the creams, grays & golds with the punches of color is a nice balance for me this year. The felt ball garland is from HERE.

Wild + Sweet- Linsay Letters Holiday 2014

Reindeer Chalkboard

Onto the playroom, where most of my crafting efforts have gone. My favorite thing is this White Christmas Canvas from HERE. If you wish to order one of Lindsay’s beautiful canvas’ then hurry, I believe her shop will not be able to fill orders for this holiday after Dec 10th.

Lindsay Letters Holiday Canvas 2

I have always wanted a chalkboard for this room & talk about doing things at the last minute, this was a project that just got finished, yikes:). But I have to say I LOVE it!!

Buffalo Check Pillow- H & M Home I would like to say these calligraphy tags were my handy work but a lovely gal at THIS shop made them for me.

Calligraphy Tags from Glitter + Grain

Ok-this was all me.  The starburst wreath you can find HERE, the hoop art HERE and the Elf Quote print HERE.

DIY Holiday Gallery Wall-City FarmhouseThe buffalo check pillows are from H & M Home, the felt ball pillow is a DIY and the cute stag pillow is from THIS talented girl, whom I adore!

Christmas Playroom-Rustic Woodland Retreat-City Farmhouse

Calligraphy Tags from Glitter + Grain and Felt Ribbon From The Felt Pod

I may have gone a little crazy with the felt ball garland but my boys fancy it & that it what matters. You can find these HERE. The petite feather wreaths were a happy accident, don’t you love those?

Feather wreaths on boys chairs + felt ball garland

Gilded Woodland Ornaments + Wrapping

You can find my DIY Gilded Woodland Animals HERE.

Holiday chalkboard + DIY Merry Christmas Banner

Lindsay Letters Holiday Canvas, Craftberry Bush Pillow  Rustic Playful Christmas Retreat Rustic Woodland Playroom

Gold Gilded Moose DIY Holiday Decoration

Gold Garland, Plaid tablecloth + fur seating

White Christmas Canvas From Lindsay Letters + Burlap Reindeer

And this little guy & his brother is why I do what I do. In the hopes that someday they will tell their children all the ways I made their Christmas’ magical once upon a time:).

The Christmas Tree at Night

Up next is the talented & sweet Vanessa from At The Picket Fence. Please stop by and see her home, you will be blown away, it is breathtaking!

At the picket fence stop 28You may also like to revisit my last Christmas Tour,

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by! Wishing you & your family the happiest of holidays!

Have a beautiful weekend,

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53 Comments

  1. Oh Jen, I absolutely love it. I so hope my girls remember Christmas as a magical time in our house. I certainly remember that about my mom 🙂 So beautiful!!

  2. Such a cheerful Christmas. So magical for you and your boys and I’m so excited about your news!

  3. Congrats on the next shoot. I just bought the Cottages and Bungalows mag with your home in it. You house looks great with it’s halls decked.

  4. Beautiful, Jen! I love that ginormous chalkboard with the Merry Christmas banner. Congrats on the BHG photo shoot!!

  5. I love it Jennifer! Everything is perfect….it not only looks fabulous but is what it is all about. That picture at the end says it all. Your home is so warm, cozy and inviting. And congrats! Can’t wait to see the rest.

  6. Jen everything is absolutely amazing!! And I’m soooooo thrilled for you about BHG! Congratulations and blessings to you and your family this season! 🙂

  7. Absolutely beautiful Jen – and very inspiring. Congratulations on your BHG news – I can’t wait to see the feature x

  8. it’s beautiful, jen! i love the white christmas quote, and the chalkboard with pom pom garland- your home is always so cozy!

  9. So glad I stopped by to enjoy your Playful Woodland Retreat. I love all the personal touches. A huge fan of those stockings as well-super cozy! And then there is the gallery wall…too cute with the arrow and antlers.Happy Holidays!

  10. Congratulations Jen! What a great affirmation of what you have done. I have always enjoyed decorating and seeing how others have decorated their homes. I think that I , as do you, love this season so much because it really allows our creative juices to flow! And flow yours did!!! Your cup runneth over. BTW ,I love that you added touches of red to your neutral scheme. It really pops , and a little goes a long way.

  11. Beautiful home! I love your style. Where did you get your grey couch in your play room? I love it. Thanks,
    Amy

  12. Your home looks so welcoming and warm, inviting and so beautiful. So happy for you about being featured for BHG holiday magazine. I’ll sure look forward to it. Your home tour is very special.
    Those Christmas memories are so important and very special. My Dad/Mom were so into Christmas and decorating the house. I can remember as a small child getting up on Christmas morning to find the tree all decorated and presents under the tree. If my brother, who was 5 yrs .older than me,
    ever told me there was no Santa I didn’t listen, I liked the fantasy.
    When my kids were little I had so much fun making things wondrous for them. I was having as much fun as they were. One year we were especially low on money so we only had a Charlie Brown tree from Kmart but we didn’t care. We decorated it with home made ornaments made by kids and I, we loved it. It’s how we behave about something that matters to our kids. At that time I had the 3 older kids, wasn’t remarried yet. After hubs and I married we had a girl. We had to wait little bit for her as he went to Viet Nam on Dec. 26th, we got married on Nov. 30th and our first date was Oct. 18th. same year. 46 yrs. later we’re still hanging out together.
    I applaud you for your heart felt efforts to keep Christmas special for your family.
    Happy weekend Jen and good luck on the BHG shoot.

    If you care to reply please do so to my email address, thanks.

  13. What a beautiful, homey home! I love how you let your children be part of the process! They will treasure these memories forever. You have great talent, thank you for sharing!

  14. Jen your home is gorgeous (as always) so enjoyed your tour everything looks amazing, beautiful job! Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!

  15. Your home is absolutely so beautiful!!! I love your tree and the way you wrapped and personalized your presents and the play room is so fun!

  16. Congrats on BHG!!! That’s so exciting, I can’t wait to see the rest of your home decked out in the magazine next year:) love the buffalo check pillows and ornament hoops in the room!!!!

  17. LOVE EVERYTHING!!Where did you get the fabric for the lumbar check pillow or where did you get the pillow, It is also on the table. love it!!!!!!!!
    New to your blog and Love it too!!!!
    ~ Cheryl

  18. LOVE! What is the color of your door and playroom featured in this post. I checked your “house colors” link, but did not find either there. I am painting all the rooms in my home with the new trending colors and love your choice on the door and in the playroom.

  19. Hi Jen!

    Love the farm elements to your cityhouse. I love your use of the plain and the painted walls in a serene blue are a nice backdrop for the tree and the wrapped gifts. The subtle patterns in the wrapping and the bold plaids in the pillows are interest without adding a lot of girly charm. You see, I have four daughters and I’m used to the girl thing but find this charming and inviting . Thanks for sharing your Balsam Hill tree. You did a wonderful job!

    1. Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! Having 2 boys I like a little bit of the girlie thing but…I am always looking for a balance. Happy Holidays!!

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