A Tale of 2 Trees and China Cupboard in the Den, 2020

 

  

 

 

 

  Welcome to my Christmas Blog, A Debbie-Dabble Christmas!!

 I am so happy you decided to stop by my Christmas Blog!!

 I want to mention that since Blogger changed to a new format for posting, if you can click on each picture if you care to enlarge it...... 

 

 Every room in our townhouse has a different Christmas Theme and Color Scheme!!

 

 I prove that you do not have to live in a large home to have several Trees, over 20, in all shapes and sizes!!

The majority of my Christmas decorations are placed in the same room every year and I know that this is not what most Decorator's care for but to me, it like seeing old friends again when I decorate each year for Christmas as many of my decorations were gifts from family and friends........... 

I do try to add a few new things and change up things a bit but for the most part, these decorations are part of my Christmas Traditions and bring back a lot of treasured memories.....

This is going to be a bit of a long post so grab a seat and maybe a cup of hot cocoa.....

In my last post, I shared the first part of my Tour of the Den decorated for Christmas.....

I switched some things around and moved all my Thomas Kinkade Christmas items in to this room.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 If you missed this post, please click HERE.....

 But before I go any further, I want to Thank to Amber, over at Follow the Yellow Brick House, for choosing my post, Christmas Crafting, as one of her features from last week's Thursday Favorite Things Link Party!!!

Thanks so much, Amber!!

 I also want to Thank Melynda, over at Scratch Made Food, for choosing my post, Vintage Christmas Tree and Vignettes in the Sitting Room, as one of her features from last week's Encouraging Hearts and Home Link Party!!!

Thanks again, Melynda!!

Please stop by and link up to this charming parties!!

 I also want to include a few personal notes in this post if I may......

Since I finally meet my goal this year of being completely decorated before Thanksgiving, i have had time to do some crafting.....

When my Dad became disabled due to a work place construction accident, to combat his boredom, he cooked, which he already did prior to the accident, taught himself how to bake and did a few crafts!!!!

This is a picture of him proudly showcasing a wreath hanging on the wall and a Christmas Tree and 2 small wreaths all made from thread cones and spools that my Mom used to bring home from the dress factory where she worked....

I found a small bags of the same spools from a dress factory one year at an estate sale and decided that I was going to recreate the Christmas Tree that my Dad made.....

Sadly, I believe my mom threw is creations out when she sold their home shortly after he passed away.....

I glued the spools together and spray painted the Tree gold just like my Dad did.....

Now mine is a much smaller version of his.....

I used ball ornaments that I had in my stash and cotton balls just like he did to decorate the Tree.....

I sprayed it  with E 6000 glue spray and sprinkled red and green glitter over it.....

And I glued a mini gold angel ornament to the top , in the middle and at the bottom of the Tree.....

I finally recreated the Tree from spools that he made back in the 1970's.......

I think I can hear him say "That a Girl!!"

 

I also saw these bottle brush trees on thread spools on Pinterest and wanted to make them for some time as I bought a bag  of wooden spools at the same estate sale.....

 

These trees were the top part of ornaments that Joe bought one year in Big Lot's at 90% off and they were a little worse for wear......

I painted the spools, glued music sheet paper around the center and trimmed them with pipe cleaners....

I glued white angel mini ornaments to 2 of them.....

I added mini snow flakes ornaments as toppers to some......

The trees below are vintage ones that were my parent's......

I painted some of the spools gold and some red.....

 

This bottle brush tree is new from Michael's......

I glued a glue mini ornament to this one.....

Next up is a repurposed A 1 Steak Sauce bottle!!!!

I printed out the graphic from the computer.......

Glued it to the bottle with spray glue and trimmed it with a red pipe cleaner!

Tied a bow around the top, added a few green pom poms and put a cork in it!!!

And I glued another pipe cleaner to trim off this cute sign.....

You may remember that Joe got these for FREE from the furniture store that had  been demolished from the tornado that hit the shopping center right next to us a few years back.....

