Christmas Memories and Ideas from the Past

I am not hosting Thanksgiving this year.  We are actually traveling about two hours to Cape Cod to take my mom, who is not able to travel as well as she used to, out for Thanksgiving dinner.  Two of my children and their families have kindly agreed to travel down with us, which is so wonderful of them.  You have no idea!  Amanda and her family will be celebrating with her in-laws, whom Tom and I love so, we wish them a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Since I am not cooking a Thanksgiving turkey and didn't need to keep my home decorated for this holiday, I have been focusing on Christmas for the last week and a half.  The decorating is not totally done but, I think I have a good handle on it, which is great because I am co-hosting a holiday wreath workshop for 50 people next week!

Since I had Christmas on the brain, I wanted to share some memories and Christmas ideas with you from seasons past.  I thought now was as good a time as any :).  I hope you will enjoy it~

One of my favorite Christmas memories actually came after Christmas when my husband and I traveled to Quebec City on New Year's Day a few years ago.  It was a horrible ride because we had to drive through a terrible snowstorm immediately after entering Canada.  Once we got to the city, however, it was a winter wonderland!  It was freezing but walking around the city after the new fallen snow was tranquil and beautiful and one of my most treasured Christmas memories.

My husband had made reservations at the famous Chateau Frontenac where they had lavishly decorated for Christmas.  Here are some images from the hotel lobby.

The floral design was exquisite.




The lobby was lined with decorated Christmas trees.  I believe there had been a local competition of some kind.  Each tree was decorated by a different organization.  The result was so, so festive!



Back at home, I always decorate and decorate and decorate for Christmas.  The pictures of my work aren't always the best.  I think it is the lighting in the house but, I'd like to share a few ideas and memories with you, anyway.

This is the back view of our home.  We always line the railing of the deck with white lights and I love how our neighbors can see our tree all lit up from the large windows in our living room.  I don't think you can ever have too many lights at Christmas.  That's what I always tell my husband who often is the one who has to do most of the work on the outside of the house. He's not always thrilled with my thoughts on the subject :).

Even my shed gets a make-over during the holidays.  I am thinking a few more lights are in order this year.  Don't you?

Speaking of lights, I took this photo at a Pottery Barn store last year or the year before and I have always wanted to copy this idea. I think it would look great over the dining table.  One of these days I will get around to doing it. I think the stringing of the lights would be fairly easy.  For me, getting the power source to the lights would be the tricky part, however.  What a clever idea from Pottery Barn!



I know that I very rarely share photos of myself or my family.  Mostly because I don't like photos of myself and I am trying to protect my family's privacy but, I found a few of past memories and I thought I would share them with you today.

This photo was four years ago when some of my family traveled to North Conway, New Hampshire together.  This photo was take at The Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, NH.  We were enjoying an afternoon snack in the vast lobby of the hotel.  I was the one taking the picture.  I managed to stay out of this photo :) but everyone else looks great!




These photos were taken the year that I decided to decorate the outside entry of my home in a more natural way, simply using various green tones and a few pine cones.





I did add a red plaid bow, however, to the wreath.  This was one of my favorite wreaths of all time.



In other years, I decorated in the colors of the season~





I guess I like this wreath too!



Another personal Christmas memory I have was a few years ago when my son-in-law, Eric, (not pictured here) gave us tickets that included backstage privileges like snacks and beverages to the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Massachusetts.  We took some of the grandkids to see A Christmas Carol.  I somehow gave permission to get my picture taken in this one.  Haha!



This is a photo my daughter took of my living room tree some years back.  I have always loved it so why not share it?

I pretty much decorate the family room Christmas tree the same way every year.  I have a theme going and usually add a few new ornaments to the tree each year.  The theme is a "Cabin in the Woods", which isn't that far off from how we live since I have seen deer, bear, fisher cats and various little animals in my yard and we do kind of live in the woods :).

Sometimes I change the other elements in the room just a little~

For those of you who know me, I pretty much decorate everywhere in my house.  A case in point is this basket in one of my bathrooms :).

Last year I had an over-abundance of greens (thanks to a greens garland workshop I did last year) so, I decorated the front hall table with some of the greens.  I also opened the draw slightly and filled it with ornaments and faux fur.

  All you need for this basket look is a bow, some fake greenery and a string of lights and you've decorated another spot in your home and given it light!

Time for another personal memory~

I am not sure if this was around Christmas or not but, I love this photo of my daughter, Amanda, with three of her four children and my daughter, Brittany's son.  He is sitting on Amanda's lap.

Unfortunately, my son-in-law, Eric, didn't make it into my family photos this time but, I will be sure to include him in the next.

Last year I made an assortment of cornstarch ornaments for the family.  I had so much fun doing that.  If you would like to see how to make cornstarch ornaments, you may see it here.

I always decorate the set of shelves in my kitchen also.  I have so many knick-knacks that I have collected over the years that it is not hard to do.

See what I mean!  I own a lot of Christmas dishes.

I also love to decorate presents~

I often use floral or other decorative picks and ribbon I have purchased on a super-sale close to Christmas and buy fancy tags to finish off the look.

I decorated this gingerbread village using a miniature kit I found at a discount store after Christmas one year~

I used animal crackers for the farm animals and wafer cookies for the fence.

If you would like to see the whole story, you may see it here.

And, daughter Brittany loves decorating cookies.  These were some of the first ones she made.  She now has a thriving side business (she is a kindergarten teacher by day).  She makes all sorts of beautiful and yummy cookies for all sorts of holidays and occasions  You can look at her lovely cookies here on Instagram, if you'd like.

Well, that's all I have to share for today.  I will be offering new ideas and thoughts in the weeks to come but, until then, I hope you enjoy every minute of the holiday season that, if it hasn't already started for you, will be starting for sure tomorrow!

****I have not been compensated in anyway for this post.

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