Christmas tree tour for Nonya... And, a quick before and After!

Earlier, I received this comment from a reader:

I LOVE the mixers! They've just been added to my wish list. What are the other ornaments

in your entryway...the tall red and white ones? They almost look like mushrooms. 

So here's a little tour of my Christmas tree...

And, as you can see Nonya, they are mushrooms!

 My earliest memory of Christmas is seeing little red and white

mushrooms dangling from my Oma's Christmas tree in Germany...

That, and the fact that Oma always had real candles on her tree, which I was

reminded were heiß and would burn my fingers. Because Janet's little fingers

were always all over the tree! And, this is the reason that ever since I've had

my own Christmas tree, mushrooms have been part of the decorations. I

have much more than you see, many over 25 years old; however, in 2008,

Martha did these beautiful mushrooms for Macy's and I bought them all!

They are very heavy and the stems are covered in millions of tiny glass

beads. The smaller mushrooms you see - The one next to the small pine

cone, (also Martha's) are 100% covered in tiny glass beads. I haven't

seen these mushrooms back at Macy's or anywhere since, so I'm really

glad I splurged on them when I had the good fortune of finding them!

I've been collecting glass ornaments from Germany a few years now, and most of

them are inspired by the animals that inhabit our property. There are koi, ducks,
deer, raccoons, birds of every color, squirrels, chipmunks and butterflies...

Nonya also mentioned in her comment that she loves

the stand mixer ornaments I found at Target last week...

I love them too! And, you'll get a kick out of this... Remember how I

promised I wouldn't add any more ornaments to the trees in the house?

Remember, there's a trio of trees in the solarium and one in the den too!

Well... I was checking e-mails, minding my own business, when suddenly

an e-mail popped up from Sur la Table! Which totally reminded me of

the foodie ornaments I picked up there after Christmas last year. Ooops!

Looks like I'm going to Pottery Barn

tomorrow for more ornament hangers!

I wasn't sure about placing the main tree in the foyer... I mean, I always wanted it

here because it's where we used to place our tree in our home in California... But I

always felt the ceiling in this house was too low. Well, I was wrong. It's perfect!

And, according to this catalog I received in the mail today, the

entry is still being recommended as the perfect spot for your tree!

Looks like I've always been a little ahead of the decorating trends... Huh?

Before I say good night, I received an e-mail today asking if I have

any photos of the living room before my recent re-do. And, I do!

And, until I looked at these photos together, I had no idea how close the new carpet

I picked out is to the old carpet that was in the room before... I like it because it's

white and warms the room. But I think I still might prefer hardwoods. Stay tuned!

So do tell... What about the decorations on your

tree today reminds you of past happy Christmases?