Sweet memories, a manger, and the new bird tree...

I have such sweet memories of my Nana, whose china I proudly display on my dining room hutch.

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I so enjoy decorating the hutch at Christmastime, and I like to think that she's right here with me as I unwrap each delicate nativity figurine that will go into the manger...


That's a photo of my nana when she was a young woman, in the center of the plate rack hanging above the hutch (between the two empty vases donning lampshades that may someday come in handy for lamps that I don't yet own!)


The manger/nativity takes center stage on the hutch every year. The oversized white figurines were found years ago at a Salvation Army for a song... Then I found the oversized manger several years ago at Target and couldn't believe my luck - it was the perfect size!

The candles I'm about to show you are very special to me. After my mom passed away in 1996, my dad didn't have the heart to decorate for Christmas. But a couple of years ago, he changed his mind so we went through all the old boxes of Mom's decorations and ornaments (Mom loved decorating for Christmas!) Dad only wanted to put up a tree and nothing else, so I got a lot of Mom's old decorations for my house. These are the things I grew up with as a kid and they bring back such sweet memories...


This tall glass encrusted candle, in its own little stand, is titled A Home in the Country, and it features a beautiful, snowy New England style scene that wraps around the whole candle. My mom purchased these in the early sixties. That's a baby photo of my mom next to it...


I wish my photos captured the beauty of these encrusted images...


On the other side of the shelf is the companion candle titled The Skating Pond. Mom used to put these on the fireplace mantel every year. And that's my baby picture next to it...


Here's a closeup of one of the skaters... I'm sure these would be beautiful if they were illuminated from within by burning the candles, but my mom used them strictly as decoration, so that's what I will do, too.

Every year I decorate my "bird tree," which up until this year was the little white one in my dining room bay window. But my bird collection outgrew that tiny tree.


Luckily I had this skinny tree stashed downstairs from about 15 years ago (sometimes it pays to be a packrat!). It was the perfect size to squeeze in next to the hutch, and it allowed me to hang all my bird ornaments in one place.

The tree is also decorated with a silver jingle bell garland, white berries, frosted sprigs, and white lights. The most sentimental part is the tree topper...


... which isn't really a tree topper at all. Again, it's one of the decorations my mom used to put out every year at Christmas time... just a little glass candle with glass ornamentsand silver foil leaves on a little round stand. There used to be two of them and I hope to find the other one in dad's basement some day!

The tree is actually sitting on a stack of magazines to give it some height, so I hid those with a vintage embroidered table topper and then placed a nest at the base of the tree.

These are just some closeups of the many bird ornaments on the tree. My mom's favorite bird, the cardinal, is so special...

And you might recognize the pastel bluebird I got in Concord at the end of October, at the top left of the photo...

Here's a hummingbird (with a broken wing), a reminder of summer spent on the deck watching them at our feeder... And the Carolina wrens who make their home in the birdhouse by our front gate each year. And everyone needs a little bluebird of happiness in their tree, right?

The beautiful white glittery bird right under the silver sparkle bird at the top right is a gift from my friend Jill (who I am trying to convince to start a blog!) She has incredible taste... She's the one who also gave me the Christmas lamb that I just posted about!

There's Mr. Bluejuay that I picked up in Concord (the same day I got the bluebird ornament)... He is very happy to be living in the bird tree, and he reminds me of all my bluejay friends who come to the door for peanuts..

There are Baltimore Orioles, a robin, chickadees, finches, nuthatches and so many more birds, all enjoying the Christmas season in our dining room... How lucky am I?

So this is where the bird ornaments will spend their Christmases from this point on. (I am sooo glad I hung onto this tiny tree!! It just fits!)

And the glow from the lights at night is just magical!

Tomorrow we'll head back into the living room and I'll show you closeups of the fireplace (of course our little cottage is soooo tiny, you can see it from here!!)

Till then, wishing you all a wonderful weekend!


Donna

Tinsel wreaths and pastel birds...

... found their way into my shopping cart this week...

During a quick trip to Wal Mart yesterday, I made a little side trip through the Christmas aisles. I'm thinking of decorating the dining room chandelier for Christmas this year and I needed some inspiration.

Well, when I spotted these sparkly birds with sequined wings and the palest aqua feathers, I couldn't resist...

And then there was my quick trip to Target earlier this week. Every year I put off buying stocking stuffers until the last minute and by then, all of the good candy is gone. So this year, with the shelves fully stocked, I purchased some candy for the girls' stockings... and then I browsed (I really shouldn't browse)... But in this case it paid off! Look what I found in the Dollar section - tinsel wreaths! They were pretty skimpy, as you can see, but for $1 apiece I figured what the heck, so I picked up 3 (they came in silver, green, and hot pink at our Target, but I liked the silver best - very vintage looking!)...


Well look at what these skimpy little wreaths blossom into when you pull and tweak all the little tinsel boughs! Woo hoo!! Score!!! (I don't think these are going to last long in the dollar section so if you're in the market for tinsel wreaths, make a dash to Target!) I know that some people think they're a bit gaudy and cheap looking, but oh, how they remind me of the vintage decorations of the Christmases of my childhood!! And being the nostalgic, sentimental fool that I am, I love anything from that era!

