I had several ladies send me pictures of their Christmas trees… enough in fact, to do a whole post about them. I hope you’ll take a look at what the ladies who read my blog sent. They are ALL beautiful. Next year, I might have to “advertise” for pictures of your trees… this was fun to see.
Let’s see, who’s up first? Sally…who lives in Colorado!
Awhile ago I mentioned in a comment about decorating trees this year that this was the year I would mainly have some of my vintage small Steiff doing the honors and a couple sisters were interested. So here are a few tree pictures and one of my Bethany Lowe Thomas Nast Santa I bought years ago. He sits atop an old trunk and has his Steiff buddy, the band playing alligator, by his side. Maybe these pics will help you one of these days if you get stuck.
Sending love,
Sally
Next up with her Christmas tree is Susette, from California!
This is the tree FOR the dolls.
This is the DOLL tree…and Susette bought the glass dolls over a couple of years about a decade ago.
Here are a few more of Susette’s trees from years past…
It’s PARTY TIME for the dolls! :o)
Her American Girls had a party… Don’t they look like they are having fun in the dresses she made them???
This is a dress set she made for Riya, her granddaughter and her AG doll a few years ago… don’t you wish they could stay little forever?
These are some more dresses she made for her dolls.
This was a Christmas dress she made for a friend! Pretty girl…
These were her American Girl dolls at a Christmas party in 2017. She made the apron Molly is wearing to be reversible for Valentine’s Day!
This is her doll tree…
Now we’ll head down to New Zealand and see what Anne has been up to…
Sam has organized the girls to decorate their own tree, finally. They have been pestering ever since we put up the big tree. In these pictures around the tree, you’ll see Bella, Anastasia and Elizabeth standing by the tree. Phoebe is sitting down handing them the baubles and Sara is in the background. She has a letter for Santa but isn’t sure where to send it.
While they are doing this the girls have visitors. Great Aunt Sammy and her granddaughter Chloe have come to see them. They are all dressed up to go Carol singing don’t they look great. (Yes, I know you have seen all the dresses before but I haven’t had time to make them all new ones for this Christmas!)
Sara suddenly saw something that made her very excited, Santa was standing by the big tree and she was able to run over and give him her letter personally. What an exciting moment. What did Sara ask for I wonder, maybe a new outfit, she is probably tired of the same old jeans and jacket that she has worn forever!
I don’t have a lot of space these days poor Ashley has no space in the room she has to share with her Mum so a lot of her toys have had to come into the lounge! Nevertheless, Sam has tried to find a space for everything she has wanted to put out for years and hasn’t been able to. She ran out of time (and energy) otherwise there would have been garlands everywhere as well. That still may happen. My contribution is the two quilted wall hangings (you can just see the bottom of one of them). My tree has been consigned to the deck though it isn’t up yet. It only stopped raining yesterday. Less than a week to go now, unbelievable!
And one last trip back to the states… my sister, Cindy, sent me pictures of her live Christmas tree in Pennsylvania and a few other pictures of the decorating she’s been doing this year…
Her tree in the daytime…
Then at night…
Her Amaryllis in bloom…
…and her fireplace…
My Amaryllis is almost identical to hers… (my decorating skills are NOT!)
…and one last Christmas tree spotlight. These pictures are from Linda Gronvall, who lives in Minnesota.
This is my Swedish tree, and yes, we light the real candles…. for 5 minutes while everyone is sitting still and eating cookies.
A blessed Christmas to all the Sofa Sisters.
Well, it looks like I’m ALL out of Christmas trees. Hope you enjoyed them. Thanks everyone who shared your trees and more with us!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
First of all, Jeanne, congrats on the successful auction of your Frosty Fur coat outfit! Looks like there had been a bidding war for that one.
Someone said the pink one looked a bit like feathers, and I think so too. A completely different look, but just as pretty!!
I, as usual, am late getting my decorations out. I may try to get at least a little something out tomorrow, or I may wait until Wed., while I’m waiting for a call that Ron is ready to come home.
It was so much fun to see the different kinds of trees–the one with Steiff animals, the trees With dolls, and trees For dolls, and all the cute settings!! Thanks to all who shared!
Susette, that tiny tree in some of your pictures is just adorable. Wherever did you find it? It’s such a nice size to display with dolls, and would work for our smaller dolls quite well, I think!
