The last of the kitchen pics

This terracotta Santa is one of my absolute favourites.  This year he's on top of the kitchen wall cupboards, guarded by two angels.

And these three Santa terracotta candle-holders are on an adjacent wall cupboard.

This wreath came into existence when I was cleaning out my craft room.  I found a large cane wreath, a box of vintage baubles, and a bag of cut-up (plastic) greenery.  I added a little glue, and hey presto - a wreath!  It's hanging over the door into the kitchen from the dining room.

This Santa was a Christmas gift from my niece Aislinn, also a cross-stitcher, in 2008.  Since then he has hung each Christmas on my kitchen wall, above the wall oven.

And my final kitchen pic.  It's actually the first of the sitting room pics, as the tree is in the sitting room  - my sitting room is adjacent to the kitchen.  It's my 1970s Christmas tree, which was rescued from the rubbish skip when its former owner was moving house.

I'll be back with more sitting room (or Angel Room as it is called at Christmas) photos next time.

More of my Christmas kitchen

I spent last night in the kitchen making a huge batch of gingerbread, supervised by Miss Maddie.

While it might look as if she's sleeping on the job, let me assure you that it's all an act.  When I tried to leave the room for two seconds to fetch some cellophane bags she was awake and barking loudly, letting me know I was breaking her rule that at all times she has to have a human (preferably me) available within clear sight.

Here's a pic of some of my gingerbread babies:

They're all packed up now in cellophane bags, and waiting for my sister to pick them up.  She ordered 17 bags of ten gingerbread babies to give to work colleagues - that's why I was in the kitchen all evening!

And here's a pic of that kitchen corner without the gingerbread.  The Christmas cake under the dome is a family tradition.  My brother-in-law makes them each year using his Irish mother's recipe.  It is super yummy, dark and full of fruit, and given the chance will last all year (mine never has!)

Here's a pic of the windowsill which houses my collection of salt and pepper pots.

and a close-up of the salt and peppers:

I'll be back again with more kitchen pics later.

Moving into the kitchen now

At Christmas, my kitchen holds two of my favourite collections - my Christmas fridge magnets, and my Christmas salt & pepper sets. 

My fridge magnets:

 On top of the fridge are a couple of teapots and biscuit barrels.

And here is par of an accidental collection of gingerbread people and my very favourite Christas cutting board.

That's all I have time for right now.  I'll come back later with more kitchen pics.

The last of the Dining Room Christmas pics

This wall of the dining room is one of my favourite places at Christmas.  It houses my Santa Advent tree.  Everyday i turn over one of the stars to show a Santa, and when all the Santas are there on the tree I know it's Christmas Eve - and my favourite time of the year is coming to an end!  My Jim Shore Santas also live on the buffet at this time of the year.  On the wall above is an incredibly detailed Santa I started stitching in 1992 and finally finished in 1997.  Had I known about evenweave fabric at the time I started it, ny labour would have been less, as I stitched it on 18 count Aida, and it is chock-full of fractionals and blended threads.  The two Santa masks on the wall came home from a trip to San Francisco in 1994.

This is a wider view, so you can see my ugliest Santa standing to the right of the buffet.  I stil love him despite his fearsome look!  On the other side of the buffet you can just see (if you click on the pic and see the large version!) the top of one of my favourite Santas - a painted post I found in Carmel in California on my 1994 trip to USA.



 

 

 And here's a close-up of the Santa Advent tree.  This pic was obviously taken on December 5.

Christmas Dining Room, Part 2

The first picture is the close-up shot of the vntage display case from an earlier pic.  The case itself is just beautifully made, with brass detailing at all the wood junctions.

And here are most of my nesting Santas, sitting under the two Marilyn Gandre cross stitched Santas.  I added a number of rows to the Sata's great book chart to make it the same length as the Santa's Workshop so they would hang well together. 

 

 The final pic for today is a close-up of one of my old plastic Santa and reindeers (from the 1950s) flying over the wall-clock.

My Christmas Dining Room - Part 1

No dining happens here in December - the Christmas decorations take precedence.  Fortunately, the weather is hot here over Christmas, so we eat outside if we have guests, and usually balance a plate on our knees in front of the telly downstairs if we're eating alone.

This year I have displayed my small collection of Nativities on the dining room table:

 

 

 and here is a wider view of the table, also showing my L&L Oh Christmas Tree and L&L Santa of the Forest, and the display cabinet that currently houses some of my vintage Christmas collection (mostly Santas and angels).  Peeking round the table leg near the window s one of my two large 1950s Santa money boxes.

Here is a clearer pic of the display cabinet.

These are my vintage Santa dolls.

and the final pic for tonight - Vermillion's Nine Santa Sampler guarded by a few much-loved Santas.

Entering the house ...

These are my favourite pressed metal Santa faces,  I have 3 near the front door, nd the other three opposite on the stairwell wall.  They've been all over the house over the years, but they do seem right at home in  their present spots.

 

 

 Sorry this pic is so dark - black tin on black slate. It's in the entry foyer, to welcome visitors to the house.

 

 

 and one of my favourite cross stitches - Christmas Gentlemen - along with some Christmas brooches and a wooden 12 Days of Christmas set.

 

 

 These Santas welcome you to the dining room - to the left of the front door as you step into my house.

 

 and here we have my gourd Santas, protected by a 1950s Santa doll.  On the wall is a little display case of small vintage Santas, elves, and angels.  I'll probably have a better pic to put in later.