Christmas 2011 Family scrapbook

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through our house, 

I was getting ready to host our family party.

Before most of the gang arrived, 

I took a few minutes to snap pics of the house with my iPhone. 

The kitchen chandelier had icicles and 

snow flakes hanging from it's wire frame,

a glass of proseco waits on the hostess to get back to her cooking duties.

I had prepared a lasagna with homemade sauce, 

a honeybaked ham, aspargus and pototoes,

delicious homemade coleslaw and a big tossed salad.

Tiny light whites made the room feel magical.

Our stockings were hung by the chimney with care!

 My mom knits all the christmas stockings for the family, 

with the exception of the original 5 stockings for me and my 4 siblings, 

which were knitted by my grandmother.

 Hubs put a dimmer switch on my chandy for me earlier in the day~

it looked so pretty with its blue opaline drops, 

an early xmas gift from my blog reader Betsy!

 This blurry picture shows all of the stockings that St. Nick must fill before morning.

 A rare appearance in the kitchen by Mr. Maison Decor~haha!

 My sons, Brandon and Colin with me and Brandon's girlfriend Mimi.  

Mimi wears a Santa hat every year to our party!

 I spent a lot of the first half of Christmas eve in the kitchen~

 At the sink with my sister Ellen.  

Ellen is wearing a pretty beaded sweater I bought for her~

I loved that it is beaded on the back as well as the front.  

 Lots of picture taking was going on all night long~

I have lots of blurry pictures,

 but this wasn't the time for staging pics. 

 Here Ellen takes a shot of my little brother Brian

 working on the mashed potatoes, 

with my son Colin assisting.

 Mother and son having a good time taking a self portrait!

Brother and sister share a moment over the stove.

  You can see the mosaic transferware creamer night light

 in the mini hutch that I asked Penny to create for me. 

I love how it brings some life the shelf at night.

With my brother in law, Mike, I am modeling 

a blingy cuff bracelet gift with tags attached 

and a new gold pashmina from my exhubs!  

There was lots to eat and drink~ 

Colin with his Dad in the dining room.

and before we knew it the evening was over.

It was Christmas morning! 

Hubs took this pic of Colin in his new robe 

and me in my new pajamas with the dogs by our sides.  

The kids opened more gifts that Santa

 brought and the hectic holiday subsided into calm.

With me in my new cap (from Colin) perched on the top of my head 

 I stole a Christmas nap on the couch. 

The rest of my day was so nice and relaxing~

I spent the entire day with my wonderful husband, my best friend. 

The perfect gift. 

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Christmas Wishes

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Oh my!  

Do I have time to paint my walls raspberry pink and put in white carpeting before my party on Christmas Eve? And then  rip off my silver bows and make big pink ones?!  I guess not.  I will just have to have this entryway virtually, which I think is just fabulous!!  And on that note~ Did you see this most incredible hall console?  It could certainly go in my virtual hallway...

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Everything the sisters at Juniper Hill Antiques in CT make at their workshop is to die for.   That silver console with the caning is so beautiful and the way they finished it is simply AMAZING!  Just wanted to share this before...

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I wish all of my friends, followers and blog readers

 a very Merry Christmas~

I will be spending this time with family and friends~

making merry and reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas.

Wishing for a happier and more peaceful world for us all.

I will also be making my goal list for next year~

do you do that?

I think of what I want to create, achieve, and do

 and make a conscious effort to try to do just that in the new year.

I will also be picking the winner of the 

Shabby Chic Soho samples right after Christmas,

so if you would like to enter visit here.

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A linen slipcover for Christmas

 Just like everybody else, 

I am trying to get things ready for Christmas.

  We add a bench to our table to accommodate the extra guests,

 and it has always been a desire of mine to slipcover

 it in a simple style so it blends in with the dining room better.

 Yesterday I took the time to finally get it done. 

 The color is that blue green color which 

is similar to the chairs around the table.

