When I was a magazine editor, Christmas-time was extremely busy. We would always try and shoot in season for the next December issue. This made sense because homes would either already by decorated or homeowners would welcome having their homes decorated by Country Living editors, or holiday decorating it was a collaboration between homeowner and editor.
Either way....whether I had to work my butt off creating Christmas from scratch or just marvel at the seasonal creativity of each individual homeowner and figure out how best to capture that....I did a lot of Christmas and
XOXO-ed it. Here are some of my favorite Christmas shoots.
1. Free Models - my kids have modeled for me over the years and they love looking back and seeing how cute they were.
2. The faded wallpaper in artist
Kitty Babendrier's upstate NY house was the best mood maker for this dining room and I loved the overall time-worn vibe. When I was buying flowers for this shoot, I dropped my phone in a bucket of hydrangea. I was not happy.
3. Painter
Helen Howard's home was cool Connecticut and I am hooked anytime traditional American furnishings look fresh and not uptight. And check out the fab wood valance.
4. Artist
Ashley Carter set up a divine dessert part complete with her sparkle fantasy minstrels and of course, pink snowballs! Love the combo of soft chartreuse with multiple blush tones.
5. I love the way rayon ribbon drapes, and Midori's printed ribbon says it all.
6. This was one of the best holiday shoots ever because
Mary Jane McCarty had the best stuff to work with in every room of her house. Out on her porch, I decided that a pop of yellow would do good and so painted and glittered twig stars for this tree.
7.
Darlene Duggan and I collaborated on many shoots. She could make anything and had a trove of amazing vintage. And with the help of Jennifer from
Sis Boom sending in goodies from afar and a magical disco ball, we made magic.
8. Simple and silver...this was one of my first studio holiday shoots. And I still like it and the chest looks amazing.
9. How do you bring holiday into the bedroom and make it look romantic. Answer: like this. (from Mary Jane McCarty's house)
10. I am a sucker for miniature deer and love the way my friend Cheryl Rogers propped this sweet one atop a pile of pristine white buttons.
11. Paper doves on a spindly feather tree in an old bucket - can't get much simpler or prettier than that!
12. Also from the Mary Jane McCarty shoot. I borrowed the vintage glass ornament wreath from
Blue Raccoon and was so overly concerned with not breaking it, that of course, it slipped from my grasp at one point. Country Living bought the slightly damaged wreath after the shoot and it hung in the lobby for many Christmases thereafter.
13. This shoot took me to my hometown of Philadelphia to the home of fabricator and bag maker Liz McIlvaine. Her red walls and funky flooring set the scene for a funky and ultra colorful shoot.
14. One year I was totally loving red and white. The following year Spiegel was also loving it.
