Hey Y'all
Well...
Here we are in January .
My least favorite month of the year .
The excitement of Christmas gatherings is over .
Show / Market season hasn't begun .
We decided to even keep the store closed for January and February except by appointment . It's too cold and sometimes snowy to expect junkers to come to the frozen tundra where the Trailerhood is.
The trees are down and the wreaths packed away for another year.
I don't know about you ,
but the house always seems a little sad to me .
After being dressed in her vintage finery for a month ( or more ) ,
she looks a little naked and boring .
Less cluttered , yes.
But it makes me sad ...
But you can't leave a tree up all winter .
Well... some people do ...
And some people ( friend Kathy ) , take them down the day after .
I am neither of those people.
However , this year I just wasn't ready to let go ...
This is what I did :)
Remember my ladder tree ?
With my little "putz" houses ?
HISTORY LESSON TIME :
What is a PUTZ house ? Weird name huh ?
Here you go :)
A Christmas village (or putz) is a decorative, miniature-scale village often set up during the Christmas season. These villages are rooted in the elaborate Christmas traditions of the Moravian church, a Protestant denomination. Mass-produced cardboard Christmas villages became popular in the United States during the early and mid-20th century, while porcelain versions became popular in the later part of the century.
( Thank you Wikipedia , my explanation would have been longer )
close-ups :)
Mine are all repros , but I love them .
I almost bought some vintage ones when we were up north .
Still kicking myself that I didn't !
I though I would leave the ladder up . Take the garland down . Add some grapevine garland and smaller lights and it would be the perfect to leave up for winter ( or till I'm tired of it , if that is possible ) .
However , when I start changing , I don't know when to stop...
I start moving furniture around and the next thing I knew , there was no room for the ladder
Did that stop me ???
( Well , long enough for a cup of tea and some FB cruising )
I also had a gorgeous table that no longer fit in its old spot .
Thought it might have to go to the guest room but I came up with a better idea.
Out to the shoppe I went .
I knew I had a small step ladder out there that would be perfect on the table.
( Notice Country Boy's elk shed that also makes an appearance in my displays )
I always make a huge mess before it becomes beautiful...
The biggest mess came from the grapevine .
Now , you can go to your favorite floral or home decor store and find grapevine garland that is ready to go , easy to use , and much less messy .
But much more expensive ($25-$30 )
Is that how we do it in the Trailerhood ??/
Nope ...
* CHEAP TRICK *
You can go to your favorite craft supply store or discount store and buy a large grapevine wreath for under $10 ( half price with a coupon or app ) and just cut the heavy piece of vine ( this is the one holding it together ) and start to unwind .
It wont be straight , but I like to work with the curves anyway.
Did I mention it was messy ?
I strung some of those little bitty lights that are on brown wire around the grapevine , I did wire some of the grapevine and lights to keep them where I wanted them .
Added my Putz houses , bottle brush tress and vintage plastic deer .
I had enough grapevine that I continued it to the top of the china cabinet.
This is what it looked like at Christmas -
Normally I have some of my favorite McCoy vases and planters up there .
And I wanted to put them back .
Some pheasant feathers , more bottle brush trees and Putz houses ...
Some "icicley like", sticks and garland
And I think the the 'Hood is set for winter :)
So what do you think ?
Decorate for winter or wait for spring ?
Valentines Day ?
( not me ...too many years as a florist for that )
Easter?
I think I'll just enjoy my little houses for a bit longer :)