Friday, December 30, 2011

A little belated Christmas post



I love Christmas so much!

I love baking for Christmas. I love Christmas music. I love Christmas shopping. I love Christmas wrapping. Perhaps most of all I love Christmas decorating. So much so that both times we have house-hunted, last year and eleven years ago, my first thought stepping in the door was: perfect spot for a Christmas tree! Like that is the most important consideration when house-hunting, lol. (Both times happened to be in the fall, incidentally, holidays on the brain and all, but still.)

Our new [127-year-old] house has a picture-perfect Christmas tree spot! See:




Not to say the picture is perfect, but that window! I love it so. I do think it looks a little austere here. I kept meaning to get some fat pink silk ribbon to make a kind of garland in the niche, to frame the top of the tree, but it didn't happen. Next year! Also, there weren't presents out yet. That helped a lot :-)

The snowmen which were vintage finds from Stars Antique Mall. (The one on the left is Dr. Snowman, quite a skilled snow physician!)

We didn't used to be into the 1950s stuff, and in general we don't really care for mid-century decor or architecture, but for Christmas, ahh. Shiny Brights were my gateway drug. Sigh. 




Is anything prettier?


(oops! stockings not yet hung by the chimney with care!)
(Also, note how Dr. Snowman and the basket of pink balls keep migrating :-)

If you visit this blog much you'll know it's been a hectic year and we haven't been able to fully nest, and it being our first year in this house, we didn't have a plan already figured out, so we were pretty much winging it, taking mental notes for next year. The mantle ended up looking like this (though the stocking did get hung eventually):





An old Anthropologie garland, some thrifted picture frames painted white but not yet filled with pictures, a pair of pink IKEA vases with greenery, some red velvet reindeer and Shiny Brights, and a few silver platters ... and I couldn't FIND the rest of our small collection of thrifted silver platters! Probably in the basement, who knows, or maybe snitched by goblins for the conveyance of donuts and toadstools to their king. Lights of course. How I love the twinklies.







A dining room is something we didn't have in the old house, and was a huge selling point for this one. 
I love having a big table!






That's my grandmother's old Christmas village. I think she won it in a contest?




On the kitchen ledge. And no, that's not snow. Just a dirty window :-(


MORE HAPPIES!
It's growing!




The Most Happy Fella! This is the score to a musical, thrifted and framed. *love*


At last, presents appear!











Having a child in the house makes Christmas morning INFINITELY MORE AWESOME.




This was our first "Santa came!" year, our first late-night elfing, you know, nudge nudge, getting things all ready for Santa to come down the chimney? I do not know HOW he fit the horsey down, that's his trade secret ...




More vintage, incidentally! The new bouncy horses are atrocities of ugliness. Santa found this one, twenty years old, much loved but in GREAT condition, and awesome as he is, Santa PAINTED HIM. I LOVE the pink mane! Makes me think maybe he's meant for me, not Clementine.

Then again, maybe not ... 




XO :-)





22 comments:

Angelica R. Jackson said...

Wow, having all that space to fill with decorations would be intimidating to me, but you totally ran with it! I'm totally stealing some of those ideas for next year.

Rebs @ Book-Rants said...

Beautiful!

Kristan said...

Your house is ever so eclectic and lovely. :)

Also, love the reflection of you in the ornament!

Dawn said...

Laini! You're a MASTER nester! to gin out such a gorgeous, cozy, charming space for the holidays in the midst of writing, post-book tour, and sick child..is AMAZING! You certainly have good genes. :)

Love what you've done with your home. Cannot wait to see it again. Very best of wishes to you, Jim, and Pie.

Here's to an even MORE spectacular 2012!

Kate said...

Love the Christmas decorations! They're lovely and fun! :)
I got Lips Touch yesterday!!! So happy!!! It's lovely!!! Can't wait to read it!!!

Dawn said...

Laini! BTW, your post is not "belated." It occurs on the sixth day of Christmas. :)

anne said...

gorgeous photos -- so much joy in them! Loved your reflection in some of the glass balls! Loved the "out of focus" of the lights on the tree, w/glass balls in foreground...loved the whole thing -- so festive and yet somehow not "too much"!! that is true talent!
Got my grandson one of the old horses for Christmas as well -- he was a bit concerned about it at first, but suddenly "knew" how to ride! (no pink mane, but that is just as well)
and finally, having kid(s) in home really DOES add to the whole Christmas joy/cheer/desire to "do stuff"! Now that mine are almost all gone/certainly all grown, we do very little in the way of decorations...
Best wishes in the New Year!

storyqueen said...

Wishing I was a tiny elf, hiding among those branches and shiny brights...

Happy Christmas!

Shelley

Emma said...

I love that dining table - love that none of the chairs match! Fantastic!

Faith E. Hough said...

I had that same horse when I was little! But mine was a little less awesome, not possessing a pink mane. :)
Everything looks beautiful!

Evie said...

So much happy!

Wishing daily dustings of magic in 2012 to you, Pie and the J-man

Commander Kip said...

I finally got to read Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and my first urge after finishing it was to flip back to the beginning and start again. It was THAT AWESOME, and I felt like I wasn't done living in it. Thank you for writing the exact kinds of things I love to read!

BURIED IN BOOKS said...

Oh my God, your house is as beautiful and lush and imaginative as Daughter of Smoke and Bone is! Could you please come decorate mine? Actually, I'd just like to sit and talk.

I picked Daughter of Smoke and Bone as my number one book of the year out of 125 read. I got it the day it was published and I still haven't been able to write a review. I don't think I can do it justice. You used all the beautiful words I would use to describe it.
I was awed by it. It was beautiful.
Thank you for that gift!

Heather

Bekka Gandy said...

Ok, this is going to be weird, but I have to get this out there or otherwise it will just keep rolling around in my head like a bowling ball in a dryer.

I have this weird fantasy about being... your pen pal. Isn't that sordid? I swore to myself that NO, I was not going to say this to Laini Taylor. But oh well. I have. I still haven't talked myself out of doing it yet... so if you get an odd email in the future about the painfully normal goings on of my life... I am so sorry and please just delete it!

Alyssa Phelps said...

This blog post looks like a Christmas spread in Sunset magazine! Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

What a lovely home you have. I love how we can see your reflections in the picture with the christmas balls. A happy new years to you and your family. Camille

Jeni said...

Oh my goodness, the photos of your home look like they came from the pages of a magazine (like the decorating magazines you've admired and shared with us). Love. So neat to know that somewhere out there is a house filled with beautiful art and joy and lots of love.

Jone said...

I love it. Had I known your were into the Shiny Brights, I would have send them your way instead of being sold at a garage sale.
Your house is gorgeous!

~Michelle~ said...

I am in love with that top photo of the Christmas balls.

Daisy Whitney said...

Can I come live with you?

Laurence King said...

Unbelievably beautiful and magical!

Ivan said...

Really, really pretty! I love all the decorations and how color they are!

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