Joy To The World!

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

Some of Blogland's Best Christmas

Whenever I have indulged in feelings of adroitness with regard to my decorating efforts, I seem to wander into blog wonderland; lovely spaces created by women much more talented than I.  The amount of creative genius circulating about the blogoshpere is honestly staggering.

Usually blog posts are self-focused snippets of our domestic journals in concert with a series of snapshots by which we hold our reader's attention.

Having been thoroughly humbled this season by a countless number of  incredibly gifted blog artisans, I decided that today was a day to redirect my focus by showcasing a few of my most enchanted discoveries.  There is no one idea that surpasses another among the photos I am about to share. I have highlighted them in no particular order.  In fact I could spend countless days simply re-posting loveliness and lamenting the fact that the ideas were not mine .

Thank you for browsing along.  I hope you are as inspired by these photos as I have been over the past several weeks.

Canadian Cottage  shared her reworked stairwell.  And this tree skirt~

Incredible!

This master bedroom, created by Down To Earth Style,  is enviable.  Gorgeous in any season.

Courtney,  at French Country Cottage,  has lavishly bedecked even her bathrooms! Oooh la love!

You know I have burlap love.  I especially like the way Dear Lillie  accented this stocking with a petite boxwood wreath!

Thistlewood Farm stole my heart with her use of so many textural elements in her Christmas decor.

These trees are only one example~

Lastly, though I could easily keep going, a feature from The Old Painted Cottage. 

Picture: Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Idea Issue

Love, love,  love the use of naturals and the combination of the white table and the black chairs! No wonder BH & G spotlighted this amazing cottage.

Well I feel a need to stop here. My head is swimming with new ideas for next year. I hope you enjoyed this little cross section of great style. Perhaps next year when you begin to think once again about decking your halls, you will find these blogs and others to be a valuable resource.

Time to finish last minute Christmas gift details, so I'll just say, "It's a wrap".

Blessings on your day~

     Dana

Sewing Seeds of Joy~

The Bishop Threesome loves Christmas stockings. We have many sets; so many in fact that I can't ever put them all out at the same time. Filling them all is a challenge for any Santa. Luckily for him there a few timeless favorites (such as peanut M & M's and chocolate covered cherries). It wouldn't be Christmas morning without a little candy.

Here is a set of three made by me when we were on a road trip in our motor home. I took my sewing machines and all of its accoutrements and sat up late one night-- stitching into the wee hours~

 

These are hanging on our china cabinet. No room on the mantel!

The fun is in the details! I used anything I could find at Dollar Tree, with the addition of a few trims I had the good sense to take with me.

Of course, Mrs. Claus needs a stocking too. I had a little scrap of remaining fleece and some trim. Here's a feminine adaptation~

Uh oh! There's not much room in here. 

From tip to toe, I hope your Christmas is perfect!

Join me at Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage. You'll find lots of grand ideas for your own nest and there is plenty of Christmas cheer to go 'round.

Joyeux Noel~

     Dana

Our Charlie Brown Tree

I've told you before that we like a little rustic in our Christmas decor. We started a new tradition last year by bringing in a branch or two from the pine trees (which have become void of needles). I like to loosely wrap the twigs with a bronze organza-like fabric.

We hang only very special ornaments on this tree. Most of them have come from my dad. Each year for many years he bought me a little something special.

I have also been treating myself to one antique piece each Christmas. I like older ornaments from Germany and Austria.

Occasionally a non-vintage ornament is thrown in the mix. Here is a glass replica of our sweet little dog, Dallas.

I love my new mercury glass treasure. It is most likely from the 1940's.

Our Charlie Brown tree towers above this generously proportioned Christmas-green leather chair. There's not a Santa alive who wouldn't love to rest here. Speaking of Santa, I hope he remembers to leave a new camera under our tree. I mean really. No aspiring blogger should be handicapped by old technology, right?

Run on over to Handy Man, Crafty Woman and take a leisurely stroll through all the wonderful ideas featured there.

And for another Christmas box full of inspiration, check out Wow Us Wednesday, hosted by the gracious Kim of Savvy Southern Style. 

May you find love and joy beneath your tree~

     Dana

Out of the Box~

Oh yeah.  When it comes to Christmas my tastes are more than a little eclectic; maybe even all the way to quirky.  I like traditional, refined rustic, folk art and even a little retro.

 "Put it together and what've you got..."

A whole lot of Christmas! 

Last night, while Larry struggled with installing a new-to-us wood burning fireplace insert (for which he's been on an incessant prowl), I decorated one of our Christmas trees.  This tree is out of the box~ literally.  And I love it.  She's a slimline, 6 foot aluminum beauty!

I was just getting started, as you can see.

When I was a preteen in the mid 60's, my next door neighbor and friend Diana had one of the first ever aluminum trees.  I really thought her family was cool.  They even had the multi-colored light wheel to go with it.  Do you remember any of this?  Are there Baby Boomers among us?

