A Happy New Year to You and Yours

Best wishes for a dazzling and intriguing new year!

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(¸.•´ (¸.•´) Tristan

From My Home to Yours ... Joyeux Noël!

I wanted to share some of my holiday decorations with you. I know I don't usually post photos of my own things LOL - but I don't expect any guests this year for the holidays, so you'll be the only ones to join me in my holiday festivities!

Here is my studio ... and my Putz houses and German nutcrackers and sisal bottle brush tree collection.

Heh heh, you can tell from the top photo that I got a little carried away with the cropping of this photo - quite a few things were cropped off both ends. I was too crop-happy! LOL

The bottom two shelves house my Disney music box collection and collection of vintage Disney figurines.

Here are a few of my favorite Disney ornaments - I never seem to get enough of them!

This is our Nutcracker Suite tree. It is filled with ornaments depicting the story and my favorite characters from the ballet. Underneath the tree is our collection of Nutcracker Suite music boxes.

These are a few of my favorite ornaments and music boxes.

We probably have more Wizard of Oz ornaments than any other 'theme' - I started collecting them when I was quite young - still in school. And I've never stopped adding. I've become especially fond of the new ones that play music and light up and recite little sections of the film!

Just a few of my favorite ornaments from the merry old land of Oz!

 I've also always loved these rare ornaments with scenes from the film under glass domes. Sadly, they're just too darned heavy to hang on a tree, so I have to just plunk them down under the trees LOL

These are just a few of our Wizard of Oz music boxes ... we have to choose which ones to look at each year - we're just out of space LOL

I'm the only person I know who has a whole tree devoted to Marilyn Monroe. But there is some method to my bizarre madness. I have always been a huge fan - and there are so many really beautiful Marilyn ornaments. But, I always thought they looked strange next to more traditional ornaments on the Christmas tree. So I decided to devote one tree just to Marilyn ... and now I love it!

Here are a few of my Marilyn collection - check out those blow glass ornaments, arent' they knock outs?! My favorite is the funky television - when you push the top button, it plays a recording of Marilyn singing "Santa Baby!" 

Still under Holiday Construction!

Saturday, 7:30 pm. Whew. I'm still decorating our 'big' tree. I've just about had it for the day. This is as far as I've gotten.

I hope you'll stop by Sunday afternoon and see the finished tree and a few other special holiday decorations! I just can't go on any long today LOL.

 These are a few of my favorite traditional ornaments. Almost all are blown glass with hand painting embellishment - quite a few are very old. But there are also some fun new ones - I'm crazy about the 'new' retro '50s space ship and space men ornaments, as well as the reproduction miniature Victorian tin toys (that actually operate!). The gorgeous art doll is from artist Joanna, and the charming Victorian paper cornucopia is by by dear friend and artist Peggy Daily Gatto. Be sure to check out the amazing tiny carved and painted scene inside the walnut! 

Thanks to Beverly for hosting the marvelous Beverly's Pink Saturday blog hop! Be sure to check out all the other offerings this Christmas week!

Now, go make something beautiful!

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(¸.•´ (¸.•´) Tristan

What Do the Simple Folk Do? Part II

After searching the internet last to find photos of the way the upper half of the society decorates their Christmas trees and interiors for the holidays, I thought I should do the same thing with the exteriors! So many beautiful ways to welcome friends and loved ones to the home during the merriest of seasons!

 Be sure to check out all the other offerings at this week's

Beverly's Pink Saturday Blog Hop!

Now, get busy and make something beautiful!

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(¸.•´ (¸.•´) Tristan

What Do the Simple Folk Do?

One of my favorite moments in a Broadway musical is in the splendid show Camelot, when King Arthur and Queen Guenevere - feeling rather down in the dumps - sing a song titled "What Do the Simple Folks Do?," in which they ponder they way people not as royal as they manage to life themselves out of the doldrums.

I decided to turn the tables on the song and chase around the internet to see the way the other half decorate the insides of their oh-so-humble abodes for the holidays.

Be sure to check out all the other offerings on this week's 

Beverly's Pink Saturday blog hop!

Now - shouldn't you go make something beautiful?

¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*´¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´) Tristan