Seasonal Salon

Early on, I decided that the living room would be the first room in my dollhouse to decorate for Christmas. If nothing else, it would allow me to showcase some of the most popular and recognizable yuletide adornments.

To make the Christmas tree, I shaped a piece of green craft foam into a cone, wrapped some gold ribbon around the base, and topped it off with a gold pompom. The look I was going for was "simple and understated"; I think I hit the mark. 

Anyone opening the miniature presents would surely be disappointed; after a bit of trial and error, I wound up gift wrapping 3 small pieces of cardboard and an empty travel-size toothpaste box. But oh, the things they could be, with just a little imagination....

The throw blanket on the back of the couch is actually a bookmark. I used US 3 knitting needles and Kollage Yarns Cornucopia in the color Antique Lace.

While the bowl was manufactured, the pieces of candy were handmade, by yours truly. I simply rolled some red non-dry modeling clay into several dozen tiny balls. For the plate, I took 2 plastic rings from a pompom maker kit and filled the center hole of each with tacky glue. To keep the glue in place, I used a 3x5 index card, trimmed to size.

For the stocking hanger, I knitted a thin strip of 2x2 ribbing, just long enough to wrap around the top of the mantel. My materials consisted of US 7 knitting needles and Lily Sugar'n Cream Solids & Denim yarn in the color Sage Green. For the stockings themselves, I followed this knitting pattern, using US 1 knitting needles and Lang Yarns Jawoll Superwash yarn in the colors Red and White. Onto each finished stocking I embroidered the letters "H" and "O," which proved to be a far more challenging and time-consuming task than I'd anticipated, despite being well-versed in duplicate stitch. The final step was to attach the beginning yarn tail of each stocking to the hanger.    

I purchased the TV and remote through Amazon, ...

... which reminds me of my favorite Christmas movies and TV episodes/specials. Here they are, divided into 2 separate lists:

Movies 

• A Christmas Story (1983)
• Batman Returns (1992)
• Die Hard (1988)
• Elf (2003)
• Home Alone (1990)
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
• Klaus (2019)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
• National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
• The Santa Clause (1994)

TV Episodes/Specials

• "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" from Community (2010)
• "A Very Sunny Christmas" from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2010)
• "Christmas Scandal" from Parks & Recreation (2009)
• "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (1966)
• "Mary, Joseph, & Larry" from Curb Your Enthusiasm (2002)
• "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" from South Park (1999)
• "The One with the Holiday Armadillo" from Friends (2000)
• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1964)
• "The Strike" from Seinfeld (1997)
• "Undeck the Halls" from Modern Family (2009)

What do you like to watch during the holiday season?