Christmas Decor at White’s Haven

Please take a stroll through our Christmas Home!

Our family room

Comfort and joy and Christmas Decor! Christmas is such a magical time. As a child I remember starring into a shiny colored globe hanging on our tree and getting lost in the reflection and in my imaginings. Our Christmas tree is the result of many years of lovingly collecting meaningful ornaments. Vintage keepsakes that have been passed down from my Mothers tree; cherished ornament gifts received from family and friends.

Why some are not ornaments at all , but have rightfully earned a place on our tree as important mementos. My childhood pendant watch; a vintage wee baby doll; even an adorable tiny Avon strawberry perfume bottle found it’s way on the tree lol! I display my mother’s vintage ornaments in a Christmas green glass bowl. The Santa mug is mine from when I was a child…notice one side is Santa and the other is Mrs. Claus…It still makes me smile. Last but not least is my childhood tree top angel, one of my favourites. As I walk through our home and gaze into the shiny bulbs I get lost in my childhood memories of Christmas past.

On the Dining Room sideboard this year I filled glass vases with more vintage ornaments.

I love how they sparkle from the lights

The dining room tree is adorned with vintage and home made embroidered decorations. I also add many cardinals and woodland type ornaments. And yes, on the right is a four foot Santa Claus!

  Close-up of my woodland tree

Gold and Rust Centerpiece
A few of my white porcelain collection

More Shining vintage bulbs gathered together 
in a ruby bowl on another sideboard in our foyer.

I love how you can see the reflection of the tree in the mirror!
 

Snowmen!!!

A Room Of My Own

My Office

 Inspiration and imagination ♥*´`*•. Our day dreams can become a reality, if we truly desire something, we can manifest it ♥*´`*•.✫ There is a certain magic about artistic expression and of the people who create ♥*´`*•.✫The imaginings of artistic talent is inspiring and hard to resist, no matter what form it takes ♥*´`*•.✫Creativity manifests as if by magic, something from nothing. Whatever you hope, whatever you dream, whatever you believe will materialize ღ

Christmas Nostalgia ♥༺❀༻♥ That magical rush of memories I feel each and every time at this special Season Of Bliss ♥༺❀༻♥ Christmas will always be a day of remembrances, a day in which we think of everything and everyone we have ever loved ♥༺❀༻♥ As we remember loved ones who are absent, we should embrace the wistfulness and the happy times it may bring to mind ♥༺❀༻♥ These memories are like a gift, a loving gift for us to to be able to keep alive their memory ♥༺❀༻♥ I live in gratitude to my loved ones and the memories that surround me this Christmas ♥༺❀༻♥ I feel we should take comfort in the memories, when they bring smiles to our faces and even when they bring tears to our eyes.

I transformed this cute porcelain doll

with a hand sewn Christmas-Velvet dress

Isn't she sweet?

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas ♥ ღ❄н

I hope you enjoyed your visit!

I would love for you to take a moment to leave a comment. Thanks!

༺❀༻

I am looking forward to visiting all the other homes on the tour

 

   The Nester's 2011 Christmas Tour of Homes

Holiday Decor Christmas Cheer Link Up

Gratitude

 

During this busy time of the season, we sometimes forget to slow down. ♥¸.•*¨*A friend of mine on Facebook reminded me how important it is to take the time to acknowledge what we are truly thankful for by posting day to day gratitude notes until December 25th ♥¸.•*¨* So on my Facebook I  started “My Days Of Christmas Gratitude Notes” ♥¸.•*¨* I encourage everyone to take the time to acknowledge the things you are grateful for, instead of concentrating on all the things we don’t have...I am grateful to the amazing Universe for providing so many serendipitous events throughout my live and the intuition to recognize them when they happen. ♥¸.•*¨*  I am grateful for the simple things that we sometimes take for granted ♥¸.•*¨* The small things or circumstances that make us smile ♥¸.•*¨* These tiny jewels help us to see the bigger things in life that we should be thankful for ♥¸.•*¨* Gratitude is a big word and it means so much ♥¸.•*¨* Gratitude for life and the life you live, for those who fill your life and give it meaning ♥¸.•*¨*. All this in three little syllables ♥¸.•*¨* I chose a photo of a cardinal to symbolize that you should see the 'big' in the 'small ♥¸.•*¨* Everywhere is something to be grateful for ♥¸.•*¨* Today I will not take anything for granted.  ♥¸.•*¨* I am grateful for nostalgia♥¸.•*¨* That magical rush of memories I feel each and every time at this special Season Of Bliss ♥¸.•*¨* Christmas will always be a day of remembrances, a day in which we think of everything and everyone we have ever loved ♥¸.•*¨* As we remember loved ones who are absent, we should embrace the wistfulness and the happy times it may bring to mind ♥¸.•*¨* These memories are like a gift, a loving gift for us to to be able to keep alive their memory ♥¸.•*¨* I live in gratitude to my loved ones and the memories that surround me this Christmas ♥¸.•*¨* I feel we should take comfort in the memories,  when they bring smiles to our faces and even when they bring tears of love to our eyes ღ❄н

