Our Christmas Open House!

Twas an Open House ………

Twas a few days before Christmas, at our Open House,

Not a space was undecorated, not even the couch.

The stockings were hung, including the dogs,

In the hope we would be visited by many other blogs.

The egg nog was made and spiked with some rum,

And put in nice cups for the people that come.

With me in my red sweater and my husband in black,

We hoped many people would stop for a snack.

When out on the porch I heard a bell ring,

So I jumped from my chair to hear my friends sing.

Away to the door I ran like a deer.

To greet a few guests and wish them good cheer.

The candlelight glistened as they walked in the door,

This was just the beginning of my Christmas décor.

When what to their wondering eyes should appear,

but a reflection of crimson and gold in the mirror.

With a cute little tree, all decked in white lights,

They knew they would enjoy my other delights.

With eager excitement, they ran through my home,

Finding red birds and Santas placed under a dome.

More rapid than Helio, the bloggers they came,

And I greeted and shouted and called them by name!

Hi BJ, hi Karen, hi Janet, hi Pat. There’s Boo mama and

Terri and Alice and Matt. Hi Penny, Manuela, Sherry and Julie.

Hi Rose and Dena and Robin and Millie.

To the office, to the great room, to the kitchen, and hall,

They wouldn’t stop looking until they saw it all.

As they ate and they drank, they noticed there was more,

A village of houses with a church and a store.

So away to the village they flew like a flash,

Like kids in a candy store they did a quick dash.

And then in a twinkling, I heard someone say,

We have more blogs to visit so we must be on our way.

They sprang to their keyboards and entered more sites,

And I heard them exclaim as they took their last bites.

“Happy Christmas to all my blogging friends

and to all a good night!”

Welcome to our home.
The lights are on.
A peak at the window.

A decorated sled greets you at the door.
Bubble lights in the windows.
Candlelight.
Candles on the curio.
Stockings, including Bailey the beagle's.
The crimson and gold tree. Small but shining.


I like this poinsettia gift wrap.
Close up of the poinsettias on my tree.
A new ornament from a friend. It plays silent night too. I love it.
Lots of crimson and gold balls on the tree.
I've been adding picture ornaments of the nieces and nephews.
These balls are red and green but look like pink and green.
My round little wooden Santa.
Santas under my cloche in the kitchen.
Would you care for a cookie?



My Santa Chef!
Would you like a cup of tea? It's not exactly Chritmas but the colors worked.
New kitchen dishes on the plate rack.
These are my cardinals under my cloche on the coffee table.
Santas, Santas everywhere. I love all kinds of them.

This one has a great beard.
This one too!
I like this one's curly beard and eye brows.

A night picture.

I like how the red awning in my picture kinda frames Santa. He looks like he's had a hard night.
This one is by the baker's rack.
This is my little red chair from when I was a child. I'm sitting in it on my sidebar photo. Wouldn't get my butt in it now, I don't think.

These are my vintage skiers, skaters and sledders. All the ones displayed are actual 1950's ones that were under my husbands Christmas tree when he was a kid. My MIL was sweet enough to give them to me. A couple of years ago, I was lucky to find some reproduction ones to add to it. You can see the boxes in the background.

Please bring your bags and stop at the hotel for the night. Then you can spend an evening at the theater on the left. We'll bring a horse drawn carriage to escort you through the rest of the village. So grab a blanket and hot chocolate and enjoy the ride.
Here is the hotel during the day.
Here is my baker's rack filled with my village houses. I have been collecting them for years and I actually have about 60 houses but only a third are out right now. I try to combine some of my early ones with a few newer ones. I am a Dickens purist, you might say. I actually have a train, train station and all of that as well but we didn't get it all out this year.
The house on the left was a new purchase this year. It's the university. You can see the graduates on the bridge. Off to the right is the solarium with all the people that actually move and dance around.
The left house is the brewery. Every town has to have it's local brew pub. And, of course, stop by the poulterer's for a chicken for dinner.
Make a stop by the coal merchant to stock up on fuel for the winter.
These are a couple of my early houses. The one on the left is a toy shop and on the right an antique shop. The early houses were much smaller and less detailed than the houses today.
This is the East Indies trading company.
Of course, a doctors office, on the left, is important to any town.
My vintage tree in the office with ornaments from Mom and some vintage looking postcards.



My Barbie and Ginny doll and a toy I bought to represent my beagle, Bailey.
I just love the movie/book "Scrooge" or "A Christmas Carol". I had to have Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and Scrooge himself. A couple of carolers also stand in front of my Christmas Carol book in the office.
This is my husband's Indianapolis Colts Nutcracker in our home office.

This is the Santa in my hallway. I think I like his face the best of all my Santas. This is about the only wallpaper I have left in my house. I always kinda liked the books.

This is my dress form in the guest room with red lights. I know they look pink in the picture.

The little stocking is hanging on the armoire in the guest room. It's the one I made from my sweater. You may have seen it in my previous post.

These are a couple of Santas in my guest bath. I like the picture the best since it's a little more old fashioned looking. But I've never met a Santa I don't like

This is a hand-painted ornament from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. We went there last year on a vacation. Our friends live down there and this reminds me of them.


This is my little blue tree in our bedroom. It's one of the few places where I actually have snowmen. Our bedroom is mocha colored with blue and turquoise accents. I love snowmen, but I have a passion for Santas. I just love all their facial expressions.
Most importantly, the reason for the season!
I love my hand-painted nativity. I have it displayed on my dresser.
While religion is not part of everyone's Christmas, hopefully peace on earth and good will toward men will be. Have a blessed Christmas and be thankful for family and friends. I'm thankful for you.

Your friend Nan from "On my Porch".