Dreams for the New Year

"Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.  Your vision is the promise of what you shall at last unveil."

                                                                                                                          John Ruskin

This is my 400th post -- something I never dreamed of when I first began blogging!  So let's have a little giveaway here.  Leave a comment, telling me what your dreams are for the new year, and I'll draw one name, to receive an 8" X 10" copy of the photo above.  

Wishing you joy in the New Year!

Note: If you do not have a blog of your own, you may still enter.  Please leave your email address, so that I can contact you if you win.  :)

Thank you, Santa

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!  On Christmas day, we had brunch at my brother-in-law's house, then dinner at home.  My husband grilled filets of beef outside (I swear to God) and we had a terrific dinner.  Then we went to my sister-in-law's for dessert.

On Saturday, we had all my in-law's for a pizza party -- my kind of entertaining.  Ten adults and seven kids in our Little Red House.  

So, what did Santa bring you?  Every year, I tell my family that all I want is a few books, and every year, they get me something wonderful.  This year, I got a few decorating books, a beautiful fleece sweater, and a macro lens!!!!

Oh, and I got a rhinovirus, too.  But I'm pretty sure Santa didn't bring that.  ;)

My Christmas Wish

Thank you for all your friendship and kind words -- you guys are the best!  I'm taking a little time off to enjoy the holidays with my family.  I wish you all the blessings of the season.  :)

xoxo,

Mary

I'm Dreaming

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas.  How about you?

A Christmas Poem

The mantel is finished,

With ribbons of red,

The stockings are hung, and the paperwhites are dead.

It's the week before Christmas and the tree is still bare,

And "Santa" better get stuff to put under there!  ;)

The Den Tree

After all that trouble, I think it turned out OK.  This one is all browns and golds, to blend with the colors of our tiny den.  Stay tuned for more Christmas decorations later in the week.  But right now, I have so much to do that I don't even know where to begin...  Is there an emoticon for panic?

A Christmas Story

Once upon a time, on a beautiful and temperate winter's day, a lovely family went to the tree farm to cut down their Christmas tree.

They chose a small tree, because they lived in a Little Red House.  They cut it down and dragged it across the fields to their car.

They dragged, and they dragged, and they dragged some more.

Then they dragged even farther.  They tied it to the roof of their Honda Pilot and began to drive home.  They were very happy.

Nothing could mar their happiness, except maybe the sound of the tree falling off the roof of the car.  But they stopped, and tied it even tighter.  And they arrived home safely to their Little Red House.

They were so happy.

And then they put the tree in their wonderful tree stand and brought it inside.  Whereupon the tree would not stand straight, and the *#%??##*** tree stand broke.

I won't burden you with the rest of the story, but you can probably guess how the rest of the day went.

Don't you love Christmas?

Christmas Mantel

This clock, which sits on our mantel, belonged to my maternal grandmother.  We've used lots of red and gold this year, to decorate the mantel.

Of course, I'm a dish-a-holic, and a Christmas mantel would not be complete without a few dishes.  :)  The large brass candlesticks belonged to my mother.

This small framed piece of needlework was a thrift store find.  

More dishes, of course.  ;)

It's been raining cats and dogs for two days now, and I'm beginning to get cabin fever.  But at least it is forcing me to get out the Christmas decorations.  If we ever get some sunshine, I'll take a decent wide angle picture of the entire mantel...  In the meantime, back to the decorations.

In the Mood

Some fragrant paperwhites, to get me in the mood for Christmas.  Which, frankly, is not happening right now.

Help!

Dining Room Tree

I'm finally beginning to get a little holiday spirit, and I decided to decorate the dining room for Christmas.  With a little inspiration from Cindy, at My Romantic Home, I wired up some teacups and hung them on the tree.

I'll probably add some ribbon today, but I'm liking how it looks so far.  :)

A Colonial Christmas

OK, so I didn't get any Christmas decorations put up this weekend, but we did visit the Jacobus Vanderveer House, which was decorated for the holidays with a beautiful array of natural elements which would have been available to it's original colonial inhabitants.  

