Welcome To Our Cottage Christmas!

I would first of all like to thank Heather at Pretty Petals blog for hosting this Christmas blog party!! There are many ladies out there in blog land who are participating so click here to find all of the Christmas open houses!! 12/17: Addendum:...AND check out Kimba's open house party that started on December 16th!! I just found out about it today (12/17) but stop by to see allll of the wonderful holiday homes she has linked!! Amazing fun and so many great ideas! Thank you Kimba and Heather!!

Welcome to our little home! Christmas is our favorite time of year and we love decorating and making things look festive and cozy. Grab your favorite hot drink, relax, kick up your feet and come on in for a stroll.

This is our living room with our big Christmas tree that is decorated with mostly white, silver and gold touches. Notice no packages? Ahem...that is because Santa is on his way!
Our entryway table is decorated with a woodland theme this year. I like to change it up each year and decided that a little feather tree would be fun to do up with old ornaments - and some that look old.

A metal deer hangs over our entry way mirror and I just tucked in some pine boughs with pinecones on each side of him.
I put the base of the feather tree in an old white matte vase and added some rocks to weigh it down and then topped it off with pinecones and acorns - oh, and some little plastic deer, too.

My favorite old ornaments are the little bells and birds. You can find them at flea markets or estate sales for next to nothing.

Every woodland tree MUST have a squirrel!!

Hey Rudolph, shouldn't you be gearing up for the big delivery?

An old silver tray makes a good base for displaying these little squirrel friends. Just add some faux snow (from JoAnn's) and a few pine cones and it looks like they are right at home.

I like to have displays at different heights so I just used some old books that are Christmas colors.

I found this old silver challis with holly and berries this year and put a little bottle brush Christmas tree inside.

One of my favorite collections are these little vintage gnomes. My mother had some like these when I was a child and they remind me of the time I spent playing with hers.....

....and little did I KNOW that she had given hers to my little brother.!! But...but...those ARE my favorites!!! How could she?! (I am laughing really)....so I went out and found my own, thank you very much!

I display them in a cabin style shelf that has fun plaid fabric.

We have a "family" tree that is loaded with the boys' ornaments that we have collected for them over the years. Some of you asked if I use the yo yo wreaths that I made for our first Christmas tree....and there they are!

I collect Santas and have a few of my favorite pieces out this year.

This is an antique German flask that is one of my very favorite pieces of all. My mother gave it to me years ago - and yea, it was empty. hiccup!

More of these jolly gnomes that always make me smile!

This woodland like Santa is perched on a glass pedestal. I added some sea salt for snow and my favorite little pinecones that look like flowers.

I made this counted cross stitch piece years ago and enjoy displaying it every year.

This tall Santa was a gift from my father and his girlfriend. They found this jolly Santa on a trip to Oregon many years back. I love his boiled wool coat!!

Now come along into our den. Here you will find most of our vintage Christmas goodies

and plenty of smiling little faces that could cheer anyone up. If my day needs a little giggle in it I go in and visit my knee hugger guys. So that this friendly group had a place to rest their legs, I used a clay flower pot to put the Christmas tree in. Just weigh it down with some big rocks from the yard and voila - a sturdy tree vessel!! Just make sure there aren't any slugs under your rocks before you bring the rocks inside! ;) ...ewww!

For more Christmas color and a little texture for the display I used a vintage linen tablecloth that has wonderful cross stitch red roses on it.

The tree has some more little elves and some other vintage ornies as well.

I picked this cutie patootie up at my friend Debbies's shop, Sweet Pea, in San Juan Bautista.

L-O-V-E Christmas time!!

I know I have shared these pics already, but here is the whole room.

Little metal scotties await a present be placed under their tree...

...and our white hall tree with some Christmas touches.

I Y gnomes!

The little girl with the snowball is an old chalkware piece. She is just precious!

Around the corner from the hall tree is our half bath. I decorated my favorite white shelf with glitter house and trees. A little silver urn holds a bottle brush tree.

As you will see, there is another silver tray with more faux snow. One just cannot have enough silver trays for displaying things on!

Though I have no clue who these adorable children are I still have them on my shelf all year long. Their coats and hats are too cute!

A favorite crewel embroidered snowy cottage picture sits on a side table. Oh no, a bear! Stay inside everyone!

Our house is very small and this is our main room that we spend all of our time in. My favorite time of day is in the evening when we have all of our lights on and are together watching a good movie - or CSI - or Navy NCIS - or The Mentalist.....or maybe catching a few winks under a cozy warm blanket.

These glitter santas line the mantel over our fireplace. The glitter twinkles nicely with the little lights that are on the garland.

One of my traditions is to purchase a santa each year. I found this old metal Belsnickle this year at a wonderful antique sale.

Many years ago my friend Marsha made this Merry Christmas sign and gave it to me for my Christmas present. Each year I display it somewhere in our home.

Thank you for stopping by!

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas!!!!

Blessings to all!!!