Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Visiting a Winter Christmas Village with Special Memories!

Many years ago, I began to collect a few porcelain cottages to display at Christmas, and I quickly was hooked on houses. I have always enjoyed to paint cottages and through the years, I have decorated with them even on border paper in our home. In the 90's I designed miniature cottages for a company in Cincinnati and loved the process of the little homes coming to life with the details. While I do not work in miniature that much now, I still love cottages and the cozy comfort they bring.

The above curio cabinet, in our home entry, holds the cottages and buildings I have long collected. They are not expensive pieces, but rather quaint designs that make me smile. The designs, paint colors and shapes remind me of vintage collectibles. Once the village scenes are set in place, snow added and accessorized, this sweet city comes to life. Each shelve holds 4 or 5 buildings with trees and accents.
I still have the precious memory of my Best Guy gifting me a few first pieces in the first years of our marriage. So many gorgeous collections have been produced since this set was started, but I would not trade it for the world. Like any old house, the love and meaning these buildings carry are very special and will be cherished forever.
When I added my cross collection and the word Faith above the cabinet, from that time on, the word Faith has been illuminated by the light streaming in the window. The cast of light stays all day till nightfall. I know it is coincidental, but it looks beautiful to me and was a sweet surprise after the word was added.

The following pictures share these wonderful Christmas gift buildings and special memories this village holds.















Thank you for stopping by today and visiting my ole time village. I hope Christmas will hold beautiful memories for you and yours.
Blessings be yours always, Celestina Marie

23 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Sweet Friend!
I LOVE your Christmas village! Everything is so neat and detailed. Chad and the boys would love this too!! It makes me wish I was tiny :):)

Thank you so much for shipping the ornaments so quickly! They will be perfect on my white and pink tree :) Thank you also for your sweet comment on my Christmas post! I am definitely in more of a festive mood with the white tree, lol! IT actually brightens my house instead of darkening it like green does.
Merry Christmas sweet friend,
Love you,
Amy

Julie Marie said...

Oooh Celeste! I love your beautiful little village, and how precious it all is with such special meaning... my favorite is the little painters studio, with your precious Miss Beazy sitting there too! And no, I don't believe it is a coincidence the light shines all day, especially as I read the word "Faith"... my mama always used to say to me "Julie Marie... always have a little faith"... I do... love to you... Bisous... Julie Marie

Julie Marie said...

Oh Celeste... I also wanted to say what a beautiful collection of crosses hangs above there too... Bisous... Julie Marie

Connie said...

I absolutely love little villages and have several from my travels but will have to get rid of them as I have no room in this new house, sweetpea. Those are quite adorable though.
xoxo,
Conie

Anonymous said...

So, so beautiful !!
Come over to my blog & read the poem I posted that my uncle wrote about small town life at christmas when he was a child. It is about where I live.
I have a tear... because he is writing about my family past. He is well in his 80's now & he is the last of my family of that generation. Christmas can be sad....
Peace!
Marilyn

~Becca~Bluebird Rose said...

There is something so magical about little villages ~ like a tiny secret world we get to step into for a moment in time....
:)
~Becca~

Creations by Marie Antoinette and Edie Marie said...

Hi Sweetie,
I love your village,I loce howits displayed in your curio cabnet.That is so beautiful.The crosses are magnificent.Beautful.
Thank you for sharing your treasure with us.
Are you getting any of this horrible raining weather?I hope not.My rd may be closed already.Going out to check.Bye Honand Merry Christmas again.
XXOO Marie

A Southern Rose said...

I love your Christmas village. My little boy helped me set up ours the other night. He loves doing that.


Merry Christmas,
Hugs,
Lee Laurie

Deb said...

I love your village....Merry Christmas..

ThriftyAnnabella said...

Nice collection and displayed perfectly.

Betzie said...

I love those houses and builiding too Celeste! I have a small collection but just take them out maybe every other year. I love how you displayed yours though. They are so quaint.
I think your crosses and the word "Faith" add to the peacefulness of the scene and I'm sure that light is just the finishing touch!! Always a blessing to see light!!! Hugs,betzie

Ginny said...

I love them! They are so sweet. My sister started me off on a small village with five houses, and now I have double that and I display the village under my special tree in the living room. I have to contain myself when I see villages, because I can visualize them all over my home! Less is best for me.

Anonymous said...

I just love Christmas Villages.
Thanks for showing yours.

Pamela
NE Ohio

Bearly Sane said...

Oh Celeste they are gorgeous! I love it when people display things with their heart...just perfect!
Warmest hugs,
Sandi @ Bearly Sane

Draffin Bears said...

Hi Celestina Marie,

I love your village and all the detail of the houses, people and shops. Many thanks for sharing your lovely treasures with us.

Merry Christmas, and happy holidays
Hugs
Carolyn

Unknown said...

Hi Celeste,
What a gorgeous Christmas village, and I love how you have it in that beautiful curio cabinet. Christmas villages are one of my favorite scenes, and yours is lovely.

Karen

Chany said...

Que hermoso Cele , me encantó, y que imagenes tan preciosas, te felicito, cuantos adornos tienes para navidad, yo les festejo a mis amigas con todo el corazón, y les envio regalo a todos las puedos, porque me parece un bonito momento para demostrar amistad y amor, con cariño Chany

A Hint of Home said...

What a beautiful collection you have. Looking at each village makes you wish you were there with the carolers.
How sweet to have a paint studio in your collection.
Maybe the light on your word faith isn't such a coincident.
Enjoyed my visit as always!
Talk to you soon!

Shabby Cottage Shoppe said...

What a fabulous Christmas Village! So charming and reminiscent of a slower paced time in history. Very nice!
Gail

Ruth Welter said...

Love your Christmas village Celeste. How long do you leave it up each year?? It must be so much work to take up and down. I had a friend years ago who had a Christmas village she left up all year long. She had a whole room devoted to it... : )

Ruth

Unknown said...

Oh, Cel Mar! I love how you have your village displayed in the curio cabinet! What a perfect way to display them! They are lovely! I love Christmas Villages and had one for many years and ended up having to give it away after many moves...ugh! I hate moving..but anyway...
Merry Christmas!
~TattingChic ♥

P.S. Thank you for stopping by to say hello while I was on my blogging "break"! You are a sweet friend!

Angela said...

I love how you display your crosses. Just gorgeous.

Fleur de cerise said...

This pictures are so sweet :) !

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Celestina Marie
Celestina Marie

Welcome To Rose Garden Market from Celestina Marie Design. It is so nice to meet you. My name is Celestina Marie named after my grandmother and my friends call me Celeste.My creative journey extends over 30 years enjoying the love of painting and redesigning vintage and new treasures. I love to go treasure hunting and the fun of finding great vintage pieces to redesign..