Here's another encore blog from the holiday party I hosted several years ago. It was originally posted on December 20, 2017.
I love how my home looks when it is filled with holiday decorations.
As you know, I opened three buildings for my recent holiday gathering here at my Bedford, New York farm. My Summer House, which I use as a library for my vast collection of books, was dedicated to "Caroling & Champagne". My longtime housekeeper, Laura, filled nearly every room with gold and silver - trees in every corner and on every table, with gleaming ornaments and garlands I've collected through the years. It looked simply magical.
Enjoy these photos.
My Summer House was the original house on the property. It was first built in 1770. It has been rebuilt and restored, but it remains on its original footprint.
Many of you have seen the back of the Summer House, where I created this tranquil sunken garden, now covered in burlap for the winter.
For my party, the Summer House was dedicated to singing joyful Christmas carols and sipping delicious champagne. It was also where guests could enjoy my eggnog, plum pudding, and fruit cake, and sit and share holiday stories and plans.
Guests entered the home to see the grand center stairway and handrail bedecked with a long garland of silver balls.
I love how it wraps around the dark wood railing.
Behind the front door is a wreath. I also have a wreath on the front of this door.
This room is filled with gold and silver trees and ornaments – I love how everything glistens.
We also used white and cream-colored ornaments, and ornaments in shades of copper and brass – all these metallic colors blend together beautifully.
I love this tabletop tree, flanked by candles in front of this bookcase. It’s decorated with gold balls and ornaments shaped like pinecones.
Atop the mantel, cardboard trees lined up in a row.
The room looks elegant yet festive, with lots of seating for my guests.
In the center, another tabletop tree with more shining gold ornaments. This one is set inside an urn, painted in gold. Trees don’t always have to be propped up in traditional stands – look for interesting vessels that can be used instead.
Laura hung these pinecone ornaments on the fireplace screen – such a pretty touch.
In another corner is this tall sterling tinsel silver champagne artificial tree – it’s from my Christmas collection at The Home Depot. goo.gl/judpnB
More pinecone ornaments and traditional balls cover the branches. When hanging ornaments, I like to use wire that is close in color to the tree.
Metallic wreaths are hung in every window.
This tree sits on one end of the center hallway. It is a skinnier tree, but I love how it is dressed – overflowing with ornaments. If you look closely, we used tinsel at the bottom of the tree to surround the wicker tree skirt.
This mantel is decorated with silver balls in a variety of sizes – so simple, yet so elegant.
Here is another silver tinsel tree with silver pinecones and a silver tinsel garland draped on its branches.
For the stand, we spray painted a section of a log in silver. These tree stands were made from felled trees and cut right here at the farm. I always try to repurpose whenever I can.
And in this room, we decorated the long counters with pink and green trees.
Glass globes sit in simple Jadeite bowls. These trees are in natural wood tree stands, also cut right here at the farm.
And each tree is decorated with only a single ornament at the bottom – this one is a green pinecone.
And this one is a natural colored pinecone with a pink ribbon to match the tree.
Here is a view from one end of the room – it is simply gorgeous.
Champagne glasses sat in a silver tray nearby.
I love this view of the napkins folded and positioned in a circular pattern on top of a Jadeite cake stand.
Window seats are decorated with little houses and more trees.
Here are a snow-covered house and church sitting on another table.
I love this photo of the wreath, chair and the beautiful tree outside – everything is so pretty. Tomorrow, I will share photos from my Winter House, where Chef Pierre Schaedelin prepared and served all our glorious savory foods. What do you think about the decorations in my Summer House? I am interested and eager to read your comments.
Here's another fun holiday memory. This festive party was originally posted on Dec. 19, 2017.
I love this time of year when everyone gathers together to celebrate the holidays.
This weekend, I hosted my annual holiday party at my Bedford, New York farm. Nearly 200-guests wandered in and out of three buildings, each with a different and festive theme. My Winter House was where my friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin, and his talented team from PS Tailored Events, prepared and served a variety of delicious and savory dishes. Champagne was served in my Summer House, and for those looking to satisfy their sweet cravings, the Tenant House offered an array of beautiful holiday cookies and candies. Friends, family, and neighbors also enjoyed hayrides, caroling, and photos with Santa! It was a cold late autumn day, but everyone had a most wonderful time!
