for 12.25.2021

I haven't had many chances to write blog articles in the past calendar year. I was the Virtual Substitute at our local elementary school from December of 2020 until June of 2021. I did one art camp over the summer and several fantastic photo sessions this past fall. I also just did a 2 month substitute job as a middle and high school art teacher. It has been a much different flow for me since I started my business in 2014.

Now, as 2021 ends and 2022 begins, I'm getting my business in order and catching up on life. As I was working full time in the months leading up to Christmas, I didn't do as much as usual for decorating our house. I did put up our themed tree and changed it a little, which made it fun for our family. I think I was much more focused on getting everything finished that had to be given as a gift or wrapped up before I finished that substitute job and just less focused on the decor vibe. Whew! 

Now, it is January. However, I'm sharing my 2021 year's theme, which is special to Brady and I. In 2006, I was living in an apartment on Broad Avenue. It was an old building with large, air-leaky windows and a lot of charm and unusual and fun odd features too. We decided to get a real Christmas tree together and decorate it. After we bought it though, we realized how expensive it could be to decorate it while also planning on buying a house and planning our wedding. It felt like a lot. So it was pretty simply decorated that year. But I loved the idea of having several themes that we would rotate in our married life and thought 5 would be perfect - enough to mix things up but not so many that we wouldn't experience them very much before our future kids were grown and out of the house. It was so much fun to plan this back in 2006.

This theme began as a chocolate brown and gold color scheme and was our first one together. Some years we've called it "Mediterranean Christmas." This year, we decided it would be "Chocolate Christmas." I decided it would be decadent if we hung actual chocolate candies on the tree. We chose Ferrero Rocher candies because of the golden wrappers. (We did have so make some rules for the sake of our youngest who would have made quick work of the hanging buffet. No chocolates could be eaten until Christmas was over.)

I pondered what else went with chocolate and decided on cinnamon and spices. We found our old applesauce/cinnamon ornaments that the kids made a few years ago and hung those. I ordered dried orange slices from Florida and sewed thin threads through them to be able to hang them without hooks. I also purchased some gold leaf garlands to add to the tree this year that really filled it out and gave it that decadent and full look. The rest of those original, IKEA ornaments went with it really well. I was very happy with how it looked and it was fun to give new life to an older idea.

The ornaments made or purchased during the year that matches with the tree theme stay with the tree decor for each time we pull it out. This ornament doesn't totally go with the color of the tree, but Brady and I bought it in Venice, Italy when we were there in 2016 for our anniversary. That year was the last time we did this Christmas tree theme so we haven't seen it since then! (I keep this one toward the back so the red isn't too attention-grabbing as it isn't very brown or gold.) It is such a good memory and is a hand-made ornament by a printmaker we found in Venice. He was playing Bob Dylan music when we walked in. Brady and I both immediately wanted everything in his shop! We do have a small framed print of his too in our living room. It was our favorite find of the trip!

This year's gift:

This Christmas, we revealed to our kids that we were going to Orlando to go to Disney World and Universal Studios in a few weeks. One of the little gifts they opened was a small golden Mickey ornament to give them the hint. Then they opened 4 golden ornaments that were symbols of Harry Potter World: a broom, an owl, the Deathly Hallows symbol, and a flying key. (Those I found on Pottery Barn Teen.) They were so excited! 

Dining Room:

This year I worked on adding some of this theme and tone to other rooms in our house. For my dining room, I purchased these lovely golden trays from HomeGoods to give new life to the items I already keep in that space. The plant and golden container are from IKEA. The calligraphy is my own and the frame I've had for awhile. I just learned a bit of macramé and made the small coaster for the tray. The tiny vase was just a birthday gift from a friend.  

Below is my dining room table set for 6! We didn't actually eat Christmas dinner with all of my favorite linens on the table. I have an 8 year old and a 12 year old and we had beets- so minimal linens made the meal more peaceful for everyone. Beet stains are tough to remove!

I keep the little flocked tree in my dining room too. We just hung some of the oranges on it this year. We always keep it really simple. 

Kitchen and Breakfast Nook:

Decor is always minimal in my kitchen and breakfast nook. I have made great use of the bronze lanterns that I found at Big Lots this summer for patio decor. They fit my theme really well. I hand-made the table-cloth to match the tree skirt back in 2016 and found the placemats at HomeGoods this year. I love the way it looks! We always keep the garland above the kitchen cabinets on a timer so they are already on when we come down at 6:00 AM and go off at midnight so we don't have to think about it. I drilled a hole into the cabinet above the microwave where there is a hidden plug to be able to give electricity to the microwave. It is really easy! We always decorate the garlands to match the theme of the year. 

I mostly just feel like my kitchen is decorated if it is clean! We enter the house usually in the kitchen, which means it is a place for all paperwork to land. We also cook all the time so we end up with dishes everywhere either waiting to be washed, drying, or waiting to be put away. I love the feeling of a clean kitchen! It is my Christmas gift to myself.

Stockings:

15 years ago when we were excited to our life and future together and preparing for our wedding, we decorated this tree. I decided it would be easiest if I bought the fabric and made stockings for each theme when we did it the first time so they'd be ready the second time around. Just in case we had 4 children and a dog, I made 7 stockings. We have 2 children and two cats today and only use 4 of the stockings. (We don't do cat stockings.) It makes me smile and laugh a bit when I pull them out each time. I like looking at these ones because I can see how my craftsmanship of stockings grew over the years or got more creative too. It is quite fun. We don't have a mantle at this point so we hang them on our stairway banister. Here are photos of the stockings, hallway, and my beautiful front door wreath made by Peterman's Florist in Altoona, PA. 

The Outside:

This is the outside of our house for 2021. Brady discovered that many of the lights had stopped working over the past year in storage, so its just a few lights on our plants and candles in the windows. I usually put wreaths out on each window too but just didn't get to it this year! The little lump of snow in the bottom left area of the photo was the tiniest snowman that our 8 year old made at the first snow. He was thrilled! Today, they're sledding on the ice and having a blast and the yard looks like a different world. But, here in this photo, our house looks cozy and that's what I love. Happy New Year! May your 2022 be full of joy and peace!

Grace and Peace,

Annie

What am I about?

My business is Photographic Memories by Ann M. Bickel, LLC and is about providing art education opportunities in the Altoona community as well as portraiture photography work. As a creative person, I like to dabble in other areas that allow me to bear witness to others' lives and explore what brings us all together. Though If you would like to follow along, you can check out my last blog article or join my newsletter!