All the Rest

It could be claimed that I am over the top when it comes to Christmas. 

It's true.  There was a period of time between having kids at home, and having grandchildren, those empty nest years, that I lost the spirit for a while, but even then I decorated, for me. We entertained then more than we do now so we could share the ambiance of our home. Grandchildren restored the magic of Christmas.

The kitchen is the heart of any home, and ours has these great beams that call out for garlands.  

We have been in our house for over 37 years.  I made those felt gingerbread men and calico ornaments the first or second year we lived here. 

The calico wreath I made even longer ago.  It used to hang over the old fireplace, and Jill still hasn't forgiven me for replacing it. 

The clock, above, was my great grandmother's.  We became it's custodians two years ago when my aunt moved into assisted living.  We had it restored to working order. The little mosaic plaque with hooks came from a small artisan's shop on a back street in Rome and remands us of all the ancient ruins we visited in Greece and Italy. (Click on any photo to get a closer look.)

In the dining room, we go Scandinavian. My mother-in-law made the trees with heart patterned fabric many years ago. The old pressed glass pieces we have collected over the years, and at Christmas we fill them with glitter and sparkle. 

Hearts and straw ornaments are customary in Sweden at Christmas. The sheaf of wheat represents the promise of new life. The last sheaf of grain bundled from the harvest had magical properties as the Spirit of the Harvest and was saved for the Yule. Straw was plentiful and was strewn on the floor for bedding. The straw pig symbolizes prosperity or good luck. Back in the old days in the old country, if you had a pig to butcher and eat for the Yule feast you were prosperous and fortunate. The goat is the julbocken, the yule goat.  The god Thor had a chariot pulled by goats. Goats became both the punisher of bad behavior and the giver of gifts. Now gifts are brought by the Yuletomten.

The garland on the dining room beam has hearts and vintage ornaments I found while cleaning out my former neighbor's house when she moved into assisted living. 

On the table, which belonged to Tom's grandmother,  Tom's great grandmother's compote holds glass ornaments. The wooden shoes we purchased in the Netherlands. The small Dala horse was part of Jill's horse collection, and the larger one we purchased in the shop where they are made in Dalarna, Sweden. 

And there are elves around. 

The whole "elf on the shelf" thing is new, but this one has been around longer than our kids have.  It came with a box of Whitman's Sampler chocolates, and I'm pretty sure it was from a student, way back in the late 60's. 

The red nutcracker was a gift from Tom's mother, long ago, and the blue one we bought in Rothenburg, Germany. 

I found more Santas.  

And elves!

That fabric Santa on the back wall is was made by Tom's mother about the time Jill was born. I don't know how old that JOY is. 

Several years ago Tom finally made cone wreaths from some of the cones he has been collecting. 

Outside the lights are up. 

That maple tree is usually wrapped with lights too, but when Tom went to test the light strings we bought just last year, he could get only one to work. The good news is he no longer has to spend hours on a ladder and in the tree wrapping the branches.  That much we are ready to let go of. 

And there you have it, Christmas decorating at the Reeder house.  Now each year I'll just link a new post to this old one for the full tour. At least, that is, until we let go of more of it.  But I think I'm good for a few more years yet.

I do love Christmas!

The Tree

The last task in decorating our home for Christmas is putting up the tree. 

With all of the ornaments we have collected over the years, our tree may be groaning under the weight, and in fact, we have had to leave a few less meaningful ornaments in the boxes. 

 There are Santas on the tree, of course. 

 In recent years I have been collecting fruits and vegetables. Do you see the broccoli, the fruit basket and the green pepper? There are birds of many kinds. The grandfather clock is significant for the year we brought my mother's tall case clock home to live in our house. 

Left to right, find the avocado, orange slice, banana, hamburger, berries and the pea pod. I made the felt ornaments, like the bird here, many years ago, when we had very few ornaments, very young children, and not much discretionary cash. 

 Blueberries, eggplant and cherries. Lower down, a green house. 

 Garden faeries.

 Bees, birds, butterflies, and celery!

 Peacocks for Irene.

 Garden tools, melon, grapes, and cauliflower. A fireplace to commemorate our remodeling and adding a new fireplace in our family room.

 Here is vintage and precious - a little collection of ornaments made by our kids when they were very young: a walnut that has lost its glitter, an egg carton bell, baby food jar lids with stickers, a Styrofoam and glitter bell, a little felt drum, and to me, the best of all, Jake's stop sign. Writing was a new skill then, and he liked words and shapes.  On the back the design is his name, Jacob, in proper lower case letters, of course! 

 Oh, I see the pickle! Finding it means good luck!

 There are horses and pigs scattered everywhere on the tree, from the many years our kids collected them - horses for Jill and pigs for Jake. 

 A potato, turnip, and carrot.

 Krampus, just because. Mozart all the way from Salzburg, Austria, which gets us into the travel section of the tree: Vicksburg canon, Taliesin West/Frank Lloyd Wright designed metal bookmark, pottery roadrunner.

 Philadelphia City Hall, crown from the royal palace in Stockholm, Sweden and the flag from a shop in Norway, decorated egg shells from Austria, a Vermont covered bridge, a bell from Santorini, and so much more. 

 And under the tree, the Winnie-the-Pooh characters made by Tom's mother for our kids many years ago. 

The Santa Collection

In my last post, you saw all of those empty shelves.  Most of the year they hold my pottery collection and Tom's pop-up book collection. 

However, for the month of December those shelves are filled with Santa's. 

I have been collecting Santas for about 30 years, and so I have a few. Many I purchased, some others were given to me as gifts. Some are hand crafted, many are commercially made, and some are works of art. They come from bazaars, Christmas shops, craft fairs, and world travels. 

The Santa with deer, top, second from the left, is ceramic and made by my late Aunt Lois. On the third shelf down, one of the newest is a baker Santa, with Nordic Santas and a garden Santa. On the bottom shelf, center, is Saint Nicholas. 

 On the top shelf above is a fat, vintage papier mache Santa that we found in a little antique shop in Oregon.  He has a twin on another shelf. On the botton shelf, center left, is Terry, a hand carved Whidbey Island Santa. The three center right are gourds. 

 The mantel displays the hand carved collection made by a teacher friend. 

On the top shelf above are two very special hand carved Santas from our travels.  The toy maker is from little wood carver's shop in Rothenburg, Germany and the one in his long johns is from a craft market we just happened upon in a small farming town in upstate New York. 

The one on the left on the top shelf above is also from Rothenburg, from the famous Christmas shop Kathe Wohlfahrt.  In the center is the Nordic Yuletomten,  the Christmas elf who brings gifts to the good and sticks to the naughty. 

There are a few more Santas scattered around the house too. 

 This one is a painted cypress knee from New Orleans. Cypress trees grow in the bayous and the roots develop these "knees" that stick up out of the water so the roots of the tree can breathe. 

These three Santas are tall and richly dressed, with great faces and luxurious beards. 

And there you have it, my Santa collection.  I'll be visiting Christmas shops with friends next week, and I have already vowed to myself and Tom that for anything else to come home with us it would have to be mighty special! We may have reached our limit!