A Casa Kittling Christmas

Why is it that time never flies when you want it to and does when you don't? Typical! I'd better stop complaining and start sharing the Christmas decorations I put up this year. 

In large part, my ability to decorate this year is due to all the hard work my English nieces put in. Nothing like being out in the blazing heat of Arizona in June, going through the contents of two sheds and ensuring that all the Christmas decorations are in the shed that their mobility-challenged aunt can get into! Bless 'em all-- Karen, Daisy, and Suzanne. They are treasures, each and every one.

Let's get to the decorations!

At the front door. Denis's jacket and Royal Navy submariner cap are hanging on a hook.

The craft room. I could've cropped out the light, but it reminds me of Denis. Denis couldn't deal with low light, and every light fixture he installed was bright enough to bring in planes for a landing. 😄

Mom's carolers that she made in 1965.

Santas and mistletoe

Snowpeople and friends

The second caroler set my mother made in the 60s.

This snow couple dates from the 1960s.

This little guy plays my favorite Christmas song. I had to replace the battery because his singing was getting a bit s-l-o-w.

A cozy place to relax with a good book.

Denis's recliner with the Santa pillow. The fiber optic tree was 40 years old and died a few days ago. I had to dive into my coffers and find something to replace it.

I replaced it with teapots and a nutcracker.

My acachirpa choir and the "proper robin" table runner.

Snowmen decorating the knitting tree.

The kitchen

I think this was Denis's favorite ornament-- and one of mine, too. It always makes me smile.

Virtual holiday hugs to you all!  To those who feel that they haven't really accomplished anything in the past year, remember-- sometimes the very best accomplishment is that you survived. 

A Casa Kittling Christmas 2022

Decorating for Christmas has been one of my obsessions and delights since I was in my twenties. I blame it all on my Great Aunt Mary Ann. I loved going to her house for Christmas because the entire house was decorated. I loved the fact that Mary Ann didn't limit herself to a tree and a few other little knickknacks. 

 

Granted, Mom didn't have much money, but I really don't think her heart was in holiday decorating. Her Christmas colors were blue and silver, and her favorite song was Elvis's "Blue Christmas". I found it depressing. In my mid-twenties, I finally found myself in charge of decorating, and boy howdy, did I go to town. When Mom saw the finished results, she looked at me and said, "Mary Ann lives," a compliment I still hold close to my heart.

 

My colors? They tend to be red and gold. My song? "Feliz Navidad" because the lyrics loudly proclaim what is in my heart. When Hallmark came out with a sombrero-wearing, guitar-playing snowman ornament that played "my song", I was thrilled.

 

What truly bites is when your mobility begins to desert you, and you have to scale down the decorating. BUT, even after downsizing (a lot), there's a blessing in this after all. I have enough decorations to do something a little different each year, and I find that using my imagination to devise different ways to decorate almost entirely makes up for not being able to go all-out. (If you'd like to see what "all-out" has looked like in the past, feel free to take a look at this post from 2011 as well as this one from 2013. Or just do a search for "Christmas Decorations" in the search box on the sidebar.)

 

Now let me take you on a little tour of Casa Kittling this year.

 

 
 

The play of light is one of my favorite things about Christmas decorations. This year I decided to line up my finial collection along the tops of the bookcases in the craft room. I also used sequinned table runners and LED tea lights. By the way, LED candles are my Find of 2022. I love candlelight-- especially during the holidays-- but I've grown nervous about having lighted candles everywhere since neither of us can move fast. Better safe than sorry, eh? I didn't realize until this year that there are LED candles with remotes in many styles and sizes, and you'll see them in various places throughout the pictures I'm about to show you.

 

Finials look great regardless the lighting.

 

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without these carolers my mother made in the mid-1960s.

The Christmas table in the dining room, complete with nutcrackers, LED candles, fairy lights, and the small carolers Mom also made back in the '60s.

Christmas afghans. Yes, they are used!

Gasp! I have bookshelves with no books on them!

And another one!

This display is just below my Walt Longmire keeper shelf.

The daybed where I blog, read, watch the birds... and nap.

I insist on a good view from my "HQ"!

Bookshelves can be fun to decorate, although Denis did make me nervous when he insisted on putting strings of lights along the top!

Christmas teapots in the kitchen... looking a bit murderous with those knives.

Of course, I didn't leave those new shelves in the kitchen alone!

Some of my favorite decorations where I can see them from my recliner in the evenings.

My Santa cake stand. I thought I had crumbs to wipe off the counter until I realized it was the reflection of Santa's lantern. Doh!

I can also see this from my recliner where I knit and watch TV in the evenings.

A closeup of my knitting tree. A dear friend gave me the lighted blinking snowman, and another knitted the tiny sweaters on the tree for me.

Ugly Christmas sweaters as a tree skirt.

Ugly Christmas sweater for a topper.

I tried to mute the sound on this video. My apologies if you can still hear the blasted hearing aid commercial!

