Wildwood Christmas

The last day of the year pictures

2011-12-31T21:26:00.000-08:00

Will not be long til my decorations come down and then the trek back up in the attic with what seems to be a hundred boxes. I do leave the tree til January the 6th.- Epiphany. I always miss the decorations when I take them down.. The fireplace is burning and watching for the ball to drop in Times Square on the T.V. - A very quiet New Years eve tonight.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year

decor in my upstairs bathroom - poinsettia looks a little out of place with the roses, but oh well its pretty anyway.

Nutcrackers on stairway

reflection of tree in mirror

Addy

My living room tree

tumbling white paper stars I made for top of tree in den -
Praying for a safe and Happy New Year!
I am joining My Romantic Home for show and tell friday

christmas day with family pictures

2011-12-28T18:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas day was spent with my son and daughter in law and granddaughter Adalyn who was born on the 8th of December. Two grandsons who live in Hawaii are missed along with one grandson in Arizona.
I am sure hoping next year we will see each other.
Mom was here and we had dinner , opened gifts and listened to Christmas music in the background.

very serious sleeper

love the roses on her dress that her grandma got her

waking up to eat

great grandma holding her

Christmas decor to reflect the year 1861 at the Va. Governors Mansion

2011-12-23T07:10:00.000-08:00

Since 1813 this federal style structure is the oldest occupied governors residence in the United States. Steve and I toured the Mansion set in the year 1861. Simple but elegant decorations. Greenery over the doorways. Mistle toe hanging from the chandelier as we walked in. Here are a few pictures.

upstair windows had the wreaths

Steve waiting at the entrance, we didn't realize we could have just walked in.
Notice the simple green wreaths, elegant all by themself with out a bow.

Mistletoe hanging from chandelier

Looking ahead as we enter is the tree on a table with all hand made decorations

fabric folded stars, cloth angels.

I understand that the handkercheifs the soldiers left behind while they went off to war were fashioned into

ornaments for the tree like this angel

paper chains, little crotchet doilies.

greenery collected from surrounding counties above door ways

table set for guests. Above the table - Virgin Queen Elizabeth 1- whom Virginia is named for

decorated trees in niches

I liked the way the chandelier was picking up light in here.

George Washington statue in background and live green wreaths on gate

Steve in front of mansion and where he works in the bldg on right

had to get a pix as we were leaving

I am linking to Common Ground which has beautiful images along with others to check out

Christmas pictures at home

2011-12-21T16:48:00.000-08:00

Finally got a few pictures of around my house and decorating. Here are a few of my tree in the living room.

top of my tree, you can see a paper doll I made last year.

I found this picture and copied it to reg. printing paper. Used water color pencils , then framed.

I recycled a Christmas card box, cut an opening, sprayed then glittered gold and added a Christmas card I rec'd from my niece last year.

this Santa Steve bought me last night from the nearby berry farm Christmas house

I made this one several weeks ago , it's explained in a previous post

My television cabinet with an angel

a country mouse holding her candle in my den window

my den tree

I am linking to No Minimalist here

Til next time - Betsy

Hotel Jefferson

2011-12-18T23:20:00.000-08:00

Steve and I rode downtown this past Friday to see the tree at the Hotel Jefferson. It was rainy and chilly, a good day for being inside and taking in the Christmas decorations. The hotel was to open on November 1, 1895, it did not as it was realized at the last minute that it is considered bad luck to start anything on a Friday, was opened Halloween instead. Hotel Jefferson is recognized as Richmond's grandest hotel and one of the finest in America. Building of the hotel began in 1892 Lewis Ginter who made millions by marketing the pre rolled cigarette commissioned Carrere and Hastings to create his wishes.
The Rolling Stones, Dolly Parton , Elvis Presley and Henry James stayed here.

Beautiful architecture
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At the entrance is an alligator with a Christmas ball in his mouth. Here is an explanation of the alligator posted at entrance.

