O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

Over the years, I've added a tree here and there, throughout the house. This one is in the family room and it's decorated with just glass-blown ornaments.

A few of the ornaments on this tree...you can see the beaded garland that drapes the tree...

One of the Christopher Radko ornaments...


Since I have kind of a "hunt" theme going on in my judges paneled family room, I decided to carry that theme on into my guest bath...hence the Thibaut "pheasant" wall paper. :-) I have a small Christmas tree in here for guest to enjoy. You can just make out the pin point lights if you look really close. (Lighting in here is terrible for pics.)

Since we spend so much time in the kitchen, I placed the family tree with all the hand-made, family and "vacation" collected ornaments here. This is my favorite tree because of all the memories it holds.


These are the ornaments that mean the most...the ones made by my son when he was very small...
A finger print from when he was only 5 years old...irreplaceable.

I made this little angel from a kit about25 years ago. I hand-stitched her hair and all the design work. I found the red wooden, bead garland around 20 years ago at Macy's...it reminds me of a tree draped with cranberries. I thought the garland was awfully expensive when I bought it so many years ago at an after-Christmas sale, but it has lasted and lasted and is one of my favorite items to decorate the tree with each year.
You may remember this little tree from a winter tablescape I did on the Twelfth Tablescape Tuesday. It is covered in Swarovski ornaments, collected 1 each year, over these past 17 years.


A feather tree awaits visitors in the guest room...

The tree is covered with delicate glass ornaments that look just like big bubbles.

Can you see the crystal bead garland?

I love the sparkly reflections in the pictures behind it...

And finally, you know the screened-in porch has to have a tree...

with dragonflies...



And as we say here in the south...

Tomorrow is Tablescape Tuesday...click on the pink TT logo in my sidebar for the details. I've already heard from lots of you...looking forward to seeing all the great tablescapes! :-)

Mischievous Mice...

I caught them...in the act! It's Michael's mice!



Last night I curled up for a good read of that wonderful Christmas classic by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. Sipping on a steaming mug of hot chocolate, with a crackling fire close by, I must have dozed off. I couldn't believe my eyes when I awoke!





After stuffing themselves silly with tea and scones all night at Gollum's, these two little mischievous mice have scurried over to my house, where they have been caught red-footed. Would you just look at what they have done to my reading glasses!



And it appears those little stinkers have left Santa a message...



Eeek! I liked them better when they were covered in chocolate and had cherry stem tails! I shooed them away, but now I'm wondering...where will they show up next, out there in Blogland?

(Mice/Glasses are an ornament are by Enesco and the name of the ornament is "One Foggy Christmas Eve." It's the third in a series called "Christmas Spectacles" and was produced in 1991.)

Decorating with Wreaths

I'm not sure what it is about wreaths, but I just love them! I think it's their "wholeness"...the way they feel so complete. The circular shape is said to represent eternity--no beginning and no end.

When I first moved into my current home 18 years ago, I continued a tradition I had started at my previous home...that of hanging wreaths outside on the windows at Christmas time. I was the only one in my neighborhood doing this, but with each passing year, more homes have joined in. Now a lot of the homes on my street decorate this way. I've never thought of myself as a trend setter, but I think I may have started something here.



Even the dormers in the upstairs family room and the garage get a wreath...



If you've wanted to dress up the front of your home with wreaths and you weren't quite sure the best way to go about it, here's how I do it. I lower the top sash and drop the wreath out and over. Holding onto to the ribbon, (from which it hangs) I raise the sash back up until the window is almost closed. I adjust the wreath to where I want it, close the window tight...then using a push pin, I secure the ribbon to the top of the wooden frame of the window. The pin is hidden by the window treatments. After Christmas, I just pull the pin out and let the wreaths drop to the ground where I collect them. I always put the pin back so it will be there when I need it next Christmas. Of course, it greatly helps if you don't have window screens on the front of your home. I had all mine removed years ago, since I preferred the look of the house without them.

One of the best things about hanging wreaths on the windows...is how pretty they look from the inside, too!



In fact, I have to force myself to take them down after Christmas...I just love seeing them from inside the house. Here's how they look in the guest room.



And in one of the upstairs family room dormers...



Another one of my favorite places to hang a wreath is over a mirror. This one hangs above the fireplace in the family room.



The round brass thingy you see sticking up at the top is part of a french horn that is incorporated into this wreath. It actually has two horns, one at the top and one at the bottom. The horns started out a brighter brass, but I like how they have aged and darkened over the years...looks better with the old mirror behind them, too.



The mantel is decorated with fresh Fraser Fir clippings I begged from a Christmas tree lot...they are the scraps left over when someone purchases a tree and has the lower branches removed. I love the wonderful scent they bring to the family room. The Nandina berries came from my yard. I copied Pat (Back Porch Musings) idea and placed the faux flickering candles down inside real candles. With all that greenery...I figured this was the safest way to mix in some candlelight.



More wreaths...the sconces in the entry get a touch of Christmas.






There are even wreaths in the kitchen...stole this idea from an historic home tour in Madison, Georgia. Debbie, (Confessions of a Plate Addict) remembers that tour, too. :-)




Bought this cute patchwork wreath at a crafts fair many years ago. I think Gloria (Happy To Be) has one like this. :-) It hangs on a pantry door in the kitchen during Christmas.



This little wreath hangs on the knob of the china cabinet in my dining room.




Can't forget the doors on the screened-in porch...this wreath is covered in snow. Now don't ask me how it got snow on it when it's under a covered porch...must have been a harrowing, wind-blowing blizzard! If you like this one...it came from Hobby Lobby just a few weeks ago.



Nothing is safe around here...even the clock in the upstairs family room gets a wreath.





Last Christmas I hung a wreath on the mirror in the dining room. I liked the look so much, I decided to leave it there year 'round.




It just seems to work with the mirror and the chandelier. This is the only room in my home where I don't use any brass...only silver and crystal.




No beginning and no end, life is a circle...and, sometimes...a square. :-)



(Photo above is from Williams Sonoma online.)

Anjali + Ketan