Christmas Vignettes

What would a home be at Christmas with no vignettes/only a Christmas tree?  The tree might be the central piece, but it's the vignettes that spread the warmth and holiday cheer throughout the house.

This Kneeling Santa is one of my favorite pieces, and maybe my most treasured Christmas decoration--Santa/commercialism bowing to Baby Jesus.  I love the reverence--he's kneeling, and his hat is off--and the acknowledgement that Christmas is not about Santa, but about God's gift to mankind.

This is a numbered piece.  Friends of ours had one, and I searched until I found one at a wholesaler's close out--What luck!  It's bisque, not resin, and though I've searched high and low for more like it, I've never been
able to find it.  I would love to give such a beautiful piece to our sons and DILs, so their babies
have it in their homes.

This mother-of-pearl nativity scene is right up there as a favorite treasure...
My grandmother brought it back from the Holy Land in the late 1970s.

And my {real} feather trees...
They are made from goose feathers!
"The tradition of feather trees began in Germany in the mid-19th century, when the cutting-down of trees was banned to save German woodlands.  German immigrants brought feather trees with them when they sailed to the New World. Their popularity increased when President Theodore Roosevelt also responded to the diminishing supply of fresh evergreens in America by ordering that no live trees be used in the White House holiday decorations." (From http://www.feathertreekits.com/history.htm)

Our son's nutcracker collection--in "storage" at our home for now, has been a constant in
our Christmases for many years.
The large apothecary jar holds three 1946 ornaments from my MIL--
can you imagine such fragile items lasting this long? 
They deserve a place of honor...apart from all the others.

No mantel can hold all these stockings!
Many are handmade; our sons' are the original ones they've had since their first Christmases.

A Christmas-y kitchen corner.  Both snowmen are gifts from my boys...
and the dish on the back splash--disguising an outlet (do you dislike outlets as much as I do?)--is
also a gift from one of them.

A rosemary bush--have been looking for one since fall, and finally found it.  Perfect for another
kitchen vignette.
The silver Revere bowl is filled with mixed nuts in the shell--my parents always had them at home
around the holidays, and we've carried that tradition on.
The homey candle holders are a gift from my SIL...have had them for years, and still love them.
The Lenox Christmas plate on the wall is also a gift from one of our sons.

Miscellaneous other vignettes...they're everywhere!!

  

I wish you all a very happy and blessed Christmas.  Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I read every single one of them!  They encourage me and inspire me.  And if you like what you see a lot J, maybe you’d like to +1 this post too!  Thank you!

I will be joining these fun parties; please stop by to see all the great things there!

 Seasonal Sunday at http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

 Homemaker on a Dime, Sunday at http://www.homemakeronadime.com/p/link-parties.html

 House in Roses Show Off Your cottage Monday http://houseinroses.blogspot.com

 Amaze Me Monday at http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/

 Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

 Motivated Monday at http://becolorful.typepad.com/  

 Newbie Party on Monday at http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

 Tabletop Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ 

 Wow Us Wednesdays at http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/ 

 Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

 Open House Party Thursday http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com

 Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

 Potpourri Friday at http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com/

 Inspiration Friday at http://www.atthepicketfence.com

 Show and Tell Friday at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

 Five Minutes Just for Me at http://5minutesjustforme.blogspot.com

From my Chickadee Nest to yours~

    Zuni

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.



Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment to let me know you were here—I read every single one of them!  They encourage me and inspire me.  And if you like what you see a lot J, maybe you’d like to +1 this post too!  Thank you!

I will be joining these fun parties; please stop by to see all the great things there!

 Amaze Me Monday at http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/

 Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

 Motivated Monday at http://becolorful.typepad.com/  

 Newbie Party on Monday at http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

 Tabletop Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ 

 Wow Us Wednesdays at http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/ 

 Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

 Open House Party Thursday http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com

 Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

 Potpourri Friday at http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com/

 Inspiration Friday at http://www.atthepicketfence.com

 Show and Tell Friday at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

 Five Minutes Just for Me at http://5minutesjustforme.blogspot.com

 Seasonal Sunday at http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/

 Homemaker on a Dime, Sunday at http://www.homemakeronadime.com/p/link-parties.html

 The Lettered Cottage at http://theletteredcottage.net/

China Cabinet Metamorphosis

The time has come...with our son's wedding in three weeks, the china cabinet is something I can get done NOW.  It's time to put the light, cool colors away and bring in the warm colors of fall.

Here's one last look at summer...




A few close-ups to remember summer 2011 -- Delamere & Blue Room Collection Spode, "Heritage" Depression glass plates (I love how they reflect the light), and our Precious and her daddy's hands in a Waterford frame.




Our sons' Bunnykins (Royal Doulton) and silver cups, now used by our grandbabies.


Since this is a before-and-after post...the baby cups are a bit tarnished....  The baby jewelry
was mine, now our Precious wears it.

~Our baby granddaughter and our son's hands~

Now to find a place for all of this...

Ta-dah!  I'ts fall at our house!

Johnson Brothers "Friendly Village" and Table Art sugar spoon.
The goblets are from Pottery Barn, many, many years ago.

Pumpkin soup tureen and pumpkin salt cellars were gifts from my mom.

The sterling salt spoons are "Eloquence" by Lunt (also a gift from my mom).
And the precious little one?  Our Baby G



Dried hydrangeas and bittersweet,
and our baby boy.

This beautiful pitcher is a gift from our youngest son.

I've had these pumpkins for years, and I use them for decorating
year after year.


So what do you think?  Does it say "Fall" now? 
I included lots of pictures for those other souls who, like me, love to
see every nook and cranny.

Happy fall to all!
Thanks for stopping by, and please leave me a comment--I love hearing from you!
And I hope you'll follow me!

I'm joining these fun parties this week:

 Susan’s Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

 Marty's Table Top Tuesday at http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/ 

 Kim's Wow Us Wednesdays at http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/ 

Susan's Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

 Courtney’s, Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

 Honey's Potpourri Friday at http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com/

 Inspiration Friday at http://www.atthepicketfence.com

The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sunday at http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/