It's Beginning to Look at Tad Like Christmas

Christmas doesn’t usually come to my house in “tads.”

No, it rolls and rattles through Waterhouse more like The Polar Express, flinging garland and glitter to all sides with a relentless, unyielding frenzy of steam and smoke and grinding wheels.
And that’s just me decorating AFTER a cup of coffee.

But this year, maybe it’s because of the dark mornings... Maybe it’s the inspirational chats with my fellow decorators and crafters... Maybe it’s the influence of the holiday time-warp in the stores, where Christmas seems to arrive just moments after the Fourth of July...

But I am succumbing to holiday mood early this year.

So I thought I might drag you all into the pit of too-soon holiday anticipation, as well. Because hey, if I’m going down, I’m taking you all with me!!! (Mmmwwaaaha-ha-ha-haaaa!)...

Er, and also I found some fun stuff I thought you might like to see.

For instance, thinking Christmas a bit early means getting a running start on the thrift store Christmas decor. In the last week, I’ve found two different types of vintage-style ornaments.

Pink-lovers might be tickled the aforementioned color over the ornaments here. These came from our Salvation Army Superstore. They’re glass and covered in lace, ribbons and fringe.


And these gold ornaments marked “West Germany” seem to have some age to them. Quite a lot of goodies there for $1.49, don’t you think?


A quick trip to TJ Maxx helped me pin down the theme for my dining room this year. What Victorian house couldn’t benefit from a few vastly-overdressed sugarplum fairies?


Looks a little like a Cicely Mary Barker illustration of a Haute Couture fashion show, doesn’t it? Well, these shiny little ladies really got me thinking (always a dangerous prospect)...

And now I have plans for a room accented with the bright greens of Depression glass and beaded fruit-- elements of traditional winter nature contrasted with unnatural shimmer.

Somewhere in the depths of my basement are some pink velvet poinsettias I think I’ll use over the pocket doorways along with some realistic looking pine boughs. (That’s the beauty of having a Victorian home-- Christmas can be a shameless example of “More is More”)


And at Pat Catan’s yesterday I picked up some of these sparkly gold roses. With the flowers, some ribbon and a few extra accents, here’s hoping I’ll be on the way to a magical little Christmas display.



I’m also going to have to get cracking on a little project I’ve been planning-- making special gift decorations from scans of some of Victorian postcards. Scanned, printed in color and decoupaged onto a slim wooden backing, I was thinking these cards would make sweet and unique ornament-tags for the various gifts I give.


I figure, the more things I begin planning now, the more time I have to... er... avoid wrapping Christmas presents. Which I’m not good at, results in messy presentation and papercuts, and I like to put off for as long as possible...

Preferably until St. Paddy’s Day.

Perhaps the Victorian gift tags might even be a happy distraction. My gift recipients will take one look at them and say:

“My! What a fine and unique gift tag which I can also use as an ornament on my tree! It is so beautiful, I haven’t even noticed that the wrapping paper is bunchy and crooked and there seem to be strands of red hair somehow tangled and wrapped into it. Why, I love this so much I will never even see that bit of fingernail and those drops of blood stuck to the Scotch tape.”

(I put a lot of myself into gift-giving. :-) )

Yes indeed, with craft projects and shiny decorations and only minor personal injury, it’s impossible NOT to be excited about this time of year-- there are so many good things ahead. In the coming weeks, there’ll be the familiar sounds of the ol’ “A Charlie Brown Christmas” CD...

The scent of mulled apple cider in the air...

And the annual evening with a certain bespectacled boy in quest of a beloved bb gun...

But in the meantime-- keep your tongues off the frozen flagpoles, dear friends, and next week, we’ll talk a tad more holiday cheer as I show you the results of a holiday decorating swap I’d participated in. (Yes, yes, I know I’d said last week we’d talk about The Holiday Swap but it was delayed due to difficulties in finding the right size shipping box.. Yes, it’s that bad wrapping again.)

So Holiday Swap next week, I promise and cross my heart.