New additions.

As tempting as it always is, I'm trying not to reinvent the wheel with this year's Christmas decorations. But it doesn't hurt to add a couple of new things, now does it?



I made this paper cottage from a kit from Martha Stewart Crafts. It's an advent calendar that has little numbered doors on the roof to open each day before Christmas. I first spotted it on eBay this summer while searching for something completely unrelated. I knew that I had to have it, so I put it on my watch list to be purchased at a later time.

I found that it was much more challenging to complete than it looked. The directions were very brief, reading something to the effect of, "Fold on the lines, glue together and...you're done!" As a result, it's poorly executed in a couple of spots, but at least it stands on its own.



I bought this vintage table cloth for $10 at an antique fair a couple of years ago, but I never actually put on a table until this year. When I unfolded it, I found that it was in pristine condition. Our table is oblong, so it's tough to find vintage linens fit, so I think that I'll buy a cheap red table cloth to lay underneath it. That way, when we eat I can remove it in order to keep it pristine.



Here's a close-up of the apothecary jars on the table. This photo was actually taken last year. When I went to fill the jars this year, I decided to refer to this photo and found that I never uploaded it. The Santa and snowmen are vintage figural light bulbs that I salvaged from my grandparents' basement, like, fifteen years ago. I was a visionary, I tell ya!

We still haven't put up a tree yet. I'm thinking about going the easy route and putting up our white tree rather than going out and buying a real one. The white tree has a lot of character, but nothing compares to evergreen.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention in the the midst of all this decorating that the baby Jesus came to no harm, which has to bode well for me. On the other hand, since it's seven years bad luck when you break a mirror, I fear that I may be in for an even longer term punishment for breaking the baby Jesus.