common ground : Decking the Halls with My Christmas Collections

Hello friends, I think Christmas is the best time of year to share collections. And today I'm sharing a few that lend themselves to this beautiful Holiday Season... These collections were shared for the last few years since we've moved to this house. I've had room to bring in a few more pieces of old furniture that make the perfect spots for Holiday fun.

First of all I'm sharing my small collection of White Churches, many of which are vintage paper pieces and Putz churches and then some are contemporary ceramic pieces. The fun of collections for me, is in the display of them in decor. Since we've moved here to this house my "Christmas Church" collection has been focused here on the family sideboard in the Hearth Room.

I love the little shelf above the mirror on the sideboard, because it's a nice size to display smaller items, so some of my white cardboard Putz houses and churches are here.

On the base of the sideboard are three light up churches from the 90's that were part of a village Christmas group. I gave them a makeover a few years ago to make them more "white" to match my decor.

And while we're talking about collections, I have a bunch of vintage Christmas ornaments; mostly Shiny Brites which I've picked up over my years of selling vintage. I try to concentrate on gold, silver, and white mercury glass pieces. A few pastels have managed to sneak in too. It's easy to use them as "bowl fillers" and display them in groups in dough bowls, tureens, baskets and to dress up a shelf display.

Here are two little ceramic churches that were from Target a few years ago.

And here are some pics of the "before" churches.

You can check out that post by clicking below.

Village Churches with a Mini-Makeover

Another piece of antique furniture that I have that's especially fun to share different collections at Christmas is my old Pie Safe, which I've dubbed the Holiday Cupboard. It came by that name because it's a fun place to decorate with seasonal and holiday themes. This Christmas display from a few years ago featured some of my collection of vintage Tartan Scottish biscuit and candy tins. transferware, and white ceramic houses.

I have quite a few pieces of transferware; some are sets, but most have been picked up one piece at a time. During the Christmas season I bring out the red pieces and use them throughout my holiday decor. You can usually find plates along the back of my cupboards and cups, saucers and sugar bowl spread around.

If you look closely you can see a few of my nativity sheep that are scattered around the tureens and red transferware. Of course anything Tartan Plaid has become a real obsession for Christmas. It lends itself to any and all Christmas collections.

These little plaid houses are ornaments that match the larger

plaid house that I shared in the Christmas Kitchen last year.

White ironstone tureens, platters, and pitchers are another collection that is perfect for Christmas display. I scatter them around the house for an instant Christmas display by just adding a bit of red plaid ribbon.

sweet little lamby faces.

The little round tin with the castle (above) is a toffee tin from Leeds.

My Scottish candy and biscuit tins are a real favorite and I keep my eyes open for them, especially around Christmas. This is a Butter"scotch" tin from Edward Sharp and Sons, Kent, England.

Sometimes I just stack my vintage ornament boxes for a quick fun display.

another year of Christmas with a few of my Putz houses in the Cupboard...

And here's a pic from way back of the original "holiday cupboard".

One more fun display spot for collections is my Cookbook Cupboard that is located in the Hearth Room. I found this old cupboard (minus the doors) when I needed something for booth displays many years ago. My husband spiffed it up a bit, but it's still a rough piece. Moving here, I had room to use it for display in here, close to the kitchen. It's a perfect little spot to decorate with a "kitchen-y" theme throughout the seasons.

I guess it's safe to say that Tartan Plaid is actually another of my collections...

More plaid tins and lunchboxes...

The Walker's Shortbread truck tin was a gift from our older daughter after a visit to the UK. She's the one that had hooked me on British shortbread and McVittie's cookies. I put together the little "Christmas kitsch" plaid lunchbox several years ago.

I also have a small collection of vintage cookie cutters that are fun for Christmas and most of them are from my grandmother.

The Garden Room has tons of fun collections for Christmas!

Here are more vintage plaid tins, lunch boxes and hampers.

...and one more collection, that is All About Christmas.

This is an "incomplete" collection that was started back in the late 80's of Christmas Plates from Bing and Grondahl titled Christmas in America. I purchased 6 out of 10, and I still hope to finish this set at some point. I had them hanging in one house but since we've moved several times, they've just been put away. I thought of them when I found out this month's post was on "collections". They depict famous buildings and landmarks in the U.S.