Happiest Christmas style mutts! We hope you spent the day snuggled with family (or framily: friends-who-are-basically-family) and made some special memories. Be it the gifts or the gathering that made your day great, Chelsea and I sincerely wish the best to you and yours.

Well, if you're anything like my tinsel-happy husband, you may be experiencing some PTCD today: post-traumatic Christmas disorder. Am I right? 364 days of build-up can certainly leave you a little lack-luster on Dec 26 ;) But fear not my friends! There is still one more celebration just around the corner: New Year's Eve!

Who's ready to host and end-of-the-year bash? [insert eager hand-raising emoji right here]. Except I do have a teensy-weensy problem. About 800sq. ft. teensy-weensy to be exact. Other than the occasional family pop-by, Caleb and I have not hosted much of anyone in our small (but adorable) apartment. As with our last place, floor space is prime real estate when you're renting so having a dedicated space to mixology isn't always a priority.

This time last year, I introduced many of you to our small space solution pop-up bar. So this year I'm actually putting one in the shop for any of my fellow apartment-dwelling, space slim DC area peeps.

This one is made from a vintage suitcase in impeccable condition. Which I purchased at Sweet Clover Barn last spring while treasure hunting with Chelsea. It's a gorgeous camel leather with a glossy sheen and brass accents.

The suitcase even comes with a key if you ever need to lock it up your liquor from Uncle Henry or your boosy cat (hey - I'm not judging, I just don't know what kind of parties you throw...).

The bar also comes with a natural wood base and a vintage tri-fold vanity mirror. Both can be easily folded up if the bar needs to be stowed away - and the folded mirror even fits in the suitcase lid compartment.

Whatever your NYE will bring (be it throwing parties or just throwing back drinks) we hope you'll be safe while you're celebrating!

Mirrored Suitcase Bar
Now Available for Sale
Dimensions (open): 21"W x 15" D x 33"H
Dimensions (closed): 21"W x 15"D x 46"H
Price: $145

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, please contact cate@stylemutthome.com.

As Chelsea shared last week, the whole family shlepped out to a local tree farm to chop down our own Christmas trees. Now, there's something more... intimate... about going the cut-your-own route for the holidays. Don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of the process. But let's just say, "organic trees" do not go quietly...

First we scourged an entire forest for our perfect candidate. He's big, and rugged, and an all-around beast. So we battled with the branches just to get our saw some bark to bite. Then we [and by we I mean the fella's] applied some major elbow grease to get that bad boy to part from it's stump. Now the candidate is officially a conquest and we have to drag it through the woods back to check-out so it can get prepped and wrapped for transport - a process which involved at least 5 men to shove our lush fur through the netting hoop. After we strapped it to the car [or in our case, threw it in the truck] we hauled it home and wrestled it into it's prominent place only to find it had a diameter of like 5ft AKA half our new living room. So we resorted to drastic measures and gave it's back branches a quick haircut [think an angled bob...] just so we could shove it deeper into the corner. After the first round of needle-vacuuming, we were ready to decorate. But our beast was not interested in getting gussied up: his razor like needles bit everytime I came at him with a bauble. I eventually started throwing ornaments on from a safe distance, hoping they'll catch... It's no wonder, after all that, your cut-your-own tree becomes a reluctant member of the family [meet Chelsea's tree Paul Pfeiffer]. We affectionately nicknamed ours...

The Beast [see the resemblance?]

He's ruing the day he met us I just know it.

We are still moving in to our new place so there's not much more to see just yet, but I do have one other holiday stop on the tour before you go: our pop-up holiday bar cart!

Caleb and I are not mixologists by any means so we rarely have anything "fun" in steady supply. But when you hit the season of holiday hosting, it can be fun to have a pop-up bar for all your festivities! So I put our suitcase table to good use with the help of a small vanity mirror, a strand of lights, a strand of garland, and some tree trimmings [from the Beast's haircut to be exact]. Viola! A festive impromptu drink station.

So just to recap, my holiday recipe for an easy pop-up bar cart is simple:

1 Folding Tray Table
1 Suitcase
1 Mirror

And dear DIY friend Brandi over at Don't Disturb this Groove has kindly organized a whole slue of holiday bar cart inspiration for your perusing pleasure. Be sure to browse the tag #ShowUsYourBarCart on Instagram at 10am EST to check out the other savvy ideas from some fellow fabulously festive creatives.

I promise to give you a formal tour of our new apartment in the new year dear friends! I just need to survive the holiday's first ;)