A Very Vintage Christmas in the Family Room
This year I decorated my family room for Christmas early in the season and I am so happy to have one room complete and ready to enjoy. We’ve been watching a Christmas Hallmark movie just about every night and I’m definitely in the holiday spirit.
My house actually is currently split between two holidays. The back half of the house is decorated for Christmas while the front half is decorated for Thanksgiving.
A Very Vintage Christmas in the Family Room
Today I’m sharing my first Christmas post of the season, A Very Vintage Christmas in the Family Room.
You guys know that I love vintage and I had so much fun decorating this space for the season.
I’m sharing as part of a week long A Very Merry Christmas Home Tour hosted by Carrie of Lovely, Etc.
If you are here from Jonesville, welcome! You’ll find links for the Christmas home tours shared each day this week at the end of this post.
Family Room Decorated with Vintage for Christmas
I like to start my Christmas decorating each year with our family room since we spend every evening here.
If you are new here, our family room is an addition to the back of our home and is always dark since it’s on the north side of the house. The dark makes it cozy but is a bit frustrating when I am trying to photograph this space.
Each evening my husband and I each watch tv from a sofa and Sherman, our beloved rescue dog, claims the leather chair.
I kept the coffee table decor very simple and filled a wooden bowl that belonged to my grandmother with faux snowballs and twisted fairy lights throughout the bowl to up the cozy factor. This bowl looks great at night with its glowing lights.
Let me show you around our Christmas family room!
Christmas End Table Decor
Our coffee table, end tables, and the lamps on the end tables are from a set of furniture that my parents purchased when they got married in 1968. I enjoy decorating all three of these tables seasonally.
To jazz up the lamp shades for Christmas I made mini wreaths and hung them from the shade with red ribbon.
A Christmas vignette on my grandmother’s tray includes a vintage jar filled with ribbon candy, a milk glass ashtray filled with jingle bells, and a Santa ornament from 1970 that was my brother’s first ornament.
My parents must have changed my brother’s name from what they told my grandmother it would be because she wrote, “George Frederick” on the back of the ornament and his name was “Frederick Whitfield”. My brother was killed in a hunting accident, so it is very special to me to use one of his ornaments in my decor.
I collect vintage Santa boots and this one is the largest in my collection .
The other end table holds another vintage Christmas vignette. Both of the tree candles belonged to my late mother-in-law and my father-in-law passed them on to me last Christmas.
The postcard is from the early 1900’s and is part of a large postcard collection that I inherited from my grandmother. 
The vintage books under the brass holly candle holder include a 1912 edition of The Crimson Trail by Elmer U. Hoenshel and a 1903 edition of Ropp’s New Calculator.
Cozy Christmas Corner
This side of the family room is where my boys relax, Sherman in the leather chair and my husband on the sofa.
The pie safe was made from cherry that my paternal grandfather harvested on the family farm in Maryland. The walnut table beside it was a gift from my maternal grandmother. The framed sheet sheet music all belonged to my grandmother’s cousin who lived in the 1913 home that my mother restored and lives in now. 
Pie Safe Decor
A vintage Coca-Cola calendar hangs on a frame made with wood from the school that my paternal grandfather attended. Note that the dates for 1968 match with 2019 dates!
A few years ago my mom’s friend passed along her Santa mug collection to me. I displayed them on a DIY cupcake stand that my husband helped me make a few years ago.
The Night Before Christmas book was a gift from Mrs. Carter, my first grade teacher, in 1976. The vintage Santa candle was a vintage find from a few years ago. The white lantern was another DIY project.
After I bought this Santa, I realized that at some angles he has an evil expression. He looks normal here but if you look at him in this post, you’ll see his evil eyes.
Side Table Christmas Decor
In the late 90’s my mom and I bought paper shades like this one for different holidays. The shade has tiny holes and when the lamp is on, the sky and houses light up.
I bought this vintage Santa bank years ago and have never seen another like it.
A bowl of treats for Sherman is always on this table. He is a really good dog and never steals treats, he only eats a treat if we give him one.
Our Christmas Tree
Next week I plan to do a post featuring our Christmas tree that is decorated with ornaments that we’ve collected over our 25 year marriage.
Our tree skirt was made by my grandmother in the early 1970’s and I don’t remember a childhood Christmas when it wasn’t under our tree.
I hope you enjoyed the tour of our family room. I’m eager to decorate the rest of our home for Christmas and I’ll soon be sharing the decor with you.
Next on the A Very Merry Christmas Home Tour is Katie from Little House of Four. Be sure to check out Katie’s Christmas decor and then check out the other Christmas decor shared this week.
Monday
Lovely Etc * Thrifty and Chic * Boxy Colonial * Chatfield Court * A Brick Home
Tuesday
The Striped House * Casa Watkins Living * Up to Date Interiors * Our House Now a Home * All Things With Purpose
Wednesday
Green With Decor * Lehman Lane * Jonesville * Sweet Pea
Thursday
DIY Beautify * What Meegan Makes * Sunny Side Design * Bright Green Door
What a festive space!! I love your mug collection, I could totally be a mug hoarder haha. Christmas sure will be cozy in here!
