My daughter and I have started the tradition of taking one of those holiday tours of homes each year. Last year I came home with many decorating ideas and I waited a whole year to implement them! One thing I saw in several homes were themed collections on shelves in kitchens, made into little vignettes. I always tend to lean towards decorations that emphasize whatever aspect of nature is connected to the holiday (Easter: eggs, St. Patrick’s Day: shamrocks, Thanksgiving: turkeys, Halloween: pumpkins). It was time to expand my Christmas decorations. I hit on polar bears and became obsessed. So far, I’ve only bought two, but am hoping Santa might add to my collection. I love the ones that are mostly faceless – I’ve never been a fan of anthropomorphic faces on animals. These polar bears found their way into my cart at TJ Maxx and HomeGoods for under $10 each. I put them on the shelf above the window over the sink, added some silvery and ivory beaded garland, some cheap plastic stars from Walmart, and some berries from Michael’s to match my kitchen blue theme.  I’m happy to have the polar bears keeping me company in the kitchen. What Christmas collections do you have?

My daughter and I have started the tradition of taking one of those holiday tours of homes each year. Last year I came home with many decorating ideas and I waited a whole year to implement them! One thing I saw in several homes were themed collections on shelves in kitchens, made into little vignettes. … Read more →

In addition to the new decorations, which I shared earlier, my existing collections have undergone some changes, mostly because last year I received some new items for them as gifts and did not display them until this year.

In case you haven’t gotten the hint, I’ve got a thing for trees, and I’ve also got a thing for pink. I’ve been working hard to update my collections to reflect those obsessions!

We have a huge mantel to decorate for the holidays, and I used to struggle because it needed height. My collection of tree toppers has solved that problem. They look wonderful grouped in front of the mirror. Last year we added some new pre-lit garland and I found two boxes of this amazing pink garland at an antique store that has made it gorgeous. This year I added some clip-on pink roses that have shiny ice or dewdrops on them. I think the mantel is looking fabulous. I would like to add a few more pink tree toppers to complete the collection.

I have a wonderful little collection of trees that sits on my grandmother’s chest in my dining room. That collection has been expanding as well and I received some beautiful ones to add to it last year. At this point, the chest is full, so unless I find something fabulous, I will need to put the brakes on this collection!

In my quest to update the dining room, I created this little display on a side chest as well. And my teacup collection has been changing as well. My grandmother bought me one teacup each year for my December birthday. When I was a child, it was a pretty horrible gift. I didn’t drink tea, I didn’t like them and didn’t care. As an adult, I still don’t really drink a lot of tea (and when I do, I prefer a mug to a tiny cup!), but I do like having a collection she started for me. One problem is most Christmas china tea cups are red. And, as I mentioned, I don’t do red, I do pink (I do have red in the kitchen, where it looks fine with the blue theme, and I have cranberry in the family room). My challenge in recent years has been to find cups that are Christmas, but are pink (or at least not red). My mom had a couple handpainted for me, which added to the collection. As you can see, I’m still working on getting the red out (so to speak!).

In addition to the new decorations, which I shared earlier, my existing collections have undergone some changes, mostly because last year I received some new items for them as gifts and did not display them until this year. In case you haven’t gotten the hint, I’ve got a thing for trees, and I’ve also got … Read more →