A peek inside my China cabinet

 I tend to march to the beat of a different drum, as I am sure you have suspected by following along with me... Some use their China cabinets for actual China, and while you will find some in mine, there are some other peculiar items in mine as well.

I am a strong proponent and advise friends and family to fill your home with items you truly love, not what is in style, or what people expect you to put in your home.  We are Christmas lovers here, I actually display a few pieces all year long.  Some things I think are too pretty or have too much meaning to me to only be displayed during certain times of year.  

I enjoy taking a trip down memory lane to simpler times, childhood, oh heck, last year?  It seems a lifetime ago we were able to live life without restrictions, but I digress... China cabinets... no, I am not 80 years old... a coworker asked me this when I said I had a China cabinet.  I am; however, an old soul.  I always have been.  I enjoy décor from a different time, when furniture was made well, all wood items... the right piece of furniture can get my heart beating a little faster and a smile on my face...

This beauty all decked out for Christmas, I purchased at an auction.   An auctioneer was auctioning off his mother's collection and this was one of the pieces available.  My husband and I love going to auctions, we were actually just engaged when I purchased this piece.  I say when I made the purchase because we were sitting there and he was looking around at what was being offered, little did he know I was raising my hand and bidding away until he turned around and saw me raise my hand.  He whispered what are you doing?  I replied, I am buying that piece.  He laughed and shook his head and of course, it came home with us with a little finagling.  It is a very heavy piece and taller than I am (I'm 5'), but those claw feet?  I love them!  

The Snowman "books" came from QVC.  I am in love with vintage Snowmen, imagine that... Each book has storage inside and the smallest book doubles as a music box, another love of mine.  It plays "We wish you a Merry Christmas."  The Santa also came from QVC, but is now sold out.  I have a small collection of finials, I am not sure what my fascination is with them, but I really enjoy them scattered throughout a room.      

Here are some close up's of the books and Snowmen.  I could not resist their faces when I saw them for sale.

Here are some of the pieces I display all year round.  

 Santa, his sleigh, and reindeer are from the 1950's and was a piece given to me from my grandmother.  I remember it always being displayed on her end table when you would walk in the front door every year at Christmas time.  It is plastic, but I hold it near and dear to my heart since my grandfather is no longer with us.  

My husband purchased this snow globe with train scene for me last Christmas.  I love it!  This is another love of mine because of my grandfather.  He had a train set we would play with when I would visit him.  He had towns set up, it would deserve a whole post in itself.  I have a few of the pieces he had in my China cabinet too.  

This Santa is also from the 1950's and was another piece from my grandparents home.  My grandmother would always have him out on top of the television console and I would want to play with him because he was more like a doll to me than a Christmas display.  

The rest of these items have sentimental meaning to me.  This is my bouquet from our wedding.  I had a small arrangement since of course my flowers had to be in a tussy mussy which does not allow for a very large bouquet ( I added a link if you have not heard of this term before).  I had roses, white feathers, and pine arranged inside the silver tussy mussy (Christmas wedding, of course).  

This white hob nail basket was my great-grandmother's.  I have collected hob nail glassware for some time, but have slowed in adding any more pieces, I think I am at full capacity.   

I could not resist this Josef Originals Bride and Groom.  My mother started a collection for me of birthday dolls when I turned one and I collected the original dolls to age 16, you can see the Sweet 16 a few pictures up the line.  Later they added to the collection from ages 17-21 and the pieces did not have the same charm as the original pieces so I stopped collecting.  

So there you have it, a little glimpse into my China cabinet.  I will display more photos of what else this beauty holds another day.