An English Christmas Fairytale…

Hello my dear!  Today’s post is a completely unexpected one, as I had planned to just write a short message wishing you a Merry Christmas and that we will be back again on 6th of January, however things don’t always turn out the way we expect them to…

16th century cottage.  This room used to hold cattle and the open fire used to be in the bottom right corner of the photo

Yesterday we went to a Christmas party at some friends’ house, and upon entering the house I just couldn’t believe what a Christmas Wonderland we had arrived at!  All the decorations were so beautifully set up and the backdrop of this old cottage just made it all perfect.

16th century cottage, Christmas decorations

We found out that the house used to be an old dairy that dated back to 1560, so before it became a proper home they would keep cattle on the ground floor (the room that you can see in the photos above).  There was a big open fire in the middle of the room and the smoke would rise up to and spread across the ceiling – and most likely leave through the windows that at the time weren’t glazed.

Peeking into the living room from the kitchen – I absolutely adore the beams in the ceilings

A hundred odd years later they added on the wall that you can see closest to us in the photo above and then they built the first floor, so that people could move in and enjoy the warmth that would rise from the animals.

A charming old winding staircase…

The entrance from the living room to the kitchen, where all these beautiful Christmas decorations create such a cosy atmosphere… 

The 16th century brick wall is still standing strong, and you can see how time has painted its mark on it 

A love note found in the house… We can read “Greeting!” on the front page and “With Lilian’s Love” on the back, and when we open it up:

“May Good Fortune add fuel to your fire, And assist you always to keep the Pot à’boiling!”

And now that we have looked at the antique side of things, let’s admire the beautiful Christmas decorations:

Homemade orange and cinnamon Christmas decorations – these smell divine!

Christmas window decorations

So with this Christmas fairytale post I would like to wish you all the most wonderful Christmas.  Enjoy the holiday in the company of your loved ones and thank you for hanging out here on the blog in 2013!  It really has been such a lovely year with lots of beautiful jewellery crossing the Decades of Elegance-threshold, and numerous vintage and antique shops opening their doors for us.

A big thank you also to the lovely vintage shops that keep showing their support for us – I would like to send some very special Christmas sparkle to Vintage Shrewd, Arabella Bianco and the Jewel Tree.

We are back again on 6 January 2014 – Happy Holidays!

Porcelain Bells for Christmas

I belong to that group of people who cannot wait for Christmas to come around!  It is such a wonderful and happy season when we get to fill our homes with lights and good food, family and friends – best time of the year!  Around this time of year I also tend to zoom in on all the pretty decorations that start popping up in all the shops, and even though it was springtime in South Africa when I was there in October, I was immediately drawn to this table at Alphen Antique Market:

Austrian Porcelain Bells at the Alphen Antique Market in Constantia – the price tag said approximately 40 rand each

A lovely lady had this wonderful collection of porcelain bells and little Christmas houses at the antique market and they are just so pretty that I just had to share them with you!  She told me that they used to belong to a collector who very sadly passed away recently.  He had built the most impressive collection of antiques, and in the end nine removal trucks were used to move his belongings!  I am sure that all these pieces are finding loving homes around South Africa now, and I happen to know that a couple of these bells also took a flight back to the UK!

Austrian Porcelain Bells at the Alphen Antique Market in Constantia, Cape Town

These are all of English descent but they are made in many countries around the world.  They made me think of Austrian and German designs and even though I have never celebrated Christmas in Austria, I can imagine that decorations like these can be found in a couple of homes.  I would actually love to visit a Christmas market in beautiful Vienna one day, and I am sure that there would be tons of stalls with little decorations like these bells.

A few glass/crystal bells as well

I love how you can put a little electric light inside the houses to give them a look of being lived in – by teeny tiny people

As you can see there were porcelain as well as glass bless and they made the sweetest and most dainty little sound when you rang them.  Such a lovely little addition to your collection of Christmas decorations.

More Christmas inspired posts will be coming up soon and since it is almost December they will finally be justified!