It's time to start thinking about holiday decor and setting the table for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each year I like to do things a little differently from the previous year. A while back I was lucky enough to find and buy hundreds of old glass Christmas tree ornaments. It is a beautiful collection, from a woman that cherished her holiday decor. I marvel each year at the beauty of the ornaments and the number of years that have passed since they were made.
It takes me hours to set up the tree and it feels like days to take the ornaments off the tree and put them away. I love them so much I keep them under my bed for the remainder of the year. No attic time for these beauties. One of my favorites is the bird ornaments that clip onto the tree boughs. They are extremely fragile and so I only have a few of them.
Since I've redecorated my house this year, I'm planning to make a tree skirt out of a drop cloth. I found this one at http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/ruffled-drop-cloth-christmas-tree-skirt. I like the way the ruffles move from the center to the edge of the skirt. Drop clothes come in large sizes so it is easy to make a really big skirt without any seams.
Antique ornaments can be found on Ebay and at auctions and estate sales. It took me more than a year to collect enough to fill the tree. When I found an abundant, pristine collection at an auction, I was willing to pay whatever it took to make them mine. My advice is to pass up the beat up ones that you come across. I bought some because I was happy to finally find them, but in retrospect I shouldn't have wasted the money because they were too scratched up or plain.
Once you have them, be VERY careful because they are delicate. It is amazing that things can last for a century in someone else's house and then be in dire straights when they get to my house.
Share your holiday decorating ideas with me. I need some new ideas.
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