♥¸.•*☼*•.¸♥¸.•*☼*•.¸♥¸.•*☼*•.¸♥
Ｍｅｒｒｙ ℂｈrｉｓｔｍａｓ
♥¸.•*☼*•.¸♥¸.•*☼*•.¸♥¸.•*☼*•.¸♥
Ƭo sεε ȶђε sacяεd, ωε ɱust sɭoω dowɳ...
`ƛȶ ȶђis gεɳȶɭe Sεasoɳ, ɱaყ ყou ʄiɳd ȶimε ȶo
Єɳjoყ Ƭђe Bεauȶყ of εacђ quiεȶ ɱoɱεɳȶ`
ღ © Hεlεɳa ωђίԵε

Spaghetti & Meat Sauce from my Kitchen

I remember one of my first cookbooks was The Betty Crocker Cook Book. I still have it after all these years. It’s bright red cover is still intact except for the the duct tape now holding the spine together lol! My mother never made spaghetti sauce. Her menu was strictly meat and potatoes, with fish on Fridays. The closest she came to making a pasta dish was macaroni and cheese, which by the way I love, so you might want to check back for here that recipe in one of my future posts. Anyway, I digress. 

I remember the first time I tasted homemade tomato sauce, I became hooked. I recall thumbing through my Betty Crocker Cook Book until I found a recipe called, Italian Spaghetti. So off to the grocery store I went to get all the ingredients for my first homemade tomato and meat sauce. Then I noticed that the recipe called for two envelopes of  Italian style spaghetti sauce mix! What! Italian style? This isn’t homemade? I brooded to myself, now what? I wasn’t about to be defeated. I found all the fresh ingredients that recipe called for and I even found the Italian style envelopes Ha! I starred at the packets in my hand. Why I even started to put them in my grocery cart. 

But as I was about to drop them in my cart feeling defeated, I noticed an ingredient list on the back of the package…hum? The ingredient list included oregano, basil, Italian seasoning, among a few others. I thought, why didn't they just give list these spices in the recipe? So, with my cart full with all the ingredients, including all the important spices, I was back on track for making my first tomato and meat sauce. All these many years later, after a few tweaks here and there, I came up with a sauce that has become my family and friends favorite. 

With November upon us, You’re coaxed to your kitchen with calls for comfort foods, cooking spicy savory stews, tomato sauces, casseroles, chicken pot pie and the like. You find yourself craving these delicious mouth watering informal meals and plan for your first pasta dinner of the freezin’ season. Enjoy!

Helena's Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients

1 to 2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 large chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped red pepper
4 chopped celery stalks
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 minced garlic cloves
1 large can of plain tomato sauce
1 small can of tomato paste
1 large can of plum tomatoes {or diced}
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
½ tsp. seasoning salt
½ tsp. paprika
½ tsp. dry mustard
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Brown ground beef . Stir in onions, peppers,
celery, garlic, mushrooms, cook until just tender.
Stir in spices and bay leaves. Add tomato sauce,
canned tomatoes & paste.
Cover & simmer for 1 to 2 hours.

Serve over your favorite pasta.
Pass the Parmesan cheese and crusty bread!!!

Note: I use to use 2 lbs of lean ground beef, I now use only 1 lb