Anne, your girls look like they are having such fun decorating their tree! I’m glad Sara found Santa, so she could give him her letter! I love your wallhangings, too.
Cindy’s tree is lovely! So festive.
Linda, your tree brought back memories! I remember when I was a teenager, after we’d moved out here to Seattle, we were invited to some Swedish friends’ house for a Christmas time meal. THEY had real candles on their tree (a Noble fir, as the branches are widely spaced), and although I don’t remember them lighting it for us (they only lit it on Christmas Eve, I think), I remember being impressed. I mean, WE are pure Swedish, and I had never seen a tree with real candles on it before!
Ron had his covid test and blood draw today; although he did have his walker, it was a fair distance (for him) from the car to the lab, so when we were done, I had him wait and I went and got the car for him. He was exhausted!
We have already worked out how we are going to do things Wed.–I will pull up to the door and he will use his two walking sticks to get inside the door and into a wheelchair while I park the car. Then I will wheel him to check in, etc. When it’s time for him to go home, they will wheel him out anyway, and this way *I* don’t have to manage the walker! (I can, but it’s unwieldy for me, as I’m short.)
Thank you all for the prayers and good wishes. We truly feel surrounded by prayer, as we have friends and family (church and otherwise) praying, too. Thank you.
All the medical procedures we need as we age are quite involved. Most used to be done while in the hospital….but not now. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask the Dr if you could apply for a Handicapped permit. I f anyone needs it you do! Mike has one and it is so helpful!
When I took David in for his second knee surgery there was absolutely no place to park that wasn’t handicapped and we don’t have a permit. So I dropped him off at the door and went in search of a parking space. There was a parking lot that had marked spaces but they weren’t all marked “handicapped” there were some designated wheelchair accessible spaces. I knew David would be coming out in a wheelchair later that day so I snagged one of those. It was a blessing to have something that was a “temporary” handicapped spot. I actually did pick him up at the door but sometimes there are so many patients leaving at one time it gets congested and the option to have the other close by was great.
Thanks, Kathie; we’ve both had handicapped permits for years! There are several such spots fairly close to the entrance, but if I pull into the loading area, it’s much less walking for him.
For David’s first knee surgery we did pre-registration the Friday before. After he registered we had to walk a very long way to the lab for his blood and COVID tests. By the time we got there his knees were very painful. I was trying to figure out how we would do this for the second surgery so soon after the first. It turned out that for the second one he registered the day of the surgery just off the lobby. There was no blood work necessary, but he did have to have a COVID test and that was done by drive-thru the Friday before. It seems logistics can often be the biggest problem to overcome regarding medical procedures.
First of all, Charlotte, definitely will be thinking of you and Ron tomorrow. Know that it is a difficult time, but positive all will work out as you have planned.
I’m simply amazed at the wonderous trees displayed by everyone. What a bunch of talented individuals here.
I’ll be perusing the trees all day. So many little details that make them special. Oh Santa, please bring me Steiff and baubles and new gorgeous outfits for every doll here and decorating skills to pull off the fabulous displays. Looks like Christmas is almost here. Thanks everyone and Jeanne for sharing the terrific photos. 🙂
Dear Jeanne, what a wonderful Christmas gift – to see the lovely photos from the Sofa Sisters. They are like little sparkling lights for the holiday season.
Four more days and then Santa makes his appearance. I know that our doll children will be very happy, but only if they have been nice (smile).
Merry Christmas
joyeux Noël
Feliz Navidad
frohe Weihnachten
And happy holidays in all of the other languages represented by the Sofa Sisters.
Dorothy can I add Meri Kirihimete to that list?
Dear Anne, yes, let’s greet each other in all of our native and beloved languages. Thank you for adding to this list.
Nollaig Chridheil.. That’s Merry Christmas in Scots Gaelic.
Since Barbara covered the Scots Gaelic and Dorothy already did the German I will do two additional from my heritage
Nollaig Shona – Merry Christmas in Irish and
Nadolig Llawen – Merry Christmas in Welsh
Thank you Laura. We are a united nations collective all sitting on Jeanne’s sofa!
“I can’t wait until we start sharing food,” said the non-cook (laugh).
