Christmas Garland and more

Decorating for Christmas usually involves a tree and ornaments and wreath for the door.  

But I think garland is the most wonderful holiday accessory one can use if you are 

looking for that authentic Christmas feeling in a room.  My doors are in place, the room

was finally ready to be decked out for Christmas.  All I really wanted to do was put 

some roping, or garland, around the frame.  I found a mix of pine and cedar and cut it so

it touched the floor and had a bit of a swag in the center.

Next I took a strand of white lights on green wire which just happened to be the perfect size,

and I wired it in a few place onto the green garland.  The final touch was adding big velvet

ribbons in purple with a gold backing. 

 I left the tails with plenty of length to balance out the scale of the door.

  Simple and beautiful,  now this room feels like Christmas.

 Here are a few inspirational ways to use garland. 
 This cedar garland is draped around the mirror as well as the door, by Mary McDonald. 
 She punctuated the garland with clusters of silver and gold balls.  Look at the image 
in the mirror's reflection showing off another door or window draped in garland.

Designer Tobi Farley used a balsam garland and added clusters 

of citrus fruit in a Williamsburg style of Christmas decor. 

I love the use of fruit in holiday decorating,

its classic and old fashioned, but here it feels so fresh and updated.

Granny green apples and nutcrackers nestle in a bed of greens on this 

antique mantel that I decorated for a Holiday House tour in the town I was born.

I actually started the tour over 20 years ago as a way to make funds for improving 

our downtown, and it makes me proud to see this tour continue to this day.

This isn't a garland, instead a bunch of greens layered on the mantel, giving it a garland effect.

So this post is my way of saying, don't forget the garland!!

You will get a tremendous bang for your decorating buck.  Adding lights

really makes it come alive, and there is nothing prettier than twinkling lights

in a home during the holidays.  

For all of you who love Christmas decorating as well as history

and tradition, consider this wonderful book:

 Christmas at America's Landmark Houses, by Schiffer Publishing.

I was pleased to receive a complementary copy to review and it really

put me in the decorating mood and gave me plenty of great ideas.

Historical homes are featured and decked out to the nines. Tour the honeymoon home of 

Bill and Hilary Clinton, the castle of Edsel Ford, Williamsburg historical homes,

Woodrow Wilson and so many more.   This would make

a perfect gift for anyone you know that loves old houses, America and decorating

for Christmas~like me!

One last thing I am soooo excited to share with everyone....

Our beloved Taylor got her heart!! 

The photo below is from Thanksgiving, with Tay sitting closest to the left.

Both of Justin and Madison's families joined together for Thanksgiving at their

new home.  It was one year ago at Thanksgiving that Taylor went to the hospital with

heart failure.  A few days after Thanksgiving Taylor got the call!

 We are thrilled that her donor heart seems to be a perfect match. 

 Madison updated Taylor's status with this message from the GoFundMe site:

Taylor's new heart is a perfect match- so perfect that the doctors really can't believe it. There are many things that need to be considered in the organ matching process, including blood type, antibodies, body size, and medical history. Taylor and her donor were in perfect alignment. We really don't know anything at all about Taylor's donor, except that on December 2nd, they saved AT LEAST two lives- this was a double procurement, meaning that at least one other organ was taken for a transplant scheduled on that very same night.

There were 16 of us gathered to give thanks.

This was the other table in the room, and this year my parents were joining

us for a rare treat as they have been in Florida for the last 20 years.

My 85 yr young dad is the photographer for these family candids.

Family, love, and health.

Thank you to everybody who has supported Taylor at her GoFundMe site, or has 

sent positive thoughts, best wishes, prayers, notes and cards.

Its going to be a wonderful Christmas in so many ways.