So I ended up with my inspiration - and decorations - for the chandelier in our little dining area...

Today I played around with everything to see how it would look, and we may just end up eating Thanksgiving dinner under a Christmas chandelier because I don't know if I want to take the time to disassemble it (only to reassemble it again next week!!) I'm joining Tracey's (Notes from a Cottage Industry) Virtual Holiday Home Tour on December 1st, and if any of you would like to join in and show off your Christmas decorations, just click here for details! And even if you don't want to participate, be sure to visit Tracey's blog that day because she'll have a list of blogs who've decorated for Christmas - and let me tell you (based on the past years) - it's spectacular! There's so much to see! Sometimes Tracey even spreads it out over several days! So on December 1st, make yourself a cup of tea, coffee, or cocoa, and then settle in and browse to your heart's content!

Happy decorating!

Donna

The colors of Concord...

I had expected all of my Concord posts to be up by the end of October. I'm clearly running behind schedule, so before autumn is but a distant memory, I'll share a bit more with you. Today I'll focus on Concord Center (where I picked up a couple of cute items that I'll show you at the end of this post)....

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Amanda in front of an old home in Concord center. I don't know what this tree looks like right now but, as you can see, a couple of weeks ago it was dressed in golden splendor...


There's a very old cemetery between this old colonial home and the church to the left of it...


From this angle you can see the church and the cemetery while the house peeks out from behind the trees.


There are many signs and markers to stop and read as you stroll around Concord...

Adorable shops and eateries are everywhere...


This photo was taken inside of Nesting on Main, a gorgeous shop that Cafe Chatelaine has posted about several times...

Are you in the market for a vintage conversation piece that will also light up your little cottage?

I loved everything about this window display.... the horse lamp, the raffia pumpkins, the turkey fabric covering the table....

This home is actually a bit outside of Concord Center... Tomorrow I'm going to show you where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women, and this sweet little cottage is located right across the street so I couldn't resist snapping a picture of it... Isn't it adorable?

Okay, I promised to share what I bought! Each year I decorate the small Christmas tree in our dining room window with bird ornaments, so......


...when Mr. Blue Jay heard Amanda and I talking about how great he'd look on the tree, he asked if he could please come home with us...


...and since he's kind of sweet on Ms. Bluebird (who's sporting a bit of a duck bill rather than a beak!!), he asked if she could come home with us, too... How could I say no? They'll be perfect for our bird tree, and they'll always remind me of the wonderful little day trip Amanda and I took to historic Concord, MA!

See you tomorrow when I'll show you the house where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women...

COMMENT UPDATE: Hey, hipchick! We sure did visit Authors Ridge at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery! Loved it! We'd taken the girls there years & years ago when they were in elementary school so we were due for another visit!! Here's my October 29th post about it: Sleepy Hollow

Donna

Christmas Dining: Some things never change...

... and some things change every year.

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(Christmas 2008)
The centerpieces on the table never change; nor do the bay window decorations. But every year I use a different tablecloth, runner, or quilt to give the dining room a different look. This year I'm using a peachy-pink lap quilt over the girls' old repurposed canopy covers. (The quilt was purchased at TJ Maxx several years ago when I first got the cottage bug.)


(Christmas 2007)
Last year I used a vintage inspired tablecloth with cheerful green stripes and red roses.


(Christmas 2006)
In 2006 I used a lap quilt with red roses and a striped, scalloped border. (It was also bought at TJ Maxx the same day I bought the quilt I'm using this year.)


(Christmas 2005)
In 2005 I used a blue table runner (from the Martha Stewart K-Mart collection) over a white tablecloth.


What doesn't ever change are my table centerpieces. I couldn't find a nice cottage-white Christmas tree in my price range several years ago, so I bought an inexpensive grapevine tree and covered it with a satin remnant, some beaded garland, and then placed it on a silver pedestal (from Target) and topped it with a silver sputnik ornament.



These reindeer also make an appearance on the table every year. I purchased them at Target several years ago during an after Christmas sale (don't you just love that place??). I thought they were so neat (I still do!!) - especially the little prisms hanging from their antlers!



This little doll has made an appearance every Christmas since the early 90's. (Does anyone else remember how popular animated figures were back then?) I had to buy her back then because she reminded me so much of my two girls, who when they were little, also had long wavy blond hair...

(See what I mean? These are my real life dolls, now 19 and 23!)

However several years ago, I was faced with a bit of a problem... I still wanted to put the doll out each Christmas, but her little red coat and tartan plaid cap & dress just didn't blend in with our new cottage colors, so it was time for an extreme makeover!!

I found a pale pink infant sleeper at Wal Mart that was the perfect fit! A little dove in her hand, a snowflake hung from her fingertips...

... and voila! I'll be able to use her for another 15 years (or more!)

And last, but not least, this is the little white tree that sits in the dining room bay window. Over the years I've purchased these bird ornaments (mostly from Target)...I love the way they look against the white branches...

Thanks for letting me share the decorations in our little dining room with you... and guess what?

It's almost Christmas!!

Donna