Not sure what they are exactly but he thought I could "do something with them"

In the Summer, I made one into a Patriotic Angel......

I painted the remaining 3 red on the bottom.....

Sprinkled glitter over the last coat of wet paint.....

Added Angel heads with halo's that I bought at an estate sale and ironically, had only 4 of......

They were a perfect fit for the 4 whateveryouwanttocall it's.....

I glued on 2 sets of angel wings......

The white ones were  ornaments bought at Big Lot's and the gold ones were bought at that same estate sale......

Made a bow out of green tinsel trim and glued a red ribbon rose to the center.....

Glued a Dollar Tree guitar ornament on to it.....

Trimmed the base with green tinsel trim, ribbon roses and a gold mini angel......

Then I discovered that I had hair in my stash......

Made one reddish brown haired........

And a blonde headed one.......

In my next post, I will show you how I finished off the 3rd angel as I only had 2 sets of the gold angel wings......

Joe has been lucky again!!!

$500 Lottery ticket Winner......

Since the new Hockey Jerseys just came in for the AHL Penguins Hockey Team that we are Season Ticket holders of and we have not bought presents for each other for many years now, I told him to treat himself to a new jersey.......

I really like the realistic Penguin Logo on this one......

Joe has been morning the loss of Hockey this entire Pandemic......

He gave me the rest of the money to put away to use for Holiday meals as I have the kids here for every holiday and it is also our both sons birthdays in December.......

Okay, so now that you have seen that I keep really busy, let's continue with the tour of the Den.......

This is the main Tree in the Den......

A 4 1/2 foot table top tree that I bought many years ago on Clearance in Target for $10!!!

3 years ago, I decided that I wanted it a little slimmer so I trimmed about 2 inches off the bottom branches so that it did not stick out from the table!!!

This year, I bought new garland in Big Lot's for it......

 

 I liked this as it had the burgundy and blue colors which are the same as the color theme of the Den for Christmas......

 

 

I still added the ivory rose embossed beaded garland that I always use on this Tree......

And here it is all decorated.......

It is decorated with burgundy, blue, ivory and gold ornaments......

And of course, all which have a Victorian theme......

The top of the Tree is topped off with 3 pheasant feathers which was typical in Victorian times.....

I made a bow out of burgundy velvet ribbon that is gold backed.....

And I decided to move the gold candle ornaments to this Tree from the Living Room Tree this year.....

Before electricity, Victorians put candles on their Trees but only would light them on Christmas Eve, having a large bucket of water ready in case the Tree caught fire from the candles!!!!!

Burgundy velvet roses are tucked in the Tree.....

 

I will let the Tree do the rest of the talking for now.......

I am very happy with how this Tree looks this year.....

Underneath the Tree......

An ivory tree skirt bought at a church flea market......

Some vintage and new pieces making up a small village......

The manger is identical to the one I had as a child......

The 2 larger houses on the sides of the manger are ornaments.....

The church is an ornament but the smaller putz houses are vintage ones.....

To the side of the table......

I moved this large Old World Santa in to the Den from the Living Room this year.....

I bought  him in Gabes a few years ago......

A hand made Santa head ornament that was gifted to me by a fellow Blogger and a reindeer bought in Big Lot's.......

 

 

 Now we will take a look at the china cupboard and the area surrounding it......

 

I love decorating this piece for Christmas as I once saw something similar done in a Gift Shop..... 

 

The top of the China Cupboard  is decorated completely different this year......

 

I switched a few things around......

 

 I placed my Ice House and church here along with a set of Carolers that I used to display on the shelves above the TV......

 

 Ironically, I bought the Carolers and my friend Anne Marie gifted me the Ice house and church which all were bought at one of my favorite Gift Shops to visit at Christmas...Country Folks.....

 I usually post about  our Christmas visit to this amazing store but sadly, this year they are closed because of the Pandemic......

 

 

 A small nativity ornament placed in front of the church......

 

 

 I bought these Carolers at 50% off after Christmas.....

