The sugar village and A Christmas Carol

My little sugar village is set up on the family room TV.


Did anyone else watch Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol when they were growing up? This 1962 classic is my sister's favorite version of A Christmas Carol, and several years ago she gave me my own copy! (My favorite part is when they all sing The Lord's Bright Blessings - I love that song!) I actually have two favorite versions of A Christmas Carol - the 1938 version starring Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit, and the 1992 Muppet version starring Michael Caine as Scrooge (wonderful memories of watching that one with the girls when they were little, not to mention I love Michael Caine!)...


Back to the sugar village... The sugar houses were bought at TJ Maxx and Marshalls several years ago...


They were very reasonably priced and, with their little bottlebrush trees and wreaths, they had a vintage look to them. The reindeer and sleigh actually are vintage.

They definitely show their age, more yellow than white...

...and they're no longer glued to their cardboard base.


But I think they look right at home in the sugar village.

The houses and churches in the village are all white, but the roofs are pink, green, and blue, all heavily dusted with snow.

Several of my vintage angels appear throughout the village, some on the ground, some on rooftops.

I almost passed on these houses and churches several years back because, (to borrow one of my mom's favorite sayings) I needed more Christmas decorations like I needed a hole in the head. But I thought they were so pretty that I ended up collecting several different houses and churches over a two year period.

The little table in the corner of the family room is also set up with a church that I've had for years (much smaller than the sugar churches on the TV), some bottlebrush trees, and more vintage reindeer.

Well, I set aside some time today to take photos of my Night Before Christmas books, so I'll share those with you next....

Until then, stay safe and warm!

Donna

a white Christmas...

It's official. According to the local weather, we'll be having a White Christmas.


So this is for you, Mom.


My mother loved, loved, loved snow...


...especially for Christmas.

So she would be tickled pink with the view outside my windows .

(I'd better brush the snow from the birdfeeder and put some seed out)...

It was 13 years ago today that we lost mom...

She was buried on Christmas Eve day.

At that time, I didn't think I would ever enjoy Christmas again.

Thank goodness I do. Time is a great healer.

My dad and sister were here for supper tonight, and of course we talked about Mom a lot. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she was right here with us, enjoying the conversation, the decorations, and the view from the windows....

So Merry Christmas, Mom! It's quiet ... I'm closing my eyes... concentrating... and I can hear you singing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" as clearly as if you were right here with me.

"The heart, like the mind, has a memory.

And in it are the most precious keepsakes."

(Longfellow)

I love you,

Donna

I found the perfect manger!

Last month I showed you these sweet little white nativity figurines that I found while out shopping.


I liked them so much that I bought one for myself ...


...and one for my Christmas giveaway.


So how lucky was I when I spotted this vintage manger for $3.50 at Goodwill in Boston a couple of weeks ago! I couldn't remember exactly how big the nativity figurines were, but it looked like it might be a good size for them.


It's better than good - it's almost as though they were custom made for each other! As a finishing touch I set a mini ornament in the manger's loft - the Christmas star.


I placed the manger on a small table in front of the family room windowseat.


As it turns out, the table is also the perfect size for the manger.

I love it when all the pieces of a puzzle fit together so easily because sometimes in our little house, and in life in general, that's not always the case!

And over the past 24 hours we got socked with a good amount of snow here in the northeast. I'll try to share photos soon - freshly fallen snow is so beautiful (even to me, who is longing for spring!)

Donna

Winter white, silver, and green for the mantel...

Of course the winter white is year-round since it's the color of our walls, our painted furniture, and our slipcovers. I don't know why I'm so afraid of color. I love color! I drool when I visit blogs with bright colored walls, and furniture painted in blues, greens, & reds, with vibrant slipcovers in florals and stripes. Maybe someday I'll get over my fears, but until then... winter white!

(click any photos to enlarge)

Alrighty, so in my last few posts I've shared the dining room, including my bird tree and the dining room hutch. As you can see from the photo above, the hutch is actually located in the living room, right next to the fireplace (because our little dining area is too small to accommodate it!)


So come on into the living room with me... Oops - don't go too far! Mm hmm, that's the end of the living room already, right where the corner TV armoire is. Very tight quarters in here, especially at this time of year.


The tree has been set up where the loveseat usually sits. And the wing chair, because it's smaller, was moved over next to the tree. It usually sits next to the fireplace.


As you can see, it's pretty cramped over here by the fireplace, with the loveseat and coffee table plunked right in front of it. But instead of saying cramped, let's call it cozy. That has a nicer ring to it!

I tried the mantel with green glass balls hanging from the garland...

...but ended up switching to silver.

I guess I have a bit of a winter woodland theme going on. There are lots of trees on the mantel - all sizes and varieties of bottle brush trees, as well as some birches.

There are also woodland creatures, in the form of deer (stocking/garland holders), cavorting about...

... as well as mirrored snowflakes (again, stocking/garland holders) and sparkly silver trees of all heights and textures.

I wish I could remember the name of the woman that I purchased these stockings from years ago so I could share it with you - aren't they pretty? This one has a cream crocheted doily-type border at the top...

... while this one has delicate lace and ribbons.

The finishing touch is The Christmas star, sparkly white with silver tinsel edging.

I also decided to tucked my peach and green floral lap quilt over the loveseat sitting area for a little change of pace, trying to coordinate with the green floral sheet I'm using to cover the old brick hearth (we don't actually use the fireplace so the sheet is safe!). So that about does it for our cramped, I mean cozy cottage living room!

I still need to share my collection of Night Before Christmas books with you, and I also have a few things in the family room to show you!

But now you should head over to visit Cielo at The House in the Roses, to see the incredible mouth-watering meal she has prepared for Sunday dinner with her family! You'll also find a list of bloggers who are participating in Show Off Your Cottage Monday...

Then after that, be sure to head to Nesting Place for a huge list of Christmas homes to visit!!

Stay safe and warm, wherever you are!

Donna

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.

(click any photos to enlarge)

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