31 Dec A Magical Christmas with Deborah Main, Fred Astaire & Delysia Chocolate

I’m hanging a beautiful red silk brocade ornament that my daughter made me for Christmas.  She made it from the fabric she used to design, sew and model a dress for the Stitch Lab fashion show.

At Deborah Main Designs studio in Austin, Texas, a cold front blew in last night, and as we try to stay warm, I cannot believe it’s going to be 2014 in just 2 days! I’m still catching my breath from Christmas as I have many things I’d like to share with you before the end of the year.  So, I’d better get started.

First off, I hope all of you who celebrated Christmas had a magical day, with family and friends, filled with joy, laughter and love. We had a lovely time and you can’t beat a Christmas day that plays a complete line up of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers’ movies on Turner Classic Movies (TCM).  I was in heaven and watched three in a row, my all time fave being Top Hat.  Ah, there’s just something so magical about the way Ginger’s dress swirls in the air while Fred spins her so delicately around. Pure magic! (These two photos were taken directly from my TV).

But back to my holiday theme. There was plenty of inspiration this holiday season on Pinterest and beautifully written blogs on holiday decorating, but two blog posts particularly inspired me.  The first I found on Leslie Hendrix Wood’s award-winning fine living blog: Hadley Court: Motivational Monday. What struck me is what guest blogger Kristi Leeper wrote about focusing on what’s right.

“In the swirl of trying to get everyone out the door together and on-time… I encourage you to breathe deep, smile and count the things that are right as you glance around.  In the Christmas story many things weren’t right. I mean who really wants to give birth in a stable after being drug about on a donkey? But, what was right, was really right.” Kristi Leeper, Hadley Court, 2013.

Reminding me of this simple gesture helped me a lot during the holidays.  Because even though I try not to have expectations, I still have a few that hang around. Like when I couldn’t get my family to pose for a family photo when we were all dressed up and dining out in honor of my mother (who died 11 years ago on Dec 23rd.). I mean REALLY!?!? It was very frustrating, but I let it go. And all was not lost, as I had my sister-in-law snap an informal photo on Christmas eve (albeit in casual clothes). But I was so surprised at myself at how easily I let things go this year.

Like a fine wine (or an evening liquor), maybe I’m mellowing with age?? HA!

Oranges soaked in Grand Marnier and vanilla bean in a Main family, gold-rimmed crystal champagne glass.

After we got home from sharing Christmas with my niece in Houston, I decided to stay up late on Christmas Eve and had a delightful time to myself making one of my favorite classic French recipes for dessert: oranges marinated in Grand Marnier and fresh vanilla bean.

“Grand Marnier has been an icon of authentic French “Joie de Vivre” for over 150 years”. GrandMarnier.com, 2013.

While slicing the oranges, I took that quote to heart and drank a tad of Grand Marnier, all the while listening to renditions of Silent Night by Ella Fitzgerald and Willie Nelson.

While the whole family was nestled in bed sound asleep, all was “right” in my world late that Christmas Eve. A magical moment!

Then after that, what’s a woman to do at 2 a.m.? I polished the silver! And here’s where the 2nd blog post comes in.

Table set with beautiful “lay” dishes of my Grandmothers. Handed down to me from my father and stepmother, and arriving a week before Christmas, these gorgeous plates come in five pastel colors: green, pink, light blue, gold and off white.

Owner of Silver Magpies, Nancy Stuckwisch’s, blog post on Christmas Silverware: Setting Your Christmas Table really inspired me to do something creative that even I was surprised with what I came up with. At first I toyed with using the “lay” plates (see above) that were recently handed down to me, but then decided I needed to stick with tradition because I absolutely love the red, cream, and gold-leaf Lenox set of my mothers that we use every Christmas. (There’s a story with my mother’s tablecloth too. It went missing at Thanksgiving, but we were lucky to find it right where I left it in January of 2013 after last Christmas. Yup, you got it, the dry cleaners…11 months later!! Thank God!).

So instead of napkin rings (which I don’t own a single one anyways) I came up with a ribbon and then at the last minute I thought to myself, “Well, gee, one of our rhinestone vintage brooches we use for our Les Bijoux Collection would look beautiful too, why not?” (This is ONE advantage to having the Deborah Main studio in your home, so you don’t have to run out in your PJ’s for ribbon and a vintage brooch!). What do you think?  It was too late to get out the iron to be sure all the ribbons were smooth, but for an “in the middle of Christmas Eve/Christmas morning creative burst” I think it added a homemade, beautiful touch to our table setting, don’t you?

It was great fun!  Really, I had a blast!!  And to top off our Christmas day dinner with divine chocolate truffles from Delysia, on a pink gold-rimmed Depression glass plate, was icing on the cake.  I keep Delysia chocolates on hand in the refrigerator at all times for when guests pop by during the holidays or when I need the perfect last minute hostess gift.  (Ssssh, don’t tell anyone about my emergency stash!!).

Delysia chocolate truffles (ready for family or guests) make the perfect finishing touch to a fine Christmas dinner.

I really wanted to share this post with you before the year ended. But before I say goodbye to 2013, we at Deborah Main Designs want to leave you with one family photo that takes the place of all the family photos I didn’t get this year.  For some reason this Christmas seemed extra special and this photo sums up all I loved about it – from decorating our tree, to setting a beautiful table, to the giant Xiong Mao (Panda Bear) that Santa surprised our girls with, to spending the holiday with my family.

As rich as the colors on our walls, being with family and friends (whether you have a table to set or not) is all that matters during the holidays. 

From our home to yours, we hope you had a magical Christmas! Till 2014, XOPG