A Whimsical and Vintage Christmas

Never is there a time of year quite like Christmas when it is an “anything goes” sort of decorating situation. This year, I attempted a both whimsical and vintage Christmas. Velvet bows, red ornaments, paper snowflakes, dried oranges, and vintage danish plates all add to the sense of wonder from years past.

A Vintage Christmas: The Living Room

As you know from this post and this one and this one, red will always be incorporated into our living room Christmas decorations. We have so many red ornaments from our childhood and Christmas is such a nostalgic time of year that not putting them up isn’t an option. So, the tree has its red ornaments. They are slightly toned down by the black watch plaid ribbon. (And then accentuated by our red plaid wrapping paper.)

The green and black in the ribbon coordinated with the mantel greenery. I layered our cedar garland with the pine cone garland and threw a pack of battery-operated Christmas lights in for good measure, too. Everything in 3’s, right? When I saw that Shea McGee tied red ribbons on her candlesticks, I immediately knew that some form of that would be happening on our mantel as well. I was even hopeful that I would go with red. However, as happens, when unpacking the Christmas decorations, I decided to go with what I already had… which was green velvet ribbon. And I love how it works with the ribbon on the tree. (I think I had both types of ribbon on the tree last year.) I added some tree and hobnail taper candles and the mantel was complete.

The side shelves housed their usual suspects- the photos of our kids when they were little, a snow globe, and birch candles. This year was the year that I finally switched out the artwork of a nativity with a ceramic one. Hopefully, all balls are bounced and thrown away from the shelving. As I’ve learned, there are no guarantees. The Christmas ticket artwork was moved from the mantel to the shelves.

A Vintage Christmas: The Entryway

For the entryway, I mainly stuck with things that I already had. The ceramic deer, yarn tree, and bowl of pinecone potpourri make a nice triad. It isn’t really Christmas without the beloved ski hill print, is it? (Also, plot twist. Our family now does, in fact, downhill ski-ish). The simple grey paper snowflake garland on the staircase is subtle and lovely.

A Vintage Christmas: The Dining Room

The dining room Christmas tree has mainly stayed the same with all of our “fun” ornaments thrown on the tree. You may remember that our children (currently begrudgingly, future gratefully) give each other an ornament for Christmas each year. I kept the ribbons on the tree and also added in some baubles to create an even more cohesive look. Some scattered tinsel on our “scrawny tree” (as the teenager calls it) felt right this year too.

I kept the bar cart simple this year with a wooden tree, a feathery tree, and a (now vintage looking) childhood photo. The pine cone candles are something that I have had for year and add a nice wintry touch. The wreath provides softness while the copper velvet ribbon ties in nicely with the ribbons on the tree (and the ribbon on the gifts below it).

The dining room table has a simple eucalyptus garland draped with a brass bell garland. Mercury glass candles smelling of Christmas are scattered throughout to add some sparkle. In typical fashion, I alternated the dishes because I didn’t have the budget to buy an entire set of new plates. And while the plates are technically new, they bring in a very vintage and nostalgic feeling to the room.

Our hutch showcases one of the latest garland purchases. It is so soft! I also added in some lights, oranges, and baubles.

A Vintage Christmas: The Kitchen

Originally, I had wanted to do a Scandinavian look on our dining room Christmas tree. (It is just too difficult for me to break tradition.) However, as I started incorporating our Christmas things into the kitchen, I realized that this may just be the perfect setting to go for it. I already had my herb pots and plants in the window sill. A green and pine cone garland, oranges, a snowflake garland, and paper star were great additions. And to top it all off, I remembered my grandmother’s blue Royal Copenhagen plates that I had in storage. Done, done, and done.