The Secretary is ready for Christmas

Decorating the "halls" has been a slight bit different this year. We have a new member to our family. Regan, the 8 month old kitten. Although he's not destructive, doesn't like to be reprimanded and doesn't like to do anything that would cause him to be reprimanded, he is still a very inquisitive kitten. All new things must be thoroughly investigated, smelled, and observed.  He is also a climber. So decorating is happening in bits and it's going so far so good. But then the tree has not yet surfaced!!

This year, I not only decorated the antique secretary, I also papered the back. I don't recommend double stick tape on furniture, especially not wood. I used 4 Command Strips, one on each corner of the paper.  Keep the pull tab facing to the center of the paper so that when you remove the paper, you can pull the tab away from the sides of the furniture. Keep your shiny paper for wrapping, you'll be happier with non-shiny paper for a background.

Cherished books sit on the top shelf. Mary Englebreit's Believe, my husband's childhood The Night Before Christmas in Texas Y'all, and a Night Before Christmas from 1953, a superb year if I say so myself. Also on that shelf is a battery operated candle, a Villeroy and Boch Burgenland coffee pot and Fitz and Floyd's Winter Garden Santa.

 

 

The center shelf holds my cherished angels that belonged to my grandmother. I can't even tell you how old these are, but I can't remember her not having them. They are made of wax and their garments are made of satin, velvet and laces. 

Also on the center shelf is a soldered house that I made this year. I've recently learned to solder and find that it's really a great asset to the DIY repetoire. These glass pieces come pre-cut in the house shape, so all that you need to do is create the artwork for the inside and then tape and solder. The other side is a winter scene.

The bottle brush tree has been bleached to remove most of the vivid green/blue coloring and then dipped in glue and glitter with coarse pewter colored glitter.

The bottom shelf holds a few of our Christmas books, some musical silver bells  and a Fitz and Floyd Winter Garden bell. 

A treasured piece of my son's Snowbabies collection. A few more bleached bottle brush trees set the scene.

An embroidered door jingler is attached to the key and guards the interior from inquisitive cats.

And now a wee history lesson. Monday the 6th is St. Nikolaus day in Germany. It's still very much alive in our home, even though the boys are now 34 an 29. So here is a bit of history from the German-Way website: 

Nikolaustag - 6. Dezember
On the night of December 5 (in some places, the evening of Dec. 6), in small communities in Austria and the Catholic regions of Germany, a man dressed as der Heilige Nikolaus (St. Nicholas, who resembles a bishop and carries a staff) goes from house to house to bring small gifts to the children. Accompanying him are several ragged looking, devil-like Krampusse, who mildly scare the children. Although Krampus carries eine Rute (a switch), he only teases the children with it, while St. Nicholas hands out small gifts to the children. In some regions, there are other names for both Nikolaus and Krampus (Knecht Ruprecht in Germany). Sometimes Krampus/Knecht Ruprecht is the good guy bringing gifts, equal to or replacing St. Nicholas. As early as 1555, St. Nicholas brought gifts on Dec. 6, the only “Christmas” gift-giving time during the Middle Ages, and Knecht Ruprecht or Krampus was a more ominous figure.
Nikolaus and Krampus don’t always make a personal appearance. In some places today, children still leave their shoes by the window or the door on the night of Dec. 5. They awaken the next day (Dec. 6) to discover small gifts and goodies stuffed into the shoes, left by St. Nicholas. This is similar to the American Santa Claus custom, although the dates are different. Also similar to American custom, the children may leave a wish list for Nikolaus to pass on to the Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas) for Christmas.

And you can click HERE for insight of a more religious nature.

Thank you so much for dropping in, I love to read your comments. I got my inspiration from Sofa and Sage.. I know you will her blog. It's been a wealth of ideas and tips and beautiful design!

I am linking up to the Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays and to 

Susan's Metamorphosis Monday.