China Cabinet Metamorphosis to Christmas

One of my favorite things to do while playing house is to change the china cabinet.  Now that it's December, it's time to shift from the fall decorations (HERE) to Christmas.  But this year I had special reason to get it done, and here it is!

Chickadee dishes!!

I had been thinking about "winter" dishes (I already have the Lenox Holiday china--that's another post :) )

but I felt like "we" needed casual winter dishes (now, do you think the other half of "we" thought we needed more dishes?) While at TJ Maxx recently I spotted ONE little bowl waaayyy under a display of pots and pans (I think--I was too excited to notice!).  I scoured the store

for the rest, but only found one more bowl

and

a prize:

These chubby guys--salt & pepper shakers.
They needed a home, and don't you think
Chickadee Home Nest
is the perfect place for them?

I LOVE the hunt.  Can I find what I need?

The happy answer, after many calls for a couple of days, is

YES!!! 

So here is the transformation, from fall to Christmas.



I didn't want to go too fancy; I wanted a woodland, casual feel, so I gathered lots of natural elements:
nests, pinecones (okay, some are silver and glittery), a grapevine sleigh my youngest son bought
for "Mommy" when he was very young.
But I also wanted contrast, so I added reds and whites, and silver, to complement the colors of the dishes.



I made this centerpiece several years ago, but it usually goes on the piano or the dining room table.  I'd never
used it on the china cabinet, but it seemed the perfect addition to the chickadee/nature scene.

And guess who made himself right at home, right out of the Christmas decorations?

The pinecones are lit with the nifty battery-operated LED lights with a timer that I wrote
about HERE.

Let's peak inside for some of the details.

PB goblets from a couple of years ago.

You might recognize the arrangement in the red votive.  It's one of two that I made last Christmas.
I used the other one in my Pomander Tutorial (HERE).
The sweet nest is a gift from DH.  He put it in the tree a few Christmases ago with
a very special gift in it.

The silver Revere bowl holds a PB candle that I'll probably never burn--do you do that too?  Buy a candle and not burn it because it's too pretty? 
Next to it is another favorite Christmas decoration:
One of my real goose feather trees.

And here they are again.  Can you see that the rim is raised and nubby and textured like a real branch?
My crystal trees were a gift from my mother many years ago.  Love and cherish them too.



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