A Dickensian Christmas

"His own heart laughed, and that was quite good enough for him."

This Christmas, I took inspiration from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, designed a Victorian themed decor accented by literary details throughout a merlot and rosé color scheme. Old books, vintage silver, fresh roses and poinsettias, and handmade papercraft embellished the decor.

For Christmas dinner, we had Devonshire Crab Soup (delicious!), Annapolis crab cakes, Chebe rolls, and a fresh salad with baby arugula, sliced strawberries, and homemade balsamic dressing.

Natural-colored tapers in a vintage silver 

candelabra paid homage to the Victorian theme.

Handmade place cards

Dimming the room's ceiling light made candlelight the

 main attraction. A photo frame quoting A Christmas 

Carol emphasized the Dickensian theme.

Lush, multi-layered decor.

"Old Marley was dead: to begin with." 

~ First line of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Merlot-colored lace overlays were the perfect 

Victorian touches on the side buffet and the dinner table.

Fresh red roses in a cranberry glass pitcher stood 

alongside the poinsettias.

Handmade collage wall art, featuring a photograph of 

my great-grandmother Doris Stillman Frazier at 

the age of eighteen. So glamorous.

More handmade collage wall art. I raided fashion, 

decorating, and bridal magazines for the flower photos,

and used scrapbooking papers and embellishments for

everything else. I had fun drawing the elaborate ink 

borders on the red card stock.

Count-Down

Christmas is only two weeks away! I love Yuletide. And I love having an excuse to use Dickensian words. Including "Dickensian."

I am cooking a Christmas Eve dinner with a Victorian theme, like Devonshire Crab Soup with brandy. Yum.

Thanksgiving Decor - Golden!

This year, I decorated the Thanksgiving table around an heirloom: the stunning gold-plated flatware that my father inherited this year from my great-grandmother Doris Stillman Frazier, rest in peace. She survived the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, World War II, and the deaths of her son and husband, the latter who was a veteran of the Pacific Theater. She gave my father some of his fondest memories of holidays, with her always welcoming, loving, and stable home. To honor her, I wanted to design a Thanksgiving table that highlighted these prized heirlooms.

To make the flatware's hue stand out, I chose a dark brown table cloth from Target and black napkins from Bed Bath and Beyond. I added gold chargers from Michaels under my mother's beautiful Johnson Brothers "Friendly Village" dinnerware. My favorite glasses, amber Helianthus goblets from Anthropologie, continued the gold theme.

Right before dinner, I lit taper, pillar, and floating candles on the sideboard and on the dining room table, which bathed the room in an amber glow.

So much fun - and so affordable to do, considering that most of the items were things I already owned. The beautiful goblet-style votive holders were my one splurge, and they came from Country Crafters in historic Ellicott City.

My mother made delicious pumpkin and acorn squash soup totally from scratch - and yep, that means baking the squash and scooping it all out, kudos to her! She also spoiled us with chicken breasts with traditional stuffing and, for dessert, pumpkin creme brulee. All of which, coincidentally, went perfectly with the golden hue of our Thanksgiving.

My family and I would like to incorporate this heirloom flatware in our holiday celebrations from now on, and since I am loving the idea of a Victorian / Dickensian Christmas, Grandma's gold flatware would be a gorgeous touch. Nothing like decor to transport you to whatever country or era you want. Or, in this case, to keep the spirit of someone we love near us.

Featured Quote: The Horse

“When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; 

the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.” 

Henry V (circa 1599)
William Shakespeare

Knight's steed at the 36th Annual Maryland Renaissance Festival
Joust staged by "The Freelancers" :)