Canadian Thanksgiving is right around the corner and since I've been a bit MIA on the blog I thought a good Thanksgiving post would get me back into the swing of things. Nothing lifts my end of summer blues like the excitement of creating a warm and cozy home for Thanksgiving. Here are few pics of my home and some fall decorating ideas for Thanksgiving.

The fireplace in our sitting room is just a mantel so it opens the door to a lot more possibilities when it comes to decorating (it's also often more challenging). For this years Thanksgiving I decided to get a foam core board and fill it with wheat, grasses and faux palm leaves. I repeated this decor in a bit of an arch above the fireplace. I picked up some neon light wire from the dollar store to create this great Thanksgiving neon sign. Finally I adorned the entire fireplace with fairy tale pumpkins and cozy textures. 

When it comes to decorating for the holidays I like to shop my home first. It's always fun to find things around your home and think up new ways to use them in decor. For example, I love gathering oversized greens from my backyard and placing them in large pots and vases around the house.

Shop this post:

Happy fall everyone! Cheers to crisp days and cozy nights.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined House & Home magazine would be interested in my renovation project but friends let me tell you, dreams can come true. Last December House & Home contacted me to inquiry about filming my renovation project and I was in shock. I couldn't say yes fast enough. This project has been such a labour of love, this House & Home video is the icing on the cake. 


When they arrived on the day of the shoot I was so nervous but the H&H crew made me feel comfortable and relaxed. There is no rehearsal or practice for this video, they come into your home, set up and start asking questions (I prefer it this way because too much formal prep makes me nervous). On the other hand, I did turn into a bit of a "Chatty Cathy", as my husband would say, so I was happy they were able to piece it together in such a lovely way. Check it out and let me know what you think. Special thanks to House and Home for selecting my renovation project to feature on their site.

Hi! Thanks for stopping by. I'm super excited to be participating in this year's Canadian Bloggers Home Tour. To be honest, my greens dried out before I was able to photograph them so I did what any good DIY'er would do and improvised. I used some pampas grass I found at the side of the road to show you some unique Nordic Christmas decorating ideas. I have to say I actually love the way it turned out (feels like a hot cup of cocoa).


If you're new here I'll give you a bit of background on me and what you'll find on Harlow and Thistle. I'm a designer, a hopeless DIY'er and a proud mama of two boys. My goal with this blog is to inspire and encourage readers to create a lux look for less in every aspect of their lives. So take a look around, I've got a cute DIY play kitchen (which my boys never played with) and my DIY wedding centerpieces are fun (not a fancy post but remains my most popular, I dunno).

I know brown pampas grass is probably not the most appealing colour for Christmas but I love their rustic Nordic feel. Plus, the great thing about using pampas grass for holiday decorating is that it doesn't dry out and has a fluffy snow/fur like texture (note, doesn't shed like you think it would). These dry reed plum grasses are super trendy for weddings so I figure it's only a matter of time before they spill over into holiday decor. I used pampas grass in another DIY where I spray painted them a beautiful shade of blue. For my Christmas decorating, I paired them with some subtle hints of black and white buffalo plaid and fawn print as playful complimentary accents. To decorate my fireplace mantel I used a piece of oasis at each end and just stuck the dry reeds into it at random. The key here is to not be too perfect. I also stuck a few pampas reeds into our Christmas tree and around our kitchen.















A huge thanks to Christina from DIY Mommy and Shannon from Home Made Lovely for putting this home tour together for us!

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Now it’s time to tour all of the other beautiful homes in the Christmas Canadian Bloggers Home Tour hop this season!

Click on the links below from Tuesday – Friday this week to get beautiful Christmas decor inspiration from my Canadian blogging friends.

Monday

Home Made Lovely | The Creek Line House | Lemon Thistle | Love Create Celebrate | So Much Better With Age

Tuesday

Woman in Real Life | Clean and Scentsible | A Pop of Pretty | Making it in the Mountains | The Learner Observer

Wednesday

PMQ for Two | Joy in Our Home | Amidst the Chaos | One House 2 Barns | The Dreamhouse Project

Thursday

The DIY Mommy | Life is a Party | Satori Design for Living | Rambling Renovators | This Mamas Dance

Friday

Fynes Designs | A Pretty Life | Emmett's ABCs | Harlow & Thistle | Northern Style Exposure

Amidst all all my One Room Challenge projects, I received a fun (and fast) delivery from Bouclair. My Chrome Tripod Floor Lamp arrived! It was even cuter in person than I pictured online.

I originally purchased this lamp for my office but since my office is currently under renovations my new lamp baby has been hopping around the house. Enter new problem...It looks good everywhere! It can literally work in any room in my home. So, now I need to decide where I like it best and do I need another one lol. Check out the different spots below and let me know where you think it looks best?

Oh yes, and here's something for you, receive 15% when you use code HARLOWANDTHISTLE15 at Bouclair.com until Oct. 31 2017

First stop, my basement, I don't often show this room because it's not 100% complete but I love the way the Bouclair tripod floor lamp adds an airy touch to the space.


Next we'll go upstairs, here the Bouclair Tripod lamp found a great little spot beside my son's reading chair. Although I can picture toys being flung at the lamp any moment.


Okay, well how about the other kids room? Yep, the Bouclair Tripod lamp looks good here too - although same problem with the potential toy target practice.


Okay, so next the Bouclair Tripod lamp found a cozy nook in our family room (one of my favourite rooms in our home). I love the way the shade adds some much needed contrast to the log wall.


How about the living room? Yep, it looks beautiful here as well. Sheesh, this is going to be tough.


I think in the end my new Bouclair Tripod floor lamp will end up in my office as planned. Stay tuned to the blog for my One Room Challenge week 3 post where I finish up this amazing wall stencil.


And don't forget to use code HARLOWANDTHISTLE15 when checking out at Bouclair.com

This post is in collaboration with Bouclair. All expressed opinions are my own.

It's a cozy Christmas eve and I wanted to punch this one out before I went to bed. I hope Santa doesn't hear me. Boy, I never realized all the hard work our parent's went through trying to keep the magic of Santa alive. I'm sitting here writing this post after I've sprinkled flour shaped boot prints on the floor in front of some half eaten cookies and carrots in the kitchen. My mom laughed because they never did this stuff but in the same breath she said "you should put some prints in front of the tree" (if you're wondering where I get my crazy creative attitude, it's from my mom).
So, while the children are nestled all tucked in their beds, here is my Christmas home tour. PS, you might catch a glimpse of some completed projects coming to the blog - stay tuned. Oh, and we managed to finish our basement renovation so come back to check that out too : )