Well, the big day is here! Merry Christmas everyone!!! Santa has been very busy overnight delivering gifts all around the world! Christmas is a time of wonder for children....a time of joy and laughter. I hope that you had a very special Christmas and that you spent your holiday with those that you love. Of course, we cannot always be with our loved ones, but we hold them close to our hearts during the holiday season. They are with us in spirit.
It is nice to have rituals to bring our loved ones into our home during the holidays even when they cannot physically be present. I have photo ornaments of my parents that I hang on my tree each year. I love seeing their faces on my tree...
I also have captured special moments in the lives of my family in the form of photo ornaments. Each year, I make a new one. I also love to give them as gifts to my children.
One of the things I inherited from my parents is this antique fireplace mantel. I had it shipped from Florida when my parents passed away in 2008. It travelled all the way from Florida to Washington State. I have the mantel in my formal living room, and it is one of the first things you see when you open our front door. I decorate it each year with some light up snow villages and place photos on the top of the mantel of the last Christmas I spent with my parents in Florida in 2007. I also hang Christmas stockings on it that were hand-knitted by a lady who used to live next door to my parents when I was in high school. Each one of us have a stocking with our names knitted into the top of the stocking.
My husband, Mark, and I took six years of ballroom dance lessons when we lived in Florida. (Thank you Pat Inscore Laakso!) We love to dance! Two of the snow village buildings feature dancing. One is a studio and the other is a ballroom featuring dancers that move in a circular pattern on the dance floor.
Because we have a sailboat and love to spend time on our Catalina, "Skye," we also have a snow village house that pertains to boating...
Like most men, my husband loves cars and motorcycles. We found this Harley Motorcycle snow village building one day in a little town called Gig Harbor not too far from where we live.
I love snow villages with their light up homes. I especially love the homes that have moving parts....like the dancers that are on top of my ballroom dance building.
I also have some Peanut characters that are wireless and play various Christmas carols. When I was a child, I loved the Charles Schultz Peanut comic strips. You press a button on each of the characters, and each one plays music. The great thing is that each character plays two songs on their instrument. The other ones join in on each song. I have Snoopy, Schroeder, Charlie Brown and Lucy....all four. Each one plays two songs so you get a total of 8 songs in all. We have enjoyed hearing them play this year. I got them at the Hallmark Shop in case you are interested in them.
I found this large Santa in one of the shops near our home last year. Santa stands by the fireplace mantel. I have a little light post next to him.
I fell in love with Santa's face...
In our dining room downstairs, we have the china cabinet that once belonged to my husband's Mother. I love to decorate the top of the china cabinet with some Madame Alexander dolls that I have. These dolls are part of a Christmas collection and have ballet outfits with ballet slippers...
Two light up packages surround one of the dolls...
I love needlepoint pillows and have a few Christmas themed ones that I have had for several years.
In our windows are electric wooden Norwegian candles. Many of the quaint shops down the street from our home have these lights burning in their store windows all year long. These lights really add a Norwegian touch to the neighborhood. Some people keep the lights burning all the time in the windows of their homes. My husband and I always burn ours.
Our kitchen has a small Christmas tree on the countertop. I fill it with ornaments pertaining to cooking and also have some Starbucks ornaments on it.....afterall, we live in Seattle area. Gotta have your Starbucks ornament.
I have some ceramic pieces that I use each year in my home. These dogs sit on an end table in my formal living room. I think they have a very traditional English look about them. I have used these pieces at Christmas time for several years.
I also have a ceramic Santa on another end table in my formal living room...
On the dining room table is a gold tray with a teaset that belonged to my husband's Mother, Sadie Jane Singer. Next to the teaset is an old musical tin that plays holiday music when you wind it up. We found the tin in an antique shop near our home.
The teaset is by Paragon. I collect ornate Paragon teacups and saucers.
I have several family photos in gold frames on top of my petite grand piano which is in the formal living room.
We have a wrought iron banister that leads to our upstairs den and bedrooms across from the dining area. I found this light up garland with holiday poinsettias and decor last year. It is perfect for our banister.
