I have been negligent in blogging this holiday so I have decided to give you a "Reader's Digest" update via instagram photos. This was Vivid Hue Home's first holiday season as a gift boutique and it was such a wonderful and fulfilling season. We have quite a loyal customer base locally and I'm so grateful to the regulars that stop in to see what we have to offer.
One dilemma I faced in the fall was deciding when to decorate the cottage for Christmas. Each year, Christmas trees go into retail stores earlier and earlier and there seems to be a real trend to kick off the season just after October. I slowly started introducing some holiday-related items inside the store around early November and fought the urge to fully decorate until mid November.
Our little cottage is perfect for New England greenery and berries, red ribbons and white lights.
Our ombre turquoise Christmas tree with fuchsia boa feathers.
Antlers and plaid stockings over the fireplace!
It was thrilling to see customers repost their Christmas goodies on instagram and tag us in them!
Early in the season, Melissa Cole (who is a reporter for Better Connecticut) approached me about filming a few DIY segments in the shop for the holidays. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity. She came to the shop with her cameraman and we filmed two episodes back to back. The entire filming took less than two hours and the result was two clips to appear on future episodes.
The first, How to Create a Thanksgiving Mantle
And the second, How to Create a Holiday Fruit Tree.
It's funny how things happen in "threes." Literally the day after my Better Connecticut filming, Kerri-Lee Mayland (who is an anchor on NBC's Connecticut) visited the shop as a customer and loved the products so much that she asked me to appear live on air to provide holiday gift suggestions for viewers. I almost got trumped by a special report from Obama, but luckily was able to squeeze my segment in before the report began. Watch the segment here.
Here I am with Kerri-Lee Mayland.
Some of the gifts we offered as stocking stuffers.
My "other half" is so into Star Wars that he insisted I purchase Star Wars products for the store before the movie release.
In fact, his birthday is a week before Christmas and he received mostly Star Wars-related gifts, including a life size R2D2 trash can and an original 1977 vintage Chewbaca stein. We even took the kids out of school early on the movie release day.
We sold traditional Christmas items, like these wood-carved Santas.
There was a red and green theme of products...in fact, these gurgles were a popular gift item.
And then the S'well bottles! We started carrying them in every single size offered and they literally flew off the shelves. These are so convenient and the large size will hold an entire bottle of wine (which was often a convincing reason for purchase)
Of course, in Vivid Hue fashion of mixing patterns, why not mix cheetah and plaid?
Professionally, it was a stellar first Holiday Season for the store. And personally, it was such a terrific year with family.
Boston for Thanksgiving to visit the in-laws.
Off to see "Rudolph" at the Bushnell in Hartford Connecticut.
Some preppy red and pink decorations in my home. We sell these elephant planters @vividhuehome and I have used them every single season to make a statement on the dining room table. (PS, ignore the dead looking holly on the left).
Our pink and green mudroom decked out for a neighborhood get together.
Front of house with fresh greenery and lights
We go over the top with Christmas trees, including one in our master bedroom.
One of the felt ornaments I made EG when we were engaged and I was still in NYC and he was in Boston. This little guy is 12 years old.
We spent Christmas in Northern Virginia at my parent's house.
We visited our old stomping grounds in Georgetown, where we got married. Here is the entry path leading down to Sequoias.
We took the kids to the Smithsonians...their first real year of understanding what they were seeing (e.g. the original United States Flag, the Bureau of Engraving and printing where money is made)
We enjoyed lunch in DC before settling in at my parent's house with our entire family.
And to think that the year has come to an end and we are off running with 2016.
Thank you to all of my readers and (now customers) who have supported the launch of the store this year. For regular updates, please follow vivid hue on Instagram. I have started posting individual photos of our products in the shop and local customers can keep track of what we have to offer.
May you and your family have a healthy and happy new year.
Cheers,
Heather
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