Biltmore at Christmas Time

The historic estate built by George Vanderbilt was first introduced to family and friends on Christmas Eve in 1895~~

The Biltmore Mansion is the largest privately owned home in the United States.  The house is 135,000 square feet and contains 250 rooms.  Christmas at the Biltmore is an amazing spectacle of light and Christmas decor.  

America's largest home is decorated with dozens of Christmas trees, hundreds of wreaths, bows, and poinsettias, miles of evergreen garland, and thousands of beautiful Christmas ornaments.  From the moment you enter the grounds, driving through the gingerbread style gate house - you know this is going to be a truly unforgettable experience.  

The Biltmore lions have been greeting guests to this magnificent estate for over a century. 

The arrival of the Christmas tree at the estate is the beginning of a Christmas celebration that will last well into the coming New Year. 

With hundreds of people involved in the decorating of the estate grounds, inside the mansion, and the surrounding areas that are also part of the estate - the Winery, Antler Hill Village, the farm, and the beautiful shops inside the gate house and garden center. 

 Weeks of preparation will finally culminate when the house is aglow with the twinkle of thousands and thousands of lights~~ 

Inside the home - hundreds of poinsettias fill the winter garden while musicians, dancers, and carolers fill the great halls with music and the sounds of Christmas. 

From the last of November through the first weeks of the New Year - the house is open in the evenings for the Christmas Candlelight tour. There is something magical about seeing this opulent mansion through the flickering glow of Christmas trees and fireplaces.

(the following candlelight photos are courtesy of the Biltmore estate.)

Outside - all around the estate - Christmas decorations are found everywhere you look.  Here a beautiful wreath adorns the door to the Conservatory. 

And at the farm - a regal Christmas tree is part of the decorations in the courtyard.  

The shop at the Winery is splendid with lights and festive displays.  

 The Biltmore winery produces a special Christmas wine every year.

  Visiting the Biltmore at Christmas time has become a tradition for us.  We love the atmosphere, the beautiful decorations and the shopping.

 This year we had a candle light dinner in the Stable cafe.  You can click the photo for a closer look at the incredible menu.  

 The shops in the Stable House are beautifully decorated for the season.  This photo was taken at the Candy shop :)

The Christmas shop was filled with toys and decorations - these Nutcrackers were especially tempting to me~~

The entrance to the wine cellars at the beautiful Antler Hill village.  

Night time sparkles at the village~

The entrance to the ice cream and pastry shop in the village is adorned with this gingerbread tree.  

Baby - it was cold outside!

The lights from the trees made the whole village sparkle.

A visit to the Biltmore at Christmas is an experience to be treasured forever.  

Do you have visits to special places at Christmas time that have become a part of your holiday tradition?  If you would like to learn more about the Biltmore Christmas experience, you can click here. 

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The Christmas rush has taken over everything at our house.  We just returned from a visit to Atlanta where we visited with our adorable 3 year old grandson Mason.  (I will have some new photos soon.)  Right now, the Gardener is putting the Christmas tree up and we will decorate it later tonight.   We still have Christmas shopping to do, and wrapping, and baking.  Is your life as crazy as mine right now?

I'm sending you holiday wishes - hoping that the magic of Christmas fills your hearts and that you have enough hours in your day to finish your "to do" lists!!

xoxo,

Vicki

Thankfulness

Thanksgiving is a a special time to celebrate the love of family and to count your many blessings~

Our little grand daughter Keri Beth is 19 months old.

Our little great niece Maddy is almost 3 years old.  We love her like our grand daughter. 

We feel so blessed to have these babes in our life. 

Keri Beth's sweet Mommy made this beautiful cake for our Thanksgiving table. (it was almost too pretty to cut - but we did - and it was wonderful!)

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I try to count my blessings every day - not just at Thanksgiving - but today as we celebrate this day of thanks and thankfulness -I want to wish you all a wonderful and blessed start to the Holiday season. 

There are blessings to be found in the quiet little corners of our lives - not just in the most obvious and outward places.  My wish for you is that you find every little blessing and treasure it for the precious thing that it is~~

xoxo,

Vicki

The Partridge Nests are Here!

