Sleightholm Folk Art

Good morning, friends….

And just like that, it’s December. I wasn’t quite ready for it, especially with Thanksgiving so late this year! But with the kids off school for the week, we made the most of our time together and went to get a tree. This is our first year with a live tree, so we are learning…but it also meant lots of little extra bits of greenery, so we have gotten oh-so-festive.

On Sunday morning I woke up and remembered I needed to get the little box out with all our Advent items. The candle ring and the olive wood nativity, and the Swedish angel chime that works with candles. I had to have a few sips of coffee (and yes, a peek at Google) to remember how to put the chime together again!

For me, one of the treats of decorating for Christmas is opening up tucked away boxes to find treats and treasures I’d forgotten about. But no matter how many beautiful styles of Christmas things I see, I always go back to a more homespun Christmas…..there’s nothing I love more.

With the extra branches from the tree, I added to to the mantle and to little arrangements, like this wooden bowl on the dining room table. I decided to use my old butter molds as the ‘centerpiece’, and the pine cones came from our neighbor’s yard and the orange pomanders are cuties that my son and I studded with cloves.

Along with an overshot woven runner, I think the whole thing is wonderfully rustic and just my style. You know there’s nothing sleek and modern about me 😉 I want it to look old. And there’s nothing more ‘green’ and ‘earth friendly’ than antiques and bio-degradable roughage from the yard! 🙂

I’ve found myself decorating with old photos and old pewter and brass. Some of the photos I have are of family, and some are ‘adopted’ from antique stores. I have a soft spot especially for wedding portraits and children’s portraits. Their little faces….they get me every time. And I hope that they had lovely Christmases, and wonder what they’d think of this modern, new-fangled life we all lead…

The young man who is central in this gathering was my great-great grandfather Frederick Cleveland Reed. He got his middle name “Cleveland’ because his father walked from Pennsylvania to so Grover Cleveland inaugurated just before Fred’s birth and was evidently impressed. The little boy in the white suit is my own grandpa, George. The rest of this grouping, I don’t know who they are….but I love them and I’m glad they’re here!

So many things to prepare for….and also remember the joy of anticipation. That’s going to be my plan, at any rate. Try to enjoy the process, like with a painting.

My etsy shop is open, of course, and I’ve got it well stocked although I do have more calendars on order and will try to have them available through to the new year. I’ve got some plans for some changes and new projects for 2020 and am looking forward to the coming new year.

But first— this day, this moment. Trying to savor the day.

Hope all is well with you and yours, and that you have a blessed Advent!

Take Joy!~

h