NEW!! For 2005

I tried a few new things this year with my decorating. First (apologies for the lousy photo) is the chandelier over my kitchen table. Earlier this fall, I successfully changed it from the icky brass to a much nicer faux-wrought iron and added the beaded shades. I was looking for a way to show off the pretty teardrop shape of the vintage red glass ornaments I bought last year, as you can't really appreciate the shape when they are clustered in a bowl. I used three different types of red ribbon from my stash and suspended the ornaments over the kitchen table. I like that you can see the shape of the ornaments now, and the red goes well with my kitchen. I have this feeling that it needs something more, but I'm not sure what. Maybe if I live with it for a few days it will come to me.

Second is a new piece of furniture for the front room: my antique wood greeting card holder. I wanted to show off some of the old Christmas cards I've collected, so I mounted them on red and green scrapbook paper and put them in simple glass frames. As I receive Christmas cards in the mail, I plan to display them on the shelves amid the frames. For the spaces in the front, I have a few of my boxes of vintage ornaments displayed. The boxes have great graphics, and I wanted to show them off. It's not perfect, but it will do for this year.

I decorated all day, and I am exhausted! I feel creatively wiped out. I tried hard to think of new ways to display the things I love. I'm happy with the way my house looks. Now, to get all the boxes back in the basement and enjoy!