Tag: Christmas Decorations

Christmas Preparations

I love sitting and looking at a 180-degree view of the field outside our sun room windows.

Photo taken 12/4/24.
And then it snowed 6 inches…Photo taken 12/19/24. Canadian Geese like to hang out in the field. We have seen deer a couple of times.

We have been working hard to fit in all the furniture and house accessories from our other house where we lived in for 30 years, to a new, one-level modern twin-home. It’s challenging and exhausting, but exhilarating at the same time. We’re excited for this change and already enjoy living in this new space.

Our small Christmas tree.

The last month has been a blurr and it’s hard to believe Christmas is next week. In my mind it’s still October. We put up a small artificial tree with lights we’ve used in a small space in the other house, put out Christmas placemats, made a Christmas porch pot, and set an olive-wood sculpture of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus on the mantle,

The stacked-stone mantle over our fireplace.

and set a German wooden pyramid (mini) on our dining room table.

A mini-German wooden pyramid. As the candles create heat, the fan turns the platform with wooden figures of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, three wisemen and a shepherd.

Christmas cards will not be mailed this year, and there will be no home-made cookies or gingerbread houses, but Christmas will come no matter what, and we will celebrate the birth of Jesus. It will be joyful, even without more preparations and decorations. 

Decorating for Christmas

Our family celebrations will not be held in our home this Christmas, so we decided to keep our house decorating to a minimum. A few touches here and there, with table clothes and poinsettia, greenery, wreath and a manger scene. However, there is a new-to-us decoration we inherited this year that I have set above the fireplace mantel that will stand in for our Christmas tree. 

Last summer I inherited several boxes of my aunt’s belongings. Amongst the many photos, jewelry, dishes and Norwegian knick-knacks in the boxes, I discovered a striking jeweled Christmas tree art piece. 

I remembered it. Years ago, one of my other aunt’s had made several different jewelry boxes and art pieces using glittery, costume jewelry…the kind that twinkle and sparkle, glisten and shine. All very glitzy! 

When I found this Christmas tree (and a jewelry box) I asked my cousins if they wanted these pieces their mother had made; they said no. So, I decided to keep them for myself. 

I admit, I do like a bit of sparkle! I love the twinkle of Christmas tree lights, rays of sunshine glistening on a lake, art glass that shines, the flicker of hot coals in a camp fire…this dazzling tree. I like the way the jewels shimmer when the light catches them (even though I can’t capture it in a photo). I like the fact that my aunt made it many years ago.

It’s an interesting – and beautiful – piece of folk-art, created by someone I loved. 

I will enjoy this piece on my fireplace mantel during this Christmas season, alluring me into the Christmas spirit, and bringing back memories of my extended family of Christmas’ past.