Christmas — Page 52

Ornaments, Bokeh & More Snow

December 18, 2013 at 8:57 am by Claudia

bokeh

Angel bokeh. Maybe I should keep the tree up all year round and start a new blog called Bokeh. I won’t do that of course, but I definitely have fallen in love with bokeh. Having a camera that allows me to play with this effect is such a gift! (Thank you Santa for last year’s BIG present of my camera.) In fact, it’s a year ago yesterday that I drove Don to the airport for his trip to San Diego and our Christmas apart from each other began. The next day I took the bus into Manhattan and bought the camera. I think we have a birthday to celebrate!

We had lots more snow yesterday. It fell all day long and added at least 5 more inches to the snow already on the ground. It’s very pretty out there today, but true to form, I was a little irritated by more snow. And so it begins. The first snow? Love. After that? Not so much. We were housebound and I was a little restless. Part of that, I think, was a wee bit of depression that the renovation on the dollhouse is finished. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. But we shoveled (the temps are in the teens, so it was cold out there) and shoveled again. I’m just about finished with the latest Lee Child. I love Jack Reacher. And not Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, but Jack Reacher as written and described by Lee Child, blonde, big, well over 6 ft. tall. Does that sound like Tom Cruise to you?

bluebirdornament

One of my favorite ornaments, with a sweet bluebird on each side. Isn’t this lovely?

pinkornament

Another beauty. We have two of these.

winstonornament

This is our Winston ornament, in honor of our first dog. We loved that boy so much. He was taken from us much too young, at the age of 8. We miss him every day.

guitarornament

We don’t have an ornament for Riley yet, but in the meantime, this guitar ornament I gave to Don years ago is our Riley ornament. Riley loved to hear his dad play the guitar. No matter what was going on, if Don brought out the guitar, Riley wagged his tail with happiness. Then he settled down on the floor to listen. That boy loved music. So did Winston.

My boys. I really miss them. I wish all three of my dogs were here right now and that we were all spending Christmas together. Nothing would make me happier.

Happy Wednesday.

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Dollhouse: The Renovation is Finished

December 17, 2013 at 8:09 am by Claudia

This is the second morning in a row where I woke up around 5 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. Once my brain starts whirring with thoughts, it can be almost impossible to shut it down enough to fall asleep again. Ah, well. As I sit here in my blogging chair, snow is falling once again. We’re supposed to get an additional 2 – 4 inches today.

I think I can say with confidence that we’re going to have a White Christmas this year.

Don and I are full of gratefulness today. Our little cottage is cozy and warm. Classical music is playing in the background. The Christmas trees are lit and casting their glow indoors as it starts to get light outdoors. Snow is falling gently. Don is reading his book; he’s currently into Joseph Ellis, who writes about American History in a way that is vivid and real and reads like a novel. He’s a Pulitzer Prize winner. I’m, of course, on the laptop. Scout? She’s decided, for the time being, to park herself on the sofa in the living room.

I love our little cottage any time of the year but at Christmas it is especially lovely.

Drumroll: All wallpapering, measuring, cutting and painting of molding, baseboards, floorboards, and paneling in the dollhouse has come to an end. Yes, I finished the craft/office/studio space.

dollhouse wallpaper

This is the wallpaper I chose for the room. It’s from Itsy Bitsy Mini (I purchased all the wallpaper in the dollhouse from them) and the pattern is Parisian Floral Wreath. I really love it.

tueswallpaperwholeroom

Here’s a view of the whole room. I like the contrast of the planked walls with the wallpaper. I’m pretty happy with the painted floor, which will have a rug or two on it eventually. The walls and floor in this room had some irregularities that were, ahem, a pain in the tush.

tueswallpaper3

I can’t believe that I’ve finally finished the framework of all of the rooms! This house was put together rather haphazardly by its previous owners and much of the challenge has been finding ways to work around the design flaws. There was considerable water damage on the downstairs floors, walls didn’t always meet correctly, there were hinges here and there which drove me nuts and which is why you sometimes see irregularities on the walls. The cupola at the top of the house was in the wrong place, some of the windows were crooked and had to be straightened, shingles needed to be replaced – I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Nonetheless, I love it for its crazy imperfections. It’s like all old houses everywhere, isn’t it?

Now, it’s all in place. I may do something with the tower later on – I’m thinking of making it an attic storage room. But that can wait. Now I have to finish furnishing it, which takes time. I have some ideas for the newest room. And I’m still searching for a toilet and bathtub that I like. And for a refrigerator that looks real. Most of the ones I see look like boxes I might have made in elementary school. That’s not the look I’m going for.

