And, in anticipation of our new product launch next week, the StyleBlueprint Deal, we begged Santa’s Trees to celebrate with us and extend their 20% off offer to StyleBlueprint readers.  They agreed as we can be persuasive – but it really does end at the end of day Sunday, Dec. 5th.  We have included some great shots from one of their lots (the force behind these shots is K and P Photography. They took shots at our Gifts and Accessories sale and are great to work with and if you click on their site, here, you will see that their talent is huge…) along with some of our favorite Christmas pictures as well.  You must order online and bring your voucher with you.  Click here for details and to order.

Grab some hot cocoa, turn on your favorite holiday carols and behold these beautiful images of holiday beauty!

Country Living

Santa's Trees: A family finds their tree! Today, both parents slap their son and say, "See! I told you we couldn't see your eyes!"

Southern Accents

I need to steal this idea: cranberries and daisies from Country Living.

Santa's Trees: boxwood wreathes and garland are made on-site daily.

Branches inserted into the Christmas tree of blogger Pure Style Home

I love the simplicity of this color scheme. Country Living.

OH! Christmas tree found! Fresh trees arriving daily at Santa's Trees.

At Genia Gilchrist's home. Genia is the owner of Gilchrist & Gilchrist - don't let December go by without checking our her store in Berry Hill.

From Better Homes, a kitchen tree with edible ornaments!

Santa's Trees entertains with Santa's Plinko. No Bob Barker on hand to help you play, but Elizabeth and I will step in to remind you to spay and neuter your pets.

MIni-Christmas trees anchored with apples. Country Living.

A nice solution for furniture that needs to be moved to accommodate a Christmas tree. With as many fireplaces that I know of that don't work - this is a great idea! Coastal Living

Happy customers at Santa's Trees -- happy smiles are from saving 20% on their tree.

This may be my favorite image of this whole collection.... Country Living.

A simple wreath with red bows -- Southern Living

This shot from Santa's Trees shows off the quality of trees and why we were happy to endorse them as one of our sponsors. StyleBlueprint readers can get 20% off this weekend.

We hope you’ve finished your cocoa and want to leave you with this memorable quote:

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.  In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.

~Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas

Christmas trees bring joy to your family.  Happy Holidays.  Happy Savings.

© 2010, StyleBlueprint. All rights reserved.

We love each of our November sponsors and, yes, each has something great at 20% off exclusively for SB readers this month.  Here’s a quick overview of these Nashville businesses, all of which have been StyleBlueprint features in the past.  As we’ve said before, we only go after sponsors we love.  Trust and integrity are our most treasured attributes here and we would never write about anything we didn’t 100% stand behind.  For more information on our sponsors and our $1000 portrait giveaway, see THIS WEEK.

Without further ado… Drum roll please…

Anatra Jewel:

If I had a penny for every piece of jewelry I ask about and the person wearing it says, “Oh, I got it at Anatra,” – well, I’d have a whole lot of pennies!  If you’ve never set foot into Anatra Jewel, check out their website and make a point of stopping by this month.  With a StyleBlueprint (SB) exclusive discount of 20% off all earrings during November, the already great prices just got better.  I like how the sales women make you feel instantly at ease – which is not always the case at stores that exclusively sell jewelry.  Anatra firmly believes that women should buy much of their own jewelry and carries a wide range of prices to allow just that. That being said, with this SB exclusive discount, I think we all know where I want my husband to pickup a “You’ve worked your tail off on the SB Gifts and Accessories Show – I’m so proud of you – here are some earrings!”  Now, who’s going to tell him that he needs to do this?  Anyone?  I think the Anatra girls would tell me to buy some myself…wink, wink!

www.anatrajewel.com for more info.

Santa’s Trees:

Jim McLeod, owner of Santa's Trees.

Having been in business for over 25 years, Santa’s Trees has the reputation for having beautiful, long lasting trees.  They also sell gorgeous garland and wreathes at all five locations.  We love the fact that Santa’s Trees delivers to your house to make the whole process easier.  So, did you just freak out?  What?  Christmas trees?  Yes, Halloween is over, it’s time to plan!  While you can’t actually get a tree, a wreath, or any garland this week, in just few short weeks you will.  Order ahead to secure 20% off any Christmas tree needs you have or pick out a tree in late November with this SB exclusive deal.

To get you in the mood, we love these pictures of Genia Gilchrist’s home last year in Southern Living.  I have no idea where Genia got her garland, but doesn’t this get you excited about Christmas?

www.santastrees.com for more info.

Ann Cowden Portraiture:

We’ve talked about Ann twice before as her prices are quite reasonable in the realm of oil portraits artists with her talent.  For the entire month of November, book your portrait with Ann and receive 20% off!  (This does not include the less detailed $1000 portraits Ann does from a client’s own photograph – and, by the way, one of these is our fabulous GIVEAWAY this week.  Register today here.)  See Ann’s website for a good look at her work.  A head and shoulders starts at $3000; a 3/4 length starts at $3700; a full length starts at $4500.  So, as you see, 20% off is significant.  If you’ve been pining away for a portrait, now is your chance.  www.anncowden.com for more info.

The Cosmetic Market, Private Edition and Therapy Systems:

Photo credit: Business Week. Linda Roberts is the force behind all three sister stores.