Dear Barbara, thank you. And of course there is Pennsylvania-ese. I may have made that one up though (laugh).
And then there’s “God Jul” in Swedish–my heritage! (I don’t speak it though–just know a few words.)
Dear Charlotte, thanks for adding this. We truly are international here on Jeanne’s sofa.
What a wonderful collection of Christmas trees and decorations. Such clever ideas – the tree for the Steiff’s, amazing! I’ve always loved the Steiff’s bears. That’s a wonderful collection, Sally! Wow!
A tree for the dolls ( I love Susette’s girls in their Christmas outfits and their very own tree) and her tree of dolls. That’s a lot of loving work. I always enjoy seeing Susette’s girls’ table decorations and ideas.
There’s so much to see in Anne’s Christmas pictures – all her girls dressed up and little Sara with her Santa letter. Glad she got to see him in person. Maybe she’ll get her Christmas wishes! Anne, your quilts are absolutely beautiful- I love the Christmas/winter one. That one would be one on my Christmas list!
It’s always nice to see Cindy’s lovely home and her creative touches throughout her pictures. Cindy, your tree is elegant and I love it that it’s real. There’s nothing like a real Christmas tree scent to add to the beauty of Christmas.
I’m impressed with Linda’s lighted candles on her pretty tree. It’s enchanting. I have these nicely made fake candles I sometimes put on my tree. They look very nice among the ornaments but it’s a lot of work clamping them on. They don’t light up so for the five minutes you have yours lighted, that must be very special!
I put up my three trees again along side the picture that says, “Walking In Winter Wonderland.” I found wonderful snow blankets to put under the trees that look more real than what I used in the past. A dear friend sent me a golden reindeer and he stands near one of the small trees and my new start of a nativity from last year ( the best gift of all) stands under the big tree. Perhaps I can send pictures for next year.
Charlotte, thinking of you and Ron. We all hope and pray for you both and that Ron’s procedure goes well and your dropping him off and picking him up will work out smoothly. Take care of yourself and both of you enjoy your Christmas!
Jeanne, congratulations on your coat auction! One of these days I’ll join in- now I have three RRFF’s!
It was lovely seeing other people’s trees. I don’t have much in the way of antiques and collectibles especially for the tree but most of my decorations now are either handmade or gifts (mainly from Sam).If I had had some they would have been in the china cabinet which tipped over in the first big earthquake in Sep 2010 and I would probably have lost them then. Or in one of the other three quakes we had through 2010-11.
When I was growing up we had the candles in clip on holders. We children always wanted to light them but my parents were afraid of them catching the tree and causing a fire so it never happened.
Charlotte really pray Ron’s procedure goes well. It is tough at this time of the year. Sam had her first Chemo on Dec 18th (2019) and it really knocked her for 6, made Christmas very difficult that year.
Congratulations Jeanne on your ‘Frosty Fur’ auction, I am sure this one will do well too. i really hope to make some new outfits this coming year. I don’t know how you manage to juggle so many plates but do try to rest over the holiday
What a treat to see all the beautiful trees shared today.
Sally, your Steiff tree is so cute with all the different animals on it. You have quite a large collection of them and so many different and wonderful designs.
Susette, your girls getting ready for a party are very sweet. The doll tree is very creative and the pink and teal lights are unusual.
Anne, your dolls are so pretty in their festive dresses. Nice to see them again Of course Sara is asking for a new dress. She’s a girly girl and wants something pretty. Hopefully. you can indulge her this coming year.
I can just imagine what a joyous time Sam and her children are having being able to have Christmas decorations. They may never come down this year. I liked seeing your Advent calendar on the table. That has always been a yearly tradition with us. I remember receiving one of the German paper ones each year and opening the windows to find a picture of a lebkuchen, toy, etc and the Christ child on Christmas Eve which meant after church presents would be opened.
Cindy’s tree is lovely as well. Always fun to see how she has rearranged her little treasures. Yes, I noticed the real tree as well. We used to always have a Fraser Fir and I loved those, but so often my daughter would get respiratory issues from it. I think it must be whatever they are sprayed with, so faux it is.
Linda, I love your tree. It’s so beautiful in a lovely old-fashioned way. The straw ornaments are so sweet. I know they are used in Germany as well and want to get some for next year. Love the lit candles, little apples, and the woven paper heart.
