But, before things came down, I took a few pictures. Actually, more than a few, so this will be a two-day post.
The picture below shows our entryway leading upstairs, but it was those nice red velvet bows that couldn't seem to stay attached to the banister that made it a little easier to give up and take it all down for another year. Plus, I learned to label each of the ropes of fake greenery so it would be easier to know what goes where next year. I already feel more organized!
This is the railing across our upstairs area with guest rooms on either side. These red bows were also difficult to keep attached, but they got a reprieve for now and will be left up until Sunday.
Here is our tree in place and decorated. I think it's about 10 or 11 feet tall, and we learned something this year that made the process of getting it into the house and set upright MUCH easier! We measured it IN the stand while it was still OUTSIDE. And we learned this because of what happened last year when we put it in the stand, wrestled it inside, realized it was too tall, wrestled it back outside while scratching a little hole in the patio door screen, sawed off a foot of tree, back in the stand and back in the house. Things went MUCH more smoothly this year!
Here's the tree in the corner viewed from the balcony. Yes, those are sunbeams streaming in the window. Amazing to see but still cold outside!
And here are some odds and ends of decorations. This is my little Swedish collection on the buffet upstairs by our guest rooms. The two straw reindeer are Swedish Yulbock, sometimes called straw goats or straw horses. I also have two more that are about a foot tall. The little candle holders came from when I lived in Germany, and the dimensional Christmas tree candle holder has been in my life since childhood. The cloth underneath it all has some typical Swedish designs on it along with the Dala horses in red.
This is a three-generation scene! The wooden sleigh came into my mother's life back in the '40s when she was first married. The taller of the two trolls was a Christmas present I received back in the '60s when trolls were a big thing. And the smaller troll caroler came into our household in the early '90s when trolls were enjoying a revival!
Remember when everyone was taking ceramics classes back in the '70s? This ceramic Christmas tree was a gift from my college roommate, Pat, back in 1976. I remember one Christmas when she spent any extra minutes hand-painting ceramic ornaments as gifts for off us in our dorm floor and all of her friends. She would take her paints and bare ornaments up to the lounge away by herself, and like one of Santa's elves create her special gifts...and made it look so easy!
And finally, this might be one of my favorites. These little ornaments are all about an inch tall and all so detailed and cute! These came from a long-time Swedish gift & grocery store in Minneapolis called Ingebritsen's. It's located on Lake Street in a neighborhood of Minneapolis that has seen several ethnic changes through the years and has been a constant presence there since 1921. An area artist created these little ornaments and Leann would add more to my collection every year on my birthday. That artist has died now, so I celebrate with these cuties every year. I can't even say which is my favorite, but the cat sleeping in the bird feeder and the mittens would have to be right up there.
Guess that's all I'll bring to you today, but come back tomorrow for more!
2 comments:
Loved this post. Your decorations are so beautiful. Fun to hear the stories behind them all.
Beautiful. Helen just hates to give up Christmas, so we have the only tree still up in our neighborhood. She has, however, packed up the Christmas china.
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