Monday, January 8, 2024

Home in January

 

Home in January

The holidays were wonderful, and it was amazing to be in Paris on Christmas...but so good to be home!  It did not take too long to pack away Christmas as we did a "basic Christmas" since we would be away.
I love the peace and calm of January...cozy tea, good books, a fire, a comfy throw, and good movies.
While a lot of people don't decorate for January, I do - and find it fun and a nice change from all the holiday colors.
My chair is all set for reading and watching the snow fall.  The pillow is old - after Christmas sale at Hobby Lobby.  The silver bird from Target, and the Winter book by Mary Englebreit has been mine for years.

Some Christmas balls purchased at K-Mart years ago - a steal after the holidays - fill a tray from Dollar Tree on our coffee table.  I cut up some winter berry picks from JoAnn Fabrics to liven it up, then added a votive with a snowflake ornament ( also from Dollar Tree) on top.

Switched out the red holly for some white and blue picks on the mantel...

added a snowflake and winter bird to my ivy...

and made a simple centerpiece for the dining table.  The white "snowballs" are Martha Stewart ornaments I picked up after Christmas at Lowes years ago...the blue candle is new.  All of my candles looked more cream than white so I just ordered this one - a set of three - from Amazon.  I really like it because they were very inexpensive, and come with a remote, making it easy to light when we have dinner.
You can find them here - Blue Candles


Some snowmen and a snowflake in the kitchen corner...

and the snowmen are enjoying some wine, too.

This snowman was an ornament gift from a friend...I use it for January and used some nail polish to make the wine glass look like it holds a nice red blend!

Our foyer welcome guests with a winter greeting and another snowman...

as well as the snowman on our door.  It usually snows as soon as I take down the Christmas wreath and put this up...and this year did not disappoint.  Not much snow, but enough to feel cozy watching it while it fell.
Yesterday was Epiphany and it is our tradition to bless our home on that day.  When I was a child our parish priest would visit every home sometime after Christmas and bless the house for the coming year.  The door is marked with the year, a cross, and the initials of the Three Kings - Casper, Melchior, and Balthazar.  My mom was a wonderful cook and our parish priest always seemed to be at our home right before lunch - so my mom would invite him to stay for something to eat.
That tradition is fading away, and priests have not visited homes for many years....but we carry on the tradition by blessing our home with holy water and praying that everyone who enters our home is blessed.  
Today is our 47th wedding anniversary...so we do feel very blessed to have all these years together.  We are going out this evening to try a new restaurant  - and glad the weather is going to cooperate.  So many anniversary dinners have been snowed out over the years!
Love this meal for lunch or dinner during the cold winter months...so very cozy!
Do you decorate for January?  Are you a fan of the winter - or are you longing for Spring?  Please leave a comment below - I love hearing from you !
Have a cozy winter!

14 comments:

  1. I started decorating for January several years ago. It just seems a little too sad to put away all my Christmas things (I have a big nativity collection, among other things) and just move to NOTHING in January. I do long for spring--not a fan of winter--but decorating for January in a sort of hygge tradition the last few years has been helpful. I like carrying the lights of Christmas over to January as well, so I decorate now with a lot of battery-powered candles. I love what you've done, especially that ivy. So nice. Happy anniversary! Thank you for sharing this post at the Will Blog for Comments #20 linkup! Hope to see you there next week, too--share a new or old post. :)

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    1. Thanks....I also have a big Nativity set that belonged to my dear mother in law. Since we were away this year I only put out Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus and found I missed all the others! Thank you for hosting the blog link ups....such fun!

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  2. I do not decorate for January except for the benches on the front porch. I trade out the red buffalo plaid pillows for black buffalo plaid and they will stay out until it time for the yellow ones in the spring. Love all your touches of snowmen, so cute! A most happy new year to you.

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  3. My 52nd anniversary is today. I decorate for winter by reusing greens that I used for Christmas minus any red berries or ornamentation other than assorted pine cones that I've collected and tipped with white paint or left natural. I put faux white candles in various glass containers on a bed of glittery snow, use various small birds. I use a few outdoor lanterns in the corner where the tree stood in a feeble attempt to replicate it's warmth. I'm across the state from you so woodsy and snowy and natural seems to fit.

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    1. Happy Anniversary ! Your decorations sound beautiful...yes, PA gets the snow, or today - RAIN!

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  4. I'm sorry, I was so busy looking around and trying to describe my winter decorating that I didn't say Happy Anniversary. Your Paris trip looked wonderful.

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  5. I love your winter wonderland/January decor. I decorate some years but haven't yet this year. I just got the Christmas stuff down. Happy Anniversary!!! What a blessing. I can't wait to read about Paris!

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  6. Ann, I love your winter decoration for January and Happy Anniversary! I hope you are staying warm and cozy and enjoy the rest of the week.

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  7. Happy Anniversary. Love your January decorations.. especially the snowman wreath.

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  8. Happy Anniversary! Thank you for coming to visit Pinecones and acorns! I love all of your winter decorations. I don't so much as decorate for winter but I do leave a lot of the neutral/natural holiday decorations out for winter.

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  9. Just popping in to say hi and hope you are doing well!

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