Sadie Mae loves to relax at the top of the stairs and look out the window across the way in the living room. This is one of her favorite spots in our home. From here, she feels she can rule the world :)
I have a tiny tabletop tree in my landing near where Sadie likes to be. I have a Maltese ornament on the small tree in Sadie Mae's honor. You can also see another ornament (second photo) which is to represent my sister's dog, Mr. French. We decided to make this our "tribute to our beloved pets" tree this year so you will see more pet ornaments next year.
My dining room Christmas tree oraments feature a bride and groom that I bought when Mark and I were first married 14 years ago...
The groom with the ring represents my son, Brandon's wedding to Amy... I found this ornament last year after he proposed to Amy on a Peak to Peak Gondola in Whistler, Canada.
We also have a small tree on the bar upstairs near our den...
This small tree features some beer and wine ornaments.
We do not smoke, but I couldn't resist this cute cuban cigar ornament.
Our main holiday tree is upstairs in our den area...
I have a lot of Christopher Radko ornaments on my tree. I started collecting them years ago when I lived in Houston, Texas. The nutcracker was one of my first ones...
The Cinderalla Carriage ornament is one of my favorites...
I also have some ornaments that my two sons made in school. I hang them proudly with my other ornaments. The handmade ones that my sons made when they were children are my very favorite ornaments and dear to my heart. Another special ornament is a dough art Santa stocking ornament. It was created by a little boy named Shane who used to live down the street from me when I lived in Houston in the 80's. When Brandon was born in 1983, Shane made this Christmas stocking ornament just for Brandon when he was a baby. He signed it on the back "To Brandon for your first Christmas 1983." I hang this ornament on the tree each year.
I have a few bubble lights on my tree as well as the white twinkle lights. My son, Brandon, gave me the University of Florida ornament one year as a gift when he was a student at the college.
The next ornament is for Elliott's graduation from high school at Klahowya...
I don't have to tell you who this ornament is for....
I gave this bride and groom ornament to my parents one year for their anniversary gift. Their anniversary date was December 22nd. My parents were married two years before I was born. My Dad was in the Airforce, and they did what a lot of young couples did in those days....they went to the Justice of the Peace. My Mom wore a beautiful blue suit which I now have. Since my parents are gone, as you know, I now hang the ornaments on my Christmas tree.
There are also some antique ornaments on my tree. I love how the center is indented in on the ornament. Christopher Radko has recreated some of these old ornaments as part of his Shiny Brite collection. I found two boxes of these wonderful Radko ornaments this year in a local store and added them to my collection of ornaments. The next photo is of one of the antique ones. You can see an icicle hanging on the tree near the ornament. My husband, sons and I made these icicles from plexiglass when we lived in Florida a few years ago. We had to put on very thick gloves to heat and twist the ornaments. We have various lengths of them, and I love them all...
Sometimes, I buy ornaments to remember places we have been...
Or special childhood memories I have had. My sister and I both had the Barbie doll in the early 60's that had the "bubble" hairdo and black and white bathing suit. In those days, you had two choices....blonde or brunette, pony tail or "bubble do." We didn't have Malibu Barbie, Holiday Barbie, or any of the many, many Barbie dolls that are available to little girls today. Life was simple then :) for kids. I sometimes think children today are given too many choices and are pulled in too many different directions. That is an opinion by little old me.... Here is my Barbie ornament...
The King, Elvis, keeps Barbie company on my tree :)
My tree topper is a Santa ornament by Christopher Radko...
I have a few of these light up bears on my tree each year. My son, Brandon, loved these when he was little...
I have a few of the Hallmark animated snowmen under my Christmas tree to add a bit of fun and whimsy. My friend, Sandy Gibson, has been collecting these for years and has them throughout her home at Christmas time. It was so fun to go to her house and watch her displays that I decided to start collecting a few myself. Hallmark has a new one each year. They all have music and movement and are all different, but each one has the Snowman. This year, the Snowman was with a little dog in a doghouse which lit up. The little dog barks during the song and animation. They are lots of fun...
Here is another one of my snowman decorations. When played, the light at the top of the tree lights up at the end...
I have a light up Santa on a table that is not too from my main Christmas tree in the den area. I have had this light up Santa for many years...