Charlotte, I’ll be thinking and praying for you and Ron tomorrow. Hope everything goes perfectly.
Oh my, how can I ever replicate what I wrote earlier this morning? I accidently deleted the whole comment, right when I was going to post it! I could cry all over again just thinking about it! Well, here goes again!
Sally, your tree is so special with all those wonderful Steiff animals on it! What a treasure! It certainly must have been a labor of love to collect all of them and display them sp well on your tree. It certainly is a special tree! Love that darling Santa too!
Susette, what beautiful trees you have both for the dolls and yourself! All those darling glass doll ornaments make the tree shine! Your scenes are just perfect and so sweet to see! I love your sewing projects, what an accomplished seamstress you are!
Anne, your girls are so cute decorating their own tree! Everyone is dressed to the nines, except for poor Sara, and yes, i do think that is what she is asking Santa for, a pretty dress! Let’s hope she gets one soon! I love your beautiful quilted wall hangings! Such vibrant colors give the room a cheery glow!
Cindy’s tree and fireplace are a treat for the eyes! Her tree looks so magical when lighted, and I must say that is a beautifully shaped tree too. Love the popcorn garlands, plus everythig else on it! Beautiful, but then we always expect that of anything Cindy does!
Jeanne, your Amaryllis could be Cindy’s twin! Both are just as beautiful as the other! I love those!
Oh my, Linda, your tree is just perfect with those lighted candles! What a treat to see that! I love the straw ornaments and that beautiful straw star on top, or mybe it is an angel? Is that a heirloom? What a wonderful thing to be able to decorate your tree to match your nationality! May I ask, what is your method of lighting those candles, and just how do you put them out without setting the whole tree on fire?
Jeanne, I thoroughly enhjoyed seeing all these trees! It certainly gets one in the spirit of christmas! Thank you, everyone for sending those in!
Linda in St. Louis, I’m afraid my photo gives the wrong impression because I took it at night. There are three strands of electric candles that are lit on the tree. They are on every day. On Christmas Eve, or other company, when everyone has their cookies and is sitting down, we turn off the electric ones and count as I light the 9 real candles with a battery lighter. I have a lot of other candles lit in the room… so no electricity! It is a truly special and warm feel. After about 5 to 10 minutes, when the cookies are gone, we will count as I extinguish the candles, and turn the electric ones back on. Husband stands by with a fire extinguisher! It is a lot of work to make sure there is nothing above each real candle! Not something I do every year. Each time “may be the last!”
Well, this is even more exciting. I was wondering why some candles weren’t lit. Got it. What a wonderful event. 🙂
Since I missed sending my comments again yesterday, I wanted to add something and never got back to it, I’ll be doing two days at once.
Sally, I love, love, love your Steiff tree. It’s everything I imagined when you said you would be doing it. And the Santa is the best.
Susette, a dolly tree! How wonderful! I have all the parts to do one but never seem to get that far and I sure haven’t this year. Love all your trees and the beautiful outfits you made for your very lucky dolly daughters. They all look so festive.
Cindy’s tree is lovely, especially at night. Her fireplace is just perfect. And what a pretty Amaryllis. The color is really nice.
I love Linda Gronvall’s Swedish tree. And real candles. It’s hard to imagine back in the days when candles were what was used for lights on all trees. I don’t imagine they kept them lit very long, as Linda indicated. I love being able to light my tree and village all day during the holidays. Makes things look so cheerful.
Thanks everyone and Jeanne for sharing these lovely pictures.
Now to yesterday. What a sweet little pink coat. And I like the boots with it. One thing I’ve noticed from buying patterns and doll clothes from Europe, especially Russia, they put boots even with the fanciest dresses. I’ve gotten used to the look and now I think it’s cute. This happened to me when new shoe styles came out – back when I could wear different styles. I would usually not like the new style and then I would end up loving it. Never did like the really pointed toes though. It looks like the Chinchilla coat outfit is very successful as I’m sure the pink will be. It’s such an unusual looking fabric.
Charlotte, prayers for Ron and his procedure. I’m sure you’ll be glad to have that behind you. Glad you are having some lovely weather. My one stepdaughter lives in Beaverton, OR. She has the same situation where the sun doesn’t shine for weeks. The last time she visited here all she wanted to do was lay out in the sun.
