I get a great sense of comfort in our old home. In keeping with tradition we decorated our house for Christmas 2024. This year, I decided to trim some of our yews and bring them inside to add to the fireplace mantle and bookcases.
If you look closely at our Christmas tree in the family room you will notice I've draped netted lights over the top when the other lights stopped working. The bottom of this tree is rather sparse because our Yorkiepoo, Lily, is a puppy. She has kept busy removing ornaments and taking them to her bed.
The fireplace is a hodgepodge. I painted our electric fireplace white when I purchased a dresser top that I knew I wanted to use as a topper. I had a mirror that I attached to the wall behind the topper. We then purchased a fireplace screen from an estate sale to keep our dogs safe when we turn on the heat in the chilly winter months.
There is a vintage silver Christmas tree on the mantle. I decorated it with fairy lights but forgot to turn them on when this image was taken. I also forgot to turn on the candles. that rest on the two shelves on the topper.
I watch The Little Drummer Boy every Christmas and have a little drummer boy on our mantle. He appears here every Christmas and is a favorite of mine.
I will show you some of our bookshelves but must warn you I am a kid at heart. I like a whimsical feel and decorate with things that make me smile.
All of our dogs are part poodle and I love that this adorable white poodle is standing on a pile of books to read the book with a red cover. My husband has allergies so Poodle mixes work well for us. We currently have 3 dogs a cockapoo, a Mini Bernedoodle, and a Yorkiepoo.
I continue to add to my poetry collection. You can read more about my poetry collection here.
I'm fond of glass and pottery and often purchase things, from estate sales, that speak to me however, the ceramic bowl above on the right was designed and fired by my father-in-law.
I like vintage porcelain figurines in historical costumes. The ones I purchase are usually painted with navy blue and gold.
All of these yew branches will soon be pitched as they have been resting here for weeks and are drying out.
I have a collection of Reader's Digest Condensed Books. I received them as a gift from my mother-in-law in the 1980's. Most of the collection is pre-1980. I get the books out from time to time to revisit the stories and look at the condensed illustrations. I do love illustrations and have many throughout our home. My favorites are illustrations of buildings in my hometown.
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On this shelf above, I have a white rabbit inside the pear. I have had it since I was a child. I often played with the white rabbi - just think of it as my Alice in Wonderland moment.
The flow blue dish and porcelain cherub vase were purchased this summer from garage sales.
I've had the little gray chair since I was a child. It was a gift to my Grandmother when she was a child and she gave it to me when I was young. It is a definite antique! It has a small pile of old books in front of it. The copy of John Dietrich and Other Tales of Germany I purchased from Nevermore Used Books.
The vintage Delft ceramics is of the boy and girl picking grapes. Delft is the birthplace of one of the great Dutch Masters, Johannes Vermeer known as the master of light. I appreciate his art. One of my favorite oil paintings of his is The Little Street executed c. 1657–1658. I like that he shows the lady sitting in the doorway while children appear to be playing our front. You can read more about him here.
This Christmas tree is in our great room. The crutch which rests alongside the Christmas tree was useful when my husband broke his foot. I left the crutch there as a reminder of Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, (I have many copies of this book and feel we all need to hold onto symbols of hope.)
“And therefore, Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that [Christmas] has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”
― Fred said this in A Christmas Carol