I like to decorate with nutcrackers . The red , gold and silver is so pretty.

a glimpse of statue of Jefferson through door

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The Lobby

The Reason for the season in the lobby

My picture does not do the Nativity justice, very nicely displayed.

The grand staircase

Intricate ceilings

underneath tree

I could smell the sugar

stained glass ceiling medallion

we sat up stairs with our coffee looking down on the decorations below

upper level decorations.

Lewis Ginter decorations

2011-12-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

Some decorations to share of the Lewis Ginter Gardens and gift shop. Steve and I had crab bisque. He also ate beef tips over flat noodles. Lots of good fresh food.
Then we shopped in the gift shop where there are many unique items for purchase.

I liked how they used a tomato cage and stuck rope lighting into it.

A neat idea and simple to do

reflections of lights outside

close up of the garland, so pretty

this was taken from the childrens play area upstairs of the vegetable garden

Neat how they did the lights in veggie shapes

as we were walking among the lghts here are a few that were extra special, Loved the way the butterfly reflected in the water here.

a HUGE tree decorated with everything under the sun

Christmas pics

2011-12-12T16:06:00.000-08:00

I haven't decorated like I did last year, been way too much going on. I have a few pictures here of decorations so far. I put up Christmas lights on outside. I hope to get better shots tonight, these are rather blurry.

colored lights in front of house on boxwood

A mouse Steve purchased at a craft store last year

He likes these craft places and always purchases something

I have her in the window in den

Here is the outside in the day

I made the paper stars last year and placed them along with a starfish in our den

our tree with wooden cranberry beads and birds on our sun porch

This little Santa was purchased when I was in Germany in 2007 visiting my daughter

Little place called Schweinfurt - I miss it so much, which is why I plan to go back.

Finally some Christmas pictures

2011-12-11T04:13:00.000-08:00

Finally some pictures of Christmas decorating here at home. New grand daughter, getting packages mailed off and daily happenings have kept me busy. Here are a few so far.

close up of my tree in living room

top of tree

little fuzzy - It is a tree with red birds on my back porch

A mouse holding a candle in my window in den

Hope to have more soon

paper angel

2011-11-17T22:46:00.000-08:00

Finished a few things I am working on. I enlarged some pictures of angels and put them on card stock. The large angel is glued on foam board. I cut out two of them to give them more depth. I will finish up by going around the edges with a paintbrush of a color close to the angel to tone down the foam board showing on the sides. I also made tags for my gifts and glittered the three of them also.

I enlarged this pix

made two copies and glued to foam board

glittered her up here

I also glued cotton balls to base that I made with a slit in it to put the angel in to stand up, then sprayed glue and added glitter

one of the three little angels here I copied and glittered for gift tags.

I am linking to "My Romantic Home"

Early shopping

2011-11-11T22:35:00.000-08:00

My friend and I went shopping at Lewis Ginter Gardens gift shop. Beautifully decorated. Shoppers are greeted with a glass of champagne or Sparkling apple cider. Live music in the background.
I am posting a few pictures of the evening. You can still enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

view to the gardens outside. I am really liking the soft blue lights

display inside of garden shop - among many, very nicely decorated

There were large lanterns on very tall silver tree

bright greens, copper, red and gold decorate this tree

silver glittery pine

table top tree

I purchased two items, I will go back again when I am more in the mood for shopping

The soap is made in France, the scent is strong

A pretty handmade bracelet in nice packaging

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"Through The Garden Gate"

Vintage decorations and handmade items

homemade paper cones, little bags and many more

Very much like the trunk filled with Christmas decor.

Steve bought me this handmade reindeer candle holder today - the bag and wrapping is special also in this shop.

I am in the mood for decorating now, gonna have to get the trees out of storage.
Till next time - betsy

End of year pictures and Happy Blessings for a wonderful New Year!