On the First Day of Christmas~~

I am so excited to finally realize my dream of creating a very special Christmas nest.  This little nest has been well over a year in the making~

The charitable portion of the proceeds from the sale of this nest will be donated to our local Ronald McDonald House.  So many families can't be at home during the holidays because they have sick children in the hospital.  These funds will be used to help make their Christmas a little brighter. 

These last few days have been a blur of non- stop creating in my Sacred Yarn Room.  Mary has been here with me and we have worked all day and into the night adding beautiful embellishments to these exquisite nests.  

November Nesting has begun!!! (and---important updates on the Harvest nest!!)

Nesting -

       the art of spreading and tangling yarns all over your craft room until it looks like some kind of yarn bomb explosion.  And~~ then somehow turning those yarns into something that some people are willing to wait almost a year for.  Only crazy people do it~~ (that spreading, tangling, exploding, love to touch those gorgeous yarns thing~~~)

 

Is it November already? (scream!!!)

Seriously - I have spent the last year adding to my nesting yarn collection and I am absolutely giddy with excitement over the beautiful yarns that I will be using for my November nesting.

  If you are on my November nesting list (and 35 of you are!!)-- you will be hearing from me over the next couple of months.  You are welcome to email me at any time to see where you are on my list-- but rest assured that I will be emailing you when it is your turn for a beautiful nest.  

These green nests are only made once a year - you won't ever find them in my ETSY shop for sale unless they are a reserved listing for folks on my "Nesting" list.  

I am expecting this year's Nesting to take me about 4 months to complete.  To those of you who have been patiently waiting - (some of you for almost a year)- I promise you that your nest will be absolutely exquisite.  

This year's nests will once again be traveling all over the world~~

My little nests will travel all over the United States, as well as Canada, England, France, Scotland, Germany, and the Netherlands.  (Seriously - can you even believe this!!)

I just spent an entire day organizing boxes, tissue papers, tags,  and YARN~~ this is serious business!  

Can you ever have too much beautiful Nesting yarn?

Each nest is completely handmade by me - and contains well over 200 different yarns in a variety of textures.  Additionally, they contain bits of paper,lace,vintage ribbons, glass leaves, and string.  (I incorporate those green string tags from Vera Bradley purses into each of my nests!) So - if you are a Vera Bradley collector - don't throw those green strings away!! Send them to me!!

Next year's Nesting will also begin in November (2012) -and that list starts ~~ NOW!  If anyone is interested in going on the list for NEXT year - please email me for the info.  My email address is on my sidebar. 

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Now for some Nesting updates~~

Next year (2012) is THE year for the Harvest Nest.  There have been so many requests for this nest that I am devoting an entire year to the creating and making of this exquisite design.  

Here is a little preview of the yarns from the photo shoot that Mary and I did just a few days ago.  You won't see these again until late next summer~~

The email response to the Harvest nest has been absolutely unbelievable.  So many people have inquired and expressed desires to own one of these nests that I have been unsure as to how to handle this.  Honestly - I have lost sleep over what to do to ensure that everyone can have one~ (I don't want anyone to be disappointed!)  So~~ I am going to work very hard to make sure that everyone who seriously wants to own one of these nests~ will be able to do so - and- hopefully a few extra to sell.    That's why I am devoting an entire year to this nest~~

 If you have your heart set on owning one of the Harvest nests - please email me so that I can add you to the list now.  I need a fair estimate as to how many to make~~

 And finally ~~ your last little sneak peak of that gorgeous Partridge nest that is coming up soon.  Mark your calenders for November 21 (around 11 am EST) for the debut of this beautiful new designer nest.   (18 of these little nests want a new home for Christmas~)

The response to this nest has totally taken me by surprise. Already I have received so many emails.  I am just overwhelmed with all of the admiration that I am getting for my little nests. (I feel so unworthy~)

~~~

It's just been totally crazy here in the Sacred Yarn room.  Now you know why~~

xoxo,

Vicki