Be it grand or small, home provides the best opportunity to show holiday visitors how welcome they are. That's exactly why I love to decorate mine with extra care. To me, the ultimate compliment comes when a guest comments on the sense of peace and relaxation they feel here. Over the years I have learned to keep Christmas simply - for in the heart and in the mind Christmas is a memory.

These things evoke CHRISTMAS memories for me:

Warm Light - As I told you earlier, Christmas comes in the darkest part of California's winter. When the days grow short and the fog rolls in, I've learned the importance of bathing the parlor in warm light. On gray days and in early evening I light several small lamps and a few candles just for the warmth they impart. For me, there's something profoundly comforting about a cozy room warmly lit.

Beloved Aromas - I've heard it said, and for me it's true, fragrance is the strongest link to memory. Nothing brings Christmas to mind more strongly than the smells of childhood and home. In the kitchen it's fresh baked bread. In the parlor it's pine and spices, candles and my winter potpourri.

4 cups Pearly Everlasting (dried flowers only) These are common wildflowers along the highways and byways of the California foothills.  I gather them in late autumn, before the rains come, and use them in potpourri, for dried wreaths and arrangements all winter long.  Nothing else smells quite so wonderful.  If this charming flower does not grow wild in your part of the world - try a purchased pepper grass or other dried botanical.  Just be certain it has a heavenly fragrance and is substantial enough to stand up to being gently mixed with the following ingredients.
1 cup dried Lemon Verbena leaves
3 cups English Lavender flowers (need not be dried in advance)
2 cups Rosemary Sprigs (need not be dried in advance)
24 sticks of cinnamon, broken into 1 or 2 inch pieces
48 whole cloves (you can count 'em if you want - I just dump in about a handful)
Gently mix everything together in a large bowl and allow to dry in a warm room for a couple of weeks before packaging.  It's not fancy or expensive, but it is the most delightful Fall and Winter Potpourri I've ever found.

Beautiful Decorations - Beauty... I have learned... is in the eye of the beholder. My youngest grandchild thinks a battered plastic Rudolph from her first Christmas is the most beautiful decoration in the room. My own taste runs to something a bit more elegant. At one point I would have decorated the parlor in my "elegant" theme and left the plastic Rudolph hidden away at the bottom of a box. Older and wiser now, I understand about Christmas memories and find a place in my decorations to include something each loved one holds dear. Something that says, welcome home dear heart... Christmas is here!