And then there are all the little accessories….and the curtains…and the rugs…and some more lights.

Oh, I’m not done yet.

Today’s Holiday Bokeh shot:

bokeh

My dad made that train car. He used to have an amazing train set that he built and that ran all the way around our basement. It had little towns and miniature buildings and trees and signs. Wait a minute…I think I’m seeing a pattern here. A father who loves miniatures. A daughter who loves miniatures. Who would have thought?

Happy Tuesday.

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Simple & Spare: How I Decorate My Small House for Christmas

December 16, 2013 at 8:30 am by Claudia

bokeh

Your Bokeh shot for today. The word bokeh, by the way, comes from a Japanese word. Some of you were wondering about that.

Question: How do I decorate for the holidays in a very small cottage?

Answer: More and more sparingly.

Last year, when Don had to be away at Christmas, I made the decision to decorate sparingly. No large fir in the den because I would have to take it down and carry it out of here all by myself. So I used our little 2 foot white tree in the living room, hung a few bottle brush ornaments and wreaths and that was it. I’m not counting the wreath on the door and the outdoor lights, which are always part of our Christmas.

It worked. It was lovely and festive and peaceful.

I found it very liberating.

I have a lot of Christmas ornaments and decorations. A lot: three big tubs full. I stopped feeling that I had to use every single one of them several years ago. But last year was revelatory. Spare is now my middle name.

We have a small cottage. I like color. I collect pottery and books and all things vintage and it’s all on display because we don’t have an attic or a basement in which to store those things I might want to shuffle out of the rotation. Besides, I like to see the things I love and collect. I don’t want them stored away. All that is to say there is a lot of visual stimulation around this place on a daily basis. There’s lots to see. There’s lots of color. I’m very careful about how I display things because it’s important for the eye to have some place to rest. So vignettes (a word I am more than a little tired of) are at a minimum.

Christmas = even more visual stimulation. Therefore, in my humble opinion, in order for it to be powerful, striking and yes, there’s that word again, peaceful, spare and simple is the way to go.

No themes. It’s Christmas; that’s theme enough. No new design every year. That costs money.

We don’t need a new look every year. We need our look, our traditions.

monwhitetree

This is the little tree I bought several years ago at Michael’s. (I think I have to rearrange some of those ornaments!) Anyway, it’s pretty, it’s simple, and it works with the look of the living room. I love the way it looks at night.

monwreathpiano

I have four of these bottlebrush wreaths and I love them, but this year, for the first time, I’m only using two of them. One hangs above the piano, along with an aqua colored glittery tree.

monangel

I bought this Debbee Thibault angel many years ago but it had been stashed away in a drawer. Why, I don’t know. I rediscovered her the other day and thought she would be the perfect simple touch for the piano.

monchinacabinet

The other bottle brush wreath is on the china cabinet in the kitchen.

That’s it for the living room and kitchen (which are, for all intents and purposes, one big room.) Except for the snow globe, which I’ve already shown you. It’s on display on the blue bench.

In the den?

monbigtree1a

Our noble fir. It’s decorated with lots of vintage Shiny Brites, some ornaments from my childhood, and my favorite bottlebrush ornaments. I made the tree skirt when we were living in San Diego.

monbigtree1

Getting the whole tree in a shot requires some minor gymnastics – the den is a small room. We always buy a real tree because we love the scent of a fir tree. We love the imperfections of a real tree. Every tree we buy always becomes ‘the perfect tree’ not because of perfect lines or perfect height, but because it has its own personality. This one turned out to be wider at the bottom than we had planned for – a delightful surprise. With a real tree, every year’s tree is a surprise. I like that.

The tree, by the way, is the only decoration we spent any money on. Everything else we had on hand.

That’s the only decoration in the den. Quite frankly, that’s all that needs to be there. It’s statement enough.

That’s it, my friends. No decorations in the bedrooms or bathrooms or even on the stairway. I’ve wrapped the railing before with a faux fir garland, but this year? No.

Simple. Spare. And for us, more meaningful.

I leave you with a shot of yesterday’s snow.

monsnow

The amazing Peter O’Toole has left us. He just may be my favorite actor. I’ll miss your incandescent presence here on earth, Mr. O’Toole. Thank you for sharing your brilliant talent with us. Rest in Peace.

It’s time to watch My Favorite Year again.

Happy Monday.

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Ornaments, Bokeh & More Snow

Dollhouse: The Renovation is Finished

Simple & Spare: How I Decorate My Small House for Christmas

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