It occurred to me that with all the hustle and bustle in December, I never took the time to take you guys on a tour of my holiday decorations. Last year they weren’t that much to look at on account of the recent move, but this year they were pretty swank (if I do say so myself). Of course, I was too busy putting them up to stand back and take a picture or two. Typical.
So now, just as I’m preparing to take them down this weekend, I thought I’d walk around and take some pictures while I still can. Better late than never, right?
I get that not everybody is into the traditional ‘twelve days’ of Christmas. So if you are long past drained of holiday spirit, this post may not interest you. See you Monday. For everyone else, read on…
 |
|
| Are you noticing a theme on this one? It’s birds. I have three trees covered with birds, feathers and birds. And a few balls for color. Did I mention the birds? |
 |
| Someone once told me that peacocks are a traditional Christmas motif in Mexico. So I went heavy on peacocks for a couple of years. Then I asked a Mexican for the story behind the peacock and they looked at me like I had three heads. Apparently it is not a thing. Peacocks just look good on Christmas trees.I accept that. |
 |
|
| The pink tree on the left, and the peacock tree on the right. |
 |
| My Aunt Cake and I have the same tree toppers — peacocks. She has one on her tree because they have a wild peacock living on their property. For real. They feed him cheerios and cat food. I have one on my tree because I like him. And because the hippopotamus tree topper was too heavy. (This is the part where I am supposed to link to the tutorial on how I made him, but it appears Mod Cloth took it off their site. Maybe I’ll do another next year. |
 |
|
| There is The Old Tomato wreath on the right and a smaller one on the left hung over the mirror. I like hanging wreaths on top of mirrors. It makes them seem more dignified. More purposeful. Or something. |
 |
| This is a little vintage wax wreath I keep on top of the medicine cabinet mirror in the bathroom. You can still see around it enough to check for spinach in your teeth, and the wax makes it easy to spray down and clean at the end of the season. I wish wax wreaths hadn’t fallen out of favor. They are my favorite. Especially when spray painted gold. Man, I love that. |
 |
| The chandelier in the living room steals the show, although, this picture is from November. It looks even better now. Aunt Nancy gave me a box of 1940’s hot pink and glitter mercury glass balls for Christmas. I split them between the pink tree and the chandelier. Now I come home and put the dimmer lights on low and just stare at it for ages. Would it be weird if I kept it like this all year? Do I care? |
 |
| Did I mention I like pink? |
 |
| The pink tree and the pajaki chandelier compete a little. I’m okay with it though. They need to learn to get along. |
 |
|
| The black and white tree skirt is an actual skirt I get to wear often enough, so ‘m glad the pink tree is having a good time with it. |
And that’s it. At least, what I could photograph today. My house is in a post-vacation state of chaos right now and not everything needs to be on camera if you know what I mean (notice the lack of floors seen in this post). Sigh, how the mighty will fall.
Beautiful! Can’t wait until December!
Love it. I decorated one of trees with birds and snowflakes this year. I’ve decided to keep it up a bit longer because it looks like “winter” to me.
lovely, pinned your chandelier, crazy about that! I too did not get to post my Christmas stuff, December was full of Company, illness, and undo stress! Thanks for the inspire! I was thinking of still sharing my Xmas stuff! We all do love Christmas! My theme was also birds, well until I had to take that tree down and do a table top one due to our Bengal Cat!
if there is a single human alive that could make that classy and fun, it would definitely be you…
Good catch 🙂
That would be the thing, right?! Next Christmas…sparkly afterbirth. Woot!
Last night I was doing this too, I took my camera and finally took a couple of good pictures of my trees, I haven’t had time and the house was a mess. I also bought 5 more ornaments for the tree right after new year’s, I want to keep them all year on my living room
thank you for the morning happy!!! its .all.good.
Love all your goodies your so talented! Thanks for sharing!
Man-oh-man, tell me about it! Taking it down is the worst. The fact that we are expected to take it all down just when the shopping getin’ is good, is just plain cruel. How can I buy a spectacular flamingo ornament at 80% off and not let her hang on the tree for a couple of weeks. It’s cruel!
you have a tree covered in births?
Good question, I don’t know. But to tell you the truth, I think ‘mercury ball’ has become a colloquialism for all those colored glass balls that break so easily. Most are not real mercury glass but it’s not like there are many uses for that sort of thin/fragile glass….so calling it by it’s appearance just makes good sense to me. (I’m sure some purists will say otherwise, though). To each their own 🙂
Ps. How do you tell if old glass bulbs are really mercury glass?
This cheered me up a bit; I’m sitting in the chaos of my half-down decorations feeling overwhelmed. (Why do I find it necessary to have this many different color options? And why did I buy more stuff on clearance?)
Is Lola a very calm and well-behaved cat? I only get to put up a tiny 2-foot tree on top of my highest bookcase because of my cat. If I had decorations like yours I could imagine Chai ripping down the pajaki and shimming up all three trees. And launching himself at the wreathes. And… One of my friends posted a picture of her tree today with a lovely metal leaf ornament I gave her a few years ago. Which reminded me I had one too, until Chai chewed it up. Sigh. I love all your bird ornaments; I have a lot of bird decorations, too. And I like your bubble lights; we had those when I was a kid.
The peacock on top is beautiful. Each year my husband and I come up with a different tree topper. I’m going to keep the peacock in my idea book. Have you ever dipped your origami birds in plasti-dip? They become non-crushable ornaments and besides that it so much fun!!
Chris =]
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! I love nature and birds, so to bring it all inside is fabulous! My mother has mercury bulbs from when she was a kid and always puts those on the tree last at our tree trimming party. There are only a few left, unfortunately since all the others have broken, but she seems to enjoy it. I agree your chandelier is magnificent, but I know you will find another way to decorate it for the next holiday. Looking forward to that!!! Thanks for sharing.
Wow…your decorations are gorgeous! I think if I had trees that pretty I’d find an excuse to leave them up for the duration of winter 🙂
Saratoga is definitely Upstate New York!
Your house is making me want to un-learn my minimalist tendencies.
Oh my …. Oh my goodness…. this is absoluteley the most beautiful and awesome Christmas tree & decoration I´ve ever seen in my whole intire life…. ahhhhhh…. such a love for details…. It must have took ages to build everything up…. if I were in your shoes I would let everything forever there where it is… hahhahahhaaaa…. absolutly gorgeous! Hug from Germany, Jutta
Wow! Just fabulous!
Lovely! You have more tree exuberance than anyone I know! Leave the ornaments on the living room chandelier for a while. They look nice. I found a way to age glass balls. Will have to try it sometime. Got a sock monkey at Walgreen’s for $1.35!
I mean… this is just everything ever that I love! Even in January! Love and covet it all, totally stealing your dove xmas tree topper for next year. <3