At Christmas I definitely see my personality, my hopes, my dreams, my loves come through. What are these things that are expressed so clearly? Well, all who really know me know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE glitter. Can you have enough glitter? I'm not really sure. I love many many vintage things... at Christmas time I find myself gravitating mostly to things that have come from "mid-century modern"... i.e. the 40s through the 60s. And, I dearly miss Gram, my mom's mom. So, in many places you'll see evidences of her about... even down to the "Touch of Schlaf" in my Art and Soul display each year.
While I rarely make BIG changes on a regular basis, we sometimes mix things up in how we display them, or even some years we simply leave things in storage. This year I was all for simplifying. I was feeling cluttered in my spirit, and needed to keep the surroundings less cluttered so I could "clean house" on myself. We really only decorated the living room this year. And we pared it down. Although, our "three foot tree for the crates" became a 6+ foot tree that dwarfed our fake tree of previous years. But, that's fine. Here's the beauty we created in our home this Christmas season...
Here's the infamous... Michelin Man tree... it's over six feet tall and ROUND. WeeOne and I went to a tree farm, for my FIRST EVER real tree... we thought we were looking for a three foot Canaan Fir... we found this beauty... a White Pine. WE LOVED it.
Gram's shepherds. I think these may have sat on her sideboard... I can't recall.
Grandpa Gene worked for the Illinois Central Railroad. When the railroad closed down the employees were given remembrances... the pitcher and creamer here are from the dining car. The silk flowers are from my wedding bouquet, the tray was a $1 find at a garage sale... shiny brites of course.. And the tag/ornament was one of a number that I made and sold at Art and Soul.
My "bling tree"... filled with vintage shiny brites, hand made ornaments from past sales, and generally a pastel pallet. Don't you love it?
Tucked under the tree... literally... a glass brick to give it some height, that's covered with one of Gram's hankies, and then you see some vintage candles from her house.
More of Gram's collection. I have two of these sweet angels. I know that truly angels are awesome and fearful to look at, don't mistake me on that truth, these are here for the Gram touch...
April's creations come out every Christmas... the cards underneath the bird are "The Twelve Days of Christmas." You need to see these to believe them. Her husband, Rett, helped on this I'm told. The vintage nativity card is also from her, as is the bird I believe.
Another vintage nativity post card from April. (I love vintage post cards!)
April had created a number of these flowers at her house, so I created a few for myself... they sit in vintage and antique bottles on our front half-wall.
See this stack of primitive wood boxes? (David's dad's toy chest and his great grandfather's storage box for his scales.) This is where the "tiny simple tree" was supposed to sit. Instead you see a pile of antique books, a candle made by WeeOne and the golden basket where we display our Christmas cards. The hankie on top is from Gram of course!
This banner reads "Christmas Joy" and is one I made to sell at the first Art and Soul. One lady was very interested, but wouldn't meet me on the price. David said he was glad that he wanted us to keep it.. so it hangs above the front picture window every year. It's a set of vintage red and green bingo cards, holiday paper and various embellishments.
More of April... a wreath made from old pattern papers... and of course it's covered in glitter. I love it. Was thinking of buying it, but received it as a gift. So wonderful!
A mini Nativity ornament from David's Grammie Bolt. It's sitting on a vintage tin, also from April. (She might as well just come and decorate my house!)
This banner hangs between the living and dining room. The birds... swallows, my favorites... are stitched on paper, and hung on red and white butchers twine. Each swallow is embellished with a word such as love, joy, etc. The last swallow holds a small envelope in which my gift was enclosed that year.
I hope you enjoyed this view of the beauty we created at Christmas. I think it's one time of year where I feel I can decorate to my heart's content and not step on anyone's toes. (I think the house should reflect the taste and needs of all who live in it, so usually you won't see a lot of glitter or pinks... ). So, what do you do to create beauty in your home at Christmas?
Blessings,
Kim
Kim
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