Deck the halls with great old stuff

After two years of shut in Christmases, I’m the first one to embrace going to the mall or driving around the neighbourhood to see Christmas lights and the latest fad in big blowup stuff on lawns.

But at our place, I still drag out my vintage nativity, patch it up with some dried moss and think of the years my kids played with the figures. Then I bring out all the ornaments and think about family friends, some gone now, who gave me this or that, filling me with warm and fuzzies. There’s something to be said, too, about re-using old good stuff, rather than buying more and more. No matchy matchy trees for me.

For what it’s worth, my tips this season are these:

1)     Take milk glass vases paired with some inexpensive mini Christmas trees – the vases go for $5 a pop. Milk glass is the best – it’s cheap and looks great with literally everything. Fill them with a mini tree, Christmas balls, a votive or some evergreens and bam you’ve got a smashing look for your mantel or table.

2)     Pair old wooden bowls with greenery and pine cones and the blend of the deep brown tones of the cones and the bowls meshes so beautifully for a natural look perfect for your farmhouse or cottage or lodge look.

3)     I love to use old bowls – white ironstone with a few built-in imperfections or carnival glass - and fill with vintage or just older Christmas ball ornaments. This is a great place to use those ornaments that have lost their hooks and can no longer dangle from the tree. Place a bit of greenery snipped from your Christmas tree or your neighbour’s cedar hedge under the balls for a bit of Christmas scent. Note how the orange carnival glass colours go red when placed on a red cloth with red vintage pinecone ornaments? Love it.

4)     For the front porch consider some galvanized steel watering cans, oil cans or syrup buckets and fill with bows, greenery or red Dogwood branches mixed in with hydrangeas – any number of combos for a great rustic look. I’ve also used old wooden toboggans with bows and greenery at the top of the sleigh, ready to go on Christmas morning.

5)     Old sleigh bells like the beauties in this picture are just great on their own, draped into a wreath or on a door. If they ring out, even more festive.

Add some battery-operated lights to add some bling in coloured glass bowls, under greenery or on top of a nativity to look like the stars of old.

Prices: milk glass vases: $5 each (eight available), tall milk glass with berry ball $20, wood bowls, $5 each (only 4 available), ironstone bowl with vintage ornaments and doily, $70, carnival glass bowl $10 – with pinecone ornaments $40, watering can with bow $25, cans $10 each. Vintage 1878 Saignelegier Chiantel Fondeur Bells set of 3 (painted), Swiss cow bells with a musical sound. $70 – with long wreath $95.