If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Thursday, December 1, 2016

December 1st

I'm working my way through that To-Do list and I found time to set up a bit of Christmas decor.
My son bought this huge poinsettia.  It's more than 2 feet tall.


So I put the poinsettia on one end of our dining table.  If more than 5 of us are eating here, then I may have to move it but this way it looks pretty but doesn't interfere with meals. 
The red and white card table cloth was crocheted by my mom years ago.  


And this is me in 1962.  
I'm struck by how pretty our humble little home looks in this photo.  My mom liked Early American style and our home looked so different from our neighbors who decorated with Formica dinettes, ceramic fish on their bathroom walls and panther shaped lamps on top of their TVs.  
We had hard rock maple furniture, milk glass,   braided rugs and cross stitched samplers on the walls.  
I think retro photos are so fun, did you notice the scalloped edge ❤️ 




27 comments:

  1. I like your photos. =)
    I think the photo of your home when you were growing up is lovely!

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    1. Thank you ❤️ Inside it was pretty even though it was a very humble duplex originally built to house ammunition plant workers during WWII

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  2. The flower is sooo pretty! It just screams, Christmas!
    I love the little Rhonda in the photo. Those were the best of days!

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  3. The photo of your childhood home reminds me of the one that Susan wanted in A Miracle on 34th Street. I remember those scalloped edges on photos. Remember putting them in photo albums with those little gold corners?

    Hugs
    Jane

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    1. I remember them being in albums, but after all these years, the glue has failed and the photo books need redone.
      Would you believe I've never seen that movie? Maybe I will watch it.

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  4. Your mom had good decorating sense and better furniture than the style or fad of the time. I remember those ceramic fish. Boy am I glad they're gone, hee hee.

    I like your poinsettia. One year my nephew bought me one even taller and that year I almost didn't put the tree up cause it was so big. Yours bring a lovely bit of colour to your dining area and it's so nice that you have your mom's handiwork to place it on.

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    1. You remember those fish too? Didn't they also have bubbles that were hung around their mouths? I've seen a lot of retro things used in decorating now but I've never seen those fish again, maybe they all broke 😱

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    2. I don't remember about the bubbles. I don't mind retro but I really didn't like the bathroom decor of the times. You maybe right when you say maybe the fish all broke.😱

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  5. Your Mum's crochet cloth is just beautiful. Having it and the poinsettia from your nephew gives you a lovely little family vignette.

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  6. I love looking at the details in older photographs. What I noticed with yours is the way she hung the stockings. So clever to just put them on the knobs.
    Then there are the pretty curtains in the background. She knew how to decorate.

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    1. Thank you Vickie, we never had a fire place so the knobs were the perfect place to hang our stockings.

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  7. That is a very cute picture!

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  8. Your mother's style is similar to mine. I am on the hunt for a dresser just like the one in the photo!
    Speaking of decor, your table is nice too. I like the dark wood.

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    1. Thank you Meg. We got the dining table on a Facebook selling group for just $275 and we are so happy with it. Our dining room is an odd shape but this long table with rounded ends works perfectly. It's 9 feet long and 4 feet wide.
      I also have a very vintage Ethan Allen hard rock maple pieces that we found at a thrift store, Mine are not exactly like my parents but very similar. That maple just really holds up to home living.
      So many people are painting these maple pieces now.
      I hope you find some.

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  9. I was a freshman in high school in Dec. '62. I well remember the decorating styles you mentioned. We had the chrome and gray kitchen set. I still have the table in our basement. I also had a maple dresser and bed, which my daughter now has (she's 44). I LOVE maple and would pick it over oak any day. Thanks for the memories!

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    1. I'm a fan of Maple too. It just holds up so nicely! Even with all our active grandchildren, the 3 vintage maple pieces we have still look great.

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  10. I love looking at old photos like this!
    I adore you home and the style.
    It makes me want to jump right in and go back and live in a simpler time...free of all the excess!
    Love your beautiful Christmas flower too.
    Have a cozy weekend!

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    1. It was a simple time then, with no excess. Nobody had to deal with clutter like we do now, or giant mountains of laundry, because everyone just has less stuff.

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  11. That looks like my home now. :) I too decorate with nice old wood furniture, needlework pictures made by my great grandmother and my grandmother hanging on the wall, and beautiful handmade afghans and quilts gracing our beds and couches. Links to our past are so important to me to feel comfortable and at home. :) I would love to have some live poinsettias like your lovely one in my home but my cat would eat it so I settle for silk ones. ;)

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    1. Hi Debbie, links to our past are important ❤️

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  12. I was born in 1962, so all my baby photos have that scalloped edge. ;-) So fun looking at retro pictures, isn't it? Love the red and white crocheted cloth that your mom had made. What a beautiful treasure.

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  13. The Christmas stockings remind me of the one I had as a child. Those were very 'fancy' for that time period. I loved my stocking...I still have it. I should have made a 'to do' list. I've already dropped off sending cards this year because there have been too many last minute things thrown into the schedule. I want to enjoy the season. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

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  14. Rhonda, we grew up with braided rugs and maple furniture too. Those things are a constant of life in the 60s and 70s here. Yes we had the formica kitchen setting too. Mix and match was the go! You look so cute in that photo. Those scalloped edges made everyone look special, didn't they? Lovely post today. Mimi xxx

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  15. WOW! This brings back memories especially of the fish. They were so ugly.

    The photo of you is so cute.

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