Decorating My Victorian Home for Christmas 2023!

[Music] hello everyone I am so happy to see you again it's time to start decorating This Old House for the holidays so please grab a cup of hot cocoa or something stronger and come hang out with me this is the bossom fur that you and I purchased at the Berry Farm in last week's episode episode to keep needle drop at a minimum I coated the tree with a natural anti-transpirant that I can link in the description below I asked our beloved contractor John to put the tree in its stand John is cutting off a 3-in section from the trunk so that the tree can take in water [Music] [Applause] [Music] after John and I positioned the tree in a corner of the Parlor I immediately filled the Basin with two gallons of water with the benefits of water and anti-transpirant the tree should remain fresh for an entire [Music] month while we wait for the branches on the tree to settle let's head outside to snip some greens that we can turn into [Music] garlands apparently we have a visitor today scratch that we have two visitors happy [Music] Christmas for the mantle Garland I am cutting fat stems of boxwood upright U and thua these are the types of greenery that the original inhabitants of this 200-year-old house would have used for their holiday decorations plastic decorations were unknown in the early 19th [Music] century [Music] I am placing the cut grein on a tarp on my patio table so that I can spray them with the same anti-transpirant that I used for the Christmas tree this natural product locks in [Music] moisture these branches need to dry Outdoors in daylight for about 3 hours they do not need direct sun just daylight so while they are drying let's head over to the Berry Farm to buy a couple of wreaths for the front doors I like to buy my holiday wreaths from The Berry Farm the farm produces beautiful wreaths from natural Greenery and I am happy to support a local business [Music] at the farm I select a pair of unadorned boxwood wreaths I love their simple Elegance [Music] as with all myig greens I gave these reath a Wilt prooof treatment good morning it's the next day John is busy stringing the tree with lights and I'm getting ready to make a Garland for the Parlor mantel first thing we need to do is measure the mantle with some twine [Music] I should probably mention that my pets are only allowed in the Parlor when I can supervise them my kitten Goldie certainly requires adult [Music] supervision [Music] to start the Garland I take the twine that I used to measure the mantle and some green wire and then I twist the two together at one end you want to twist very tightly just like that let me fetch the greens that you and I clipped the other day I like to make little bundles to attach to the twine so I have my fuig green giant some of the upright U also known as Taxas hick ey and boxwood so that's one little bundle and then I attach it to the twine via the wire and then you just continue making these bundles fua Taxas hick side and a massive amount of boxwood that I need to trim down for the second bundle I'm going to arrange it so that I cover the stems from the first bundle [Music] we are making very good progress here when you have come to the end of your rope you turn the last bundle in the opposite [Music] direction and there we have it a nice Garland for the mantle let's bring this into the [Music] Parlor [Music] to add a pop of red to the Garland I am clipping sprigs of holly from the shrub in my garden the shrub just now is covered in brilliant [Music] berries [Music] now that the Garland is in place we can shop for the fruit that will decorate the Garland at the market I purchased clementines lemons pears pomegranates apples grapes and a large [Music] pineapple [Music] I also grab a bar of bittersweet chocolate that I will use for delicious homemade hot chocolate later today and here is the fruit that we bought at the market I've washed everything so so let's head into the [Music] Parlor when this house was built in 1826 a pineapple symbolized Hospitality to further enhance the arrangement I am adding tall tapered candles in silver candle holders [Music] once the fruit is arranged on the mantle I add some tiny pine cones that I had gathered from the [Music] garden [Music] this is actually how the original inhabitants of this 200-year-old house would have decorated their mantle for Christmas I'm always amazed at how long the fruit actually lasts of course if it starts to look bad I will replace it with other fresh [Music] fruit now it's time to hang the boxwood wreaths on the double front doors I need to refinish these mahogany doors but that is a project for another day [Music] indoors again I am making a Garland for the staircase for this bit of decoration I'm using only brand bches of you that I