I can almost smell that!! Yum!! Had a great time today.

Everyone loved my gourmet meal. Seared Duck Breast with cherry sauce dusted with lemon zest. Scalloped potatoes topped with grated Parmesan cheese. Roasted asparagus. French crusty dinner rolls with French butter. Topped off with warm Caramel Apple tarts with French vanilla ice cream! Turned out really well. Til next year!

Merry Christmas! And thank you, Flo!

thank you Flo, and Merry Christmas 🎄. Food looks amazing and gave me a smile.. my grandmother had same silver 😊, brings back good memories!

SM. SO much fun! The silver was my Mother’s and I do love it. Very observant of you. 😊🎄😘

I can't remember who posted the holiday figures with family faces on them for place setting cards (such a cute idea), but I decided to do something similar. I looked around for figures or ornaments or something on which I could attach face pictures. I found a few ornaments, like a santa claus or snowman, but they weren't flat enough to paste onto.

In the meantime, I started printing facial photos. Then after about 10 faces, my printer went kaput! This was the weekend before Xmas, so I only had a couple of days to get presents ready to Priority ship. I had 2 families' gifts that I would need to have ready. STRESS TIME.

I bought gift tags of Santa hats, glued them to the pictures, and called it a night. My granddaughter received the shipped package and took this picture of what was inside. This project was not one of my best, but I ran out of time and the recipients enjoyed them.

Clever idea—thanks!

Flo, you have my Christmas china! Your dinner sounds amazing…I am a tiny bit envious😬. Our Christmas went like this: went to mass on Sunday, had lunch afterwards, started to prep for our ”fancy appetizer Christmas Eve dinner” (smoked salmon canapés with wasabi caviar, caviar crackers, mini roast beast sammies, duck liver pâté crackers, onion tarts etc), and then came Norovirus….and that was the end. Hubby’s outbreak soon followed, so after opening presents (with me in bed and hubby watching from afar) we sent kids and grandkids home, just to be safe. Now our daughter has it, and all the food we had bought just sits there….Ah, well… I guess Santa didn’t think we were as good lthis year as WE thought we were☹️😢… Hope everyone else out there manages to avoid this crummy virus!🙏🙏 Happy holidays just the same.

Oh Coray, so sorry. But yes, the Lenox Christmas China makes a beautiful look. Hope you get a “replay”! Your treats sounded amazing!

Flo, your table setting’s lovely! I also have the Lenox “Holiday“ china…so pretty! My MIL had a family business that sold china and crystal for years. She made sure we were well supplied! The Caramel Apple Tartlets look yummy. We just received some as part of a gift from Kansas City Steaks.

Coray 😵‍💫😑😞 well that’s beyond disappointing…and I guess you cannot risk sharing the food with anyone…I understand it’s super contagious. Maybe you will be recovered for New Year’s and can plan something special.

Yes, Liasch, we hope to! We told our kids to take food home (as we were feeling pretty crappy at the time)…well, they cleaned us out! 😂 But now that I’m feeling better I think your mulled cider looked pretty tasty! 😋

Coray, what part of the country do you live? I hadn't heard that Norovirus was around.

Anybody know if Odely & Sajjad are spam? I'm afraid to click on them.

Dianabythelocks, I am in NC….apparently it is😩. You can Google all about new strains etc…I read an interesting article on Today.com.

Neither of the strange posters above, appear legitimate. The “pro” lists an offshore phone number. Neither have anything saved in an Ideabook. I would avoid and I have flagged them to Houzz. Just to be on the safe side.

Coray mulled cider is very good for you! Slices of a lemon, an orange, a few cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and whole allspice. Simmer for an hour or more. I let it cool, pour back into original container and microwave as desired. Cranberry mixed with apple juice works too if you have no cider.

Liasch, that really does sound yummy! We Germans mull our wine instead, lol, probably not quite as healthy😋😢☹️, but equally as delish. Well, this Christmas we mulled nothing, but I hope to catch zero viruses next year!!!🤞🤞🤞

Coray I know that you can do wine… although I’ve never done it. Unfortunately alcohol and I have come to pretty much a parting of the ways.

Much better for you, so good for you! I am not a big drinker so I rarely do mulled wine anymore, but it’s basically the same idea as mulled cider. I think if hubby were on board I could give up alcohol completely, but thus far he’s not interested in that idea….maybe someday.

I’m late, but that’s because we have the fancy Xmas dinner a few days later. Everything’s roasting and I’m just admiring the table before the sloppy eaters ruin it. My holiday plates aren’t Lenox, but my full china is Lenox Westchester

Pictures please. All beautiful I am sure!

I’m getting forgetful! And I can’t wait to eat that roast.

Oh yum!! Your table is so lovely. Know I want a rib roast! I can almost smell it cooking!

Thanks Flo. My kitchen is smelling so good. And the trifle is in a proper trifle bowl!

Now I am starving!!

Can I make you hungrier? Notice the proper bowl, lol.

OMG! I am having a moment! Beautiful! Love the bowl! Looks scrumptious!! Enjoy! Lucky guests!

After shot! Now procrastinating cleanup with mimosas 😂💕 Till we meet again…

DD you are amazing! I don’t know how you deal with the aftermath every year. 😵‍💫

Julie this arrangements are gorgeous!!