I love poinsettias at Christmas and have a pretty live poinsettia on my table in the upstairs den near the Christmas tree...
This Santa sits on my table in my dining room downstairs...
Last year, I created a photobook of special Christmas photos including the last Christmas that I spent with my parents. I gave copies of this photobook away as gifts to my family. I place the book out where I can enjoy it. When I get a few moments and a cup of tea, I love to thumb through the pages and relive those memories.
Of course, to complete any holiday mood, you have to have your candles burning brightly. I have two glass candle holders on my den coffee table. I keep them there all year long and change out the filler. I bought this current holiday filler at Pottery Barn. I love how it looks in the cylinders.
My most meaningful holiday candle holder this year is this "Glassy Baby" votive candle holder that I had made and named "Christmas with Nana and Mr. T" in my parents' honor. Glassy Baby candles burn brighter than any candle holder I have ever seen. To quote the words of the famous Christmas carol, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, "You might even say it glows!" I had these votive holders made this year and gave them to each of my family members to burn each year in my Mom and Dad's honor.
I will burn my candle throughout the year, too, and remember my Mom and Dad in a special way whenever I light it.
Here is another Glassy Baby candle holder in a similar color.
One of my favorite holiday candle holders is this one that looks like a snowball. Mark and I bought it the weekend we went to Port Townsend to celebrate our anniversary this year. I found this at one of the newer boutiques there. I want to get another one of these. It is made out of a heavy crystalized substance. Looks like a combination of snow and ice when it is lit. I have it on my mantel in the den upstairs and love it.
You can see my little live holly Christmas tree out the window. It is on my upstairs balcony.
Sadie Mae wearing a beautiful pink scarf Brandon and Amy gave her for Christmas. They bought this in Hawaii for her on their honeymoon.
Aww Sadie! Your new scarf looks cute on you! xoxo
I hope that you are having a wonderful time celebrating the holidays with your family, friends and pets. This is the time to celebrate, cozy up and enjoy the company of others. It is a time for fun, food, holiday traditions and giving. It is the time to remember the true meaning of Christmas, too, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Part of our holiday always includes going to midnight Mass. I always love singing Christmas carols in Church during the holidays. Thank you, God, for all the wonderful blessings that you have bestowed upon me during the past year. I don't have my parents anymore to celebrate with during holidays but I have many, many blessings in my life to be thankful for. I am sure you do, too!
Thank you so much for visiting my blog today. I want to take this time to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas from our home to yours. Have a wonderful holiday!!!! xoxo Kim
Kim,
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Your home decorations are lovely. The snow village on the mantel is so cute. I have been wanting to get a Christmas Village, and I think next year I may do that. I just have to say that your china cabinet that belonged to your mother-in-law is beautiful. The tea set with the purple trim is so pretty, and makes me want to have a cup of tea. The garland with the poinsettias is festive and looks great wrapped around your stairway. And your main holiday tree and ornaments are so sweet. I really enjoyed looking at all your pictures of your home. I hope the New Year brings you much joy, Kim, and may all the love that you give every day return back to you on New Years Day.
~Sheri at Red Rose Alley
Posted by: Red Rose Alley | Monday, December 26, 2011 at 07:39 PM
Kim,
Thank you for sharing your home and your beautiful holiday decor.
Wow, six years of ballroom dance lessons! I bet you two really cut-up the dance floor at Amy and Brandons's wedding.
Lighting candles for our dear departed loved ones is such a healing thing to do. You have some beautiful treasures from your mom and dad with wonderful memories attached. It's obvious that you put your heart and soul into creating a warm, spiritual, beautiful sanctuary for you, Mark, Sadie and your sons. I'm sure that all who enter can experience the warmth that you have created. I love your den and the little fireplace in the corner!
Your home is gorgeous and I love all of your collections. In fact, I love every room in your house. Your holiday decor is meaningful because all of your ornaments have sweet memories attached. Miss Sadie's pink princess coat is adorable. Yes, she is a royal princess!!
Hugs, Sandy
Posted by: Sandy | Monday, December 26, 2011 at 09:09 PM