JBigg: Life in Kentucky: December 2015

Nutcrackers Marching on the Mantel

The Christmas Mantel is full of nuts, nutcrackers that is! Each of the nutcrackers on the mantel represent a trip to see The Nutcracker Ballet in St. Louis or Kansas City.

We enjoy trips to see the Nutcracker and make it a family Christmas experience. We have missed a few years but always enjoy the ballet each time we have the opportunity to go.

Pottery Barn Christmas pillows fill the chair next to the mantel.

My grandsons have shared a little time with Santa at the Annual Women's Club Breakfast with Santa.

I chose the Nutcracker theme for my grandsons (and the rest of us) to enjoy for the holidays. They were eager to help me place them on the mantel and each picked out the two they wanted to use. A few cardinal birds and tiny red lights were added to the small trees at each end of the mantel. A couple cardinals are also resting on the garland to carry on my cardinal Christmas tree theme. Stockings from Pottery Barn hang from reindeer on the mantel.

Click for a link to Decorating the Tree or to The Star on the Tree.

I can just see the Toy Soldiers marching across the stage in Tchaikovsky's March of the Toy Soldiers. Thanks for stopping by for another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy.

Linking to:

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mosaic Monday @ Lavendar Cottage

Show and Share @ Coastal Charm

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday

The Scoop @ StoneGable Blog

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E

Tweak It Tuesday @ Cozy Little House

Fall into Fall @ DIY by Design

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

What Is It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants

Share Your Style Link Party @ The Uptown Acorn

Treasure Hunt Thursday @ From My Front Porch to Yours

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Favorite Things Thursday @ Katherine's Corner

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home on Thursday

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme

Feathered Nest Friday @ The French Country Cottage

Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo

Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm

Weekend Retreat @ AKA Design & Life

The Bouquet of Talent Party @ Life on Lakeshore Drive - Saturday

Sunny Simple Sunday @ Sunny Simple Life

Table It Monday @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays

The Star on the Tree plus ribbons and bows

My Christmas tree topper is done and ready to share.

I'm using a star as my topper to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem.

This star is also called the Christmas Star and Christians believe it is the star that led the wise men, or magi, to Bethlehem and revealed the birth of Jesus.

The magi followed the star, which stopped above the location where Jesus was born.

My husband bought our red glittered star a few years ago and it has been used each year on at least one of our trees. This year, we only have one tree up (so much to do with our recent move and getting settled in) so our Christmas Star stands atop the tree as a Christian tradition in our home.

After the star was placed on the tree, ribbons were cut in strips 18 inches long or more. A single loop was pinched and tied with wire. The ends of the ribbons can be cut at an angle and curled. I like to use wire ribbons since it holds the curls. Each ribbon piece was tucked in around the star.

To see more of my Decorating the Tree - and a few tips post, click here.

Merry Christmas and thanks for stopping in for another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy.

Linking to:

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mosaic Monday @ Lavendar Cottage

Show and Share @ Coastal Charm

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday

The Scoop @ StoneGable Blog

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E

Tweak It Tuesday @ Cozy Little House

Fall into Fall @ DIY by Design

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

What Is It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants

Share Your Style Link Party @ The Uptown Acorn

Treasure Hunt Thursday @ From My Front Porch to Yours

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Favorite Things Thursday @ Katherine's Corner

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home on Thursday

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme

Feathered Nest Friday @ The French Country Cottage

Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo

Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm

Weekend Retreat @ AKA Design & Life

The Bouquet of Talent Party @ Life on Lakeshore Drive - Saturday

Sunny Simple Sunday @ Sunny Simple Life

Table It Monday @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays

Decorating the Tree - and a Few Tips

You may be decorating your tree or still planning to decorate soon. I thought I would share a few tips I kept in mind while decorating. Even though I am using an artificial tree, that doesn't mean it can't be beautiful.

Choosing a theme is an important part of my decorating. Because I have seen several cardinals around my yard here in Kentucky, I'm going with a cardinal theme with lots of red elements.

After I got the tree placed in the stand and fluff the branches, I began adding the lights and always follow the rule of 100 lights per foot. The tree I am working on is a 7.5 ft tree so I am 700 lights plus lights and push them in deep or at least I try to.

Three different types of berries were added to the tree.

After the lights and berries, you may have branches or pics to add. I've added some larges branches with apples and berries.

I'm also adding wired gold leaf branches.

Adding the garlands and swags to the tree helps to fill in empty places. I'm like using ribbons on my tree. Sometimes I make bows with the ribbons and other times I drape the ribbons.

Different shapes and sizes of ornaments on the tree add interest; with the larger ones hung towards the middle and bottom and smaller ones placed near the top.

The cardinals were added last to the tree since I wanted them towards the outside of my branches and making a statement.

My grandsons enjoy "Elf on the Shelf" so he has a special place on the tree.

I'm still working on the topper, so I'll show it to you as soon as it's done . Here's a little reminder of my tips.

Thanks for stopping in for another day of Life in Kentucky. - Judy.

Linking to:

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mosaic Monday @ Lavendar Cottage

Show and Share @ Coastal Charm

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday

The Scoop @ StoneGable Blog

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E

Tweak It Tuesday @ Cozy Little House

Fall into Fall @ DIY by Design

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

What Is It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants

Share Your Style Link Party @ The Uptown Acorn

Treasure Hunt Thursday @ From My Front Porch to Yours

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Favorite Things Thursday @ Katherine's Corner

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home on Thursday

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme

Feathered Nest Friday @ The French Country Cottage

Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo

Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm

Weekend Retreat @ AKA Design & Life

The Bouquet of Talent Party @ Life on Lakeshore Drive - Saturday

Sunny Simple Sunday @ Sunny Simple Life

Table It Monday @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays

Christmas Tablescapes in Review

So many of us just love to decorate for Christmas and create beautiful tablescapes and vignettes. I think I must just love sparkle and glitz for the holidays since it seems many of my tables are full of sparkle. I am sharing a few of my Christmas tablescapes with you. Enjoy the review!

You may start your table design by creating the centerpiece first. In this post, I shared my design for a Christmas tablescape centerpiece.

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A Lenox cookie jar was elevated then surrounded by red sparkling poinsettias.

Silver garland of sparkling silver ornaments also surrounded the cookie jar and poinsettias. A Lenox tablecloth gave the table an elegant touch.

A flocked tree with red ornaments in a mercury vase stood on a table to allow guests to move around the table freely. The large mercury balls were used for lots of glitz.

Once you are past the centerpiece, the rest of your tablescape design starts to come together.

My Sparkle and Spode Christmas tablescape featured bits of sparkle along with my Spode Winter's Eve - Cranberry dishes.

Silver was used on the server with a large silver tray and silver candle holders.

Silver ornaments and a Reed and Barton silver music box game the centerpiece added glitz.

White glittered deer brought more sparkle for the table along with crystal candle holders. A cranberry tablerunner was used to compliment the cranberry color in the Spode.

A big change in color was used for my Aqua Christmas Tablescape. Some of you may know how much I love aqua so, of course, I had so much fun creating this tablescape. I think I could use these dishes for any holiday or even just for everyday.

Again, I just added lots of sparkle and glitz to make this aqua tablescape perfect for Christmas.