Vintage Christmas

I just plain have a love of vintage things for Christmas decorating and had more fun making some displays in my home rather than decorating the tree this year. Guess it comes from my missing my retail store this time of year. I used to go "all out" for it and enjoyed it tremendously. Oh well, here's a little piece of my passion!

For those of you looking for HINTS on how to make a vignette in your home, please look at my photo as you read my talking points.

1. Use varying heights of items and objects to make the surface height vary. This adds a lot of interest. Everything sitting on one level surface is much less appealing, and if everything you use is the same size, it will appear flat and dull. Don't line things up like a shelf of items in Walmart for sale. They line up that way to max out their shelf space. Place items in an interesting way, you aren't trying to sell volumes of items.

2. Use items you have around for making some of your varying surface height levels. Here I used a boxed drawer my hubby made that holds CDs. You can even use cardboard boxes. Are you thinking ew??? Next step! :)

3. Use cloth pieces or scraps, afghans, quilts, dishtowels, pillow cases, whatever you have that goes with your display items to cover those cardboard boxes or non-matching items. (Homespuns are great with primitives any time of year.) Just cover them over. You don't have to buy anything special, especially if you are a crafter. You probably have something around you can use! I used this sheer fabric with gold stars because the color of the boxed drawer fit perfectly in the display and it was fine to let it show through. I could have turned the box around for the back and not see the knob since the back is painted, but I kinda liked the interest the knob adds. Actually, I could have used this wood box without covering it, but I love that fabric and I have been using it in all kinds of ways every year for about 7 years now. I have used it as a garland in a small tree, draping non-chalantly over a mirror, and more.

4. What pleases your eye? Experiment. Keep moving things around until you get the right look that pleases you. I often change placement and/or items in a display until it just clicks. Don't be afraid to keep trying!

5. Don't put your coverings on things evenly or smoothly. Use them on an angle, lumped up, make it look like it was just thrown there (you can even throw it on and see what happens). You'll be surprised how much difference that can make in your display. (I know there are people out there that can't stand that, but most of us find it attractive.) Again, keep moving it around until it looks just right.

6. Most of all, do what pleases your eye. It doesn't matter what others think. If you like it, go for it!

7. Having trouble with some items? Contact me with photos of your pieces you want to use, the space you want to put it in, and I can try to help you out.