Enjoy these photos.
Here is my Tenant House, where my daughter, Alexis, and her children stay during visits to the farm.
During the party, it was filled with lots of “Candies & Cookies for Young & Old”. Each of the houses was labeled, so visitors knew what to find inside.
After opening the door, visitors saw decorations on every table and wreaths in every window.
These mini natural mint pillow candies and all our hard candies came from Hammond’s. http://www.hammondscandies.com/
The long table is filled with homemade cookies surrounded by whimsical woodland animals and miniature figurines. Our test chefs, Jason Schreiber and Molly Wenk baked more than 1000-cookies for the event. Many of the recipes are from my books and my web site at MarthaStewart.com.
As many of you know, my longtime housekeeper, Laura, has an exceptional talent for decorating. Every year, she creates the most stunning displays. This is a little snowy gnomes’ village set on the table.
It is complete with tiny figures, such as these playful gnome carolers.
There are cookies everywhere – the children were all amazed at the vast selection of cookies. Here is a display of delicious gingerbread, sugar cookies, and zaleti.
Zaleti is the traditional name for the northern Italian cornmeal cookies, usually made with lemon rind and grappa-soaked raisins.
Here’s a big favorite – iced sugar cookies. I love using natural elements in my decorating. We used very flat slices of wood to display our cookies.
These are called sables – French salted butter cookies.
And of course, we added a bowl of caramel corn with nuts. Watch my recent Facebook LIVE and see how we wrapped these to give away as a gift. https://www.facebook.com/pg/marthastewart/videos/
We made this candle holder from a log – it’s perfect for holding our LED votive candles.
More sugar cookies shaped like stars, deer and crescent moons – we used a large variety of cookie-cutter shapes.
These are glazed lemon poppy shortbread cookies.
Laura displayed a row of iced sugar cookie Christmas trees and snowflakes along one side of the table on faux bois napkins.
Here are traditional gingerbread men and a big sugar cookie snowflake.
These are churros stacked neatly on another wooden board.
Look at this display of Christmas trees – I love how each colored tree is decorated differently. On each side are brown butter cardamom shortbread cookies from our Martha & Marley Spoon Holiday Cookie Box.
Behind the long table are planter pedestals topped with woodland stuffed animals and bottle brush trees.
Because my grandchildren stay here when they visit, I love decorating the space for them with lots of colors and stuffed toys.
This tree is adorned with simple yet decorative pinecone garlands.
We also used Hammond’s candy cane Christmas trees as ornaments.
And Hammond’s candy canes
The mantle in the Tenant House is decorated with a Christmas village scene.
And on the table, more cookies, candies and safe LED pillar candles. I love the gnome cookie display surrounded by Hammond’s ribbon candies – it would be great for a magazine cover.
On another Christmas tree, Laura placed lots of bird ornaments, like this red one.
I think these acorn ornaments are so pretty.
In the kitchen, there are more plates filled with tasty cookies, including Alexis’ chocolate chunk cookies, zaleti, and brown butter cardamom shortbread from our Martha & Marley Spoon Holiday Cookie Box.
Laura brought out these wonderful toadstools – I made these on “The Martha Stewart Show” – everyone loved these stools.
Alexis’ Chocolate Chunk Cookies went so fast. We used her chocolate chip recipe, only with chocolate chunks instead – so delicious.
Here’s a winking sugar cookie gnome and buccellati. Buccellati cookies are Sicily’s best-known Christmas cookie – a thin pastry wrapped around a filling of dried figs and nuts.
Here are more buccellati cookies, sugar cookies and in the back, red-brown butter cardamom shortbread cookies.
As cookies were eaten they were quickly replaced by more – we had lots of cookies to go around!
Here are more gingerbread men, Alexis’ chocolate chunk cookies and Buccellati.
