Color, Sparkle and a Bit of Whimsy

It took me 6 days to decorate the house for Christmas.

Much of today was spent taking photographs for the two Holiday Blog Tours am joining.

But, I don't want to share any of those photos until the parties

so I made a second tour of the house capturing portions of vignettes or rooms.

I noticed that I am drawn to sparkle and shine this year -

bright shiny ornaments

appear in at least one spot in every room.

I found a beautiful glass bulb and bead garland at a local shop that was a perfect gift for my sister

and I had to go back and buy one for myself.

In addition to sparkle,

you can see that red & white

are the dominant colors

 in the house right now.

This little display in the guest room

will easily segue into Valentines Day by simply swapping the Christmas postcard with a Valentine.

As I was shooting small details rather than the "big picture"

another thing I noticed

was the childlike nature

of Christmas at our house.

Color, sparkle and a bit of whimsy

definitely describe the decorations this year.

After a morning at the spa, Lulu thought she fit right in with the decorations.

She might even be mistaken for a stuffed bear.

Be sure to stop by next week for the Cozy at Christmas Blog Tour.

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Join me at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson for Share Your Cup

and the winners are . . .

It is October 1st and time to announce the winners of my Passing On the Blog Love Giveaway.

I said I would draw 3 names, but there were 69 comments so I generated 5 names.

I doubt if anyone knows their number so let me introduce you to the winners.

#21 is Cynthia of Cynthia lee Designs who requested the word BLESSED.

#56 is Helen of Helen Philipps who asked for the word HOME.

#39 is Susan of As Long As You Have A Garden who likes the word THRIVE.

#14 is Jane of Blondie's Journals who also asked for the HOME.

# 48, Cathy of My 1929 Charmer, did not ask for a specific word, but she did say she has never received a blog gift so I am thrilled to be sending her a banner.

My creative space is once again organized so I was able to begin the little flags this morning, but I need colors and sizes from the winners before I finish up.

Thanks for all the sweet comments from everyone and keep your eyes out for another giveaway in the next few weeks.

I made this 10" wreath the other day and had so much fun playing with wire and writing words, that I will be making some Christmas ornaments to give away.

Meanwhile, enjoy the lovely month of October.

Hanging Memories on the Christmas Tree

I mentioned in a recent post that our family has not been home for Christmas since 2003.

It was wonderful to have our small family ( just 4 of us ) together skiing in Lake Tahoe, Mammoth or Santa Fe.

Last year we went to Kauai and flew home on Christmas night.

With no small children, family vacations make for great Christmas memories, but I didn't realize how much I love Christmas until I began decorating this year.

Even though we were going away, I always decorated a little, but for 10 years, there was no Christmas tree and the ornaments sat forgotten in the attic.

 As I gathered ornaments together for the tree, I realized that they were not just ornaments, but memories.

If I was going to start fresh with tree ornaments, I would go out and buy more of these glass balls I recently purchased at the Restoration Hardware outlet.

Or, more metal pieces like this wonderful star I found at a cute boutique on Main Street.

While decorating the tree yesterday, I was glad that KC was in the kitchen baking and Steve was putting up the lights because tears came to my eyes frequently.

My ornaments are old and out of fashion, but they bring to mind so many Christmases and people who are no longer in our lives.

For several years I was into little wooden ornaments - the clown and boat are handmade and purchased by my father at a neighborhood Christmas boutique.

We are a family of tennis players so my mother had one of her friends make me the tennis racket themed ornaments.

I made many cloth ornaments in the 80s - the wreath evoked sweet memories because it was made by a very special friend who was not known for being creative.

I made the stocking on the left in a pottery class 35 years ago and the stained glass stocking was a gift from a student (who is no longer living ) in my very first pre-school class.

I bought this ornament on a 3 generational family vacation to visit relatives in Norway.

My college roommate and her family came to visit for Christmas one year and brought these "cook" ornaments (our last name is Cook).

For years I collected rocking horses (one of the collections I gave away when we downsized) and my mother always found rocking horses for the tree.

I remember buying these cat ornaments when we had our cats Eddie and Sadie because they reflected each cat's personality.

After decorating the tree, I realized that as beautiful as the glass balls and metal star are, they hold no memories for me or my family.

They might be old and outdated, but I am loving looking at all the memories hanging on our Christmas tree.

I have some free time today so I might just head to my creative space (the garage) and create some more memories of Christmas 2013 to hang on the tree.

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Join me at these parties

Must Love Junk  - Creating Christmas 

Knick of Time - Vintage Inspiration Party

Our Home Away From Home - Tuesdays At Our Home

Elizabeth and Co. - Be Inspired

Cozy Little House - Tweak It Tuesday

Kathe With An E - You're Gonna Love It