One of my favorite things about the holidays is decorating my home. As an adult, I’ve almost always had a live Christmas tree in my home. The exception to this is when I lived, years ago, in a very small apartment out by the airport in Fargo, North Dakota. Even then, I had a small, artificial tree and that’s when I began collecting ornaments for future trees. That apartment was small and cramped, but I loved it nonetheless. This year, like every year, I have a live Christmas tree in my home. Many of my ornaments go back many years and they bring back memories of past Christmases as I hang them on the tree. The feelings evoked range from happy to sad to nostalgic, and everything in between, but all of these memories are important to me as they are part of who I am and I’m reminded of the people, pets, places, and events that have helped shape my life. Some of the ornaments have become a bit battered and bruised over the years, but they still go on the tree and will continue to in years to come.
I took some pictures of some of my decorations to show a little bit what my home looks like over the holidays. My home is filled with lights, candles, garland, and other assorted decorations, but I only took pictures of some of it. As a bit of a warning, the lighting is really bad for some of the pictures. Photography isn’t my thing, but I guess if I sat down with my camera and experimented a little with it I might take better pictures. Ironically, I’m not posting a picture of my tree as it looks pretty much just like a blur of lights in the picture. Maybe next year I’ll have to consider doing a video tour of my home and posting it on YouTube.
This is a little display I made using an extra serving plate and some candles that I got from the Candle and Gift Factory Outlet many years ago. I believe there used to be three locations in the Valley, but since another company took them over the stores have closed and they now sell only online. I could be wrong about that, but it seems I read that somewhere. It's too bad, because just browsing their stores was an experience in itself if you like candles, and I do!
This is the potpurri I used in the above display. It's from the White Barn Candle Company and I've also had it for years.
This is my Christmas tree skirt.
This is a little display on a table in my formal dining room right by the front window. The candles are also from the Candle and Gift Factory Outlet.
This is a display I have on the buffet in my formal dining room. This is a shot of the left side of it.
The right side of the display on the buffet.
The center of the display on the buffet.
The lighting is really bad for this shot in my bedroom. The walls look like a concrete gray, but are really a beautiful sage green. My Dad purchased the vase for me when we went to the Titanic Exhibition at the Rio in Las Vegas.
The White Star Line logo on the vase in the above picture.
This is a display that is also in my bedroom.
This is in my spare bedroom.
Look at those wobbledy, hobbledy legs!
This is also in the spare bedroom on the dresser to the right of the bed.
This is in the spare bedroom on the dresser to the left of the bed.
This is to the left of the hall stand in the front hallway.
This is to the right of the hall stand in the front hallway.
This is on the hall stand in the front hallway. It really isn't this red!! The lighting is really bad, but this looks just beautiful with the lit garland and the candles when the lights are off.
This is the same display from a different angle. I took the picture on the wall down as it was creating a glare. It's still a bad picture, but you get the idea! I have these kinds of displays all over the front room and elsewhere in the house, but I'm not able to get decent shots of them. The whole area is really beautiful and there's a sense of peace and calm when the lights are out and the displays are lit up.