This trio of stores all is owned by the same parent company.  I actually didn’t realize that Therapy Systems was locally based until last year.  As you know, we love to support local and we love each of these stores.  Each has it’s own personality and spunk.  With locations in Cool Springs, Green Hills and Hillsboro Village, these stores are convenient to most Nashville readers.  Facials, massages, spray tans, makeovers and free expert advice are all on the menu for you to experience.  And, they sell top-of-the-line cosmetic and skincare products.  My girls enjoy these stores just as much as I do and I love how the sales clerks are as sweet to them as to they are to me.  As a mom, that matters.  Stop by this week to receive 20% off all products by Philosophy at any location!  To receive a discount, please print off the THIS WEEK section about this SB deal!

For more information and locations, see www.thecosmeticmarket.com, www.therapysystems.com and www.privateedition.com.

Our SB Gifts and Accessories Show is this week.

We’ve created a page to make forwarding to friends even easier.  Our artisans are incredible and each brings a gorgeous element to the show.  Prices start at $28.  Please see http://www.styleblueprint.com/sb-gifts-accessories-show-2010/ for all the details on the show and the featured artisans.  We are proud to partner with Two Moon Gallery and Mocha Club for this event.

To find out more about our sponsors, please see THIS WEEK.

© 2010 – 2011, StyleBlueprint. All rights reserved.

Southern Accents

It is with TOTAL DISCLOSURE – and Liza’s blessing – that I offer today’s post about my brother-in-law’s local, seasonal business, Santa’s Trees. Nepotism aside, we would write about him anyway, as he is just the type of story we LOVE to blog about: local, passionate, and excellent at what he does.

One reason I knew that Liza would not exercise her veto power is because my brother-in-law, Jim McLeod, is a total entrepreneur.  For those of you who don’t know Liza “the Entrepreneur” Graves personally,  I can vouch for her drive and determination to bring new ideas to the marketplace.  And, she absolutely applauds anyone with her same tenacity.  And, she applauds Jim.

As this post is about garland, wreaths and trees, I am also including some of our favorite ways to decorate with such gorgeous greenery.

So here goes the story of Santa’s Trees:

Santa’s Trees was started in 1984 by my brother-in-law when he was 17 years old and still in high school.  His Mom and Dad, Shirley and Jim, even pitched in on weekends to be sure that the money was safe and that the buddies he recruited to help out were actually doing the work!  Year after year, he interrupted his college or work commitments to take off a month and sell Christmas trees.  25 years later, Santa’s Trees now has five large lots and is the largest independent Christmas tree seller in Middle Tennessee. But the main reason I am devoting this entire post to Santa’s Trees is because Jim is selling the absolute most GORGEOUS garlands and wreaths you’ll find in Nashville.

Jim, owner of Santa's Trees.

Garland

Let’s start with the garland.  In my opinion, the most beautiful homes at Christmas are decorated with REAL greenery: evergreen garland with magnolia leaf accents, plus holly berries and pine cones to add color and texture. If nothing else, the smell makes it Christmas.  If that’s your idea of an attractive holiday combination, then your first stop needs to be Santa’s Trees to get the garland to lay the base.  This is the type of garland you would normally order from an expensive floral shop or have shipped in from New York.

The garland comes in four options:

1) Light combination of white pine and Fraser fir for $1/foot

2) White pine and Fraser fir in a heavier weight for $3/foot

3) Solid boxwood for $3/foot

4) Multi-mix of white pine, Frasier fir, boxwood and arborvitae (simply gorgeous) for $7/foot.

The garland is made in North Carolina and shipped in fresh each week!  A shipment arrived yesterday.

Don't be afraid to put garland in unexpected places. Southern Living Dec 2009: Genia Gilchrist's home.

Southern Accents

Country Living

Genia Gilchrist's home shows the beauty of live garland in Southern Living Magazine Dec '09

Wreaths

Now about the wreaths. The wreaths are handmade on-site at the Santa’s Trees lots, and are sized from 16″ to 48″. They come in three types: Fraser Fir, Boxwood, and Premium Mix, which is a combination of greenery.  Special orders  are available.  The wreaths are priced from $20-70, depending on the type of greenery and the size of the wreaths.  They are beautiful. PROMISE.

Santa's Trees: an example of a beautiful, fresh wreath

Trees

The actual Christmas trees can range from tabletop up to 12′.  Most of the trees sold are Fraser Fir and they smell wonderful.  As the trees are cut and shipped to the lot each week, you are getting the freshest trees in town.  So, when Christmas morning arrives and you’re gathered around the tree to open presents, you won’t feel like you need to call the Fire Marshall to make sure you’re going to be safe through the eggnog portion of the day.  Tree prices are based on height. Tall trees are costly, because of the growing time, but they are worth the money.

Most importantly, Santa’s Trees will deliver and set up you tree!

Mistletoe

If you are a romantic, fresh mistletoe is available along with fresh-cut holly and magnolia.  Tree stands are sold on sight and can save your marriage.  Jim has deemed his stand the straight tree stand: it’s guaranteed to stand straight, not fall and last forever.  If you don’t buy the tree stand, then be sure to buy some mistletoe.

Finally, for everyone who registers on the Santa’s Trees website (www.santastrees.com) by Friday morning (GO SIGN UP!  THAT’S TOMORROW!), Santa’s Trees will be giving away 25 Christmas trees for FREE to celebrate the organization’s 25th birthday.

And not that this matters in the least, but Jim is the proud father of five children and every tree he sells goes to a great cause, keeping his little peeps fed!

Santa’s Trees Locations:

You can read more about Genia Gilchrist and her holiday decorating ideas in Southern Living Magazine.

© 2009 – 2010, StyleBlueprint. All rights reserved.