Christmas Notebook

The dining room is decorated with silver and white and a touch of cobalt blue for Christmas. The deep window sills are covered with batting, snow and silver ornaments.

The inexpensive blue vase came from Wal-Mart and it and others like it were used at a friend’s wedding to hold bouquets on the reception tables. The large vase makes a great hurricane for the candle. The lights in the background are on the redbud tree outside the window.

The dining room Christmas tree is our “Snow Tree.” The quilt batting that covers the sheet was cut with a decorative scalloped edge.

Buttercup loves to sleep here, near the east window.

I use shredded plastic snow to “snow” the tree. It looks beautiful! We apply about eight bags of the artificial snow to this tree. There’s an urge to throw it on and see where it lands, but that doesn’t give the best effect. And it makes a mess! The best way to put it on the tree is to take a large handful and gently lay it on top of the branch. When the season is over, after taking all the ornaments off, we shake the tree, sweep up the snow, then vacuum the tree and the floor. We can’t remove it all, but this tree is used for the same theme each year, so that doesn’t matter. As with all our trees that go to the attic in one piece for storage, a large tree bag is put over the tree. It is tied shut at the base of the trunk so the excess snow doesn’t litter the floors and staircases.

DD#3 *loves* to help with this project. All the ceilings in the original part of the house, both downstairs and upstairs are 12′ high. Because of that, I like to sit trees on top of tables, dressers, boxes, etc., to give them height.

Two large wooden snowflakes, wired together near the top, slip over the tip of the tree and make a great finishing touch.

The 7′ tree sits on an antique oak table. We keep extra bags of snow under the table in case we need to add more during the season, though we seldom do. The snow stays on the tree very well. We use 3M Command strips to hang lights under the table. These shine, especially at night, through the white sheet that covers the table. We tried using the outdoor lights that come in three layers of scallops under the table, but they are difficult to keep from tangling during storage. Now we use a long single strand of white lights and take it several times around the inside of the table. Much easier to handle.

On top the table, a round of tabletop glass is set on wooden blocks, with 2×4 reinforcement under the stand itself, and white lights are placed under the glass. It gives the entire table a beautiful glow through the batting and the white sheet. On top of the batting and the sheet is spread a piece of white tulle spangled with silver snowflakes.

In another corner, a small tree on top an old cupboard is also “snowed.”

This picture was taken just before our annual open house in 2006. The cupboard belonged to DH’s paternal grandparents.

Another wall is decorated with a lighted church and antique kerosene lamps. The picture above the table is an enlarged reproduction of a vintage postcard. The snow tree is reflected in the glass.

We are hosting two events this weekend, so I need to get back to work. More about that later! ~~Rhonda 🙂