Sally, what exactly did you have done to your shoulder? Sounds really painful. What was the length of rehab on that?
Debbie, it looks like you’re actually going to be “moved in” before Christmas. Only 8 more boxes to go, probably less by now. What an accomplishment. Now hopefully you can relax and enjoy the holidays.
I had a real shock last evening I could have lived without. I had not heard from a friend of mine for a while. We’re Facebook friends so I decided to look her up and see what she was up to. We were best friends in junior high and reconnected through Classmates several years ago. i saw where people were posting memories of her, so I looked closer and saw her obituary. She passed away a year ago in April and I hadn’t a clue. We have a common acquaintance so I’m going to see if she knows anything because the last, I knew my friend was in good health.
David is doing much better. His big bandage is off and his staples have been removed so he has more mobility just from that. He is going on “walk about” around the house several times a day. He has had more pain this time than last, probably because they manipulated the right knee as well as the surgery on the left. He had his two-week check-up this morning. He is doing very well with the exception of the pain. Everyone has said stay ahead of the pain but he has had a terrible time getting his pain meds refilled. Once it was too soon for the doctor to redo the prescription. The instructions said 1 to 2 pills every four to six hours. In the beginning he took two every four hours and then backed off to two every six hours but he still ran out too soon. Then after this surgery the doctor wrote him a prescription for the stronger pain pills but the insurance wouldn’t pay for them until three days after surgery. Fortunately he had some left from the last prescription but what was he going to do if he hadn’t? The attitude seems to be “whatever”. He is on blood thinner shots and has two more days of them. We found out from the doctor today that after the next two days he can be on anti-inflammatory pain killers so he is going to prescribe him something stronger than what’s available over the counter. In the meantime he’s on Tylenol 3 and it’s not working well. He metabolizes medications so fast and I think that’s the problem because they wear off long before the six hours is up. Now his surgeon is out of town till sometime in January so hopefully the pain will diminish considerably soon.
My daughter-in-law bought my granddaughter a box of seven Rainbow High dolls for her upcoming birthday. Yesterday i was in Wal-Mart and saw a dollhouse for those dolls and it was marked down. I just had to get it for her. Some little girl is going to have an amazing 10th birthday.
Barbara, I’m so sorry to hear about your friend. That is a tough one, especially finding out so long after the fact. My condolences.
Oh yes, your granddaughter is going to be over the moon with her birthday gifts this time!!
Thanks for sharing the trees! I’d better get busy!
What a wonderful post! I love seeing other follower’s trees and decorations. Linda, I remember our next door neighbor when I was a child who was a chemist who escaped from Germany right before WWII. The family would invite us to the lighting of the candles on the tree. Thanks for reminding me of a beautiful memory. It’s truly beautiful!
Anne’s dolls are so beautifully dressed and the scenes are so special. I’m just plain in awe of the quilt! So glad Sam’s children got to decorate the tree this year and that they have a wonderful Christmas. You sure have all the decorations and love to go with them.
Cindy’s tree is beautiful with all the traditional ornaments in her decorator’s dream of a house. I haven’t put up the an 8’ tree since Riya visited when she was three and I started collecting dolls. First it was a very small one that I had to string the lights on. Then came the 3’ tree and 4’ doll tree with lights already on, both bought from Home Depot. And there’s Cindy with a real one!
Sally, your tree is like my doll tree except the wonderful collection of Steiff animals instead of dolls. Do you recognize Horace the Longfellow Bear in one of my pictures who is also a Steiff bear. I don’t remember the other one’s name. You must have one of every type animal they ever made. They make a beautiful tree.
I should be embarrassed but I’m used to myself as I sent just a picture of the backs of the dresses. When Riya was four I asked her what kind of dress she’d like for her doll. She piped right up and said, “Green with short sleeves and a white collar and cuffs and a dropped waist and a sash with a flower and a bow in the back.” Well, she got it and here I sent only the back view!
Thanks, Jeanne, for letting us share pictures. Now we’re ready for some of yours. P.S. I saw a man who was walking his dog today and the dog’s coat exactly matched his own hair and beard. The dog reminded me of Reuben.