Christmas in Denmark

I can't remember where I first saw this, but every year since 1963, Royal Copenhagen has Christmas Tables decorated by Danish nobility and royals at their main store in Denmark. Here are images of some of this year's tables. The reindeer hides draped over the chairs and the antlers on the table give you a HUGE clue that you're in the north!

I especially like the crown on top of the soup bowl, and the enamel napkin ring with the owner's crest and monogram.

You can find the rest of the 2008 Christmas Tables here.

More Shore

Today was bitter cold, below freezing with a brisk 25 mph wind blowing. Not exactly the best day for being outside cutting winter greens. As I crossed the Chesapeake Bay, we were hit with a brief snow flurry. But I knew the trip would be great, regardless of the weather.

This beautiful persimmon tree still has some fruit that hasn't fallen. Funnily enough, we saw persimmons at the Farmers' Market this morning for $4 each. M and I walked around the property deciding what to cut for Christmas greens and I ended up getting three huge trash bags of cuttings, including some fresh rosemary!
It's amazing how much the property has changed in the six months since I last visited. You can now see the "bones" of the garden and how truly huge the trees surrounding the house are.

A new addition to the house is this Victorian-era Coalite chandelier in the library. The urn in the center of the lamp holds the fuel and it's gravity-fed into the lights. M will be doing a guest post on the lamp and the hanging of it.

The furnace in the house had died, so we were using woodfires in the dining room, library and nesting room. It made it very cozy indeed and was the perfect thing on a bitter cold afternoon.Connor was THRILLED to be with his country cousin and when we turned into the drive he just went nuts. Here, Connor and Cuz look out onto the sunporch, which has lemon and orange trees in full fruit.

This room is the most gorgeous colour, although it was hard to capture it exactly. It's painted a Farrow and Ball colour, possibly Rectory Red. With the tabletop vignette M has laid out, it's a perfect little room, just off the hall, leading to the sunporch.
After much running about the property, chasing his cousin and wrestling with her, Connor found the perfect spot to take a little snooze before we headed back to Baltimore.
Sorry for the bad quality of this image, but it's really hard to drive and take a picture behind my head! You can see the amazing greenery I got - three huge trash bags, plus these funny Harry Lauder's Walking Stick (Corylus avellana Contota) branches, which will look great in the two pots next to my front steps!

M&A... Thanks so much for a wonderful Sunday afternoon.

Shore Thing

I've been invited to go over to the Eastern Shore to pick Christmas greenery this weekend. Boxwood, southern magnolia, cedar, holly are all on offer. I love making wreaths from magnolia leaves.

There are a couple of projects going on at the house, including the installation of gas chandelier in the library (you can see where it's missing just at the top of the picture) and some work on a winter walk. Of course, you'll get a full report and lots of pictures!

Spoons

For years, I've been collecting French Ivory-handled flatware, but just knives and forks. Why not spoons, you might ask? They didn't make spoons. So, while I have loads of knives and forks, I am lacking spoons, which makes it difficult to eat ice cream and soup, or to stir coffee.

I was in Target the other day and saw that they had some pearl-handled spoons, which I thought would be a good option to use with the flatware. I picked up six, and when I got to the register, I found out that they were 99¢ each! I will be going back to get some more, you can be sure.

When I was checking the Target website to get a picture of the spoons, I saw something that struck fear into my heart: Target is selling "monogrammed" flatware, china and barware. Personally, I think monogrammed china looks like you lifted it from a hotel. I also think that monogrammed flatware shouldn't come from Target and it should have more than one initial. The monogram font they're using is Monotype Corsiva, which is a Microsoft default font. Ew. What do you think?

Brown Paper Packages

You may have noticed that I love papers... and ribbons and bows. I love wrapping packages so that when the recipient gets them, they know that I've put some effort into the gift. I've sent books to some of my readers and I always try and make the package a bit festive. Here's the package I sent to Each Little World (thanks for the photo!).
Courtney over at Style Court is doing a series called "See How They Wrap" about different and interesting ways to wrap your presents this year. Today, she featured one of my favourite things - brown kraft paper.

