Going the whole hog for Christmas

Speaking literally that is but I really like to push the boat out in all areas when it comes to Christmas. (Told you I was a bit of a Christmas nut). I like to set the scene with all the lovely things that I have collected together out on display or being in use.  A lot bought from the Charity shops at reasonable prices but all in all mixing and matching and blending in with everything else I do have.  To achieve this I like to keep things as simple as I can and most things fall into a couple of themes.

I sort of go for traditional  Victorian style decorations, red, gold, green and white although there are other colours added in too but these are the base colours.

I buy glassware in green, gold, red and clear.  They might be different shapes, different colours, but because of the base line colours they all blend in well.  There may not be a full set of some but it all goes towards creating interest and a "set" of usable items especially for celebrations.  Although in the past I have been able to make full sets as I have been able to add to those glasses by finding a duplicate set elsewhere. So in that kind of a situation it is a win win.

My main dinner set is the BHS Ivy Garland dinner service of Greens and creamy white.  I have the tureens, and other bits and bobs to go with them.  I also have my Great Grandmother's Tureens, Soup dishes with decorated ladles, the largest and smallest meat platters which are los a shade of green and white. I have also built up quite a substantial Victorian Green Glass collection to go with this dinner service. I have  white Turkey platters and meat platters, and accompanying dinnerware serving dishes that Marks & Spencers did many years ago so they because of their neutral colouring blend in with everything else.

I also have plenty of plain white and coloured table linen and napkins, some patterned, embroidered, printed Christmas fabric, etc together with napkins.

I have a weakness for nice things and also have lovely cutlery/tableware to lay to complement these.  My furniture is predominantly pine and my dining table seats 8, and if I had the dream home that I have always hankered after I would want another table the same size and seating for the kitchen, as to me the kitchen really is the heart of the home and meant to be the place where everyone meets and eats together.  Bit like the long table in the Walton's Family Christmas home and also in the "Kirstie's Christmas home".

I highlight these lovely items in their own right by using candles and fresh flowers and greenery - which gives the overall effect of a "Country Christmas" which to my mind is cosy and decorative and natural.

So what is she going on about.  Most of the things I have collected together over the years have been acquired over many many years and have not been put together in a day.  Do not however be discouraged as you younger ones can aspire to doing the same by starting to check out Charity shops and the like now and starting together your collection of useful items for celebrating Christmas. or other family occasions.  Remember it is cheaper to celebrate at home and to do the catering either yourself or together with other family members so the effort and the cost and the skills are shared. 

I started collecting bits and bobs as a reaction to not being able to buy brand new at that particular time of my life or as good a quality as some of the second hand items.  I started off with Victorian pressed glass cake stands.  If you buy different sizes these can be stacked to pop cakes on or to actually put candles on and create a lighting display in your home.  So there are always alternative uses for some of the things I have acquired and pulled together.

You too can acquire a home that you only dreamed off by being savvy in in this way.  When you look at some of the beautiful Christmas books with their beautifully presented photographs showing off a beautifully decorated Welsh Dresser for the Christmas season you in turn could have this eventually once you have set your sight on what it is you would like and what style, but in the interim you can collect the little bits whilst you save up for that central piece or pieces a bit at a time. 

Sometimes that central piece is a well battered find in a second hand shop which needs a little tlc and that may be the only way that you are going to be able to afford that central piece, but you love it you buy it and you make it work for you.  Whether that is by stripping, reoiling or revarnishing or painting you are making it an extension of you and a very big part of your home. and an extension of what you are all about.

It does not matter whether it is brand new, second hand, antique as long as you are happy about it.  There used to be an awful lot of snobbery by certain individuals of only wanting to buy brand new and no way would they ever consider anything second hand etc. In this day and age though you do what you can to achieve your dream and really it is no one else's business but yours. It does not really matter though in this day and age apart from that it fits in with your needs and lifestyle and it is useful then that is all that really matters.

So this year; you decide you want some gold fancy glasses for the table.  You cannot find anything in the shops that you like that is not particularly expensive.  Why are you not haunting the charity shops and the like to see if you can spot a bargain on this front.  There may only be five glasses; don't leave it just because there are five and not a full set, take them you may find in due course that you will find some more to go with it or something that will blend in with them.  Keep looking through the year as well.   The thing with Charity shops especially the smaller concerns is that they genuinely do an awful lot of good and the prices are reasonably relevant. Charity shops are normally a win win situation, you buy an item which gives them funds to help someone else less well off than you.

When I was first married I was bought a very big glass punch bowl with cups that hung off the side of the bowl and a big ladle.  That punch bowl would be about £15 over 35 years ago.  I still have it; it is still bought out for use at Christmas, but last year I managed to find another exactly the same and with all its cups, hooks and ladle intact for £5.  Punch bowls can be used in the summer too especially for fruit no alcoholic punches or Sangria and if you are having a garden party or have a houseful at Christmas then everyone gets a cup in their own right and the aesthetics look good.  Ideal for Pimms too.  So everything has its place.

However this is how I have managed to get a lot of the things that I liked and aspired too without having to take out a second mortgage.

My first husband was one of a large family, and I am part of an extended family so I always tend to think in multiples in any event but this is how I made things a reality for me rather than just having something to dream and think about.

Another for instance that there was a stage quite a few years ago where people were outing their lead crystal decanters in all shapes and sizes.  As there was an influx at the Charity shops at the time I managed to pick several up for £5 apiece and they look classy on the side at Christmas or in the drinks cabinet if you have one.  There is also a lot of elegance and charm in using older pieces in the way that they were destined to be used.

This is just another element in the things that I do to set the scene for Christmas.

However before fitting out a room with its decorations and select pieces for the Christmas celebration each room is scrubbed within an inch of its life and all wooden furniture is given a good dose of beeswax polish and elbow grease to buff the furniture up.  When the house warms up you then get the smell of the beeswax permeating the air and it smells clean and warm and fresh and of home.

My biggest problem at the moment is that I see pieces of furniture that are just what I am aspiring to and which I would like and have been looking for.  However because I have no way to get them home and also have space restrictions I have to leave as I just have nowhere for them .  Well one day.  They say everything happens when the time is right.

So there is always a lot of preplanning going on in the background of most of the things that I do which all blend in to one at the end of the day and the aim is to have people together look after them feed them and make sure they enjoy their day in lovely surroundings.  In reality its not always achieved but that is the aim.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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