The Cottage Journal Christmas 2021

A SEASON OF JOY Decorations are plentiful in this issue of The Cottage Journal, with homes dressed for the season using cherished keepsakes. Year after year, collected and carefully wrapped as precious memories of years past, our holiday decorations are like old friends we can’t wait to enjoy. In this issue, you’ll discover charming homes filled with myriad trees, handmade wreaths, and twinkling lights that extend a welcome inside for you. Our various tours of homes from Louisiana to Virginia display diverse holiday traditions. These personal stories from homeowners and designers share how they prepare for family and guests to gather for time spent celebrating the season. With much anticipation, homeowners style their dining rooms and breakfast nooks with gorgeous tablescapes, getting ready for holiday meals with the people they love. A quaint…

Arranged in bowls or tiered into tree shapes, pomanders are a common Christmas decoration in many households nowadays, but these scented beauties made their debut over 600 years ago during the Middle Ages. Named after the French term pomme d’ambre, this popular décor began as perfumed balls made of gold or silver that were originally meant to be carried or stored around the house to mask bad odors and protect against infections. Despite their history, pomanders make an appearance in many holiday traditions, with their sweet yet spicy smell infiltrating the memories of so many. Making pomanders at home is simple, meaning it’s the perfect holiday activity to share with children. If you’d like, you can even predesign your pomanders by poking holes with toothpicks in the orange first, so tiny…

Fireworks, feasts, and families gathered together marked the festivities enjoyed by the Virginia colonists, who kept the celebrations going for a full 12 days. Colonial Williamsburg Christmas: Celebrating Classic Traditions and the Spirit of the Holiday by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation captures the jovial essence of the holiday season. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation operates the world’s largest living history museum—the preserved 18th-century town that was once the capital of Virginia. This historic area features hundreds of restored, reconstructed, and historically furnished buildings that transport visitors back to colonial times. Delightful images of snow-covered landscapes, homes embellished with festive décor, and reenactors in period dress fill the book’s 192 pages and conjure up excitement for the merriment that awaits all on Christmas morn. Organized by theme, the book includes sections on music, lights, decorations,…

As you peruse the shelves of Dorothy McDaniel’s Flower Market today, it’s difficult to imagine that Dorothy started out keeping flowers in a Pepsi cooler. A lifelong floral enthusiast who directly attributes that passion to her mother and the garden she cultivated, Dorothy hadn’t originally intended to go into the business. Instead, she studied criminology and nurtured her floral inclinations on the side—until high demand compelled her to reconsider. “Friends called me often to arrange flowers for them,” she says, “and after a while, it became evident that I would have to go into business or out of friends.” Nearly 45 years later, she now offers a variety of floral services throughout Birmingham, Alabama. And while her shop is a treasure trove of beauty all year long, Christmas sees it transformed…