Black-eyed Susan

The first week after Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest week for custom Christmas setups for the Black-eyed Susan design staff and supporting elves! 12-18 hour days, day after day makes for a tiring week. Good thing it is filled with good friends, good help and good fun.My sister, Denise came in for the usual team support. Shannon headed up the outside urns (and there were plenty), Jeff, Cindy, Patty, Sherri and Anne were fabulous supporters and merry-makers. Sneelock made several appearances as well. It's a true team effort.

Each night we fully intended to post a quick report. Hmmmm. So, here's a quick recap of our week.

 One night we spent several hours changing out the windows to my 2012 Christmas vision. A word of warning...several accidents have occurred since we did them. One driver reported that she was distracted by the windows. Oh. Dear. Hot pink and silver glitter theme...ode to Linda!

Classic Black-eyed Susan exterior urn design, a welcome addition to any front porch. Shatterproof ornaments, sugar cones and fresh greens equal the perfect combination. This fine tuned skill is Shannon's specialty. (I'm personally hoping for a visit from the urn elf...)

Note: our lush door dressing-two swags embellished with favorite pine cones. You can use this year after year. Signature Black-eyed Susan wreath welcomes shoppers. (Take it home soon!)

Our first client on Tuesday morning let me use our new flame less candles...they really look real, I'm not kidding! Champagne tinsel wreath and garland-a real wow!

Several years ago I sold this heart warming blue pallet to my friend Joan. Each year she ads a bit of new to her collection and she always agreeable to letting us mix it up a little. That's always fun for us! This year on the living room mantle, I added my magic sugar pine cones. They are magic, you know.

Denise tied full satin bows on these beauties and hung them in the dining room window. There are dozens of things you can do with these, and they last year after year.

Joan was pretty thrilled with the addition of a red satin bow to her favorite sheep!

There is a huge influence in design right now using organic themes. I've used a good bit of this look at the store and here I added several pieces of wood from Joan's wood pile in with ornaments and pine cones to create an interesting holiday centerpiece. Birds, pine cones and firewood....fabulous!

Alyce and John asked us to add a little holiday spirit to their newly delivered and accessorized biblotech. Of course, we were pleased to oblige! (I love love love these pheasant plates and cups.) The red just pops in one of my favorite ever pieces of furniture.

Denise added this pine spray to the newly installed foyer lamps. Wow.

At Katie's, you could say it was pure joy. (There's my pine cones again!)

This was the view outside the kitchen window while we worked! How fun it was to laugh and sing...you know the rest! Katie made us a gourmet lunch and this was the setting. Ahhhh! to both!

We mixed things up a bit in the living room too with the addition of some vintage silver...the chocolate addition to the red was fresh as well.

I took a minute to style the living room table, using Katie's things and adding a touch of holiday spirit.

Friday was saved for one big project. 10 am to almost 7pm. Shannon and Sheri designed the outside urns to perfection and astonishment. The rest of the staff (7 to be exact!) feverishly worked inside to complete beauty in each and every room. Mary's grand staircase was a hit.

Although my report is a bit late, that wraps up the first week! There are several more setups this week and I will keep you filled in. Whew. Now that's a week.