CHRISTMAS AROUND THE COTTAGE - PART TWO...

Welcome Christmas!

"And so -

 Christmas comes to bless us!

Comes to teach us how to find

The joy of giving happiness

And the joy of being kind."

Gertrude Tooley Buckingham

"There Will Always Be A Christmas", 1940

This year,

 we have deviated from the norm 

for Christmas;

 the norm being a faux tree

 and mostly faux greenery.

  We decided on a fresh tree 

for the first time

 in a number of years.

  Even though faux trees

 are usually beautiful to look at,

 we got so tired 

of trying to stuff those branches

 back into the boxes they came in!

 Above,

 a plaster Santa and tree

 are nestled among fresh pine branches 

with candles and pine cones,

 backed by a needlepoint picture 

I worked a few years ago

 of Noah's Ark.

There is no substitution

 for the wonderful smell

 that lingers throughout the house.

 Those spray cans of pine "scent" 

just can't compete!

 In the words of 

someone I greatly admired...

"Gather peace from nature.  Decking the halls of our home with fresh evergreen boughs encourages us to inhale the scent in slow, deep breaths."

Tasha Tudor

Santa comes

 in many shapes, sizes and colors

 this Christmas,

 and a few are assembled

 on the sitting room shelf,

 along with some whimsical trees

 fashioned out of

 bits of twine and yarn...

...these two places 

are the only ones

 where I used faux greenery.

  The fireplace mantle

 is a no brainer

 because of the heat from the stove

 and I didn't fancy

 needles falling down on us 

while sitting on the sofa

 under the shelf.

Another large

 paper mache Santa

 that I made 

sits on the game table

 along with a vintage

 Tom and Jerry set

 that belonged to my mom.

In the chimney cupboard 

a few houses

 from the Hallmark -

 Sarah, Plain and Tall

 collection...

...along with a pottery heart

 that celebrates

 two of the simple pleasures

 of Christmas.

The parlor mantle

 is set 

with the blue of the wallpaper in mind 

and a few vintage reds 

to pick up the colors

 from the other rooms.

This lustre

 was given to me

 by an elderly friend of the family

 many years ago

 who knew that I loved antiques.

  It originally was one of a pair

 but when we went through 

the 1989 earthquake in Santa Cruz, 

one got broken.

We found our Noble Fir

 at one of the tree lots in town. 

 It was the first one we saw

 and we didn't take anytime to tag it.

  It looked pretty perfect

 but it was actually hard to decorate. 

 I couldn't find many branches

 to hang an ornament on 

where it would hang free,

 so I mostly swagged it

 with glass beads,

 popcorn strings

 and a long strand of wool pom poms

 that I made last year.

 We used the math of 

100 lights per one foot of tree

 so it has 700 lights on it,

 and I think we could have added

 a couple more strings.

Santa

 seems to be the "man of the hour"

 at the Cottage this year.

 Here another

 large ceramic jolly old fellow

 stands on the entry chest 

along with a sign that proclaims

 how we feel about Christmas around here! 

 I didn't make this Santa,

 but I did repaint him.

 He was pretty in pink 

when I found him

 at a thrift shop.

The kids are coming

 to celebrate with us

 for a couple of days...

so the guest room

 has taken on a bit

 of the Christmas spirit

 too.

I can't tell a lie...

especially at this time of year...

these guest room pictures

 were taken last year 

as I haven't gotten around

 to decorating yet in here,

 but it will be exactly the same,

 I promise!

We brought

 the old screen door 

in from outside 

and it makes a perfect frame

 for a cute tin sign.

I've shown this

 in the past 

but it still remains

 one of my favorites.

A trio of vintage elves

 are having fun

 just hanging around 

like they have done

 since Tami's first Christmas.

 The elves are vintage, not Tami!

...no matter how hard 

he may try,

 Olde Scrooge

 just can't put a damper

 on the Christmas festivities...

...and the stockings are hung with care.

Please

 join me in sending warm wishes and prayers to our friend Diana. 

 She, and her family,

 will be going through

 a rough time this Christmas.

I'm going to take

 a short time off 

to catch up with a few projects,

 so I wish everyone a

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and I will return next year!

...Judy...

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