Christmas 2015 Part 2

As another Christmas season comes and goes, here are a few photos of the kitchen and family room.  All the decorations will be down by the end of the day, boxed up and stored for another year.  Hope you enjoy!

On the kitchen island, I keep this Tiffany silver trumpet vase and change the flowers depending on the season.  It doesn't take up much room, so that I can serve or prep when needed.  If you look behind the vase, I hung snowflakes from the window valence.  I used a tension rod, and hung the snowflakes with white thread and ornament hangers.  At Christmas I use a butler's tray table in the corner to hold extra Christmas trays and wine glasses.

For Christmas morning breakfast, I again used my Christmas china, with red chargers and Lunt flatware.

For the centerpiece, I used decorated greenery and gilded fruit, silver antler candleholders, and red votive candleholders, which match the sequined red chargers.

 The centerpiece bowl is a unique piece--silver and crystal--with four taper candleholders.  It's one of my favorite estate sale finds.

For beverages, we used champagne flutes for our mimosas and vintage glasses for water or milk.

Above the patio doors, I added these love and joy signs.  They are battery operated, but I had to climb on a step stool to turn them on.

On to the family room.  On the cocktail table, I used a garland with a gold ribbon, my gold reindeer that I love, gold trees, and ...hmm are those artichokes? pineapples? acorns?  Well, whatever they are, they were used on the cocktail table vignette with gold battery operated pillar candles, which were on a timer. The candles provided a nice glow when coming into a dark room.

A shot of the family room in the evening.

The main Christmas tree was again gold and bronze.  I added some new decor this year, musical notes, large bronze snowflakes, deer heads, and lots of grapevine.

I changed up the mantle and placed my garland straight across instead of swagging (is that a word?) it.  I found these stick garland mini lights, which I added, as well as the gold pieces on the end.  Have no idea what to call them, but they were sort of a paper mache and I have ornaments shaped exactly the same way, so I had to have them.  I also used musical ribbon bows, and decorated with the same notes that I used on the tree, and cupids playing different instruments.  

Here's a close up of the decorated mantle.  Behind the garland, I used gold finials that I found years ago at Kirklands, with tall gold candleholders on each end.

 I made this little arrangement for the hearth using a lantern, greenery, and other gold/bronze accents.

 Big items have big impact, but sometimes you just need something small.  I found these petite gold Christmas trees and thought they were cute on a silver tray.

The bookcase was decorated and I again used my silhouette angels for the top.  This year I ordered votive candles on a timer so that they would come on automatically in the evening.  Yay!  No climbing up to cut them on!  Worked like a charm.

 I have used this woodland scene vignette before, but this year I moved it to the end table with my leopard lamp.

We were again blessed to have our son and daughter home.  Our son finished up at Virginia Tech in December, and is beginning the job search.  Our daughter is still in New York and is in a show called "New Dawn" at the end of the month.  If you are in the area, I hope you will go check it out.  

Christmas night we had 30 of my cousins over for a Christmas get-together!  Everyone brought an appetizer, and we had a lot of fun.  2015 was a great year, and I am very thankful for my family and friends!  On to 2016!

 Happy New Year to you and yours!

Christmas 2015

Now that the holiday season is winding down, I have a little time to work on a few posts.  I love decorating for Christmas, and this year I had a deadline.  We were going out of town for a few days on December 1st and I wanted all the decor to be up and ready to go by the time I got back.  Here's a peak into the front rooms of the house.  In my next post, I will put up the pictures of the back rooms, which include the kitchen and family room.  Hope you enjoy!

Upon entering the front door, the first decorated tree stands in a fishbowl nestled in a corner by the stairs. The white ornaments were made by my mother, and this year I added different sized snowflakes and a white topper.  White mini lights were added to the banister, and I had them on a chaser setting, which made the room feel magical.

Santa and two white glittery reindeer sit under the tree.

My silver neo-classical vase holds a new silver and white Christmas arrangement.  The silver and gold deer are also new additions to this table vignette.

The stairs are always fun to decorate, and new white, wispy pine garland was added this year.

I added a swag over the inside front door.

Now on to the living room, which we refer to as the paaarlor, darling!

I found this great nativity which I placed on the console with my white angels and some greenery.

Here's a close-up...

On the bombay chest, I used my sleigh decorated with white ornaments, crystal grapes, and greenery.

It was fun decorating the dining room this year.  I used mostly silver, with a hint of red under the white tablecloth.  I again used my deer from Tuesday morning, my candelabras with silver glitzy candles, and various decor on the table.

I also put a full-sized tree in the corner.  I have been using a smaller tree, but decided to use this one.  It had a more formal look, with some burgundy-colored balls added in with the silver and crystal.

Our Christmas Eve dinner table was set for nine, but one cancelled, so I removed one place setting.  Before dinner, I removed the deer and the candelabras, as they were blocking our view, and I added a fresh arrangement using mostly greenery and berries from my yard with white carnations.

The fresh arrangement sat on my new tea cart before dinner.

