Let me start off this otherwise lighthearted holiday post by saying that I hope we can bring our baby boy (due Dec 26) up a country with less access to guns and more access to help for mental health. The news out of CT is gut-wrenching and my heart goes out to all those affected.
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While we have been spending a lot of time in the last month decorating the nursery (you know there will eventually be a post on that) and trying to proactively earn a PhD in the finer points of baby swaddling, we have also squeezed in a little bit of Christmas. Okay, more than a bit. Here are some favorite holiday baubles we have around the nest, both old and new.
Like the arrangement above, which I call the “vignette.” We love this silver leaf floating shelf left behind by the previous owners. It seems a perfect spot for my first white poinsettia. I’m digging how this flower (plant?) goes with our 1932 New Yorker cover featuring none other than Santa (thank you Martina), and the “Hans Brinkner and his Sister” skating on a canal print I snaked (with permission) from my mom’s house last year. I suppose some day I’ll get around to framing those. That tall, flute-ish, flute-wielding angel is from Marshalls circa 2010. And the little slate Xmas tree to the left? I’ve been schlepping that little guy around for years – he was one of my first Christmas decorations.
We are also enjoying this macrame Santa made by my mother-in-law Sandy and given to us last year:
She made him for Christmas in 1976. I know my mom was also into macrame around this time and we had a few homemade hanging planters in our house back in Wisconsin, but I don’t personally know anything about it. Sandy told me she went to classes at a woman’s house in the neighborhood where they lived in Columbus, OH. She also learned how to make a Christmas tree that was so easy that she volunteered to teach some 4th and 5th graders how to make it. She remembers that there was a special project board she sat on her lap to help line up the knots and she had to pull the cords apart and brush the beard to make it look fluffy. (Cute.) She hung this in her Cape Cod-themed kitchen around the holidays for years. We are honored to have him in our kitchen now! (Don’t you think he’s a little bit gnome-ish?)
It’s difficult to express how happy this ornament makes me. My friend Martina gave it to me a few weeks ago:
It should probably also be difficult to admit that The Smurfs were my favorite cartoon when I was a kid. But, in fact, it’s not: the Smurfs lived in MUSHROOM cottages, people! I shouldn’t have to justify myself further.
I’ve already shared the jaundice and replacement of our actual Christmas tree, but here’s our little disco tree:
This was purchased by Rob four years ago – he used it to decorate his apartment in a super-magical way the night we got engaged at Rockefeller Center rink. I would be remiss to not mention here the Queen of Disco Christmas, Victoria Elizabeth Barnes – check out this blog – can you say sparkly?
I can’t claim to fashion anything near as elaborate as Victoria, but this year I did feel a bit clever when I hung some white star ornaments (Tarjay) from our dining room chandelier:
I like how they look with the red berry twig things I try to get every year:
And just because I’m not drinking wine at present doesn’t mean I can’t accessorize it, right? (I got these from the Sundance catalogue a few years ago.):
Many of you know that for a while there, I made punctuation-themed ornaments for my friends and family. Then they stopped making/selling these exact frosted bulbs (or I couldn’t find them, anyway) so I discontinued. But here is the one that is displayed most prominently on our tree this year, as if to ask: When will our Christmas baby arrive? How will it all play out? What will he be like?
This old-fashioned, polka dot skate from my friend Ann-Marie snazzes up our front entrance:
Speaking of our front entrance, I know I featured this last year, but I have to give a shout out to Rob Strati and his outdoor LED lighting installation fashioned around our pergola and culminating in a chandelier-ish centerpiece:
Rob prefers that I do not refer to this “piece” as art, and I am trying to respect that. What I will do instead is brag that he has a fantastic solo art show in Brooklyn RIGHT NOW at Robert Henry Contemporary at 56 Bogart in Bushwick:
It is featuring his digital prints, wire sculptures (i.e. above) and a wonderful balloon installation. Check it out, or check out this link, anyway! He also has another show coming up in LA at Arena 1 in the Santa Monica Studios next month.
And finally, I leave you with an image of the very LAST pizzelle in the box:
These crisp, light, anise-flavored waffle cookies have fueled all of the above and have become a bit of a joke around our house because the word is so fun to say. Most obviously, this word nicely combines one part pizza and one part gazelle, but if you draw out that second syllable in an extremely breathy, theatrical fashion, as in pizzellllllllllllllllle, I promise it’ll feel good.
Hope you are enjoying your holidays…Will keep you “posted”!
Here are some other holiday decorations I have been admiring from fellow bloggers…check them out:
Aluminum tree and chalkboard tree from A Goode House: here.
Up-cycled star wreath at Northstory: here.
Pear and Cherry Christmas Root at Scrap and Salvage: here.
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