Gingerbread Dreams

Dear Friends,

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE  me some cedar at Christmastime alll through the house. Branches snipped from the garden and some brought home from the garden centres seem to appear here and there and everywhere throughout our home at this time of year.  Mostly what I use inside to deck the chandeliers over tables, on tables and sideboards – near wherever food is served – is from the nursery or florist, just because I want to be sure there are no little bugs dropping from the branches especially onto food tables.

This is my favourite tree this year!  It’s fashioned from gingerbread stars in graduating sizes and sits on a wooden base.

I also love the aromatic scent of sweet gingerbread mixed with the smell of fresh winter greens.   I thought today I would share some photos of a petite gingerbread house surrounded by bits of cedar clippings that was sitting on my sideboard (an old pine dresser repurposed) in the kitchen for a few days before I gave the house away as a gift.

The teeny house was custom-built for me to spec and pinterest inspired. A lovely new friend, Jindra, who is from Czech Republic made it for me using the old-style European recipe for gingerbread made up molasses, honey and flour.  The house sits on a 7″ diameter gingerbread cookie!

 

 It smells soooo goood and is entirely edible but will keep for years if looked after properly…

 

 Isn’t it adorable how the door to the house opens?  And, the tree outside and the starburst on the tiled rooftop?  And the detail surrounding the windows!  There are so many things about this creation that I admire.

Aren’t the cookies beautiful? The detail is just amazing on these tasty treats. I particularly love the gingerbread spheres.  They have tiny ribbons attached so you can hang them on the tree. Just precious!

The stars are beautiful, too.

And, the snowflakes!  There’s my little reindeer place marker.  He makes me smile! Lol

 I used some rustic looking bird nests dusted with sparkly snow and some lace trimmed ornaments on the dresser. Somehow, they just looked ‘right’ to me alongside the gingerbread shapes.I nestled a teeny silver reindeer place marker inside each of the nests.

 The ‘hot toddy’ mugs are waiting…Or, would you prefer some pretty pomegranate tea in nod to the season?

 The ‘White Wheat’ ironstone pattern is a favourite.  I have had this jug for many years.  It has a timeless appeal.

Darling doves are displayed on my mother’s cookie plate which belonged to her mother and is probably over a century old.

When I last posted, I showed this dresser with a totally different look using amber glassware.  You can see it here. This is how it looked before fitted out with my vintage amber glassware…

And, this is the after…

 There is a beautiful decorative sparkle to the gingerbread when the light shines on it.

Sweet message…

 The “Holly and Ivy” Portmeirion teapot was a gift to me from my husband about 10 years ago. Ivory bottlebrush trees are also a weakness of mine. Lol

 I often stack cake plates to add height and interest to a tablescape. Do you do this, too?  There are so many ways you can use them.

Behind the ceramic tray, I hid a teeny photo of me sitting on Santa’s lap.  It was taken 2 years ago when hubby and I visited New York City for a week plus a day.  I spotted this wonderful Santa at The Plaza Hotel.  The last time before that I had my photo taken with Santa was 50 years earlier!  Lol  It was a special moment for me – even at my age, all these years later! Lol

There is something very special about the inside of this gingerbread house.  Can you guess what it is?

SURPRISE!  The house has its own teeny gingerbread tree with teeny gingerbread presents underneath it! The love is definitely in the details! Jindra has such an amazing talent! XO

 

Hubby and I went to dinner recently hosted by our dear friends, Brendan and Marie, in their beautiful home.  It was a fabulous evening on all counts. We always look forward to our visits with them. I brought along the tiny gingerbread house as a hostess/Christmas gift. Our friends were thrilled.  I’m sure their grandchildren will be, too!  I was delighted to see the same look on my friend Marie’s face when I gave her the house. I surely must have had the same look on mine when Jindra first presented this sweet ‘work of heart’ to me!

 

As soon as I arrived at my friend’s home, I asked for one of her many pedestal cake plates (she used to have a tea room) and went about arranging feathery bits of cedar around the perimeter of the plate and then sprinkling icing sugar over the stems to resemble newly fallen snow.  I used glass yogourt cups to hold battery-operated votives and then filled the glasses with salt, popped a few pinecones in place on the side of the plate and voila! A beautiful presentation.

The gift tag was given to me a couple of years ago.  A thoughtful friend had an entire box of them custom made for me! The same friend who gave me this beautiful china and glassware you can see here at The Festive Table! There must have been a dozen or more tags in the box and so I use them for very special gifts.

When I was sprinkling confectioners’ sugar over the cedar, some of the sugar fell on my friend’s Baby Grand piano. She really liked the look of it and so she decided to leave it just as it was…

My friend served dinners and tea in this room for nearly 10 years up until last year.  When she closed the tea room to spend more time with her grandchildren, she converted the dining room to a cozy sitting room.

I love the old gramaphone…Can you hear Christmas music?

I love how this vignette turned out.  It reminds me of a beautiful Christmas card…

Since I was a little girl, I’ve dreamed of having my very own gingerbread house. I just love this petite little house so much that I asked Santa to bring me one for Christmas.  Lol  We’ll see…

 

I can’t wait to snap some photos of this year’s decorations on the outside of ‘the bungalow’.  I’ve plopped pineapples in most of my urns again this year.  The pineapple, after all, is the symbol of welcome so is especially appropriate during the holidays. I’m having fun with a few garden benches and birdbaths this year, too, setting up little cheerful vignettes. This is what our front door looked like last year.

You can see more photos here at Beautiful Christmas Green.

 

I’m hoping for a wee sifting of fresh snow so my photos will look Christmassy.  Last year this time, we were knee-deep in snow and had been for weeks. Although I am wanting a little snow for photos, I am more than happy that we are having such great weather.  Right now, though, it looks as though we will have a green Christmas this year, so the exterior photos can wait a few days.

 

PHOTO:  Christmas at The End of the Hall (2013)

I’d like to thank Kathy at A Delightsome Life and Sherry at The Charm of Home for featuring my last post Christmas is Coming on their amazing blogs!

Thank you for stopping by, particularly at this time of year when we have so much to keep us busy with holiday preparations! I hope Santa’s good to you! Sweet wishes for a beautiful Christmas filled with peace, love, joy and a multitude of blessings…XO

Linda  

 I am thrilled to be sharing today at Tea Time Tuesday, Friend Sharing Tea, A Return to Loveliness, The Scoop, Wordless Wednesday, The Homemaking Party, Wow Us Wednesday, Wake Up Wednesday, Show and Tell Friday, Feathered Nest Friday, Shabbilicious Friday, Show Off Friday, Simple and Sweet Friday, Saturday Show Off, Pink Saturday, Amaze Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Much A Do About Monday, Creative Monday, Tuesdays at Our Home, Our World Tuesday.