Amazingly, one of the best places to get fun kraft paper is the Dollar Tree store. I have picked up some great patterns, including white lace,

pink and brown polka dots

and a black toile.

I checked to see how much each roll held and was amused to see that it was 25 square feet, but the measurement was also listed as 30 x 10... hmmm. Brown paper packages tied up with string, or a beautiful ribbon, can be very elegant!

Housewerks Fun

I stopped by Housewerks over the weekend to see what they have on offer and to see if I could find some interesting piece to display my canvases at the two Holiday shows I am doing in December. I am always so impressed both with what they have and with the way it's displayed. Here are some images from yesterday.

These two pieces are from a doctor's office. I am thinking about buying them for my kitchen. What do you think?
This beautiful fireplace surround and roaring fire were a welcome sight on a chilly day.

Ben and Tracey, the owners of Housewerks, excell at presentation and display.

I loved the light shining through these small lantern panels.

This section of fencing looked great hanging on the wall.

It used to be that machines were beautiful as well as functional. You'd never find an aesthetic safety guard on a band saw these days.

This chandelier was taken from a trustafarian's apartment in DC. He skipped out on the $50k/month rent!

Happy Thanksgiving

To everyone in the US, Happy Thanskgiving. To everyone else, Happy Thursday!See you soon!

Look What I Found!

Last month, I mentioned that I'd bought a copy of Scalamandre, Luxurious Home Interiors at a remainder book store near my office. I'd stopped in today to see if I could find something for my niece's birthday tomorrow. While I was poking around, I noticed about a dozen copies of Carolyne Roehm's Presentations. How perfect, just in time for the holidays!

She's created the most beautiful packaging for presents. They're almost too pretty to open! I like that the book, like others she's written, is arranged by seasons. Here are some samples of her talents.

Butterflies from the dollar store adorn this package. Some of CR's famous blue and white. I've always loved black, white and pink! It almost looks like John Derian. It's a great idea for a fall birthday.Or for a winter birthday.This would be perfect for Christmas or Valentine's day.Not to make you jealous or anything...

India Knight - The Thrift Book

Before I left for London, I wrote about one of my favourite books -India Knight's The Shops. It wasn't a shopping guide, per se, but sort of an autobiography of her life in the shops.

She's just published another book - The Thrift Book: Live Well and Spend Less - which is a good commentary on how much things have changed over the last several months. The Thrift Book was published in early November, so I just missed being able to buy it.

I see it with other bloggers. An Aesthete's Lament did a lovely post about cutting back. Style Court is doing a series about beautiful wrappings, but with an inexpensive twist to some of them. Eddie Ross, king of the flea market and thrift shop find, has come great ideas on decorating for the season.

What are you doing to be thrifty this holiday season? My family has picked a name of someone, rather than buying something for everyone. I will be making some presents, namely journals that reflect the recipient's personality and interest, using the lovely silver joss paper that I found in my paper stash as end papers. Some blogging friends may get books from the Book Thing... Let's hear your ideas!

Weekend Update II

The weekends are starting to get very busy leading into the holidays. A gorgeous celebration tea yesterday afternoon and then an oyster party. Breakfast after the Farmers Market was at my house this morning, and I had another breakfast invitation, and then a dinner invitation from Kitchenography who was cooking the incredible Cauliflower and Gorgonzola Soup from the restaurant at Petersham Nurseries. I am participating in two Christmas Bazaars, one with my artist neighbour and one at Mount Clare Mansion down the road. If you'd like more information about either of these shows, pop me an e-mail.Luckily, I have an inventory from the cancelled Pigtown Festival which was washed out by Hurricane Hanna.

Although I won a set of stunning holiday cards from Cafe' Cartolina in October, I also want to make some, so am beginning to think of the designs for them.

The pace is really picking up around here. How are you doing?