Here is is before in its dark wood and leather finish. 

 I never wanted to paint this bench and so the slipcover 

was my solution to lighten it up and make it a little bit more romantic.

  Voila~it has been transformed with 2.5 yards of linen fabric!

Just in time for Christmas.

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Teacups in Chandeliers!

There is something very Alice in Wonderland about teacups dangling from a chandelier.  Everytime I see a chandy decked out in teacups I love how whimsical it looks and think to myself, copy this idea Amy!
Helen is a lovely blog reader I have come to know from her little notes she sends when she reads a post she relates to~she is 72 and lives in Missouri and she told me she hangs teacups from her chandelier! Well, I had to see pictures and Helen sent me these.

I loved the idea that in 20 more years I could still be hanging things like teacups from my chandeliers like Helen!  She said she has loved pretty things as long as she can remember. Me too, Helen! She inspired me to hang my pink lusterware teacups from my dining room chandelier.

 My pink teacups are mixed in with Christmas ornaments of all types and happily dangle above the table.

 Call the Mad Hatter and Santa and lets have a sit down!!

Of course I was inspired by this fantastic wire chandy decorated with dangling teacups too!  It belongs to another blog reader, Betsy. She hung pitchers and creamers from sheer pink ribbons! **Squeal** If you missed her pretty house decorated for Christmas you can check it out by clicking here.

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This is one beautiful version of a teacup chandy made by Janet at Shabby Fufu! Elegant and ladylike in all its delicate patterns and petal pink ribbons.

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This is totally shabby chic and maybe after Christmas I will fine tune my chandy to look like a poor cousin to this one.  Janet sells these chandeliers~just a hint for anyone looking for a nice Christmas present to themselves!

The Christmas countdown continues~I should be wrapping and shopping and baking...but I am still decorating!! With all the inspiration coming my way through blogland and pinterest I can't help it!  How about you?

Partying at:

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Finally~Our Tree!

Better late than never is such a great saying~
and this case it applies to our Christmas Tree. 

 We finally got the tree up this weekend, 

and it was Sunday afternoon, not Saturday like we thought because 

we had a hockey game for the little one and then

 he was performing in a kids theatre production 

with two shows on Saturday at 3 and 6 pm.  

By the time we rolled in the door after 8 

there wasn't much enthusiasm for putting up the tree.

 Then came Sunday morning.... 

we had waited to have Colin home from school

 and time it with our little guy being here too to put up the tree,

 but now  they both had homework to take care

 of before we could decorate the tree.  

It seemed like one delay after another. 

Would the tree ever get up? 

 While they worked side by side at the dining room table,

( which really was a cute sight after not having them here together for months~)

I got busy making a corn chowder I found on Susan Branch's blog.

She is a famous cookbook author and she lives on Martha's Vineyard~

the same place where my parents live. 

Her blog is on my sidebar if you would like to visit her.

Yum~anything cooked with bacon is always good, right? 

The weather was finally getting cold, and the 

corn chowder would make a nice lunch after we finished the tree. 

Yes!! It did get up!!

 So come on into the living room and check it out.

Everyone helped piling on the ornaments with no plan, 

just me telling them to not put the same colors side by side. 

 Honestly, I was just happy it was decorated!!

 More vintage ornaments joined the party on the living room chandelier too.

 Woah~it is the time of year that this room

feels like it has shrunk a size or two.  

There won't be any dancing in this room!

And since we have a Christmas Eve party,

I have to have as much seating as possible

 so I squeeze in chairs where ever I can.

 Pink trees and putz houses and vintage balls decorate the piano corner~

 The dining room chest has the feather tree on it with

 the same pinks and blues used throughout the living room.

 I save all of my favorite christmas cards and use them for decorations each year.

 They are seasonal works of art.

 Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas to all of my blog readers~

wishing for a fun week with no bumps

 in the road as we head towards the finish line!

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