Thank you, Elizabeth! My mom’s friend saw an idea to hang Santa mugs along curtains in a kitchen and collected mugs to display this way. When she was ready to purge her home of her mug collection, I was happy to receive them. Many of them are vintage which really appeals to me.
Paula
I grew up with a Santa wax candle just like yours! Great to see one again. Love your place. Full of memories and nostalgia that the Holidays are all about. Thanks for sharing this great walk down memory lane.
Thank you, Jauquetta! I found my Santa candle a few years ago and debated buying him. I’m sure glad that I did so!
Paula
Me too as I got enjoy him again. Will keep my eyes peeled for one, as well.
I am always excited to visit your blog, Paula! I love your vintage finds and all the memories they hold in your heart. From the Santa boot collection, the Christmas tree skirt and the mugs. It is fun to see how much you enjoy each and everyone. I could not help but spy the ribbon candy, too! I am anxious to buy some for this years decorating, too.
Marry Christmas, my friend!
Thank you, Meegan! I actually bought the ribbon candy last year at the dollar store, used it for decor, and then froze it after Christmas. It thawed out just fine and is going on its second year as a decor item.
Paula
so many wonderful vintage pieces! but those Santal mugs are just too cute. I’ve bought and sold so many of them over the years, I could kick myself for not hanging on to the bunch of them. I totally get the split decorating thing. This time of year can be so overwhelming. Have a great Thanksgiving!
Thank you, Debra! I try to pair down my decor items but when it comes to Christmas, my collection keeps growing.
Paula
You had me at vintage and I love your Santa mug collection! I’m sorry to hear about your brother. It’s so nice that you have his ornament to remember him by.
Thank you, Kelly! My brother is definitely still missed.
Paula
What an awesome collection of vintage Christmas treasures you have Paula! Your family room looks incredibly cozy. I need to start watching those Hallmark Christmas movies too 🙂 Have a wonderful Thanksgiving next week!
Thank you, Tara! I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas as well.
Paula
What a great collection – how special you still have the tree skirt! And I love your Santa mugs! Merry Christmas 🙂
Thank you so much, Meg!
Paula
Your have some amazing vintage treasures! They all come together to create such a feeling of whimsy and magic!
Thank you so much, Cindy!
Paula
So pretty, Paula! Love all of your vintage touches, especially your collection of Santa mugs!
Thank you so much, Kristi!
Paula
I love all of your vintage Christmas decor Paula! Especially that santa boot and the ribbon candy!! Happy holidays friend!
Thank you, Kathy! Happy Holidays to you!
Paula
It looks so pretty and festive, I love all the vintage! The collection of Santa mugs is my favorite!
Tania
Thank you, Tania! I’m loving having those mugs grouped together in one spot.
Paula
Where is Sherman????
Mr. Sherman would not cooperate when I was taking pictures. I will tell him that his presence has been requested on my blog posts! 🙂
Paula
Loved this post, now I have ideas for using my own loved items in new ways!
Thank you so much, Fleta! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Paula
Oh my goodness, such vintage goodness! I love it all, Paula. How incredibly sweet, all the stories attached to your items. Your brother’s is my favorite. ♥ I would have such a hard time ever purging ANY of those items. In my own decor, I am having a guilt complex over the ornaments that didn’t get used this year, simply because I downsized my tree. I am keeping most of them, and may use them in a future year, just not this year.
Your family room is a wonderful memory jogger of Christmases past and loved.
Thank you, Rita! For vintage lovers like us, it’s hard to use everything you have. I could probably decorate another home with what I haven’t used that’s still in tubs in the basement.
Paula
Paula, I love how much family history you have here in your family room!!! I love the pie safe made from your family farm and I bet your tree skirt was made with little bits of felt and many sequins… 🙂 This summer I met a woman who used to attend Rebekah meetings here in Denton (part of the IOOF) and she showed me all the felt and sequin creations she made from that time period (she makes new ones each year!). I am sorry to hear about your brother’s passing. It is nice to momentoes from when he was little and from all of your family.
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas wishes, too!
Many hugs,
Barb 🙂
Thank you so much, Barbara!
Paula
What a lovely room… and I always love hearing about your family. Such a great Christmas tour blog hop!
Thank you, Julie!
Paula
That bank is amazing. You have some wonderful vintage pieces. So cute.
Thank you, Katie! I have never seen another like it. Glad that I bought it when I spotted it long ago.
Paula
Paula,
The family room looks so cozy and inviting. I love all of your vintage décor. I have the same lamp shade. My mom and I too bought ours sometime in the 90’s. Now I have 2 since my mom passed away. I still love them. Thanks for sharing your home with us. Merry Christmas!
What fun that we have the same lampshade! I also have a Halloween one that is similar that I love. Wish I knew a place that still sold them. I’d love to have more of them.
Paula
I’m a big fan of vintage decor and your family room is cozy and warm. Love your Santa’s boots, the tree, and all the details that make it your room. I’ve selected your family room as one of my features for the Happy Holiday Link Party Features this Wednesday, Dec 18th. I hope you drop by and visit.