2010-12-31T21:35:00.000-08:00

A few end of year photos. Cannot believe we will be in the year 2011. The next photo is inside the Omni hotel taken as we were heading toward the Mezzanine to look out over the yard and some of the city. The lights bounce off of the windows.

the deer on the lawn seem to be jumping into the widow

Beautiful wreath in Mezzanine and Steve having a seat alongside.

The lights on the shrubbery look like candy through the snow

Ryan playing in the leaves

Tyler I can barely see sitting in the leaves

Lights dancing off of the walls from fruit arrangement

A paper star I made

I placed my oak leaves on the tree also that I spray painted gold

You can see my reflection in the ornament on the tree of me taking a shot

Downtown Richmond - James Center

2010-12-26T16:02:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve , Steve and I drove to downtown Richmond to see the decorations at the James Center. We had dinner inside the Omni. Spaghetti for me and Clams and linguine for Steve. I need a set of the dishes that our dinner was served in. I especially love the cup and saucer.

Beautiful scenery to see while eating our meal

Gorgeous trees outside

I cropped this so you could see it closer. The reflection in the glass

I still have not found these type of lampshades yet, still looking though

Back home before the snow hits
------------------------------------------short video of downtown lights

While in Tennessee

2010-12-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

Steve wanted to see the town of Cadiz Kentucky, on what was the coldest day for us in the teens. It was about a 25 minute drive from her home in Tn.. Wow it was cold.
Everything was decorated so pretty. Some of the decorations on the square where Santa visited was blown around from the snow storm that came through. Still it was a beautiful day and we had a great lunch at Hot Diggity Dog. Chili was had by Seth and we had sandwiches and onion rings-sooo good . We want to visit in the fall of the year for some good barbecue, I understand there are vendors out then with some great food.

Annette missed Santa, but got a picture with the sleigh. nice painted scene in the background

Taking a look in town in the Antique stores and lil shops. Steve leads the way

Mighty creative

Love the decorated Pigs in town

Annette and Seth

You knew there had to be a Pig tree. If you click on it , you can see it better

Steve really liked the villiage scene in the museum

local radio station tree

Christmas greenery

2010-12-19T22:49:00.000-08:00

Today Steve, my sister Lynn and I toured Maymont Mansion to see the Christmas decorations.   Lots of greenery and beautifully set table for dinner. Red ribbon was draped on the table and beautiful very large arrangement of red roses was the centerpiece. Mrs Dooley loved roses.
The tree was decorated in paper doily ornaments along with cones and other handmade ornaments. Gifts were hung on the tree  and not placed under the tree. Needless to say, the gifts were not large and fit well in the branches wrapped in white paper with red ribbon. Tape was not available in their day, straight pins were used to secure the paper to the package. The staircase was decorated with lots of heavy thick greenery tied with very large red ribbon.
No pictures were allowed to be taken inside, so I just have more of the outside greenery.   After the tour, we headed to Buz and Ned's for the best barbecue, spare ribs and great tasting lemonade.

I had to capture this skeletal tree. Star Magnolia. I love the gnarly limbs against the pretty blue sky.

This blding. was once used by the Dooley's as a garage for their carriages and motor cars. The window now decorated with dolls and toys. This picture is of a gift box with a nice picture of a little girl.

I must use magnolia leaves for my windows next year, I really like the way they look in the sill

the carriages had greenery tied to them for the Christmas season, I thought was a nice touch.

Lynn standing in front of a very large cedar tree

I forgot the name of these statues, but they sure look cold standing there in front of a frozen pool.

Some Christmas pics of Solomons Island

2010-12-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

There was shopping and a heavy dinner on the island Saturday. The grand kids had a good time looking at the lights. The people were all so friendly. There was the parade of boats all lit with Santa and one was shooting off fireworks. The streets were Luminary lit, such a nice quaint town and this was its 26th Christmas walk.

