Winter Decorating

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 :)