Christmas Celebrated

Ready for Christmas...

A charming little wood and iron stroller with a new doll Dan bought me at a little store in Traverse City that we used to buy gifts for our kids from many years ago.  

Finally our daughter has arrived after flying in from L.A. and then driving from Chicago (6 hrs) up here!

She brought me flowers too which I love and am still enjoying 💗

A scarf to keep her warm for all the cold days in L.A.  ha ha ... actually she’s needed it up here the whole time!

Dan loves bells and I spotted this at a clock shop in Frankenmuth, MI on one of our visits.  You should hear it ring!  The’ve obviously had that around for some time- it has a label of East Germany on the inside!

I love the aftermath....

Later in the afternoon on Christmas...

 

I roasted a turkey breast for dinner which turned out so good...I coated the skin with butter, then seasoned it with salt, pepper, sage and paprika.  

I set the table earlier and Dan is uncorking the wine...

Somehow this picture is out of order but here is my kitchen as we prepared for dinner...

We made a salad loaded with a variety of leafy greens, thinly sliced red onion and carrots. I used the silverware that my family used as I was growing up.  The placemats were a find at TJMaxx. 

Some wine from one of our local wineries.  I used my champagne flutes for the wine but don’t tell anyone!  LOL...

Shrimp, dinner rolls and plenty of carrots and celery to enjoy plus mashed potatoes, gravy and the turkey.  I kept it simple since there were only three of us.

Though it was only for three we enjoyed the dinner and our time together.

It’s been snowing a lot during the holiday. The three wreaths we put along the side of the deck railing are heavily laden with snow...

It’s so pretty...

I hope your holiday was enjoyable.  

Now on to bringing in the New Year and then I’ll start putting the holiday decorations away!

Joining:
Between Naps on the Porch
For
Tablescape Thursday 

Cozy Dining in the Kitchen

Let's start here with my little black accent table. 

A few years ago a dear friend of my husband's and mine carved this white swan for me.  I had no idea he was so talented with things like this.  It sits on a shelf in the guest bedroom but I wanted to be sure to use it for this years decorating.  I added a red velvet ribbon for the holidays.  The sled was a TJMaxx find a few years ago.

Just for fun I put the black top hat on the tree and an ornament with dutch shoes.  My third red lantern house has a candle that comes on each night.  I got the wood lantern box from Pier 1 in the clearance area.  

I had to show you this at night.  I used some of those little LED light sets inside, an evergreen branch with berries and pine cones,  a tree and the deer.

I found the three little deer as a set at Target.

A little woodland animal magic!

The plate rack always gets dressed up for the holidays.  I kept it pretty simple this year.  

I haven't even done one tablescape this season.  

I've had to step back and take better care of myself.  I found out I'm type II diabetic now and it's thrown me for a loop.  I'm getting it under control but have had difficult side affects from the medication.  I'll talk more about this after the New Year.

The etagere ended up with several "Putz" styled pieces.  I never know from year to year how I'm going to decorate it but I do try to do something different each year.

This is a Bethany Lowe piece Dan and I found at a little shop up in Petoskey.  I added the little trees with the gold ornaments.

These were ornaments sold by Pier 1 last year.

Another Bethany Lowe piece I got a few years ago.  They all light up.

My little "smoker" with the blue porcelain dishes that I got last March in Frankenmuth, MI  

I pulled out my aged looking metal tub and loaded it with pine and birch branches.  

I got these new plates from Pier 1 this year with the cardinals and also the ones below with cute village scenes.

I paired them up with the plaid dishes from Pottery Barn that I got last year.

There are four different scenes.

 I created this little centerpiece of coffee mugs, salt and pepper shakes, ornaments and even a tin with hot chocolates.   The two tier tray is a Mikasa piece that I found a great deal on through Bed Bath and Beyond.  It's quite a hunk and will be a piece I'll use for years to come.

The wonderment of the holidays always seems so enhanced with nighttime pictures!

We're staying home and our daughter is flying in from L.A. so we'll be enjoying every minute we can being with her.

I want to wish you all a loving, warm, cozy, and Merry Christmas!

Joining:

Dishing It and Digging It 

Sentimental Tree and Angels

I created this tree in memory of my mother in-law who passed away a few months ago who loved the color blue and for my husband who also loves blue.  Every year her tree had blue lights, bows and ornaments.  I usually do this pencil tree as my "woodland" tree with birds, bird houses, and small woodland animals but I modified all that this year.  I bought all the blue and a pale gold colored glass ornaments at Michael's and loaded it up. 

I also found the bell set at Michael's but I removed the ribbon it came with and replaced it with this gold snowflake ribbon that I also used on the wicker tree collar base cover.

I did add some of the birds and owls and  draped some gold beaded garlands that I had around it.

Next to the tree is the entryway chest that I decorated with a furry tree skirt for a base.  I used the other white wreath that I mentioned last week under this new metal tree.  I ordered the tree from  Frontage and afterwards I got the idea from a friend Robert that you can find on Instagram under the name of Taylor And Harley Designs.  He also has a tall metal tree he put a light under that inspired me.  You should check his Instagram pictures out- he really is a talented person. 

Dan made this fixture for me to put under the tree. It has a felt base too so it won't scratch anything. I needed it to sit as low as possible so this worked out great.

We ended up trying three different light bulbs and chose an LED spot light (which is not shown).  

I put small candle ring wreaths at the base of the angels and laid out some of my little jingle bell garlands.  

Up close you can see the details.  It's really quite a nice piece.

I found the angels at T.J. Maxx a couple of months ago.

Holidays bring out the sentimental feelings don't they!

I'm marathon gift wrapping to get caught up and haven't been visiting blogs much.  Sorry about that but I will try to get around to as many of you as I can.

Joining:

Share Your Cup 

Fun Decorating at Christmas

Santa's Jingle Bell Village

This frosty snowman is ready to greet you!

A backside view.  I framed the village with snowflake ornaments that I used previously on the fireplace mantel.  

This was all created one morning while having my coffee and I was staring at a handful of items I hadn't decided what to do with.  I started with styrofoam in the bottom so I could support the branch and elevate everything.  I taped the foam together so the scene wouldn't shift and used tape to secure some of the pieces on it.

Imagine a child's delight to wander into Santa's village and find the mailbox where he or she could put their wish list!

Jingle bells to add to the merriment!  

Adding snow is a must!

A friendly village greeter!

There's even a sleigh!

Santa's are found all around!

The framed picture of  Santa came from Kirkland's a few years back. 

On to the kitchen window...

My kitchen window got a new look this year.  I've used this three piece arched window frame set for 3 years now.  See the previous displays here 2016  and here 2015  I found the frames at Kohl's. They were individual pieces to be hung on a wall or door but Dan added hinges to them so I could have this as a background for displays.

The car ornament was another end of season find last Christmas.  The little trees were found a while back at a little store in one of our northern communities called Bellaire.

This General Store metal village piece came from Wendell August and I bought it in September when we visited their store and factory area in Pennsylvania.  It has a little street below the car that you can't see and Swarovski crystals on it too.  There were three village pieces that could be paired with it but they are pricey so I had to pick one.

Dressing up the sides with antlers and plenty of snow!

I've explained before with previous displays at Christmas that I always loved the windows at the big department store holiday displays and my thoughts go in that direction when I'm creating my vignettes.

I'd love for you to check out my previous displays with the following links from Christmas's past:

2015

2014

2013

2012

Joining:

Share Your Cup