The view from our table in the restaurant

loved this tree with crabs as decorations in a shop

streets lit

tree in restaurant

finally finishing up inside

2010-12-03T17:58:00.000-08:00

I have a couple pictures to share of my tree, I am not totally finished yet, but will be tomorrow. Hopefully the garland around front door will be finished tomorrow also

upstairs tree in mostly copper gold silver

three choir angels I cut from wood and painted a few years back

Lewis Ginter

2010-12-02T13:11:00.000-08:00

My husband and I went to see the lights at Lewis Ginter Botanical gardens. A special treat for members night was that we were able to tour the home of Lewis Ginter. First pictures are of the gardens at Ginter.
Here is a peacock that is made of nothing but lites.

walking from the home to the garden

Model of Mount Vernon

There were doll houses on display done by various artist and decorated

Nice tree house with decorated Christmas trees

this house was done with plastic canvas

Every flower ornament on this tree was grown here at Ginter and dried downstairs

daffodils, lambs ear, money plant , and orchids to name a few

very fragile and beautiful

money plant on a ball

you can see the daffodil next to it

another garden view

front porch, I noticed there was not any greenery around the door this yea

parlor close up of mantle with candelabra

I like how the garland drapes to the floor

I looked up as I was moving to the next room and saw this beautiful stained glass

wonder if it is a Tiffany

Every decoration has flowers , butterflies and birds

view looking to the gardens from inside home

Lunch in the country and shopping

2010-11-28T23:28:00.000-08:00

My husband and I spent a pleasant afternoon at this nice reastaurant and shop in our county.
Great barbeque and roasted red pepper soup,The soup or bisque as I call it was very tasty, next time I will get the bowl of it and not just a cup.
Great desserts also.
love the goodies that are sold in the shop. The decorations for Christmas were done so nicely and got me in the spirit, I came home and decorated more. - click to enlarge some pictures here-

this was so adorable

Notice the doiley on the door, it's made of metal.

I have a picture where there is doileys on the outside of the door and window. I will have to show you sometime.

Welcoming entrance - Black Creek Country store.

Craft day

2010-11-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

I had several members of my family over Friday to make crafts and eat spaghetti. Mom was here and we had a good time. I took a few pictures of what we made to show you.
Actually we took more time eating, as it's something we really have fun doing.

my snowman picture I made from a card Wanda sent me last year.

I added letters , snowflakes and sparkles, with beads and garland

another Christmas card I rec'd. I added a bow to her hair and garland and ribbon with sparkles

An angel I made for my tree

Wanda made this coffee filter angel

I made this felt snowman and sprinkled him with mica flakes, he most definitely needs a nose

I made some cones also

Donna (http://donna-overtheriverandthroughthewoods.blogspot.com/ )made this one

I have started to put up my tree - takes a while

A few ornaments

2010-11-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

Here are a few ornaments that I purchased from a local craft sale at a persons house not far from here.
$1.25 each.
Handmade and painted nicely, I will add the name to it.

this is my holly tree in the side yard, all decked out. The birds will get the berries when they are really deep red and pretty.

Christmas lights

2010-08-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

I guess it's not too early to think about how to put up lights this year. I was going through some pictures I took last year and here are a few lights around Henrico county - burbs of Richmond, Va

Mr Christmas-west end of Richmond

The reason for the season

well - back to the hot weather

few pics of the Omni hotel

2009-12-30T13:02:00.000-08:00

After seeing the reindeer outside , we went inside to see the Omni hotel. Little disapointing as the decorations were not as many as previous years.

lounge area

steven and steve

James Center Christmas

2009-12-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

James Center in downtown Richmond Va.
All decked out for Christmas, the two grandchildren - Ryan and Tyler enjoyed seeing the lit reindeer and tall Christmas tree. I will post pictures of inside the Omni hotel tomorrow.

click on to enlarge

Tyler

Ryan

Ryan is looking at the star at the top of this tree, he is in awe of it.

we saw this on the wall here and thought someone left it. Got closer and found it was not real, we just call it "Art".