clipped from the garden I find it easiest to hang a staircase Garland when it is made up of several segments rather than one long piece [Music] I'm going to have a big mess to clean up later but I don't care I'm very happy with this Garland well we are certainly accomplishing a lot today but we still need to decorate the Christmas tree now my tradition is to decorate the tree while sipping Hot Chocolate from a Santa mug and I'm making real hot chocolate here so so I need 1 cup or 240 Ms of water just put that in a heavy sauce pan 2 oz or 60 G of bittersweet chocolate which I have [Music] here I believe that each of these squares is a half o so I need four then I need to roughly chop this then add the chocolate right to the water so this was bittersweet chocolate but you could really use any chocolate you like we need to melt this chocolate at the stove [Music] top after the chocolate melts stir in 1/4 cup or 50 gram of sugar a pinch of salt and 3 cups or 700 MLS of whole milk and if you want it a splash of pure vanilla extract bring the mixture to a [Music] boil while we are waiting for the hot chocolate mixture to boil I'm going to whip some cream I know that some people like to put marshmallows in their hot chocolate but that's not how I roll I always prefer heavy whipped cream Ladle the hot chocolate into the mugs this smells wonderful and of course I'm getting a very pleasant hot chocolate facial this recipe makes enough for for servings unless you are using giant Santa Claus mugs in which cas case the recipe makes enough for two servings and here comes the whipped cream garnish a mountain of whipped [Music] cream this mug is for me this mug is for Lizette who is going to help me to decorate the tree Bon up delicious before we decorate the Christmas tree I want to light a fire in The [Music] Parlor [Music] every ornament in my collection holds a memory some were gifts from cherished friends While others were purchased during our travels in Europe as I hang them on the branches I like to recall when each of these ornaments came into my [Music] life drums are calling but no one he there tonight christas so Christmas how we long for you Christmas oh [Music] Christmas let your message was again in TR as I walk through the streets of my old Hometown I hear Sligh bells ringing in the air there are Christmas decorations all around tonight love and peace are [Music] everywhere Christmas oh [Music] Christmas how we long for [Music] you Christmas oh Christ let your message [Music] again these glass icicles were purchased at a shop in Manhattan's East Village in 1998 I think the icicles add a sparkling finish to the [Music] tree the first thing that is going under my Christmas tree is this gift basket from Tiara Farm as most most of you already know I make and eat a lot of granola and I buy all of my granola ingredients from Tiara Farm the farm very cleverly and rather generously created a klj gift basket that includes all of my granola ingredients they also included in here a jar of my beloved atnel diling tea here's what's in the basket organ organic rolled oats organic pumpkin seeds organic shredded coconut organic very berry mix this is dried fruit organic unsalted hazelnuts yum a good siiz jar of pure maple syrup a good siiz jar of organic coconut oil organic ground cinnamon and the atal darjiling tea and since I am a big fan of afternoon tea and cookies the farm also created a klj tea box the box contains the aforementioned atal diling tea the most fragrant Earl Gray tea that I have ever encountered organic unsalted almond butter and Himalayan sea salt so that you can make my absolutely delicious almond butter cookies to accompany your tea also included in both the granola gift basket and the tea box are my recipes for granola and for almond butter cookies the farm is selling both of these sets exclusively to my viewers and at a price that is much lower than the retail price of each item I will link the granola gift basket and the the T box in the description below if you are interested I will also put in the description below a code that you can use to get free shipping from Tiara Farm I cannot imagine a better gift for the holidays it feels great to have this house mostly decorated for the December holidays thank you for hanging out with me today and in the comments below please let me know how your own decorations are coming along I have many more holiday recipes and decorating ideas coming up in the next few weeks so I hope you will subscribe so you won't miss any of those episodes I can post some of my other videos up here or up here that you can watch between now and my next upload in the meantime please take good care of yourself and I will see you in the next episode please try this hot chocolate it's really wonderful bye for [Music] now