I will be taking part in a Holiday Home Tour hosted by Tracey at A Cottage Industry on Wednesday, December 19th.  Check her site for all the lovely details of the tour.

My inside decor is all about tradition, but I have a wonderful new piece in the midst of my traditional things.  It’s a stunning hand-blown glass rose in the richest cranberry red which goes perfectly with the Christmas decor on my dining room table.

This rose was hand-blown by a new friend and lovely glass artist who, judging from this piece, does some amazing work!  I love it paired with my crystal Christmas trees and set on the mirrored tray which graces the center of my dining room table.

And here (below) is a group of my favorite characters which greet you from my hearth, while surrounding my wonderful collection of candles.   There are nutcrackers along with a vast assortment of stuffed animals… everything from Rudolph, the Abominable Snow Monster, and the Burl Ives snowman… to Eyeore… to a dog who, when unzipped and turned inside out, becomes a present… to two love-geese with interwoven necks… to some sweet little mice with stocking caps… and the list goes on.

I hope to have some photos of some of my heirloom decorations in my next post, which will include handmade stockings for all five of our family members and a beautiful hand-stitched tree skirt with thousands of sequins.  Until then, Christmas blessings to you!

With the warm lights of Christmas glowing all around us, it’s impossible to ignore that the bright Season is upon us. 

For me and my house, we are roundly decorated from room to room and surrounded with familiar lovely things.  We have three trees and each with its own personality.  The kids have a tree which they decorate all on their own with ornaments they have made or been given.  Then there’s another tree that we collaborate on, which resides in our den, with all colored lights and colored ornaments.  But there is one tree which is mine to complete all by myself, so I will begin my Christmas postings with it.

This particular tree has all crystal, gold, silver, and white ornaments with traditional white lights.  The skirt is a beautiful lacy cutwork tablecloth which I have draped around the base of the tree.  Most of the ornaments, aside from the gold and silver balls, have been given to me by family members and precious friends. 

A beautiful heirloom Gorham angel graces the top of the tree.  This is a treasured wedding gift from one of my dear college friends, and it has been with me for twenty-one years and through six moves.

Along with all the ornaments that are heirlooms from family or gifts, I have also made some ornaments from very simple materials.  First there are the shells that I sprayed gold or silver.  I then glued a loop of ribbon to the top from which to hang it and wrapped and glued pearls around the loop.

I also made ornaments from pinecones by spraying some small ones gold.  Then I glued one end of a strand about 6″ long of decorative braided gold trim into the top of each cone so that they would hang over the branch.

These were easy projects, but they add such a bit of sentimentality to the tree as the shells were collected on one of our vacations to the beach and the pine cones came from our yard.

What a joy to look at the tree and remember all the wonderful people who contributed to it and all the wonderful memories it evokes.  Enjoying the glow…

I don’t know about you, but for me preparing for a wonderful family gathering and anticipating our time together is one of the great bonuses of holiday celebrations.  Our menu was planned early on, so that everyone would know what to bring:  traditional roasted turkey with gravy, gourmet mashed potatoes, collard greens, butter peas, fresh cranberry and pecan relish, sweet potatoes, rolls, pecan pie, and Frensh silk pie.  The table decorations were set out on Tuesday, so that there would be no last minute rush to get it done. 

One thing I truly love about these celebrations is that most all my traditions harken back to those who have gone before me… my grandmothers and my mother.  It is wonderful to get out those dishes I saw them use time after time and remember how great it was to gather around their tables.  

I placed the pilgrims and Indian corn that my grandmother had given me soon after I was married in the center of my table on a mirrored tray that had once belonged to her and graced her Thanksgiving table.  I even found a host of handwritten notes in a cookbook which had belonged to my grandmother, and it caused me to remember her hands, lovely and delicate though worn from many hours in the kitchen.  I pulled out a pair of sliver tongs that had been hers, along with a few silver serving spoons and a pair of salt and pepper shakers. 

After considerable elbow grease and time, the silver was all polished and ready for our gathering.   As I polished, I thought of all the times she must have done the same thing getting ready for us to gather around her table.

Finally Thursday arrived and, as you see from the photo below, all was ready for our time together around the table.  The candles were lit, the glasses were filled, the accoutrements were in their rightful places on the table, and we all took our plates and enjoyed the bountiful blessings prepared so carefully by the hands of our loved ones.

What a wonderful day we had as both sides of our family gathered for our Thanksgiving meal.  As we gathered around our table, we reminisced and celebrated the fact that we were once more able to be together for this special celebration.  What a terrific holiday… no gifts to buy, no hustle of crowds, no elaborate decorations… just family, food, and fellowship.  It really is a day for thankfulness.

Today is a very special day for women with a fondness for charm and grace…  our beloved Victoria magazine has returned to us.  The first “rebirthed” issue is being mailed out even as I write, and we are all waiting eagerly to see what is inside.  How appropriate that the first issue is a holiday issue and that the cover reads in large letters, “REJOICE!”  And, indeed we are rejoicing!  What was a brilliantly written, photographed, and laid out magazine published by Hearst from 1987 through 2003, is being brought to us again by a new publisher, Hoffman Media.  With several magazines targeted to women of varied interests, from culinary to sewing to tea, Hoffman stands ready to fill this long-lamented void for Victoria lovers everywhere.  And we are anxiously awaiting their offering.

Victoria has always been, for me, much more than a magazine.  It is more like a comprehensive visual encyclopedia of charm, beauty, grace, and knowledge.  From stories on famous authors, to historical figures, to successful entrepreneurs of our day, Victoria challenged our intellect, fulfilled our longing for beauty in a magazine, and even fostered our creativity.  I, like so many others, have kept all my Victorias through six moves.  I couldn’t have thrown them away any more than I would throw away a beautiful painting or an antique piece of furniture.  I once even had to rescue them from a damp basement, and they survived beautifully.  (They now reside in my bedroom so that they are protected and so that I can pull one off the shelf at a moment’s notice.) 

I would like to go and stand by my mailbox until the beautiful magazine arrives, but my neighbors might begin to wonder about me.  So, I will wait patiently (well, maybe not patiently) inside until she arrives.  In the meantime, I think I will put the kettle on for tea…