Category: WINTER

Sleigh Ride

After a year of trying to catch up with life (broken leg in January, parathyroid surgery in July, huge undertaking for Lumagen at CEDIA in September), I was still behind on organization and not enough time for seasonal decor. To catch-up, I re-used the Bee Happy look for Spring and Summer, skipped the Fall decor… Continue reading Sleigh Ride

Carnaval de Paris

For our annual Mardi Gras soirée, we “travelled to Paris” and put a spin on it with a secondary theme of Phantom of the Opera! Before getting to the decor and party details, I need to share how this year’s Mardi Gras was very different for me. In early January, I took down the Christmas… Continue reading Carnaval de Paris

Chic Chalet Christmas

The overall theme features black, white, silver, and buffalo check, with florals, trees, snowballs, snowflakes, and various ski and winter sport items: skis, ice skates, hockey skates, snow shoes, chair lifts, sleds, and sleighs. This theme often tends to go more rustic, but I wanted it to be elegant to better fit my home and… Continue reading Chic Chalet Christmas

Proud as a Peacock

I usually enjoy my Christmas decor for an additional week after the New Year and then take it all down. I then decorate for our annual February formal dinner party. Each year I choose a country to focus the theme on their Mardi Gras traditions, food, wine, and music. For an example, see my previous… Continue reading Proud as a Peacock

God Bless Us Everyone

I started the tradition of the Dickens Village in the early 90’s with one building, the church. Each year, I and the kids would choose one more building to add. The kids enjoyed the village so much, their Oma (grandmother) would help them buy the people as gifts for me, and the village scene started… Continue reading God Bless Us Everyone

Peppermint Parlor

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around my house! I have been preparing for this year’s whimsical theme for quite some time, so it is exciting to finally see it up! I originally decided to do Elves and Candy, thinking everything would be red and green. As I started looking and shopping, I… Continue reading Peppermint Parlor

Fasching

Known as Carnival around the world, “Fasching” is German for the winter celebration. It is the time before the Christian season of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday and is a period of preparation for Easter Sunday. Until about 100 years ago, Fasching started on January 6th (Epiphany). These days, the official start of Fasching… Continue reading Fasching

Christmas Unwind

As much fun as it was to decorate and celebrate, the inevitable always happens…..Christmas decor must come down. It goes faster taking things down than putting them up, but the excitement and thrill of the season is definitely missing. To keep it more interesting, I took inventory of everything I used to give you an… Continue reading Christmas Unwind

A Christmas Tradition

I started this Dept 56 collection when I returned to the USA from living in Austria in 1991. It started with just the church building. Over the years, the collection grew. One year I was able to take advantage of a shop owner retiring and selling, at a great discount, all of their display accessories,… Continue reading A Christmas Tradition

I’ll have a Blue Christmas Part 2

In Part 1, I shared how I established the theme and decorated the Dining room. To carry the theme of Blue, Gold, and Angels to the rest of the house, I start in the Great room. I adorn the fireplace mantel similarly to the Dining room, but with some variations. A small canvas of the… Continue reading I’ll have a Blue Christmas Part 2

I’ll have a Blue Christmas Part 1

Tired of Red and Green Christmas? Time to try Blue! Over the years I have done different themes using blue as the color. The tendency is to mix blue with white or silver for a cool (as in temperature or color wheel) winter look. This year I wanted the color to evoke a rich, elegant,… Continue reading I’ll have a Blue Christmas Part 1

Fresh Cut or Artificial Christmas Tree?

Which tree should you get – fresh cut or artificial? Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, my answer used to be an immediate “absolutely fresh cut” tree for Christmas. It was what I had known my entire life and you could look around and find a Christmas tree farm not too far away. There is… Continue reading Fresh Cut or Artificial Christmas Tree?