I think one of the things that has made Christmas decorating even more special to me is that I have creative and loving friends who know of my obsession and have been willing to enable me over the years. Tiny knitted sweaters. Blinking snowmen. Tatted snowflakes. Nutcrackers. Ceramics. The list is a long one, and as I look at the decorations, my heart fills with memories and love, and I smile.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Casa Kittling Dressed Up for the Holidays

In past years, I've decorated what I called my Christmas Forest. You can take a look at these earlier day and night posts. However, when trusted body parts are no longer trustworthy, some things have to be cut back. My Christmas decorating is one of the victims. In a rather odd way, I'm enjoying decorating less. In past years when I put up thirteen trees (my lucky number), I got in the habit of putting up the same decorations in the same way every year. That doesn't happen now. Even though I've greatly reduced the amount of decorations I do have, I still have plenty so that I can "rotate the stock" and do things a bit differently from one holiday season to the next. 

Denis and I have been enjoying this year's decorations, me more so because my HQ has moved from the office to the living room. As in years past, my overall theme for Christmas is Reflections. Reflections both in the play of light and in the play of memory. I've gathered up a collection of highlights of this year's decorations. I hope you enjoy them.

As you come in the front door.

Looks like the birds built some snowmen this year.

The living room by day. As you can see, I'm fond of quilts. I really like how the fireplace turned out this year-- especially the set of antique sleigh bells that I wove holly sprigs through.

There are three special knitted afghans on the daybed where I relax every afternoon. The red and white one is the first one my mother ever made. The burgundy one is a gorgeous Irish knit one, the second Mom made, and the white one (another fabulous Irish knit) was the last one she made. She gave it to my grandmother, who saved it for "Best" (which means she never used it). I'm using it!

As you can tell, the tea & coffee station is well used.

The large caroler set Mom made. It's not Christmas without this particular set being out on display.

I love firelight and candlelight.

I also like what I did for the tablescape this year.

It's been too long since the last time I displayed any of my finial collection.

I love my finial collection.

Another thing I love? The way the lights play on the tatted and crocheted snowflakes made for me by my grandmother and two special friends.

The Christmases I've experienced have run the gamut from wild and festive to quiet and contemplative. But whether they've been filled with friends or if I've been alone, I've always found something magical about them. Just looking at the reflections can take my mind miles and years away.

Happy Holidays to You All!

Christmas Lite at Casa Kittling

I promised you some photos of the Christmas decorations I put up this year, and here they are. There aren't as many as in previous years, which you can see in posts like Christmas After Dark at Casa Kittling, but at least I did have many years where I could-- and did-- indulge my passion for holiday decorations.

Of course, there are a few decorations in the craft room. Things I've made, a Santa pitcher that's held many gallons of egg nog (and is part of a beloved set), and a flashing snowman that's a gift from a beloved friend.

A lot of the decorating this Christmas involved using old things in new ways-- like the needlepoint valances I made for two windows now being used as a runner atop the bookcases.

Since most foot traffic comes into the house through the carport, the welcome sign is here. Since I didn't put up any trees, I decided to make that tiered wire basket look festive. Those tote bags atop the bookcases hold afghans waiting to be given to people.

Looking into what used to be the dining room and on into the living room. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the big set of carolers Mom made back in the 1960s. They traveled a lot of miles to be here.

I don't like Christmas pillows or quilts. Nah. Not me.

The biggest quilts are store-bought. The small one was made by a friend. I made the Santa mug "bouquet" on the table as well as the punch needle embroidery napkin it's sitting on. A nice place to sit, read, drink tea, and keep an eye on the neighbors.

Part of my snowman collection. Several of them are still in the drawer.

Yes, I have shelves that don't have books on them.

I made the needlepoint mat, and I got everything to make the Christmas bouquet on the cheap. Total cost of everything-- mug included-- $5. (Love those 90% off sales after Christmas!)

Denis and I have to have a festive office, too.

The living room from the front door. There's my second "tree" between the lamps.

I began collecting those birds a couple of years ago, but it wasn't until this year that I got the idea to tell a story with them. The red fringe was purchased at a going-out-of-business fabric store about twenty years ago.

You might remember this table from Dia de los Muertos. Now it's gussied up for Christmas.

The way I placed many of the ornaments tell stories, too. The Santa and the two stockings are what remain of my "First Christmas" ornaments. The rest did not survive the Hong Kong Flu Fiasco of 1970.

Push the button on the sombreroed snowman and he sings my favorite Christmas song. And I love the two tatted ornaments given to me by a friend.

The big Santa cookie jar in the center is part of the set I mentioned earlier. Pure serendipity that I found it. I had the teapot, pitcher, sugar bowl, and creamer, and thought that was all there was. Denis and I stopped at a place outside of Lexington, Kentucky, years ago, and-- lo and behold!-- there was the cookie jar! (Good thing no one tried to get between me and it!)

Three holiday teapots for my niece Karen who's always ready for a brew.

I've always loved Hallmark's "Spencer Sparrow."

Of course this tablescape wouldn't be complete without some knitting. I love the tiny sweaters a friend knitted for me. One of these days I might be as talented as she.

Unintentional, but I like how it looks as though the elves are trying to hijack the Harrods van.

Another caroler set my mother made.

I could show you more, but I've probably outstayed my welcome as it is. As strange and distasteful as the 2020 holiday season may be to many of you, I wish you all-- however you celebrate (or even if you don't)-- Comfort... and Joy in the upcoming New Year.