These are called Casadinhos. These are Brazilian cookies with guava. It is made of two little sugar cookies filled with guava paste.
Here are gingerbread men standing around our Noel Nut Balls from our Martha & Marley Spoon Holiday Cookie Box.
Here’s a stack of peppermint brownies from our Martha & Marley Spoon Holiday Cookie Box – they were all gone by the end of the party.
On the staircase, Laura used these beautiful bears to greet guests as they turned the corner from the kitchen – so cute.
The living room was also decorated for children – with the coffee table complete with a decorating project for our smallest guests.
On the large stuffed bears and mini Christmas trees – yoga Santas.
Here is another yoga Santa – everyone loved these ornaments.
Polar bears sat nearby.
And as guests left the Tenant House, they saw this lovely display of deer amidst trees, and silver and gold snowballs. Everything is so pretty – thank you, Laura! Tomorrow, I will share photos from my Summer House – you’re going to love it!
I hope you're enjoying the look back at some of my past holiday blogs. Here's the continuation of my family's trip to Europe. This post is from January 05, 2017.
There is so much to see and learn in the great city of London.
During our recent holiday trip to Europe with my daughter, Alexis, her children, Jude and Truman, and our dear friend, Kevin Sharkey, we had the opportunity to tour many historic and interesting places - we visited cathedrals, museums, markets and other London treasures. Many friends and colleagues also gave me extensive lists of their favorite restaurants and sights - we were so well-prepared for this most exciting and informative excursion.
Here are more of my photos - enjoy.
While my grandchildren napped, we visited the famous St Paul’s Cathedral, an Anglican cathedral located on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London. The original church on this site was founded in 604 AD. This church, dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style by architect, Sir Christopher Wren. https://www.stpauls.co.uk
In front of the cathedral is the 1886 statue of Queen Anne by sculptors Richard Claude Belt and L.A. Malempré, and Wren. Queen Anne was the reigning monarch in 1710 when the cathedral was completed. This statue is the second to occupy the space after the original fell into disrepair following years of poor weather and neglect.
The cathedral’s dome, framed by the spires of Wren’s City churches, is 365-feet high. It was the tallest building in London from 1710 to the 1960s, and remains among the highest domes in the world. At the dome’s base is the well-known Whispering Gallery, a circular walkway halfway up the inside of the dome, where a phrase whispered against one wall can be heard against the far wall about 112-feet away.
Also outside the cathedral is an inscription commemorating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. It reads, “Here Queen Victoria Returned Thanks to Almighty God for the Sixtieth Anniversary of Her Accession, June 22 AD 1897.”
This is the entrance to St Paul’s Cathedral.
Inside the front doors is the cathedral’s baptismal font, a blue veined Italian marble piece carved in 1727 by Francis Bird.
The interior of St Paul’s Cathedral is stunning. St Paul’s is often nicknamed ‘the Nation’s Church’. Many National services are held here each year. Among the most notable – the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher. Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria and peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars were also held at the cathedral. And, you may recall, so was the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.
The main internal space of the cathedral is under the impressive dome which extends the full width of the nave and aisles. It rises above a gilded cornice at 173-feet to a height of 214-feet. At the highest point is an oculus inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.
This is one of two large cruciform sculptures by artist, Gerry Judah. The pair arrived at St Paul’s to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I and to remind visitors of those who died.
This is a limestone Mother and child sculpture by Henry Moore in 1943 – it is so beautiful.
Here is the choir looking east. St Paul’s Cathedral choir is made largely of men and boys. The earliest records of the choir date from 1127. The current group consists of up to 30-boy choristers, eight-probationers, the Vicars Choral, and 12-professional male singers.
Below is the cathedral’s crypt – the largest in Western Europe. It extends the entire length of the building. There are more than 200-monuments and memorials in the crypt. Sir Christopher Wren was the first person to be buried in St Paul’s Cathedral. This is the Winston Churchill Memorial Screen.
These beautiful iron work gates were commissioned by the Cathedral Chapter and designed and made by the blacksmith James Horrobin in 2004.
