Primitive country Christmas in the suburbs

Merry Christmas y'all!  It's been a long time since my last post but I figured better late than never with my holiday decorations this year.  I wanted to go all natural and decided to use only handmade ornaments (some by me, some purchased from local artisans) and highlight my collections of crocks, Santa's and ironstone.  Lots of raffia, twine, burlap and homespun ribbons.  My continuing love affair with all things primitive is alive and well as the photos will show.

Have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends and don't forget the cookies and milk for Santa!

Tweak-It-Tuesday #121

More primitive Christmas

Only 13 more days until Christmas!!!  Yikes!  I need to get down to business here and finish shopping and wrap all the presents because as I looked at my tree earlier today it dawned on me that something was missing -- no wrapped gifts!  What's a tree without presents under it?  Our son-in-law told me the other day that one of his best Christmas memories is of the 1st time he came to our house for the holiday's and couldn't see any of the carpeting for the packages all over the place! Okay, I admit it, Christmas has always been a big deal for me.  It's how I was raised and I don't know any different.

Y'all have probably noticed that I have spent waaaaayyyyy tooooo much time stitchin' things!  Pillows, ornaments, pictures, wall hangings, stockings, even a quilt with red and green trees.  I never wanted to play Bridge or tennis or do laundry or clean the house -- but let me have the time to make something and I am a very happy camper.  They don't call me the "Stitch Bitch" for nuthin'!

We found this old pine cabinet at a local flea market/antique show years ago and it's had a lot of different uses.  It sits now in my entry hall and while the ironstone is always stored there, the other items change with the season and holiday.  I love the patina of the pine.

The small pine wall cabinet contains 2 little glass guns with screw tops that belonged to my dad -- he received them for Christmas when he was a little boy. The baskets are hand-woven and I really like their tiny size.  The tobacco dryer in the upper right corner hangs in my dining room and has something different hanging from it depending on the holiday -- vintage parade flags for the 4th of July, bittersweet for Halloween and hand painted eggs for Easter.  The old screen came from my husband's grandparents farm -- since I don't have a window in this kitchen, I decided to use it as a "faux" window and change out the decorations on it also for the seasons.  The old Mason jars were my mother-in-laws and I had them wired to use as task lighting -- they have a dimmer which makes them perfect for any time of the day or night.  The hand towel holder was my grandmother's meat grinder.

Last, but not least, are my extra little trees.  I have one in the dining room with white lights and white pip-berries.  My husband loved all the Christmas lights and to honor him, I keep this tree up year round.  Again, the trim and bow change with the seasons but it is always lit -- sort of my eternal flame for him.

The tree without lights is on my kitchen island and the small tree on the old water cooler is in a corner of the living room opposite the big tree.  

I have given you the tour of most of my home and it's primitive furnishings and hope that you have enjoyed it.  Have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends.  I am grateful for everyone in my life who has helped make this a good year for me -- my children and grandchildren, old friends and new, their presence gives me strength and is deeply appreciated and valued.

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A primitive country Christmas in the city

I love Christmas!  The lights, my Santa collection, handmade ornaments from our kids when they were in kindergarten and pre-school, the smell of pine and evergreens, cinnamon sticks, candles burning, pine cones thrown into the fire, looking for just the right gifts for the people I love and one of my favorite things -- playing Santa and filling the stockings!  Oh yeah, and the cookies and the fudge and anything chocolate that comes my way!  Every room gets a little "sumpn" -- a small decoration or maybe a large one -- and each year I change the look by doing the tree differently. The worst part, of course, is dragging out all the storage boxes that have been out of sight for the past 11 months.  Because I live in a condo and use the elevator to come and go, I have an artificial tree -- no way am I going to drag a live tree in and out of my place and have to clean all needles as they drop off in the hall!

I decided to do a very simple tree this year using only handmade ornaments -- most I made but some I have found at craft shows and small shops from VA, WV and NC.  I have some made out of old quilts pieces, some are needlepoint and counted cross stitch that I made over the years and some are vintage Linsey-woolsy stars that I found at a craft fair years ago.