I used white napkins trimmed in silver with a shimmery napkin ring, my Lunt sterling, and mirrored chargers. I used Opal Innocence china.

Wine glasses used were Navarre, and iced beverage glasses were crystal with a silver rim, not sure what they are.

A different angle...

And just a few items placed here and there.  Although it's hard to see, I added those mini lights around the decanters, which looked pretty reflecting in the silver tray at night.  When I purchase these, I now look for ones with timers, that will come on at the same time every evening and cut off after 4 or 6 hours.

I also used a vintage-style light around the base of my reindeer.  I used battery-operated votives this year on his antlers, because the dripping wax is not fun to clean.  You can purchase votives now that have timers as well.  Yay!!

I think that's enough for now!  Please come back and take a look at the kitchen and dining room decor. Have a safe, healthy, and happy New Year!!

--Betsy

A Christmas Eve Tablescape

Christmas has come and gone.  Everything has been packed up and stored for another year.  Before we move on to the next big thing, I thought I'd post the rest of the Christmas photos.  There was no party this year, but we had some of my children's friends over at different times, accompanied by their parents, who are our friends.  I enjoy the Christmas decorating, even though it is a ton of work, and I'm hoping that down the road my children will have good memories of the beauty and joy of the season.  And maybe even of their mother, haha!  I know they appreciate our efforts as they get older, and I think they even enjoy being with us.  We, of course, love having them home, and I always get sad when they have to leave.  So one last glimpse of Christmas! 

While shopping at Tuesday Morning, I ran across this reindeer.  He was so regal and beautiful, I knew that he had found a home.  Since I am a regular shopper at this store, the kind ladies are always looking out for me.  This reindeer had a mate that came in on the next truck, and they kept it in the back for two weeks, waiting to see if I would want it. Unfortunately, I didn't come back in for awhile, and they sold it as soon as it was put out. A lesson learned, check back frequently, you  never know what's on the very next truck!

I decorated this fella up using poinsettias and a bow.  He sits on top of a field of decorated greenery.

The poinsettias I used are also in the arrangement on the sideboard.  The colors used here were that silvery gold, not the bright gold or dark gold often used at Christmas, but I decided to use gold accoutrements instead of the red that I usually use at Christmas.

I used mercury glass votives and finials that I used last year on my table, and I also added some silver and glass ball ornaments.

We ate our Christmas Eve dinner in the dining room, and my husband's brother joined us.  Normally, I have 7 or 8 for Christmas Eve, but this year it was just the five of us.

I used my battenburg tablecloth again, because I can change the look by using an under-cloth, and it fits my table well with all the leaves.  Since Rudolph was so big, I kept the leaves in the table for the entire season.

I also used my antique silver candlelabras with silvery candles.  I special-ordered them in October, and they are nice and tall!  

My gold-rimmed antique stems were used for dinner as well.  For dinner we had our usual--beef tenderloin, potato casserole, broccoli casserole, romaine salad with fruit and blush wine vinaigrette, spinach squares, and hot rolls.  We had drinks and appetizers in the kitchen before, which were pecan cheddar spread, shrimp cocktail, and hot crab dip.  For dessert, I had a tray of goodies I had been preparing all week.  No one left hungry.  We did start in the afternoon, and we just kept eating and socializing into the evening!

I put up my small Christmas tree in the corner of the dining room again this year.

My husband likes to hunt.  Let me re-phrase that--he likes the whole idea of hunting.  He likes being outside and looking at the game and beautiful surroundings.  He gets impatient, and doesn't necessarily like killing the animals.  He enjoys watching them, but often just lets them go.  We do have a problem with the deer population, though, and they can cause a lot of harm.

I enjoy decorating with deer at Christmas, and I use them all around the house.

I also used my Lunt flatware, and gold dinner napkins, and my Christmas china.  I again used my silver chargers I lucked out and found at the local Goodwill store.

While shopping at Pottery Barn, I ran across a beautiful red velvet spread that I thought would look great on my bed at Christmas.  After looking at the price tag, I thought it was a big extravagant, but I loved the look. Again, I found something similar at my local Tuesday Morning store.  This coverlet is just a great red color, and I thought it went well with the gold in my bedroom.  But they did not have the pillow shams.  Lucky for me, the kind ladies called around until they located two for me at another store!  Love those girls!!

I also did a bit of work in my son's room before he came home.  We had his room painted (revere pewter, by Benjamin Moore, I think) and I did purchase this new comforter and shams at Pottery Barn.  

We are headed to New York at the end of the month to help my daughter move (just to a new apartment, not home).  I started a new blog--totally unrelated to tablescapes--but if you get a chance, take a peek.  It's concerning helping my grown-up children with the next phase in their life while trying to help myself!  It's called Seeing Stars In My Eyes.

My photography isn't the greatest, sorry about that, I have two very nice cameras and neither one of them is working.  All the photos above were taken with my cell phone.  Some aren't too bad, and it is convenient, but I will try to get the cameras repaired in the near future. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Stay warm and carry on!  --Betsy

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