Churchill attended St Paul’s Cathedral throughout his long, political career, and admired the designs and works of Christopher Wren. His funeral at St Paul’s was meticulously planned from the procession to the ceremony, and to his final burial place at Bladon in Oxfordshire.
The Union Jack or Union Flag, is the national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The flag combines aspects of three older national flags: the red cross of St George of the Kingdom of England, the white saltire of St Andrew for Scotland and the red saltire of St Patrick to represent Ireland.
On this day, we also met with friends and ate at Le Colombier Restaurant, a charming and refined French brasserie. Here I am with illustrated books publisher, Edward Booth-Clibborn. http://www.le-colombier-restaurant.co.uk/home.shtml
And here I am with his wonderful wife, Julia Booth-Clibborn.
This is Kevin with Edward and Julia’s son, Laurence.
And this is my godson, Augustine, and his fiancee, Juliette.
London’s decorations for Christmas were wonderful.
Here is London’s Tower Bridge and the ramp to the river boats at the Tower of London, the Queen’s Royal Palace and Fortress located on the north bank of the River Thames. The Tower Bridge is a combined drawbridge and suspension bridge built in 1894. The bridge crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and has become an iconic symbol of the city. http://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/#gs.WriYMPw
We also made time to visit the London Transport Museum. It covers all aspects of the city’s transportation and is open to the public every day – the children loved it. http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk
On display are many examples of buses, trams, trolleybuses and rail vehicles from the 19th and 20th centuries as well as artifacts related to the operation of passenger services and the impact transportation has had on the city and its population.
We walked through the Borough Food Market – a wholesale and retail food market in Southwark, Central London. It is one of the largest and oldest food markets in the area and recently celebrated its one-thousandth birthday. http://boroughmarket.org.uk
We saw many beautiful foods, such as these pink oyster mushrooms, Pleurotus djamor. The brightly colored pink oyster is a tropical mushroom that grows best in areas with warmer temperatures and high humidity.
For shoppers, there was a wide selection of mushrooms from which to choose.
And, so many different colored carrots. As you know, from seeing the carrots I grow at my farm, these vitamin-packed vegetables come in an array of colors – red, yellow, white, purple, and of course, orange.
There were also lots and lots of candies.
We had to stop in at Neal’s Yard Dairy, a beautiful shop that offers nearly every cheese imaginable. https://www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk
There are hard and soft cheeses like Red Leicester, Appleby’s Cheshire, Shropshire Blue and Colston Basset and Stilton – all sourced from farms around the UK and Ireland.
If you love cheese – add Neal’s Dairy Yard to your list of places to visit.
Here is the gate to Queen’s House, a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1635 in Greenwich by architect Inigo Jones. The house now forms part of the National Maritime Museum and is used to display parts of their substantial collection of maritime paintings and portraits. It was used as a VIP center during the 2012 Olympic Games. http://www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house
We all just loved seeing the iron work around London – so beautifully made.
The Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. Built in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, Cutty Sark was one of the last tea clippers to be made and one of the fastest.
The Cutty Sark is listed as part of the National Historic Fleet. She is one of only three remaining original composite construction clipper ships from the 19th century.
While in London, we also enjoyed a real pub meal at the Town of Ramsgate Pub, a friendly and welcoming establishment in the heart of East London, and in the center of the ancient hamlet of Wapping. http://townoframsgate.pub
We had a ploughman’s lunch, also known simply as “ploughman’s.- an English cold meal including cheese, pickles and bread. Sometimes, these lunches also include apple, boiled eggs, ham, and pickled onions.
Truman took this photo of me – he’s an excellent four-year old photographer, don’t you agree?
Before leaving for the second half of our European trip, we enjoyed a driving tour of Bond Street on the way to the airport and saw more of the lovely holiday decorations. Bond Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north and has been popular for retail since the 18th century.
I love these peacock feather lights!
We passed the Ermenegildo Zegna flagship boutique on Bond Street. The shop had the best lambs in the windows.
Everything looked so beautiful! Tomorrow, Photos from our journey to Paris. Don’t forget to visit my Instagram page @marthastewart48 to see more of my photos.
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