Christmas Decorations

As I mentioned yesterday, we decided not to get a Christmas tree this year, so I put extra effort into all the other holiday decorations.  In addition to the pillows that I showed you yesterday, I also sewed up a tree bunting garland using this tutorial.  

When I saw this tutorial, it immediately reminded me of a Christmas garland that we hang on the mantel at my mom's house every year - my grandmother made it using wallpaper samples cut out in stocking shapes, and it is a very special family heirloom.  So I was very excited about the prospect of making my own special garland, and I love how it turned out!  As I have mentioned, green is my favorite color, so I have quite the stash of green fabrics.  This was a great way to showcase some favorites... some are new favorites, and some are scraps from quilts that I made about ten years ago.  I look forward to using it for years to come.

I also have some pottery displayed on the mantel.  Lately I have had a group of celadon vases out on the mantel, but I switched them out for these copper red glazed vases for halloween and then realized they were also great for fall and Christmas!  My pottery studio had a new glaze this year which reliably gave this copper red color (which is often hard to acheive) so I was very excited about it and made several vases - although the second from the left was a gift which I did not make.

I also have some turquoise/green candlesticks out which I made, they seemed Christmas-y enough to keep so I left them out.

On our coffee table, I put out two of the items that I made in the warm glass class I took last year - the Christmas tree sculpture and the slumped green plate.  I also filled a bowl with decorated glass ornaments that I made a couple years ago.

These ornaments are a quick and fun holiday project - you just buy some colored glass ornaments and a metallic paint pen, then draw designs on the ornaments.  We made a bunch of these the first year we had a real tree to help fill it up a bit, since we didn't have a ton of ornaments yet.

This year we actually have quite a few ornaments, especially with the new ones I made after I won Fa La La La Felt in the giveaway... so I was sad not to get to put them out on the tree.  We decided to hang a few favorites, both new and old, from the chandelier over our dining table.  It doesn't look entirely elegant but we like it!

Finally, we got a Pointsettia plant for our sideboard and we hung our fake evergreen bunting on the railing (we also have a lovely wreath on our front door which was a gift).  So now it certainly feels festive even without a tree!