We, on the other hand, had either a green tree off the local lot or a green tree that was heavily flocked white to resemble snow.  I grew up in Southern California and a flocked Christmas tree was the closest thing we had to a white Christmas.  I loved the night my dad finally announced that we could go tree shopping. There was a tree lot on a nearby corner and we would peruse each aisle. My dad would pull tree after tree out for our inspection.  I was the impatient one in the family. I would have bought any of them. But my dad was discerning and we would shop until we found the perfect tree~ perfect height, full and fragrant, perfect price.  Then we would take it home and he would cut a few inches off of the trunk, stick it in a pail of wet sand and then send me off to do homework.

Oh how I hated waiting 24 hours to decorate our tree.  I would beg him to let us set it in the house that very night.  But my dad has own little ritual and he didn't deviate from it.

Our Christmas trees were lovely.  When I was a very young girl we used the large colored lights and an array of glass ornaments.  Nothing needed to match; its beauty was steeped in tradition.  On the night we decorated the tree, my dad would set out our reel to reel tape recorder~ a beastly, boxy piece of equipment~ and he would play the only Christmas tape we owned; a collection of traditional carols sung by a large choir of rich voices.  As I recall the tape began and ended with a gorgeous rendition of Carol of the Bells.  Occasionally the tape would break but that didn't matter.  My dad just taped it back together. Oh how I loved that tape~ and how I felt as I listened.  I will never forget the intense feelings of joy that seemed to be unique to the Christmas season.  It's a feeling that I believe all adults long to recapture. 

As I got older my mom's taste changed.  Our trees were more dressy; usually white with small white lights and all gold balls.  They too were beautiful.  My family loved Christmas~ family, food, friends and stockings hung above the fireplace.  I have such a reservoir of warm memories.

My aluminum tree represents these memories.  The sixties-ness of it speaks to me of my upbringing--my nest--a simple life free of worry.  Mine was a life wrapped in the loving arms of my dad and my mom. 

I have my own assortment of vintage ornaments to hang upon my 6 feet of tin foil.  None of them came from my family so I've had to buy them as I can find them.  Now that older ornaments are becoming popular once again, the prices are creeping up.  I'm sorry that I don't have any heirloom ornaments but that doesn't really matter.  Their vintage evokes all the warmth of Christmases past.

I love the boxed sets I've had the good fortune to stumble upon.  Some still have original price tags from stores such as Woolworth's and Montgomery Ward.  One of the price tags says .05! 

This box lid is precious.

Well here she is, resplendent with ornamentation.  I love her shape. It seems perfectly designed for the corner of our sun room~

Folk art snow men gallantly stationed aboard our retro pink ladder,
guard the growing inventory of gifts.

This guy is under a lot of stress!

I totally gave myself over to nostalgia last night as I trimmed the tree.  And then, while I listened to Johnny Mathis singing "Oh Holy Night" (as only Johnny Mathis can), I began to wonder if our son looks fondly back on the Christmases of his childhood.  Or at 29 is he still too busy looking forward?  I wonder too if Larry and I have created enough tradition.  And did we provide the stuff of which precious memories are made? Or did we just provide 'stuff"?  Perhaps as a young, single man he has yet to think about these things.

I'm not going to ask him though.  Not just yet.  One of these days he'll have his own family and as he goes about the business of establishing new family traditions maybe his own good memories will occupy his thoughts for a time.  I like to think so anyway.

May your hearts be filled with profound joy!  And may all your Christmases right.

Thank you so much for dropping by~

     Dana

Holiday Sparkle

All that glitters is not gold.

Everyone has a task on their 'to do' list which they consistently push to the bottom.  On my list it's polishing silver.  I love silver and I want it to shine.  But for some reason I resist committing time to such a monotonous task.  But as we've all heard it said, "No pain, no gain".  So yesterday I undertook what has become in recent years a semi-annual chore.

Here is part of my inventory~

Look at this Deed Box! Vintage Pottery Barn showing its age.

These pieces are daunting and yet there's more! I have had all of this PB silver for almost 20 years. I can't believe how fast the years fly by. At Christmas I think the passage of time becomes the most evident, as we seem to mark time with holiday memories.

"Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow..." 

This lyric always makes me cry.

Well, more on point, I worked and I worked and I'm here to tell you that my home is positively sparkling!

How about a little preview?

My set of PB reindeer, a gift from my mom and dad, have been Christmas fixtures upon the mantle for nearly two decades.

Stocking holders all in a row.

Look at the Deed Box now! And, check out my silver plated mirrored coffee table! I found it at a model home sale for about $20. What was I thinking? Now I have a table to polish too!

Another view~

Wow! Suddenly I'm feeling a Christmas glow! I hope you are too!

Until we meet again~

     Dana

Tired of the holiday bustle? Use a little down time to browse all the creative ideas at A Glimpse Inside