Beautiful wreath in the walkway

Busch pics - part two

2009-12-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pictures of Busch Gardens.
In the German town there were plenty of steins and gluwein for sale. Beautiful nutcrackers. Santa at the North Pole, where you can have a picture taken with him.
France had an icy theme, which made us feel all the more colder.
Glad for the outdoor heated areas.

North Pole

There were beautiful wreaths hanging everywhere.

Busch Gardens at Christmas

2009-12-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

Steve and I took John , Annette, and Seth to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg Va. to see the Christmas decorations and shops. Lots of nice gifts to be had in the Germany, French and Italian country areas of the Gardens. Hot Chocolate, coffee and hot cider - delicious!
Ride to England area of Park. It was very cold and got colder, but I like it this way at Christmas time.

Here is pic of steve and I

Seth, John , Annette

If you enlarge, the trees will show up a little more

Shop in English country

will have more tomorrow in other areas of park.

Christmas with the family

2009-12-26T11:25:00.000-08:00

Seth Baking Sugar cookies

Yes, my daughter and her family came in monday night to stay with us and left today. I wish they could have stayed longer as always, but was sure nice to have them here. Seth helped bake cookies. Annette was a big help in getting things ready for christmas day, 27 of us in all. Lots of food and lots of cleaning up, especially with a broken dishwasher, but Wanda and Donna took care of that. They got things cleaner than any dishwasher could. The deserts were so good. Blueberry mold and pretzel salad that Robin made especially for John was soooo gooood. Annette made the blueberry. Coconut cake among others.
We went to Christmas eve service at Our Lady of Lourdes. Seth loved singing Christmas Carols.

My wish came true for a white Christmas

Some Christmas pictures around the house

2009-12-19T12:26:00.000-08:00

I took a few pictures around the house of my decorations, I have more to post later. This is sideyard fence with live greenery I cut from our trees, santa and snowman waving in back.

click to enlarge

I bought this ornament from "Through the garden gate"

my kitchen window

German nutcracker, Annette bought me in Germany when she lived there in 2007 - he has rabbit fur for his beard and hair, the collar is cotton fabric.

Grandchildrens names - Jenn gave us last Christmas

My mom gave me "Old World Santa" 2 years ago.

My Wreath hangs in stairwell

Santa again

I made these cones to fill with - not sure actually

will post more later-

Christmas shopping

2009-12-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

I was out shopping today and decided to stop in Cracker Barrel. I am glad I did. Christmas items were mostly 40 to 50 percent off. I bought this red glass candle with the base gilded looking trees , I put a battery votive in it and will give as a gift. There were all kinds of beautiful ornaments. The deals there are great and I am gonna go back tomorrow to pick up a few last minute items.
I lke the candy bars wrapped in what looks like the 50's era paper. Old fashioned candy. A gift card is always good for a meal.
I want to visit the Maymont house tomorrow, there is a gift shop there. I like to shop for gifts that are different, not something I see everyday at retail stores.
Will let ya know how it went later.

Swags

2009-12-07T20:58:00.000-08:00

I got the swags made for my windows and my hands are a little rough from the holly and pine. I picked it from the trees in the yard. I will put them in my windows tomorrow.

I can see my carpet will need a good cleaning

santa on mantle in den

the skirt under tree is one my sister Rachel crocheted.

A few crafts I made for my tree

2009-12-06T22:48:00.000-08:00

I made these paper dolls for my tree in the living room. I got the pattern from a site called 'Dresden Star Ornament'. Just copy pattern on cardstock, cut out and then decorate.

The dress is a napkin and decorated with gold glittter.

There is a second one higher up on the tree

I made this star of cardboard. stuffed it with paper and papier mache, sprayed it white and glittered.

These little choir girls I cut from wood and painted

Angels on my tree

tree top on tree in living room

Day after Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T14:45:00.000-08:00

Few pics of Black Creek Country store, near us. They sell great lunches and have some great deserts.
The Christmas decorating is so beautiful. We bought some christmas gifts here. Very nice merchandise.