Okay, so the tree is up and I think "Yeah, I'm done" until I stand back and decide it needs tweaking -- a little more here and something else there to add that extra special touch. It's never-ending!  A little more raffia, another rusty jingle bell, some red berries stuck between the branches, you know how it is.  There's always room for just one more thing!  And then suddenly it's "bada bing, bada boom" and it really is done! Now for the next big challenge -- the mantle.

As with the tree, it's all about the layers.  I start with fake greens because even though I have a gas fireplace, I don't want any chance of live dry greens going up in flames!  Once the basic greens are in place, I add some of the Santa's that I have collected over the years.  Then more natural things to make it all look fuller -- pine cones, berries and twigs all add to the effect I'm trying to achieve -- I want it to look like I went to the woods and gathered everything myself.  Me and Martha Stewart foraging in the woods.  Yeah, right!

The stockings are all counted cross stitch and made for our grandchildren the years they were born.  The Santa in the frame is needlepoint that I stitched about 20 years ago.

As my grandmother used to say . . . "Lawsy mercy, I'm plum tuckered out!" Enough for now -- there are still some things that I want to show you but not tonight. And it's only 2 weeks until the "big day" -- I still have shopping to do and cards to make!

Share with Tweak It Tuesday #68  Wow Us Wednesday #148

Santa of the Month -- December

It's been a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday weekend with my family -- everyone had more than enough turkey and all the trimin's,  a celebration of  my daughter's birthday (she was actually born on Thanksgiving day and it's the only year that I didn't have to cook a turkey!) and time left for lots of conversation and shared memories of past holidays.  Now, all are back in their own homes and it is time to drag out the Christmas decorations and begin the process of transferring my home into what I hope will be a primitive winter wonderland.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I would show you each of the monthly Santa pictures that I stitched in 1991.  This one, "December Santa", is one of my favorites. I love the colors but also the idea of the children waiting to receive their gifts and apparently give one - the little girl is holding a present behind her back so I have a feeling that it is for Santa.  

Now that "December Santa" is up and ready to ring in the season, I need to get busy and put up all the other decorations so this old guy doesn't look so lonely and out of place!  Remember, Christmas is rapidly approaching!  And I really enjoy creating something different from previous years -- last year I went for the more traditional look that I thought worked better with my condo but this year, I have changed all that by going back to my primitive roots and better incorporating my early mid-Atlantic furniture and all the necessary collections that go with it.  What better place to add some fresh greens than old salt glaze crocks and baskets full of pine cones.  Ho, Ho, Ho, y'all!

Sharing with Tweak It Tuesday #67

Victorian Christmas lights

Back in the day, Christmas trees were lit with glass candle holders officially called Victorian illumination lights.  Most of these were from England and made during the early 1880's.  Because of the fire hazard, they were only lit for Christmas Eve.

The lights were made in beautiful colors -- some out of milk glass and others clear.  My father collected these and I am now the happy owner of 11 of these lights.  Daddy used tree lights on a string and placed a few inside each glass which made the colors show up and cast shadows all over the room.  Mine hang year round and are displayed where the sunlight can reflect the colors.  I love the history of these "fairy lights", their age and the fact that my dad enjoyed them so much.  He put the wires on these and I have left them there as part of their history for my daughter who will own them one day.  As with some of the other glass items that I posted previously, these are not as primitive as many of my things but I really appreciate their beauty and artistry.

Fast forward 120 years and some genius has invented the small battery operated votive lights -- I place one inside each of these antique "fairy lights" and they glow for over 24 hours and are completely safe!

I look for these at every antique show, shop or flea market that I go to but rarely find them.  They were fragile and easily broken and perhaps were damaged trying to store them from year to year.  I can't imagine the number of homes that must have had fires from these candles hanging on the branches of dry trees.  Scary!

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