My 12 Days of Christmas

Day 11 - The Centerpiece

The agony and ecstasy for me!  I want something pretty for the table, but I agonize over putting it together.

I planned ahead and started looking for materials early, and thanks to the encouragement of some talented flower-arranging bloggers [you know who you are!] it went easier.  The vase was Mother's.  It is beautiful glass, but a terrible shape for a beginning flower arranger.

Thanks to lots of greenery ("Otto Lueken", rosemary from the garden, and mystery evergreen) and a few flowers we're in business for the weekend.

Actually, we will talk more about this in a couple of days.

My 12 Days of Christmas

Day 10 - "The Stockings were hung by the chimney with care..."

Stockings were always a big deal in our house - filled with little presents (sometimes of the "big things come in small packages variety"), an orange, a candy cane, and a bag of chocolate coins.

These days we tend to go more for toiletries and maybe a little something for warmth, but still the chocolate coins!

My 12 Days of Christmas

Day 9

Today's a good day to stop and remember our roots.

  

 

Light and miracles.

My 12 Days of Christmas

Day 8 - The Holiday China

There are rites of passage in every family - moving from the children's table to the adult table and being allowed  to eat off the "good china" -  in ours.   [In Southern families the "good china" is still a thing to be revered and passed from generation to generation.]   Getting our own holiday china was one of those milestones for Mitchell and me. 

We inherited some Spode"Christmas Tree" from Mitchell's mother and added a few pieces to have enough to use it for Christmas breakfast, but I really wanted something more "grown up".

I searched and searched - falling in love with a different pattern every year - until I found "Boxwood and Pine".  We use it from Thanksgiving until New Years and for special occasions that pop up in the fall or winter.

It's fun to look forward to using it every year!