Here is a pix of the fence leading to the entrance.

I am going to do my fence on the side of my house like this. I just thought it was so pretty and smelled so good with the fresh greens. The gentleman who with his wife runs the store decorated the fence, I think he did a nice job. I told him I wanted to do the same thing on my fence.

I will post my pictures when I finish with the greenery.

A pretty tree in one of the rooms

getting started

2009-11-20T20:13:00.000-08:00

I decided to get the tree down from the attic today and this is how far I have gotten, what is wrong with me this year? I am slow at getting anything done, I ran out of lights, 3 strands were not lighting just right , so I threw them away, I can't take a chance with a fire possibly from those things, Anyway I hope to have it finished soon and will show some pictures of it. I think next year I will wait a little closer to Christmas and get a live tree, haven't had one in ages.

O.K. I will get there.

I will show ya pictures of the mostly finished product tomorrow.

Here is that other little tree I fluffed from the Goodwill store.

Glitter Houses finally finished

2009-11-16T22:33:00.000-08:00

I will not be making anymore of these this year, the time is flying by. I heard from my daughter Annette and she and her husband John and lil boy Seth will spend Christmas with us this year , Yay. I am so happy about that.

The church needs some people that I will glue near the entrance

when I do display them, I will have lights behind them and some snow for the mantle.

this one I am still working on

I traced pattern on heavy paper, stuffed it and hot glued, sprayed white and used crystal glitter. I think I will top the tree downstairs with it. I guess I could insert a dowel and place in a wood base and decorate.

Picture of my tree last year, I did eventually hide the metal base on the star top.

glitter church

2009-09-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

made this church last year and it is my first one. I constructed it out of heavy cardstock and the windows I printed on a semi clear type of paper, not sure what it is called. I then put clear finish on them and when dried , glued to the openings. I have fun making these and now I have to make sort of a large house to go with the church.

--------Click on pictures to enlarge -------

Some Christmassy finds

2009-09-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

I found a pretty beaded Christmas tree in a cloche at the Goodwill. I rearanged the ornaments and did a little fluffing. I only paid $6.25 for it. I may try to put some little lights around it, if I can find some small enough.

My sister found me this topiary form, it 's picked bald, but I will probably put ivy on it. I know it doesn't look like much now, but it will when I finish with it and put some

little lights on it for christmas.

These two guys have been held hostage in this little shed out back since last Christmas, Grandchildren like them, They do look pretty happy waving from the window.

Christmas - James Center in Richmond, Va 2008

2009-09-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

I am so looking forward to seeing the lights and decorations in the coming months for Christmas. I like to tour homes and yeah, I still believe in Santa.

Glitter house finished.

2009-09-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

Finallly finished two of my houses that I reminded myself to post later. Here they are.
I made opening for lights in the back. These are so much fun. so many ways to decorate and can really get creative with the little yards. Click on pix to enlarge

Scrap gift boxes

2009-09-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

I finished off popcorn and some cereal bars, oh well, someone had to do it.
I decided the boxes would make a good size gift box, I have some gifts that would fit them just right.
So I got out my papers , glue, scissors, and string and ribbon and started covering and gluing. I used this very old paper punch to punch the holes in the box. I made my gift tags out of cardstock
and then cut a scence from the paper to match the box.

IYou can click on pictures to enlarge.

There is one thing wrong with the white and red box. If you can tell, let me know. My husband saw it right away, so now his gift will go in this one.

unfinished

2009-09-02T17:51:00.000-07:00

I am working on my little houses at this moment, I love these little things, I hang the smallest on the tree. I give as an ornament along with a gift to a few.

Here they are unfinished, will post the finished ones later. " Little glitter houses" is a site that I get some ideas from. There are many out there.

The yellow one I will repaint and change the look of the roof. The blue one needs glitter and extra stuff. I say stuff because it hasn't hit me as to what I want to do with that one.