Shine, Give, Share

We look forward to seeing what the White House and the First Lady will unveil for Christmas decoarions every year, and Mrs. Obama did not disappoint this year. The White House Christmas decorations have been up for a few days now, and they are absolutely wonderful. Our new favorite florist, Brooklyn's Emily Thompson, was responsible for the arrangements, and we are totally inspired by her lovely and creative works of art! The many trees, wreaths and arrangements are beautiful but not opulent or over the top, and feature lots of creative, crafty details that you can incorporate into your own holiday decor.

The Library Christmas tree proudly proclaims this year's theme.

A simple wreath made of greenery is decorated with cut-out paper flowers - proof DIY details can be beautiful and elegeant.  



These ornaments and garlands are made of simple felt - a snap to make and string on your own tree

In every room you'll find a model of the First Family's furry friend Bo - here he sits alongside trees crafted from construction paper, instructions for which are included in the official guide to this year's White House Christmas.

We took a stab at making some of these little trees here in the shop, using the template in the White House Holiday Book. 

Leaves and treetops, cut from a book of Christmas-patterned scrapbook paper.

These trees are a little more precious than the White House trees, but don't they look cute on display with these bright vintage boxes?




Vintage Christmas Postcards

Hanging in the store right now is a collection of these incredible vintage postcard, all from the early 1900s and containing handwritten Christmas wishes to Gene and Lula (who are you, Gene and Lula?).

A joyful Christmas garland

Merry Xmas. Have you hugged your Grandma today?

Fun with etymology: Did you know that the X in Xmas actually comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, which in turn translates to Christ? Many people believe the X is an attempt to secularize Christmas, but this is simply not the case!

Elizabeth added cute ribbon and charm embellishments to turn the cards into hanging ornaments.

Hello Lula: postmarked 1909.

This particular card is 102 years old - look at the beautiful handwriting and that one cent stamp! Here are a few tidbits about what happened in the world the year this card was mailed:

 -Einar Dasseu becomes the world's first radio broadcaster after sending signals with a short wave radio transmitter.

-Zora Arkus-Dontav, designer of the Corvette, is born

-Louis Bleriot becomes the first man to fly across the English Channel (thus a large open body of water) in a heavier-than-air craft

Hello Lula, it's now 1912

 This card will greet its 100th birthday next year. Here are a few more events that will be celebrating their 100th anniversary:

-The Republic of China was established

-New Mexico and Arizona join the U.S. as the 47th and 48th states

-Girl Scouts of the USA are founded by Juliette Gordon Low

-Boston's Fenway park opens and the Red Sox win the World Series

-The "unsinkable" RMS Titanic goes down in one of the most famous shipwrecks in history

Christmas greetings and snorts from the cutest dog on earth

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you All, from Aunt Agnes

Holiday Decorations

We have had our Christmas decorations up in the store since right after Halloween. Retail is always ahead of the holidays. Now that Thanksgiving is over we are stepping up some of our holiday decorations. We've moved our Christmas tree into a more prominant place, we updated the wreath on our door, and we are adding a woodland tree to the front of the store. 

LaFleur believes!

Our owl friend pops up again! We never get sick of him.





How cute are these moss mushrooms?