Mixed metal, mercury glass and a classic pearl bead garland come together to create a vintage inspired Christmas tree with just the right amount of sparkle.

Slow, simple + cozy have been the name of the game around here this holiday season.

As December rolls in, we’d normally be jumping into all of our usual holiday activities and celebrations right about now – ski trips, Christmas parties and a trip or two into the city for a bit of shopping, a fancy dinner and a special holiday show. The holidays are always filled with so much fun and excitement, we’ve got something special to look forward to nearly every weekend. Obviously, things are feeling a little different this year. Though we’re certainly missing so much about our typical holiday season, we’re also discovering a whole lot of wonderful through this slower Christmas season as well.

It may not even be December yet, but we’re already making great progress through our stack of holiday movies we’ve collected over the years, and our holiday board games and puzzles have seen more action in the past three weeks than they had through the last three Christmas seasons combined (we’re especially loving this one). We’ve already tried two new holiday baking recipes, made our way through a whole jar of hot chocolate mix (it’s always extra special drinking out of these nostalgic mugs) and bedtimes have been filled with our favourite Christmas books for weeks now. Sure, we’re really missing a lot of things that we’ve come to look forward to through the holidays, but I think we’re also finding more joy than ever in those special activities we can do together this year.

Of course, decorating the Christmas tree is always one of those activities we look forward to each & every holiday season. Lighting a holiday candle (find my favourites here) and singing along to our favourite Christmas songs while we fill the tree with beautiful ornaments always feels like a perfect kick-off to the holiday season.

With its simple pearl garland and mercury glass ornaments, this year’s tree feels like a perfect representation of the slow, simple & cozy holiday season we’re settling into this year.

I think that pearl garland feels so nostalgic (it’s what we always used on our tree growing up) and the knit tree skirt brings that extra cozy touch.

And the way the light bounces around all of those shiny mercury glass ornaments just makes it all look so magical.

Yes, our holiday season is going to look quite different than Christmases past, but cozying up next to the beautiful glow of a Christmas tree with my family is truly my favourite place to be through the holiday season and I’m going to soak in every magical moment of it this year.