Merry Makers This family trades hustle and bustle for the uncomplicated pleasures of cooking and crafting together. by joanna linberg | photos ray kachatorian styling leigh noĂŤ | produced by jessica thomas
This photo: The Carr family at their Northern California ranch. From left: Bethany, Austin, Thad, Maria, Dustan, Nicole, and Trent, with horse Sailwyn, Great Dane mix Rambo, and puppies Lili and Adèle. Opposite: Inside their home, Maria favors a French farmhouse feel and rustic antiques. Soft gray walls and copious white linens soften and modernize the living room. Wide satin ribbons threaded through olive leaf wreaths form a garland with a light touch.
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bet t er hom es a n d g a r dens | decem ber 2 012 | bhg .com
A few weeks before Christmas, you won’t find Maria Carr dragging boxes of ornaments out of the attic to deck her Northern California home for the holidays. Instead, she’s in the kitchen with the kids, whipping sugar syrup for batches of homemade marshmallows and pouring hot toffee into waiting pans to cool. Peek into the adjacent dining room, and you’ll spot the makings of peppermint wreaths. Scissors and glue sit with a stack of cardstock that’s about to become paper pinwheel ornaments. Although a small collection of traditional silver glass ornaments always hangs on the full-size tree in the living room, most of Maria’s seasonal decorations aren’t purchased. “The things we make are typically what we use for decoration that year,” Maria says. Even more prized than the crafts they create is the time spent together sipping hot cocoa, stringing popcorn garland, and wrapping their homemade treats in care packages for friends. The snow-white setting for this holiday cheer doesn’t need much to feel seasonal. All it takes is
a bit of greenery here, a few grain-sack stockings there, and more of the icy blue and red found on the vintage linens and French farmhouse antiques Maria displays year-round. “I don’t do it on purpose, but when I pick a color to add, it’s always bright. It pops against everything else to make it more interesting,” Maria says. Another smart move is to group “something a little rustic, something fancier, and something really simple.” Her antiques and chandeliers fill the first two parts of that equation. And simple? She throws French linen sheets over the sofas. “They’ve been a lifesaver,” she says. “They’re so durable and give the room a relaxed feel.” When it comes to her house—and to homemade Christmas treats and decorations—relaxed is exactly Maria’s style. “I never think it has to be perfect,” she says. “We totally live in our house and like to spend our time here at home together.”
Opposite: Bright white dominates in Maria’s house, but French blue—like the hue on the salvage mirror—is her go-to accent color. She also pulls it into holiday decor. Left: An antique fireplace front gave Maria the visual heft and architecture she was looking for on an empty wall in the living room. Bethany, who inherited a love for art from her mom, keeps the chalkboard insert freshly drawn. make YOUR OWN merry Fill clear glass containers (Maria uses vintage French apothecary jars) with candies. Display them anywhere you want a dose of color.
bet t er hom e s a n d g a r dens | decem ber 2 012 | bhg .com
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“We try not to spend too much on gifts and instead focus on what the holiday means. For us,
it’s about doing things together and creating things to give to other people.� Maria Carr
Above right: Maria brings in fallen branches from the yard as often as she finds them. This year, birch branches support a homemade countdown calendar. Right: The kids always look forward to making (and eating) crisp sugar cookies. They tie some to packages as gift toppers. make your own merry For the calendar, stamp the numbers 1 through 25 onto plain muslin bags. Fill each bag with a small treat, then tie the drawstrings to a branch (or two) and hang.
Left: Peppermint wreaths are a Christmas constant for the Carr kids. Below left: Between craft projects and the kids’ home-school work, the farmhousestyle table in the dining room sees a lot of action. Nevertheless, Maria likes to keep it dressed. “I love table settings,” she says. For the holidays, she uses blue canning jars, glittered branches, and woodland animal figurines that nod to the wildlife that roams their ranch. Below: Bethany and Nicole pull together one of their popular hot cocoa care packages. Below right: Cinnamon rolls bake while the kids open their gifts Christmas morning. make your own merry Glue flat peppermints (you’ll need about 250 for a 10-inch wreath) in close, neat rows to a white foam wreath. Glue small cinnamon candies in the gaps. Add a ribbon, and hang on the front door, a doorknob, or wall peg.
bet t er hom e s a n d g a r dens | decem ber 2 012 | bhg .com
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“We like baking during the holidays because we all do it together. And something homemade makes a really special gift.”
Maria Carr
This photo: When Maria and Thad chose the plan for their modular home, they looked for one with rooms that opened to one another, like the kitchen and adjacent hangout room. Maria often uses the space to shoot photographs for her blog and online shop, Dreamy Whites (dreamywhites.blogspot.com). Opposite: In addition to a full-size tree in the living room, it’s a Carr tradition to have a small tree for the kids to deck with ornaments from their grandparents, homemade cinnamon applesauce cookies, and paper ornaments they’ve made.
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Bring Maria’s soft rustic style home: BHG.com/ShopMaria
bet t er hom e s a n d g a r dens | decem ber 2 012 | bhg .com
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