A Dickens of a Time Christmas Decorating


Hear ye, hear ye, all welcome to London Town this fine pre-Christmas eve! (Or morn. Or, um, teatime. Or whenever you folks happen to show up.) Mr. Dickens will be along shortly to recite one of his most favorite Christmas tales, but in the meantime, please join me in a small tour of the city...

A very small tour. About eight inches max, small.

Yes, spawned by a thrifted Big Ben (not yet unpacked) much earlier in the year, my eyes were opened to the Historical Landmarks series of Department 56. And being the Anglophile I am, I thought it would be fun over the course of 2008 to pick a few of my favorite London buildings for a Christmas village display.

And where better to set up my mini Dickensian world than on the flat, safe surface of the windowseat?...


This is what I've been up to this last week, in addition to cleaning and trying to figure out where I stored some errant Christmas presents! Since the living room was already done in a rather William Morris/Medieval look, it didn't seem all that odd to have Dickensian England pop up there as well...


All this time travel... It's a bit like being Dr. Who, isn't it? And here in the center, we have the Tower Bridge....


Thankfully, London Bridge is not only not falling down, but it's looking fairly festive! Next we have St. Martins in the Field cathedral...


I had a great time here (well, the bigger version of it, anyway), when I was visiting London. There's a place to do brass rubbings (a very relaxing, pleasant way to spend an hour!), and you can even have tea in the crypt, if you feel so bold. (I did-- and yummy tea!)

Then last, we have the Tower of London...


Regular readers probably know my fixation on the mystery of Richard III and the vanished princes from the Tower. So you'll likely see why this was a fun choice for me.

And no, I suppose it's not what you call a tradition thing to think of at Christmastime. But I do think it works well with the room.

The windows of the window seat got a bit of hall-decking as well... Just two strings of faux pine garland and a couple of bright red bows to top it off!...


And I also exchanged my all-purpose roses garland for some pine boughs and bows here on top of my china cabinet, as well...


Now we step into the dining room, and remember how I was saying I wanted to add some green ribbon to that pink tree on the mantle? Well...

The yellow green seems to work well with both the golds of the cherub lamp, and the greens of the room itself.
I think it helps tone down the pink enough... even if it is a bit wild and nutty! You can see above, both the lamp, its shade and the candlestick all got the green bow treatment.

And last, here's just a quick closeup on the tree. I'm still adding ornaments now that I got an extra pack of hooks.


Well, I'm afraid it's time to close the Treasure Box for this Wednesday. I hope to have more Christmas decorating photos for you soon, as other things get unpacked and accomplished.


And hope to see you again this Sunday for, um, well, fingers crossed pics of my main livingroom tree. But we'll have to play that by ear a bit!

19 comments:

Chat Blanc said...

the decorations are lovely! and of course I adore the pink tree. :)

Unknown said...

Chat Blanc- Hey thanks, Sandy! You'd think being adults we would have gotten over that girly pink at some point but... nope! I still love it. Thanks a bunch for stopping by!!

Anonymous said...

The Dicken's theme is beautiful ! Although I'm pretty sure it doesn't snow that much in London.

Love what your did to the pink tree ! I wouldn't have thought about the golds.

:o)

Anonymous said...

Jaffer- Heh, no, it really doesn't-- let's just say it's a lot of atmospheric mist and fog. :)

Melanie said...

Well done Dickens village. I especially like the pillows as back drops. Wouldn't have thought of it myself, but they work great.

Anonymous said...

Melanie- The pillows weren't any special thing on my part really, other than them living there prior to my putting the village in. Still, I like the fact they add a bit of softness to it all.

Anonymous said...

Now I know EXACTLY what to get you for a dutch gift **evil grin**

Da Old Man said...

I always like to listen to Christmas music when looking at this stuff. Singing Chipmunks just didn't add to the atmosphere.
:(

Anonymous said...

Tiddles- Oh my... :)

Da Old Man- Heh, didn't you know I was going to install my All-Chipmunks Christmas Soundtrack on the blog this weekend?

Anonymous said...

My Great-Aunt Rose passed away this year. She was born in Sicily along with my maternal Grandmother and her other siblings. The last Christmas gift that she sent to me in 2007 was the Chipmunk's Christmas C.D. This was so out of character for her....she usually sends a wreath or a box of fruit or tea bags and a tea pot. I have to smile now as I think of the whimsical thoughts that must have been going through her mind as she thought of me last year and chose this gift. I spent my 12th b.d. at her wonderful oceanfront summer cottage in Connecticut. I'll treasure those memories of her and my Great-Uncle Tony forever.
Loved the pink tree, and the village is absolutely glorious! My Aunt Rose would have appreciated your whimsical mind, Jenn!

Essential Oil Premier University said...

Oh I am coveting your London Village right now. I've not seen one before. I LOVE IT.

Merry CHRISTmas!

Blessings,

Sher

the author said...

Your home is beautiful! I love the village :) And the pink tree too!

Lana Gramlich said...

I love the windowseat scene. The pillows give it a nice, Celtic slant.

Dani said...

Hey there! It's snowbird from thriftshopper.

I love those pillows. And your pink tree is perfect! :)

Anonymous said...

Andrea- Everyone needs an aunt like that!

Sher- A merry Christmas to you, as well! Funny how Victorian England, courtesy of Mr. Dickens, has come to represent what a house at Christmas so often looks like. Must be all that hall-decking. :)

MizSmoochieLips- Thanks! Oh, and I got the wonderful little winter scene in the mail yesterday-- I will be blogging about it come Sunday!

Lana- I love Celtic music, the ornate Celtic patterns, etc., so it's fun to work a bit of that into the decorating. The tricky part is to make it so it doesn't look fake and tacky.

Danielle- Hey, thanks for stopping!

Carrie said...

Wow, your home is perfect for holiday (and other) decorating! I enjoyed seeing your anglophilic selections from Dept. 56.

I've been offline for a couple days until tonight. I am currently a refugee from the power outage caused by a big ice storm her in Massachusetts. I woke up Friday to no heat, no light, actually no electricity. So also, no internet, no home telephone and sheets of ice over everything on my deck outside. Trees were snapped and hanging across my smashed side fence, across the front lawn. Thankfully none struck the house. I and my 90-year-old mother are now 50 miles south with my sister and her family. I hope to return on Monday as that's when the electric company's web site estimates the power will be back on.
Carrie

Adullamite said...

pssst! That's not London Bridge, that's Tower Bridge. London Bridge is further down (and boring).

Unknown said...

Adullamite- I know, I was just being funny-- though, apparently not quite funny enough. :)

Walk Talk Tours said...

A great take on Christmas decorations. Very original.