I remember my first married Christmas. I was nineteen, and Jim and I had just bought our first house. We had a big, live tree, with handmade decorations and tiny white lights. Many of them were made with salt dough and cookie cutters, and then painted. Patchwork styrofoam balls with modpodged fabric were popular then. I think I actually strung popcorn and cranberries for it too. We hardly had any furniture. I remember arranging tv trays in the corners to look like tables.
Obviously, times have changed. Over the years, I collected a lot of decorations. Most of them were still handmade or gifts from friends.I have always decorated for Christmas, but not with a lot of sparkle. I have never had a themed tree, or one with a color scheme different than traditional holiday hues. No life sized Santas or light up reindeers for me. I think the wildest I ever got was my Christmas village. It was actually made from several different villages, using only my favorite pieces. I've never wanted things to match too much.
I put most of my decorations away a few years ago, and didn't open the boxes again for quite a while. I had a small tree for me, with paper decorations cut from antique books. I let the youngest grands decorate their own little trees. Most of the ornaments have been in storage, along with our original Christmas stockings. I didn't start listening to holiday music again until last year. But now, I am living through my own winter thaw. It is so good to be enjoying Christmas again.
It's been several years since I have lived in a real house. As a fraternity House Mom, I had one rule: it must not be breakable. It was a good rule.
Now I am living a new life,and it's one I didn't count on happening for me. Especially at the age of seventy. I am in a house again, and decorating for a merry, happy Christmas. We are watching Christmas movies again. We are looking at the lights and drinking hot chocolate. We are discussing the merits of tiny white fairy lights versus big colorful bulbs. (The bulbs won). We even have bubble lights on our tree! (I hadn't seen them since my childhood!) I don't think I went overboard with the decorating, because, in truth, we are still putting things away, and trying to decide what goes where. And we are blending his and mine. Some of my favorites, some of his, and new ones that we have acquired together. Our styles don't always meld, but that is to be expected, since we each have each lived over 50 years with all our "stuff". We have too much furniture, and are still trying to make it look like it belongs together. We will probably be "a work in progress" for the rest of our lives, but that's okay.
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| "John's Morning Routine" painted by his son My favorite cupboard Large Crochet Stocking |
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| Santas and Trees and Subtle Lights |
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| More Trees and Handmade Garlands And Gifts From Friends |
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| Portion of John's SnowGlobe Collection |
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| My Advent Lighthouse |
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| Our Library |
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| Another View of "The Library" More Bookcases Unseen |
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| My Favorite, Favorite Bookcase Finally Out of Storage |
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| John and Sandi's First Tree Together Ornaments from Clear Lake and Laramie And Our Wedding Decorations |
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| "Just Married" The Beginning |
