Sunday, December 7, 2014

Merry Christmas 2014!

Christmas!  It's my favourite holiday.  And I am one of those Christmas decorators who likes to make sure that every room of the house has at least a touch of the holiday inside.  Every year, I try to do a little bit more, and this year I'm really happy with the decorations I accomplished.  Here are the decorations last year, and here are the ones from 2012.  I tweak a little bit every year and add to things too.

The outside front got an upgrade this year, with wreaths hanging from the windows.  Silly me just realized this year that I have the sort of windows in our house that make it quite easy to hang wreaths.  The only window in the front that is left un-wreathed is the bay window center, so that our tree can be featured there.  I'm extremely happy with how the front looks this year.  New door color!  New roof!  New decorations! 


This year, after trying and failing to get any spare greenery from Christmas trees twice at Home Depot, we hit paydirt the third time.  I loaded up the car and wound up with enough for the window boxes plus a little vignette at the back gate.


This year, we put our usual Christmas ornament wreath on the back door, but I added a garland of fresh greenery to the back deck.


The arbor gets a twist of garland and branches draped from the top.


One thing I noticed while contemplating my decorations this year was that for the last two or three years here at the house, I've done the exact same decorations on the hall table.  Like, exactly the same.  So this year I wanted to do something a little different.



Branches in vases replaced the asymmetrical display of my bust that normally sits on the table the rest of the year.  The deer-handled silver bowl I love so much is still front and center. 


You guys get a candid shot of the fireplace...I forgot to move Corvin's toy mouse collection from its usual spot at the base of the fireplace tools.  ;) 

Anyway, this year I'm really happy with the fireplace mantel display too.  Other than the fact that I broke my precious old-fashioned lettering "Merry Christmas" sign that normally sits up there.  (sad face)  Ah well.


 

The dining room!  We went a bit lighter on the snowflake flurry in here, since the princesses weren't completed last year.  Since I also got my much-desired new chandelier in here this year too, I was excited to drape a garland from its arms this year.  




 We tuck the table that's normally in the living room in the corner of the dining room at Christmas time.  This year, we have a new Niroot Puttapipat book to add to our collection, Jingle Bells.  Niroot's silhouette Christmas card from last year is framed behind it, along with my Iseult statue. 


There's still a definite snowflake theme in here! 


 The upstairs bedroom has gold filigree ornaments hanging from the branches at the windows.


 This year, I twined a garland at the base of the bed, and hung a mini-wreath with gold ribbon at the top wall.



In the Dreaming Room, the smiling bust that normally sits in the entry sits on my work desk with a holiday wreath on her head.  The Merry Christmas scenery globes I made last year sit to either side of her.


 Throughout the house on our crystal doorknobs I hung bells to ring out the season.


 Last year I decided to put my collection of glass bird clip ornaments on their own tree.  The tree was too small, however.  This year I took advantage of a sale at Balsam Hill to buy a pre-lit organic-looking tree with pinecones and berries.  I looooove how it looks!! 


Here are a couple of new ornaments from this year.


The raven might be my new favourite.


Another jingle bell on a doorknob.


The downstairs bathroom has a vintage embroidered tea towel I picked up this summer.


And an old embroidery and rocking chair music box.



The Noel ornament I always hang from my fairy's hand on the coffee table in the living room is now hung by a small wreath pin given to me by a friend, instead of a wire hook.  I love how that looks!


My usual arrangement of poinsettias, Christmas lights, and holly and ivy on the top of the bookshelf in the living room is made a trillion times better by the addition of my Wendy Froud troll girl.  


I love how the light shines through the hole in her holey stone in this picture.


And this year we got a new Christmas tree!  Ever since we've been together, we've used my parents' old Christmas tree, the same one I've used since I was 10 or so.  It was about time to get a new tree, and this year we traded in our 6' tree we put on boxes to make it taller for a 7 1/2' tree.  


We really have a Niroot Puttapipat Christmas.  In the living room, I display another gorgeous pop-up from his book, The Night Before Christmas, in front of the two original artworks we own by him.  


Here's another bonus shot of the mantel after dark, with the lights glowing.  


 And we have the lit garland on the stair rail, and our family Tomte sitting on the bannister. 


Last year's Christmas vignette in the kitchen came out again!  British Santa, and two jars with little holiday vignettes inside.  



Merry Christmas!!!!

2 comments:

  1. Not only do I love your Xmas decorations, Grace but I LOVE your entire cottage! I didn't realize following you on Pinterest that it was attached to a blog - glad I finally clued in! LOL

    We've just built a cottage of our own and I'm trying to find the right place for our art - which worked well in the old house, but not necessarily fitting in the right spots in the new one! Seeing the Waterhouse Ophelia made me rethink my plan of getting Landseer's 'Man Proposes, God Disposes' above our living room couch. Right now we have a Waterhouse mermaid there but she's just too small. :)

    I loved looking at all the details in your lovely cottage and am now going to make a cup of coffee and go back through as many posts as possible!

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  2. Hi Insomniac, I'm so glad you found my blog! This blog is devoted to updates on my own house decorating. I also have a blog devoted in general to fairy tale and mythic decorating styles and ideas. I suggest you might want to check that one out as well! http://domythicbliss.blogspot.com/

    I wasn't familiar with Landseer's artwork. What a powerful visual that will make!!

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