Just wanted to share some holiday home photos with you all to celebrate the Christmas season! Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care and I am loving how much Lola is fully into all the lights, music, and treats of Christmas so far—it’s absolutely precious. We’ve basically been listening to this album on our record player non-stop and she gets really concerned and upset when a song is over and so happy again each time the next one starts. I have some amazing dance videos of her with some new moves she pulled out for the holidays and it brings me so much joy that I selfishly keep the tunes coming just so she’ll keep dancing…
Decorating with her favorite lovie Kit Kat the bunny.
We made a “Lola tree” this year so she could have a tree full of plush and soft ornaments to take off and on as much as she pleases in hopes of distracting her from the bigger tree right across from it. While that definitely hasn’t totally worked, it’s still fun to give her a tree all her own and she likes to take them off and try and stuff them in the bottom of the real tree to join the others over there—ha!
I love that she kind of looks like an old-fashioned cupie doll in those knee socks with her updo and bodysuit…what a sweetie. 
I have a few DIY things that I bring out every year like that CHEERS sign and my white tree (I think it was from Hobby Lobby years ago but this is similar) but it’s been fun to mix in a few new things this year too.
Those blush velvet chairs are everything to me right now—so pretty!! I love to use letter boards and change out different phrases for special occasions and seasons and those 2″ letters are great for making shorter phrases on my small board…
…or bigger phrases on my oversized board! Why is the carpet all wet, Todd??
My jam in life right now is diffusing these two oils (4 drops homebody blend 2 drops fir needle) because it instantly smells like Christmas and I can’t get enough! Right now this is my favorite diffuser to use in our bedroom if you need one (and it’s the cutest one I’ve ever seen).
Still my favorite Christmas marquee I’ve done! It turned out just how I envisioned it…
I’m so excited that I actually get to put presents into Lola’s stocking this year. I feel like putting anything out ahead of Christmas may be a huge mistake with a toddler so it’s all still in a drawer in my office for now. I want to show her the Charlie Brown Christmas cartoon and treat her to some warm chocolate (i.e. hot chocolate at the kid’s temp!) and marshmallows soon so that’s on our list for this weekend! Hope you are warm and cozy wherever you are!
xo. Laura
I love all your xmas decoration, and Lola is sooo cute! happy holidays!
I love it! The love is all around this space. ? Happy Christmastime to you and your family!!
xo,
Laura
Hi!! I love your Christmas space & how ADORABLE Lola is! You can just tell she’s soaking up the magic. Are those essential oils ok for cats? I know it can be controversial and we all have to do our own research, but I really want to get into diffusing & I know your cats are like your babies too so I feel like I trust your opinion on the matter! 🙂 I guess I’m wondering if you do anything special when you diffuse (keep them out of the room, etc) Thanks!!
Hi Courtney!
I, too, have a cat child (he’s a big furry beast we call Hagrid, haha) and sadly, I’ve made the personal decision to VERY RARELY diffuse oils due to the high risk that our actions might be detrimental to our guy’s health. As you may already know, cat’s livers cannot effectively breakdown phenols and while not all essential oils are immediately harmful to them (some are!), the buildup that will occur overtime in their tiny bodies (due to repetitive and continuous exposure) can cause liver malfunctions and other serious health concerns.
We (husband, cat and I) live quite small in a one bedroom apartment, so because of the lack of sq footage and adequate ventilation, we have decided it is not worth harming our dude just so our apartment smells amazing*.
*Friendly Note: The previous sentence is NOT a “judgey” or a veiled negative comment/statement. Warm, spicy, earthy scents – especially those contained in the Homebody Blend – ARE MY JAM. I used to diffuse a delicious clove blend all the time, but once we brought Haggers into our home I (VERY SADLY) stopped. Clove, orange and cinnamon oils are very toxic to kittehs *insert sadness*
If we had a multi-story house, or I had a separate studio space that I could prevent him from wandering into I would likely diffuse a bit more but we don’t, so I choose to play it safe and diffuse very rarely (like, once every 6 months or so), only for a very short time period (an hour at most) when The Dude is snoozing in our bedroom closet (hah) with our balcony door open for air flow, and using oils that don’t end up on toxicity high suspect lists. My sister is a Vet Tech. and sent me a great page with info and a list of what oils are currently considered and known to be toxic for our fur friends. She has lots of fur children herself, cats and dogs, and she loves an amazing smelling candle or oil like the rest of us, but uses them mindfully when the critters are either in the basement, snoozing or outside.
This is the site with what I trust to be good, medically-minded info (compared to the countless other pages of out there): https://www.canadianveterinarians.net/documents/cats-and-essential-oils
Yikes! Sorry for the novel !! LOL.
I hope this doesn’t come across as a preachy, or ‘do this, not that!’ babble on essential oil use with furry critters. We all know, and admire, Laura’s true love cat mom-ness, so I imagine she’s cautious and diffuses in rooms while the kitties lounge elsewhere with good air ventilation. I sincerely believe it is a personal choice to use them alongside pets in your home, but ideally one you make after you’ve read enough animal medical-grade material to satisfy your questions/concerns (knowledge is power!) and have taken into account your own unique factors (space available: less space = higher overall concentration > likelihood of higher buildup in kitty livers, what types of oils you use/prefer, indoor vs outdoor kitties, ventilation, age of pet, health status etc.).
I really hope this helps! The internets have sooo many opinions on it and it can be so overwhelming trying to find some good and accurate info.
Cheers, from one cat mom to (what I suspect) another!
PS – Lola is all kinds of adorable and it would be far too outrageous of me to comment and not say so!! 🙂
Hi Rebecca!
Yes, as I replied to Courtney, I follow researcher Robert Tisserand’s approach with cats but I agree that it’s important to let cats decide if they want to be in a room that diffuses oils or not, even if you are diffusing ones that are considered safe by the expert opinion you are following 🙂 Glad you are concerned about your kitties health too!
Laura 🙂
Hi Courtney!
I get that question all the time and I totally get the concern as I felt confused when I looked into it when I first got into oils a few years back. I decided to go with Robert Tisserand’s opinion as he’s kind of the most well researched voice in the oils field and you can read his thoughts here! The cats are always free to leave the room if they’d like and I don’t diffuse all day or for long periods (that’s not good even for humans so it’s good to know general oil safety—you can have too much of a good thing!) Hope that helps!
https://roberttisserand.com/2011/06/cats-essential-oil-safety/
Laura
I always love seeing your home pics and how you decorated! You have such a lovely home and a fun vibrant approach to decor! Always love the pink displayed throughout your home… so pretty! Lola is getting so big and I’m sure it’s got to be so fun having all the joys of Christmas with her! Enjoy your holiday and merry Christmas!
Your home looks sooo adorable! Lovely pictures and the decorations are stunning!
Thank you!
Laura