Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! The photo above was taken in 2004 when we had a White Day-after-Christmas. Here's hoping this will be a White Christmas - the weatherman says it's a possibility! Our house was built in 1883 and we are restoring it back to the 1883 look. The exterior is painted in the original colors.

All of the wallpaper in our house is from Bradford & Co. which produces authentic reproduction Victorian patterns.

Step into the foyer


The marble-topped turtle table was my great-grandmother's which I inherited from my grandmother. We fill the epergne with fruit and greenery for Christmas. The staircase  has a garland of faux holly adorning it.

Here is a dresser which we use as a hall tree all decked out.



Farther back in the foyer, the top of a cabinet has a winter village on it.



Stepping into the parlor, watch out...



You are under the mistletoe!



On the tea table in front of the sofa is one of my favorite Christmas tea sets.





Santas and Sleighs decorate the parlor mantle



And in the bay window is our Christmas tree. It is always a production putting up the tree. This year it fell after it was decorated, but luckily no ornaments were damaged.



Next is the Billiards Room which we use as a Family Room



Here is a close-up of the mantle.



The small room off the Billiards Room





Then the Dining Room





The tea cart in the Dining Room is full of snowmen.



The smaller buffet has some Christmas tea sets.



The sunroom in the back of the house has the Village of Bethlehem. Lots of people have a creche, but we have the whole village, complete with a desert!






Next is my husband's favorite room. Since he is a military history buff, we decorate the library with nutcrackers.







Merry Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!

Jewel's Jeweled Fruit Christmas

I haven't had time to change the table this week, so I am "recycling" a table from last Christmas. The fruit decorations from Michaels last year were called Jeweled Fruit, so I thought that it would be a fitting name for the tablescape!






My centerpiece is some red and gold berries in my silver wine cooler.



My china is Christmas Tree Grove by Spode. I feel in love with this pattern several years ago. The colors really fit my Victorian house and wallpaper.



On the Dining Room Mantle is a white creche surrounded by more red berries and acrylic jewels with little Christmas trees in urns.





 I am linking to Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday. Merry Christmas!

Nutcracker "Sweet" Tablescape

This weekend I went with my younger daughter and her friend to our local ballet performance of The Nutcracker. I thought a tablescape inspired by this music and ballet would be fun!



I started with a white tablecloth and added a nutcracker runner on it. I draped some faux candy garlands down the length of the table ( the Land of Sweets).



I chose one of our nutcrackers with a light burgundy coat to ride in the sleigh for the centerpiece. The sleigh is resting on a silver snowflake wreath ( The Waltz of the Snowflakes) and some cheesecloth. I was trying to represent not only snow and the dreamy quality of the story. I filled the inside of the sleigh with peppermints and some faux candy picks.



At each place I used my square beaded platinum chargers from Target topped by a gold plastic chargers. My china is Canton by Royal Doulton which is covered in pink peonies (The Waltz of the Flowers) and goes well with the pink accents throughout. I used clear acrylic handled flatware for an icy feel and one pattern of stemware with gold and silver accents and the other with a faceted look. I used pink napkins and metallic gold napkin rings with a faux candy pick placed in each. I also used mini nutcracker place card holders.





I surrounded the centerpiece sleigh with various glass tree toppers.





On the mantle in the dining room, I used nutcrackers from Target to continue the theme. These I had to buy, but all the elements on the table were from "shopping my house."

The Nutcracker faces the Mouse King



Clara & Herr Drosselmeyer look on surrounded by snowflakes and candy.



I hope you enjoyed my Nutcracker "Sweet" tablescape and will visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday!