Tania McCartney Blog: Christmassing the House

In lieu of decorating seven Christmas trees like we did in Beijing (we needed seven to hold all the ornaments I had amassed), I decided to do garland decorating this year. Usually, I leave garlands bare or with just a smattering of glittering snowflakes.

This year, I instead draped them over doorways and hung them with assorted ornaments.

You can see above I've draped two garlands on two doorways near our entrance - in the formal lounge doorway, and my office. The formal lounge garland (below) has two little felt stockings I made for the kids with buttonable shapes on the front.

And below are closeups of the ornaments themselves; a childlike mix of handpainted tin ornaments that I absolutely love, as well as my perennial faves - Krinkles by Patience Brewster. Bottom left, you can see 'Three French Hens'.

Below is the garland outside my office, and a matchbox advent calendar on the door. I made this when we were in Beijing - from, er - matchboxes, wrapped in red and white Chinese papercut paper, and glued to wide, pale green ribbon.

The ornaments on the office garland (below) are too charming for words - adorable little people piled high with gifts and little ladies carrying platters of holiday food. You'll also see another Krinkle from the 12 Days of Christmas (below right) - this time 'A Partridge in a Pear Tree'.

Below you'll see bell wreath trim on the ends of garlands leading to the kids' bedrooms. There's also a classic, simple wreath hung from the ceiling in the family room. I love simple white or red ribbons. Or pale blue or pale green.

Saving these birds till last - absolutely stunning, they are all made from handblown glass, handpainted with irridescent paint and dusted with shimmer. Their tails are either brightly coloured feathers or cascades of tinsel, as is the case with the stunning bird at left. On the right is an adorable blue cockatoo.