Christmas room to room

December 10, 2016



On this rainy Saturday I took some pictures of my Christmas decorations, room to room. 


In the entry way are my husband's vintage 50's Santas,
rescued from the trash bin when his parents sold their home. 
They are wind-up bell-ringers, and they still work! 


Off the entry, the hallway hosts the little lady in glass, decked out with battery operated lights.

 In the living room I replaced my big tree with this 6.5' tree from Ikea.
It fits on top of the round and is nice for a change.

The little Wendt and Kuhn collection.


The darling angel orchestra!








I've collected glass ornaments for years.



 In the dining room:

The mantle in the family room:

The Santa on the right is from my family.  Mother says she bought it in the 60s, 
and it's always been one of my favorite Santas.


 In my knitting lounge, my tree with handmade ornaments,
and all made by me over the last 40 years: 

In our guest bathroom: 

 And finally, our bedroom got a little something too.

We've had two wonderful parties this month, one for our monthly Friday party group, and another for my knitting group and their guys.  There were about 20 people at each party.  For one party I made a Hungarian Goulash and for the other I made Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon.  For the latter, if you have Julia's book, The Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1, use the recipe in there, but if you don't have that book (and you should!), this recipe is pretty close to her original.  As for the goulash, it relies on paprika for it's flavor, so buy the very best one you can find.  We loved this one from Sur La Table; it absolutely made the dish! Both the goulash and beef stew take the best part of a day, but the good thing is, it's easy to quadruple the recipe, it's best if made a day or two ahead, and it's easy for guests to eat when space is tight.  I served both dinners buffet style with potatoes and a simple green salad.

My husband and I love to host gatherings, and my friends compliment me by telling me I make entertaining look easy, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve: 

Always keep it simple.  Always.  I learned that the hard way.

We offer wine, beer and water at a serve yourself bar, but to get things rolling, we'll pour the first drink. My husband likes to put out a few scotches, maybe gin and vodka and a few mixers too.  But it's a very simple and casual bar set up. For larger groups, when our guests are eating in different rooms around the house, I'll pop over to each table and put down a bottle of white and red wine and make sure they all have wine glasses.  I know some hosts are famous for making one special drink to serve.  I love that idea, and think it's so fun, but I can't seem to manage that.  The one time I did offer chocolate martinis, oh geesh, what a mess.  I have my limits, even for my lovely guests.

As for decorations, I go easy there too. Christmas is Christmas, so there's no need to add a thing to the December house. But for parties the other eleven months of the year, I rely on a sparkling clean house, fresh seasonal flowers, candlelight, and a smile at the door.

I don't want more than two appetizers, and maybe one more for a large group.  If someone offers to bring one, I rarely say no!  Below is one of my Christmas appetizers this year, copied from the Pioneer Woman. The skewers are rosemary!



With my knitting group, I asked them to each bring 2-3 dozen cookies for an old-fashioned cookie exchange.  I cleared off a counter in our family room and as they arrived, I placed the cookies on glass platters.  After dinner, I announced that the cookie buffet was open and to come and help yourself to dessert.  All the men made a bee-line to the cookies and filled their dessert plates full. Another half hour later I announced that the cookie shop was open.  That's when the women got up, retrieved the empty containers they had brought their cookies in, and filled them with a variety of cookies to take home.  One of that gals was having her large family over the next day and another girl was hosting her book club, so they were very serious about getting the best selection!  It was very fun and reminded me of my old PTA days!  I would totally recommend this for any party, any time of year.  Very fun.




It wouldn't be right for me to show you all these cookies and not give you some recipes right?  There were two break-out treats, or so my husband tells me--caramel popcorn and Congo Bars.  Both are treasured family recipes with wonderful stories behind them.  Both travel well and can easily be mailed cross-country or to our boys in the service.  

Charlotte's Congo Bars are here.



Follow 
Knitionary



You Might Also Like

6 Comments

  1. So, I'm forwarding this one to my husband, just to show him how terribly creative you are. I was excited to see that you're using the dewdrop LED lights. Just bought 4 strands yesterday at Target, explaining to my husband that I need light and more light to lighten this mid-December darkness (and it fits with Advent). Plus, your entertaining ideas and recipes - great suggestions.
    If I don't see you before then, Merry Christmas, Kristin.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I'm flattered that you showed my post to your husband, and I agree, those guys need to agree with us that we need lots of tiny lights at Christmas time, no arguing!

      Delete
  2. I wanted to start singing Carols!
    Nice!!!!
    Maxine

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your Christmas decorations are beautiful. I love the way that you have collected and made your decorations over the years. So many memories I am sure. The angel that sits on top of my parents Christmas tree was given to them as a gift when they first got married and after 40 years and a couple of new dresses she still comes out every year to watch over us all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the idea that the angel tree topper gets a new dress every once in a while!

      Delete

You make my day when you make a comment!

Labels

afghan Alana Dakos ally pally ambassador Amy Herzog Ankestrick Arte Italica baby Baby Cocktails bakelite baking berry picking Best Friday of the Month best of Ravelry Big Sur blue transferware book review books boutique brook cables California candy child children children's activities Christmas Christmas crafts Christmas knitting cleaning collections cookie cutters cookies cooking craft Crafts crochet cross-stitch day trip decluttering decorating designer spotlight discount diy dog dolls Easter eau de vie Elizabeth Bradley Elizabeth Zimmerman embroidery entertaining Facebook fall fall decorating fall garden family featured first car fit flower arranging flowers free pattern Friday night party group friends funny Fur garden gardening Giants Gifted Hostess give-away giveaway gluten free gourmet group Halloween herbs holiday home how to set up a party group jewelry Kaffe Fassett KAL Kim Hargreaves kitting Knit Picks knitting laundry Le Jacquard Francais Little French Knits Los Altos lunch Mailbu Making Things Marie Wallin Martin Storey menu minimalism money talk mosaic movies my house my patterns my town nails needlepoint needles October challenge Octoberfest ollalie organizing original design outdoor seating owl party prep pear peg dolls pies pomegranates poncho preview quilting recipe recycling redwork review roses Rowan San Francisco Sarah Hatton sewing shawl shopping shower social media softie spring spring garden stash Stitches West summer summer garden summer knitting Sunday Morning Swans Island table setting test test knit Thanksgiving Three Irish Girls TNNA tomatoes top 10 list toys travel tutorial twinning ufo Uncommon Threads vacation Valentine vegetable garden videos wedding winter garden wip Woolfolk yarn yarn for sale Ysolda