Here is the parlor room (above) which dates back to the 1770's.  The room includes original wide plank flooring, beautiful barrel back cabinetry and original window frames and ceiling beams.  The blue Delft tile is similar to what would have been used in that period.  

Several interior designers and floral designers were invited to do the holiday decorations, and the house was filled with beautiful small trees, wreaths and swags.

There were also several period costumes displayed, and some really lovely antique furniture.

My daughter loved this stairway swag, made of greens and pine cones, and ornamented with fruit and berries.

This room, (above)  which is part of an 1813 Federal addition to the Dutch frame colonial, has a charming corner fireplace with a beautiful raised wood paneled mantel.

A small tree in the entry hall was adorned with cinnamon sticks, gingerbread men and dried orange slices.  There were so many beautiful, natural decorations throughout the house, and so much inspiration.  

Here is a link to last year's display.  I think I'm finally getting some holiday spirit.  There will be some Christmas decorations here at our Little Red House any day now.

I promise.  ;)

For more information on the historic Jacobus Vanderveer House, please visit their website here.

Sheesh

Boy, am I a doofus.  I bought this print way back in the spring, and put it in the dining room closet till I got a chance to hang it.  

Then I promptly forgot I had it.  (Don't you love menopause?)

I found it the other day when I was looking for the vacuum cleaner bags.  Duh!  Yesterday, a few of you commented on the apparent lack of dust in my china cabinet.  You can't possibly know how funny it is for me to get a reputation for keeping a spotless house.  Trust me.  After all, it would seem that I have not changed vacuum cleaner bags for months.  So how clean could it possibly be?

Have a great weekend dear bloggers!  Hopefully, I'll have some Christmas decorations to show you next week.  :)

Red, White and Bling

The corner cabinet in our dining room is all decked out in red, white and bling for the holidays.

There are some silver gravy boats from the thrift store (this one is a piece of hotel silver),

and a tiny silver pitcher,

lots of milk glass and red transferware, including this vintage gravy tureen,

and more silver gravy boats (are you sensing a gravy theme here?).

Soon I'll add a small tree between the painted chest and the corner cabinet, and some greenery amid the dishes.  And a more festive holiday centerpiece.  (Click on this picture to enlarge, so you can really see the stuff in the cabinet.)

I'm thinking I need to find some little shades for the chandelier, and a rug would be nice, wouldn't it?

In My New Etsy Shop

Wow, I have a new etsy shop!  Please go and take a look if you get a chance.  At the moment, I have listed some flower portraits, some autumn leaves and berries, some sepia prints and a few misty landscapes.  I'll be adding more in the coming days.  Any of these prints would make a terrific gift, especially matted and framed.  In fact, I have a few of them hanging in our Little Red House right now.  :)

Thrifty, Busy

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We had a very quiet weekend here at our Little Red House, with walks in the park and fires in the fireplace.  My son returns to school in Philadelphia today.  We will miss him, but he'll be back in a couple of weeks for the Christmas holidays.

As I wrote on Friday, no Black Friday shopping for this girl.  My friend, Robin, and I went instead to our favorite thrift shop.  Here's what I brought home.  

I believe these are little salt cellars (above).  At least I think they are.  $1. each.  They only had two.  I guess I need to find tiny spoons now.  

I love this cut glass dish inside it's silver basket.  $9., as you can see.  A relish dish, maybe?  Or candy?  I don't know.  Just know that I love it.  And that's enough for me.

And here is a silver-plated gravy boat and tray.  $7. for this little puppy.  I seem to be collecting these.  Just love the shapes.  I have to show you some pictures of my corner cabinet in the dining room.  Right now it's filled with all my other silver sauce boats, along with some red transferware and some milk glass.  Red and white and bling for Christmas, right?

Right now, I'm trying to get an etsy shop set up with my photos and notecards.  We're also starting to get the Christmas decorations out.  And shopping, of course.  And stripping wallpaper.  Still.

Will the fun never end?