It's time to unveil the decorating I've been doing this Christmas season. I'm still stitching and adding things here and there, but everything's basically been done for a while, and I've been savoring it. In fact the neighbors have been, too, because after not putting up a thing last year, the folks across the street and those next door put up all kinds of decorations. Denis and I are still wondering why they don't decorate unless we do.... Do any of you have any ideas?
This post will not have a lot of talking in it-- just photos to look at. If you'd like to see any of them in larger sizes, all you have to do is click on them and they will open in new windows. If you've got any questions about anything you see, ask away! It's taking a lot of willpower for me not to run off the mouth about what's in the photos, so I certainly won't mind questions! I'll even number the photos just in case....
Grab that Santa hat, here's a mug of egg nog--- let's get started on the tour!
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| 1. The entryway at the front door |
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| 2. From the entryway through to the dining room. |
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| 3. Lighthouse tree |
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| 4. Critter tree |
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| 5. Grandma's button tree |
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| 6. Bookmark tree |
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| 7. The to-be-read shelves |
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| 8. Teddy bear, snowman and 3G trees |
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| 9. I had help decorating the trees |
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| 10. Mom made these carolers in the late 60s |
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| 11. A glimpse of the Birdie Tree |
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| 12. Top section of the birdie tree |
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| 13. Can you tell this is my favorite tree? |
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| 14. Dining room looking into the library |
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| 15. Fiber optic tree #1 in the library |
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| 16. Fiber optic tree #2 in the library |
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| 17. Even the freezer gets a tree |
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| 18. In true readers' fashion, we enter through the library. |
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| 19. In the dining room peeking at the kitchen door. |
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| 20. Of course I hang ornaments in the kitchen! |
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| 21. My favorite cookie jar to the right |
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| 22. Christmas tea pots |
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| 23. In the kitchen looking at the family room |
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| 24. The view from my chair |
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| 25. Egg nog, anyone? |
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| 26. Stitch Central at my chair |
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| 27. Happy Holidays, everyone! Hope you enjoyed the tour! |
Thats a lot of decor. So nice.
ReplyDeleteI *love* looking at trees and decorations. You do such a lovely job and I get so many ideas from you. Our main tree is just a mismash of old and new ornaments, but I've been saving my bookmarks and I'm determined to take your idea and have a bookmark tree one year.
ReplyDeleteI love your teapots and your mom's carolers and, well, everything.
Wishing you and D a happy, safe, and *healthy* holiday season.
Cathy - You have an absolutely lovely home! Wow! I want your library. Now. It's so festive and cheerful-looking, too :-). Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteCathy, you are amazing! What a beautiful job of decorating. I love all the trees and seeing your other bits and pieces of Christmas everywhere. Thanks for sharing it with us!
ReplyDeleteAnd, I'm so happy that this Christmas will be a much healthier one for you! Merry Christmas to both of you!!
Looks like the home of someone who reads! Really beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is WOW!
ReplyDeleteIt's gorgeous! How long does it take y'all to decorate? How many sets of Christmas dishes do you own? I saw several different patterns scattered about.
ReplyDeleteMystica-- Thank you!
ReplyDeleteCandace-- Thanks-- the same to you and yours! I look forward to seeing your bookmark tree. Our main tree (the one I call the 3G Tree) is a mishmash of ornaments, too... many handmade by my grandmother, mother, and me.
Margot-- I'm glad you enjoyed the tour!
Kay-- Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Joe-- Thank you!
Peggy-- Concise is good. Thanks! LOL
Kathy-- If I put myself in high gear, I can do it in 2-3 days. This year, it took me about a week because I wanted to take my time. I own one complete set of Christmas dishes. The rest that you see are odd plates and cups that I bought because I loved the patterns.
Amazing Cathy ... so much energy and time to put that together, and so beautiful too. My one little token tree is so paltry by comparison. Thanks for sharing ... and a very marry Xmas to you and yours.
ReplyDeleteButton tree? Bookmark tree? Bird tree? OMG!!! I love them all. You did such a great job of decorating. I'm going to "steal" some of your wonderful ideas.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
I am jealous!!! Can I hire you?? I adore the bookmark tree. I think I'll borrow that idea for my classroom. You're a genius!
ReplyDeleteOkay, I am in lust over all of your bookshelves - the TBR shelves AND the library. That's just what I have wanted. Your home looks cozy and like a place where I could curl up and read. Could I ask where you got your shelves?
AND>>>> a stitcher?!?! I think we are sisters, separated at birth!! Tell me more.
I loved this post. We are so much more than a blog and a book. Well...maybe not much!
Happy Friday.
Sue-- The very same to you and your family!
ReplyDeleteMarie-- I would be so honored to share my decorating joy! Merry Christmas!
IAB-- I would love, love, love to decorate more than my own house for Christmas, but at the same time, I'd be extremely nervous doing it for someone else. Does that make sense?
I'm not a genius. I'm going to explain how I do a lot of this in a post tomorrow. As far as the Bookmark tree, if you can, I'd love to see a photo!
My shelves? They're all DIY flat packs. I put most of them together, except for the newest, and Denis did the honors on those. The stretch of bookcases I call my TBR shelves are made by Sauder. They're about 30 years old, and that style was discontinued long ago. I honestly can't remember where we got the ones that are in the library! LOL
Tell you more about the stitching? I started out as a small child with embroidery, being taught by my mother and great-grandmother. I now do a lot of needlepoint on plastic canvas. I love the mixture of colors and the differing textures of various stitches. I either adapt patterns I find, or come up with my own.
Sisters separated at birth? Tell ME more! Email me if you like. :)
A bird tree! That would be my favorite kind of tree too. It all looks so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how many decorating magazines I read I just can't come up with creative stuff. So at this point I've just decided to enjoy other people's Holiday creatiions.
Leslie-- I hoped you'd like my bird tree. People who appreciate are every bit as valuable as those who create. I do tons more appreciating than I do creating! LOL
ReplyDelete