Tag Archives: Europe

How to Decorate for Christmas With Nostalgia

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If you are looking for ideas for Christmas theme decorations, the first place to start is your memories from childhood. By taking one idea from what you remember as being really important to you as child and elaborating on it, you can easily create a Christmas holiday décor that is very personally unique.
For instance if it is snow that you most associate with Christmas, then consider building your Christmas theme decorations around the use of icicles, fake snow, white decorations and white Christmas Lights. If it is the smell of gingerbread that tweaks your memory the most than consider decorating the tree with gingerbread men and women that are decorated with icing b your family. If candy canes are what you remember try festooning garlands, trees and centerpieces with miniature red and white candy canes. Taking one idea and continuing to build on it is the best way to put your personal stamp on your Christmas holiday décor.

The Christmas mistletoe, which in reality is a very poisonous parasitic plant, has come along way from being the plant cursed for growing on the cross of Christ to one of the most sought after Christmas decorations online. The plant itself was used by Nordic cultures for magical rituals and its reputation as an important part in pagan magic has somehow translated over the years to become “the plant you kiss under at Christmas.” As real mistletoe is somewhat toxic to children and pets, you are best to order the plastic kind. You can order faux mistletoe with either red or white berries wherever you shop for Christmas decorations online.

Christmas mistletoe used to be hung from the eaves of the house to ward off evil spirits. In Nordic cultures, enemies were encouraged to make peace with each other beneath mistletoe with white berries. In England the mistletoe plant was burned on the twelfth night of Christmas to ensure that single people would marry by the end of the following year. The tradition of lovers kissing under mistletoe with red berries seems to be a custom begun by early American settlers. So when shopping for Christmas decorations online, by the white mistletoe if you want to keep the peace and the red if you want to encourage romance.

When shopping for Christmas decorations online, you will probably notice that not all Christmas mistletoe looks the same. European mistletoe has shorter stubbier leaves and has white berries. The true Christmas mistletoe that is used as decorations is native to North America and boasts red berries.

How to Decorate With Antique Lamps

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There is nothing that adds more elegance and automatic ambience to a room’s décor than an antique lamp. They are fantastic objects to have in a dining room or living room because they not only make a personal statement about you but because they are great conversation pieces. There is nothing like a 1930s big chandelier with large drops of ice hanging from it to help break the ice with your dinner companions.

One of the most interesting antique lamp fads that is around lately is the passion for chandeliers made out of deer antlers. These date back as far as the 1890s and straight through to today. They were standard lamp fixtures in medieval times in Europe (as they do have a bit of a pagan flair to them) but they are also considered to be part of American and Canadian furniture kitsch.

However keep in mind that when you buy one of these deer chandeliers that it is not always that politically correct. Some unscrupulous dealers are selling this type of thing on eBay as being made out of found antlers when what they have done is take the antlers off of live deer. This is a big ecological no-no. You are safest to look in antique shops and for chandeliers that look like they have been found on the ground. These antlers will not have sawed off ends. If they do have sawed off ends you might start the wrong type of conversation at your dinner party especially if you have invited any conservationists.

Yet another very popular type of kitsch antique lamp that is being manufactured right now is the “Sexy Leg Lamp.” This is the lamp that was featured in the movie “The Christmas Story.” It consists of a plastic molded ladies leg wearing a black high heel and it is topped with a shade that looks like a burlesque dancer’s skirt. If you have one of these in your home, your guests are sure to point out that “you have the same lamp that Ralphie’s Dad does.”

A kind of lamp that is getting harder and harder to find but used to be a common sight on top of television sets all over the world is the classic ceramic black panther that is topped with a shade made from paper pressed with glitter.

Perhaps the most popular of the antique lamps are the lava lamps. It is getting harder and harder nowadays to find a real lava lamp from the fifties or sixties. The knock offs that can be had for twenty dollars and be bought in a hardware store are simply not as nice as the ones you find on eBay or in antique shops. This is because the newer replicas tend to be a lot smaller then the original lava lamps that were sometimes tall enough to reach your knee. They also often contain glitter instead of the “lava” and their design is not as nice. If you manage to find a real lava lamp from the fifties then the design from the Atomic Age is certain to become a conversation starter.