 

 

 The blue bottle brush tree is from Big Lot's.....

 

And the lantern which lights up and changes colors is from Dollar General....

Hanging on the wall to the side is my Thomas Kinkade Calendar......

A different plate is displayed for each month......

You can see that along with Christmas and New Year's Eve, I have my both sons birthdays marked on this calendar......

 

 

 To the side of the china cupboard......

 

 I changed out the Tree that I have put on this Table and moved it elsewhere in the Den.....

 I bought this  Tree in Gabes last year, placed it in a small crock and decorated it with an Angel and mini mitten ornaments......

 

 Lighting it with a set of battery operated fairy lights.....

Carolers, a card made by a friend and a vintage doll......

 

 

 Underneath the small table.......

 

2 sweet Bearington Bears.....

 

Inside the china cupboard is a Winter  Village......

 

 

 

On the door is a wreath that I made with a Trans Siberian Orchestra ornament hanging in the center of it.....

And an angel hanging beneath it......

We have seen Tran Siberian Orchestra in concert live for Christmas for 18 years out of the 21 that they have toured at Christmas.....

And I am happy to say that we will not be missing them this year as they will be Live Streaming their Christmas concert......

My son will be hooking us up , using my lap top to stream it on our large TV in the Living Room, therefore continuing our Christmas tradition!!!!!

 

The inside of the china cupboard......

 I still kept some blue and red transferware pieces in this cupboard.....

 

 

 

 The crocheted snowflakes were bought at a church flea market......$3 for a large bag!!!!

The top shelf.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The middle shelf......

 

 

 

 

 

 The bottom shelf.......

 

 

 

I did switch up some of the houses this year......

 This will stay decorated like this for the remainder of the Winter......

 

  On the 2 vintage suitcases in front of the cupboard.....

 

 

 

 More houses......

 

 

 

A church on a pedestal........

Vintage reindeer that were my parent's......

 

On the bottom suitcase.......

 

 

On the side of the china cupboard..........

Is a "new" to this room Tree.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided not to use the red truck that normally graces the floor on the side here because it really did not fit in with my Victorian Christmas theme.......

 

 

 

Instead, I filled a red wagon with a Santa or 2......

 

An old World Santa dressed in burgundy velvet bought at Sam's Club many years ago and a Santa Head in the wagon.....

 

 A small Old  World Santa on the side......

 

 This Tree was used in the Living Room in past years for my Shiny Brite vintage ornaments......

When I bought a new Tree on clearance last year, I decided I would move this Tree into the Den......

Since it is one of those outdoor pathway trees, I was able to place it into a vintage blue enamelware pot......

The urn base fit inside perfectly!!!!!

 

I decided to decorate this Tree with all of my Thomas Kinkade ornaments that I previously used on the 4 1/2 foot table top Tree in this room......

 

You can see that it is a perfect fit for this corner, under my Thomas Kinkade Calendar..... 

 

 Hanging on the wall is a Thomas Kinkade Christmas plate.....

 

I bought the Tree Topper in Ocean State Job Lot last Year.....

 

I also used the ivory rose embossed beaded garland on this Tree like I did on the other Tree..

 And I tucked some cotton picks into this Tree.....

I think they look like snow.....

 

 I bought these Thomas Kinkade ornaments over the years at various stores including CVS!!!!!

 

I also added a few candle ornaments to this Tree like I did the other one.....

 

Even tea cup and tea pot ornaments......

I also threw on a few angels......

This is the view from my chair where I sit and watch TV and work on my lap top after Joe goes to bed at 9pm!!!

I go to bed after 11:30pm and still get up around 6:30am.....

Joe gets up AFTER me!!!

We are just totally different in so many ways!!!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I changed up things a bit in our Den this year for Christmas.......

This room took me 4 days to clean and decorate.....

Next up on my Christmas Home Tour will the the Front Porch and Yard.....

 

 

 

 

 

 So I hope you will stop by to visit again soon!!

Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

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