MY LAST NAVY BLUE CHRISTMAS

THE CONTRASTS OF THE BLUES OF LIFE

Funny how we remember “firsts” and lasts in life.

I had my “first” Navy Blue Christmas way back in the 70’s. It wasn’t really about home décor at all. It was more like the Elvis song called; “Blue Christmas.” It was a Christmas with a certain “mood” and the mood was very, very blue.

My boyfriend had shipped off to join the Navy, leaving me behind in a small country town to celebrate Christmas Day without him. That was my first “Navy Blue Christmas” and I’ll never forget how miserable it felt.

My “last” Navy Blue Christmas was quite different!

Moving forward to 2020; Christmas was a little about home decor; but much more than that too. That Christmas was all about having long-time, cherished family and friends come and join into the wave of Navy Blue celebrations that had enveloped our home for the holidays.

We had all been house-bound because of coronavirus that year; and to gather together as a family again was no small blessing. Two of our group would still be absent because of their recent illnesses.

We missed them; but we were determined to carry on.

Besides the two absent loved-ones who were mostly being precautious because they were well on their way to recovery; I can think of absolutely nothing miserable about that “last” Navy Blue Christmas. In fact it was so happy and up-beat that I want to add it as an article here and use the memories as an addition to all of the past collections of holiday fun we all have shared in the blog at Christmastime.

When I say “last” here; I definitely do NOT mean “last” as you would say along with the word “forever.” I’m sure I’ll have many more chances to decorate our home with navy blue in the future, and I’m really looking forward to that.

Navy blue just suits me.

There is something fine and majestic about that color.

NAVY BLUE HAS STAYING POWER

Last year was actually the first year that our house chose to stay one consistent color theme throughout every holiday, ordinary day and season. That navy blue lasted for a whole entire year here.

Did you notice that yet?

Maybe the inspiration came from all the fun we had messing it all up at Christmas time.

Possibly it was simply because I found that decorating with navy blue colors makes me happy, and my home just naturally took to that color.

It all started with Christmas, which is usually done in much more traditional colors around here; but that year (2020) I wanted to be different. I had noticed that navy blue was trending in a lot of non-seasonal décor; and I thought it might be a great idea to use it in a seasonal holiday-styled way too.

I wanted to pair it all with whites and golds, then mix in a little silver here and there.

The white tree I have used in the past was perfect. It seemed to love the navy blue and gold balls I planted inside its branches.

I love to set out wine and wine glasses on the portable bar inside the doorway; because it works great for making those holiday toasts when the crowd arrives.

That year I donned the bar with a pretty silver Christmas tree. It was accompanied by a lucky find I stumbled upon at the market; a navy blue Christmas tree truck. There were so many red ones; but this ONE navy blue one seemed to be so special. The truck was so cute I could not resist making it a little gift to myself.

These white stockings needed nothing except for the little bit of navy blue ribbons that tied them into all the rest of the room. I added a pretty gold Christmas tree above them on the mantle along with my lovely little red bird for a bright pop of color surprise.

The blue throw rug from another part of our house got moved into the foyer and it helped to welcome those weary Christmas travelers in from the cold. An old Christmas wreath got new life by adding some blue ribbons to its setting and our door began to look a whole lot more cheerful.

The blue balls inside the silver dish on the secretary seemed to go perfect and the “meet me by the mistletoe” created instant excitement for a few budding romances that seem to be happening during this time of the year with a few of our younger visitors.

You can always find Jesus in our kitchen. He seems to love hanging out there, and so do all the rest of the members of this family. We love our little creche; and my granddaughter especially enjoys seeing it every year.

I always say it is the table that makes the holidays come alive. That year we enjoyed sharing our blue table so much that most of it stayed with us all year and kept celebrating for 365 more days!

THOSE AROUND THE TABLE ARE THE BEST PART

It does seem that any gathering with good food is blessed with even better people. That held true as always. Our kitchen was buzzing with people bringing joy that overflowed into the other spaces of the house.