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My 2017 “All Around the Christmas Tree” tour, part 2!

Last year I splurged right after Christmas on a pink flocked tree for use this year, and now that it’s all decked out I just don’t think it could be any prettier to look at. In a previous post I shared all the little “tea things” that I had placed on the tree, starting with the Royal Albert “Old Country Roses” cup and saucer that was a gift from my daughter.

In addition to tea things, the other type of ornament that seems to speak to my heart is simply what I call “critters” – woodland animals like squirrels and song birds. So I have added a few of those over the past couple of years as well, but usually in a very fanciful style… lots of white and sparkle. Here are a few of the critters gathered on my tree:

This deer got a sprig of feather boa to up the fancy quotient just a little.

I bought a small bag full of chubby little faux birds at a thrift store recently – here are a few of them:

This little squirrel was marked “shatter-proof” – that means he’s plastic. But he has the look of the old-world glass.

Here’s another squirrel, this one has a rhinestone scarf for added bling!

This shimmery peacock is not exactly a woodland creature, but he’s sure beautiful!

Another sweet little faux birdie…

My little Frog Prince is also new this year; he was found at Tuesday Morning and is made of glass. Apparently, frogs are considered good omens for success – in business, relationships, and other ventures – because they can only move forward and therefore are continually making progress. I’ve added him to my tree in hopes he will help keep my job-hunt brief!

Finally, also not a woodland creature but also quite beautiful is “Miss Thing” who sits at the top of the tree. (You have to say it sassy so it sounds like, “Miss Thang” – she definitely thinks she’s all that!)

Okay I might be the only person in Blogland who took you on not one, but TWO ornament-by-ornament tours of her tree… so thank you for indulging me! I hope your Christmas tree fills your heart with joy!

My 2017 “All Around the Christmas Tree” tour, part 1!

One year not too long ago, my sweet daughter gave me a Royal Albert teacup ornament for the Christmas tree featuring my all-time favorite dish pattern, Old Country Roses. It has had front-and-center pride of place since that time, and I’ve also collected (and made) a few more teacup ornaments as well. Last year I decided I wanted my tree to be pink… and flocked! So right after Christmas I snagged a good deal over on Amazon and patiently waited all year to be able to put it up and decorate it. It’s a three-foot tabletop model, with a lot of flocking (really – a lot… I even spent some time picking some of it off because I couldn’t get the ornaments on).

Here’s the topper – a large gold bow with a pretty white dove perched in front.

Here’s a look at the top section:

My Royal Albert Old Country Roses teacup ornament sits front-and-center:

St. Nick is right below “OCR.”

There is one other set of Royal Albert ornaments – two cups and a teapot – in another pattern – which you’ll see. The rest of the teacup ornaments were collected in thrift shops, and in most cases I simply strung them with a thin pretty ribbon. In a couple of cases, I also glued on lids to ensure things stayed together.

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These tiny cups – a set of three – were added this year. They are marked “Occupied Japan” on the bottom.

Are you a fan of the “courting couples” motif? I definitely am!

There are other elements to the tree, of course… I have quite a few “critters” too, which I’ll share in another post! Hope you enjoyed the “teacups” portion of our tour around the tree – do you decorate a tree for Christmas? Do you have a theme? I’d love to hear about it – feel free to comment and tell me about your tree!

Here is a Pin-able image if you’d like to save the Teacup Christmas Tree for future inspiration!

It’s looking very Christmasy here in the dollhouse, especially if pink and gold are your Christmas colors. I’ve been evolving over the past couple of years into this color scheme, and it fits very well into the small space here – light and pretty, plenty of opportunity for sparkle, and not weighed down by darker hues of red and green. (Although make no mistake, I do still love those traditional Christmas colors!)

One of my evolving displays is what I called last year my “Pink frothy village” – it’s a fanciful little village where the houses are painted pink and dusted with glittery pink snow, and sitting in a bed of the softest pink feathers.

I buy a few houses or other buildings throughout the year at Goodwill, looking generally for those that have an especially interesting shape. I then paint them with my Martha Stewart chalk paint in “Seashell.” When dry I brush the tops and protruding surfaces with ModPodge, then sprinkle a lot of fine pink glitter on the sticky areas. This year I added a small house, a larger house, and a courthouse. Here they are earlier this Fall, in progress.

I told someone recently that I am terrible at editing my decor… if I have a thing and it’s sitting out, I hate to put it away… I mean, I have it because I love it and want to look at it! So it just about killed me to put away the things that were sitting on the bottom shelf of my step-back cabinet, but the Pink Village needed a spot so here we are.

Why yes, that is a Haviland Limoges serving platter behind the courthouse. It is pink, you see, so it stayed. It’s sort of like a big pink(-ish) super moon overlooking the town.

This is a pretty magical little place… it needs a better name!

Here is a Pin-able image for this post if you’d like to save it!