Christmas Vignettes

The fun for me in decorating for Christmas, is in creating vignettes with my collected treasures. As I try to keep in mind the color and style of a room, it helps me decide where to place things. My living room is a shade of cherry red with touches of gold which makes it a great place to display all my Byers Choice dolls. My grandmothers vintage drop leaf table is the perfect landing spot. These dolls have great meaning to me, as they have been given to me by my children over the last twenty one years. The kids like to reminisce about the details behind every doll.

My dinning room with its gray paneled walls, and touches of pewter make an ideal backdrop for birch, pine cones, moss and all things natural. I like to use animals as my daughter is an animal freak, and the buri animal ornaments are in style right now. Martha had a collection featured at Macy's, this year. Apparently they are sold out quickly, which i guess is no big surprise.

My son is crazy about penguins, or used to be. This guy tucks in nicely against a piece of birch. My daughter and I made paper snowflakes to add a personal touch to this tree. It had been a while since I had made paper snowflakes but, a little online search provided the how-to we needed to get started. We glued pieces of twine onto the snowflakes, so that they could be hung from the tree. We also made twine bows, and a twine tree topper in keeping with our natural theme.  I love twine because, it is one of those multi-purpose items that you should always have on-hand. Great for gift wrapping any time of year.

Needlepoint stockings where hung by the chimney with care, thanks to my little elf. Brick, birch, pine- cones, mercury glass, greens, and a old beam are music to my ears.

I am lucky to have lots of birch trees growing in my yard, so there is never a shortage of available birch to work with. I can often be seen peeling a piece here and there, for the sake of a design. The large birch log was once home to a bird. As the tree began to weaken and eventually fall, I went out to claim my prize.

A little bling, bling for the dining room with the addition of mercury glass. It sparkles, and brightens the muted gray walls nicely. The fabulous birch candle holders were handmade by my friend Maura Quinn.

Thanks Maura, I love them!

A little vignette for the back hallway, which is where I usually set up my party cocktails. The black hutch is from my days at Pottery Barn. It opens up, and is a perfect spot for serving some holiday cheer. Nothing like a brick floor to deal with spills.

My family room which is the heart of the house, and the perfect place for several snowmen vignettes. These sparkly guys are some of my favs. My daughter is of the philosophy; if you have it, you must display it. I would have to agree in this case.

Until next time...L.