I’m sipping a festive mug of spiced cocoa and ready to regale our recent trip.
To reward ourselves for finishing our home renovations, we explored some shops in New Hampshire in the hopes of bringing back a few sweet holiday treasures. The amazing, themed rooms in The Christmas Loft shop held our attention all morning. The center of the store was especially captivating as it showcased a full-scale village. We’ll have to dress in tails and top hats upon our next visit when it begins to snow so we fit in with the toymakers and carol singers. It’s the first time our family got to wander through a themed shop like this. All eyes were aglow with the magic within. And outside, the natural view is a refreshing mix of earthy jungles, smooth mountains, and fluffy air that bent down to us. We’re enjoying this town more and more, despite the heat and crowds. We had a car-picnic on the way home as every shop had lines out the door. I think it will be very cosy to revisit in autumn and winter. Look out, below, well really above…for the flying reindeer! This place had so many specific styles and items that it’d be super fun to buy gifts for Dear Ones, too.
(If you’re not near NH, they have an online shop. This post is unsponsored, we just had fun!)
This night scene was wonderful…
Look up!
So much to see in every window.
Next door, as a part of this co., there was a little toy-Halloween shop. It was a little too spooky for me, not shown. I like sweeter pumpkins and ghosts. My new Halloween cards will reflect this trick-or-treat spirit. We also sculpted and painted some pumpkin decor this week to display on our mantle. Our crafts are a part of our homeschool art class.
Love this hutch though…so many drawers.
When you’re a little elf, it’s so magical to be able to choose your own precious things. The train moves around the track with the music, even around the back. We’ll try the real train ride in this town sometime, maybe even dressing up for our first day of witching school. North Pole elves would love to try returning back home the mortal way.
When you’re older, it’s possibly even more fun…? This piece will probably stay out all year as we have many cardinals in our garden, and this sitting room nook likes this glow.
We were a bit overwhelmed in there, but we managed to hold on to our favourites today. I like to note the date and location on the tags, if the ornaments have them. It helps us to remember what age the little elves were and where we found these gifts. We recently got into ornament felting, so we’ll be having fun with this new form of expression.
I still have a list of certain kinds of very special holiday decor pieces that I have yet to find anywhere. I remember seeing them when young. We make as much as we can, but there are dreams of snow-encrusted snowglobes and elegantly hand-crafted pieces of art that I cannot find anymore. I do think that everything used to be made with more care, detail, quality, and dreaminess long ago. As we have more time, we can make more of these. It’s a bit ironic with all the modern technology that so much is only mass-produced, but still I’ll keep a look out. This shop did have some lovely painted advent house-shaped boxes and German candle-powered carousels, as well as some laser cut wooden items. Little ceramic village cottages are on my list. Of these, they had many but they weren’t the old-style I’m looking for. They did look glowy and pretty with the lights out, see first photo above. We may just make some with clay and paint them up very prettily to match our rooms. Making things together builds the best childhood memories, but this was a very fun experience! It really did give the feeling of entering Santa’s work shop, and also a Dickens’ novel… We just forgot our bonnets today!
This shop was near the Storyland park we visited recently. We’ll have to try out Santa’s Village, too.
Now, we’re off to install our handmade pantry counters. Our custom woodworking post will release soon. Stay cool… Love, ~Amor Milagre
The snow princess now resides over the icy blue-cream nursery bathroom.
