I've been meaning to get these pictures up for a couple weeks, but you know how it is. There are only 24 hours in a day.....
More than half of my pictures didn't turn out (the stockings hung by the chimney with care, among other things), but I can always do those next year. So, here we go - I'm just hitting a few of my favorite things.
I collect cookie jars. Most of them are vintage, but these two Santa's are not (actually, they are Father Christmas jars). They are, however, very special to me. This is a Fitz & Floyd cookie jar. In my opinion, F&F make about the finest quality cookie jars (and other pieces) today. This Woodland Santa is about 10 years old.![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0tHYhI1dmiJd9HTAWvoZa5N_8Gv8K_iuH0O_sw-j7jZe_KvJi37t4EM2YNfetPzJ_Acwvuvfso547UXRhx3CmDar54jHbxhK1mJu4UKXKPrkw_x6btXAi1ovitr1RGDO1UwdyTKMtag/s320/Christmas08+-+Pink+F%26F+Jar.jpg)
This is a Mary Englebreit Santa cookie jar sitting atop our vitrine (china cabinet).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhscdN6OpAsNJid-9AR_UXDTfTyQvBL8QEID6kMMi5yCkZt7GlRS6GhcbNS9yq1ZvezlnWXdkx0YJChHOCpHhRy0-7H_h5yitOs5pBg5E3w6OGib5hloA58AYLaKuA-qw0y3mvOqanmaQ/s320/Christmas08+Cookie+Jar+ME.jpg)
And speaking of Santa's, the following is a vintage composite Father Christmas that I picked up at an antique store in Galena, Illinois about twelve years ago. I keep him out all year.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRa_GKdrhGaizNGtL9Dp0_7DmKxAK1MPhsNt3uhyAiBftPNaP81uEqLBya0K1SAYc3y482REjTAH9cS_2ZNCOw7TMRkET2xUg-2ngRkhosOIMlvoac_6RGv8knTesbtYoBBR6Vun3eQ/s320/Christmas08+-+Vintage+Father+Xmas.jpg)
One of my favorite Christmas tree ornaments is this one that I have left over from my childhood. It is gold plastic with a sort of angel-hair fiber swirled inside. I have another one in silver (not pictured). Once there were at least a half a dozen of each color (decades ago). I think I inherited four, but only the two remain.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgevpmuq_Rd6byfgF0TfUURZugmrX24zAnmT6y-2I_8lDMliIK1lzh4FC-NqiC5UZWIwJPm4sSt04nbQlZqfXjTGDuerrYY_Z6WvbGhnWzuRdBH58J8y16DtKFiF3VQTbo95mC6202XOg/s320/Christmas08+-+Gold+Vintage+Orny.jpg)
In contrast to the vintage things are the more modern pieces that I believe mix well with the antique sideboard and my few vintage pieces. Isn't that what it's all about anyway - collecting what we like and is beautiful or meaningful to us? The next three pictures show different vignettes that are grouped on our sideboard in the front entry.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh93huExDixbrJ6xG5grscWZJJien3IzodQyLtEYFMJTe-7x5a85qBJEgKP97bNwElxbScbqOgKmnbInp-MH-DfHIFe7jPPOp_3E1BMft3Jlv78xxY6m4FqGrrtmEVjGE39q2b7bADnPw/s320/Christmas08+White.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_SfLKcCatJGnqkBOzv-YP6Eabndz2biwoA_ycANJM9_j2jDzJHh6-i5rSUWlCwyI7-MJWwfGyApPBSgW8muWtcyhqPgasQeaA5dOZV74SyT-TiyoXTcyoHBmfpQEycObzPeUO7GdTQ/s320/Christmas08+-+Sideboard+stuff.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ELkE9xQuR20r8XJTity-mPT-q68fJB-KVVvT61jRu44oMwnJEkmVJuheZE3a4scoWaS62Tamykh-sNneXrsPsrpfKT7miXyWszo0qADeLqzXqyvJxCeMMfj3NUshpOiQ1EpNrXszaQ/s320/Christmas08+-+Bell.jpg)
We recently got rid of our old '80's oak entertainment center and 25-year-old analog TV and bought a digital TV, a credenza for the TV to sit on, a recliner (for us to sit on) and a hutch-style bookcase. Here is an arrangement of florals, sprays and spikes in one of my all-year vases. It usually sits on the hearth, but we're a bit cramped this year with the new furniture and our too-big Christmas tree, LOL. So it sits in a little niche in the living room.
And finally, below is a picture that hangs in the living room. It is a pencil sketch that my son Shane did in high school - it was a copy of a picture he saw in one of our yearly almanacs of a Frenchman sniffing a truffle . A high school art assignment. I just dressed it up slightly with some pale florals.
And that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by!