Wow I wish I could do something like that. I’ve never been able to make any kind of floral arrangement look halfway good hohoho

I never posted my tree pic. December was so busy and short for me. I only put up one tree and a few decor items. But it’s working now bc I don’t feel a rush to take it all down. Im leaving it up another week or so.

We traveled on Xmas Eve so had our little family gift exchange on the 23rd. Then I got really sick on the 26th and few days. Then my 9uo got sick the night before we came home on the 29th. She still has fever been lying around.

So cute pool. Sorry to hear about your Christmas illnesses. Hope all get well soon! Your girls are growing tall!! Your holiday touches are fun and look so inviting! Take care.

I'm in no hurry to take the decorations. I suspect several reasons for that. It has been a difficult end of the year and the multiple difficulties (work horrors, a necessary shower renovation with all kinds of contractor issues), a loan to pay for said shower, a close friend who is suffering terrible pain, and more) had put some barriers in place for my favorite time of the year.

Also, I view the last three months as incredibly special so it hurt to have them so torn up. I did almost nothing I normally revel in and that I was looking forward to so much of all the activities after Covid. Which did not happen this year.

But . . . I did put decorations up for my autumn and my Christmas decorations. They are understated and pretty and peaceful and I enjoy looking at them. I view them as belonging to the season rather than one day, partly because gifts are not a part of Christmas to me any more, neither giving nor receiving. So this Christmas season can stretch on, and will this year, until probably at least mid-January. Well, maybe the vintage stockings will come down but the miniature forest, the tabletop tree vignettes, and the other decorations will stay around for a while because they soothe me and make me feel happy.

Edited to Add: I am not out looking for more decorations as I feel I have everything I want. But I had seen these two sets of bottlebrush trees at Horchow/Neiman Marcus back in November and fell in love. So I bought these two that did not arrive until after Christmas. That's okay; they are still in their boxes for 2024.

Aphaea- I am sure sorry for your painful experiences. I pray you will find the joy of the season again and share some of your calming scenes. Be well and the Universe may have some lovely, grand surprises for you. Just keep your eyes and heart open to “seeing” them. Thanks for sharing your most intimate feelings and trusting your Houzz friends to hug it out with you!! 🤗😘🎆

Oh! I just saw your pictures! They came while I was writing my note to you!! Love those trees. Thanks! Yep, the Universe is speaking to you! Glad you acted on those!! You are ahead of all of us for 2024! 🎊

Thank you so much, Flo. Your warm wishes can be felt from here. I am actually okay. It wouldn't have been my choice to have happen what happened of course, but it is fine. Making Christmas last into and maybe to the end of January is nice. I will have my shower back again within, probably, a couple of weeks because of a recent good decision. Work? Well, we'll see what happens. I am open. I remain happy. I have my Word of the Year for 2024. Happy days are here, Flo. [[[[[HUGS]]]]]

We have our family Christmas celebration here on the weekend of Martin Luther King’s day. Been doing this for 14-16 years because my hubby ran the Houston Marathon for years and this year he can’t run but our daughter and middle son are running the Chevron Half Marathon. This year the fun starts on the 11th and runs through Jan 16! We celebrate the runners, Christmas, birthdays and our anniversary! So we keep Christmas decorations up til after all that and I have a few days to recover! May 2024 treat you well!

Oh, what fun, Flo! That sounds wonderful to have your celebration later and include all those events together. It must be amazing. I wish you a wonderful 2024 as well as we all move forward, finding joy wherever we are and whatever we are doing.

Wish I could hit “likes” 3-4 more times!!

It was nice reading all the posts and enjoying the Christmas decorations. Thank you all for inviting us into your homes. I'm just seeing this post and didn't get a chance to add my decorations. It is my hope that you continue this thread or create an annual one for years to come!! May the Christ of Christmas richly bless us all during 2024!!

Oh please post now Pugga70. We celebrate for another month at least! Love to see.

Flo, thanks for your explanation — I always wondered why you had the family Xmas celebration when you did. Far more interesting than why we have Xmas dinner several days late. I had one fly the nest today and the other is here until Friday. I won’t think about taking down Xmas decor until the weekend. I’ve decided a few things are seasonal holiday rather than traditional Xmas decor so they get to stay a bit longer

Aphaea,

I'm sorry for your stressful times; the holidays can be stressful enough, but it sounds like your attitude is good. I like your gold brush trees. They seem to be popular this year, I used to not like them, but some are pretty cute. ;-)

Hi, Diana. Thank you for your comment. It truly is almost all in the attitude. I don't remember that all the time but I try.

I'm not a fan of the brush trees either but both of these are done really well. (Not surprisingly, given they are from Horchow.) Somehow, they just appealed. I can see them each in their own vignette. The colored ones will go on a round cake platter (like the photo) but mine is a vintage jadeite one. The gold ones will find their own special place.

I wish you a very good year in 2024. In fact, to everyone here who has bonded over Christmas in her and his own ways I send my best wishes.

Brush trees are of course a nostalgia thing and what better time of year to indulge a nod to past than at Christmas ?

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SeaJay! 👏 Was glad to hear that you got my card and letter.