A collection of favorite ornaments, photos or anything that provokes a happy memory can bring special delight to your family and guests during the holiday season. These collections need not be static as new photos can be added at any time as the family grows. For older generations, photo collections make a nice tribute to family tradition.
You can unify your dispirit collection of photos by placing them in similar frames; choose all black, gold, silver or red for the holidays. You can alternate the photos with red or green frames or a color that reflects the theme of the room. Matting can be a unifying element too; using just black and white photos you can add one color of matting or again alternate with a holiday color or gold or silver.
Special ornaments that may be too fragile or become lost on a large tree, can be a vignette all their own. Place them on a small tree made of any kind of material: wood, glass, metal. Use a branch that has been spray painted gold, silver or black will make a striking statement.
A collection of stars hung from a low or slanted ceiling will reflect the light of candles below. If you have a small village that you put out at Christmas time, try hanging stars at different lengths. Use nylon filament or pretty ribbons to the magic of the scene below.
A large room can afford several vignettes depending on the number of collections you may have and would like to display. While scale is usually the most important thing to deal with in décor, with holiday decorations, scale can be a little more relaxed. For instance a large Father Christmas overlooking a tiny village is somehow alright, especially in the eyes of children, who tend to see him as larger than life, as he represents their fantasy world.
If you have a collection of ceramic animals, you can take them out of their usual environment and place them on table tops around your room. Tie a bright, colorful ribbon around each one’s neck to add a bit of whimsy to the room. If the collection is large, try breaking the group up into smaller groups of three or five, as uneven numbers are more pleasing to the eye. Place one next to a pretty floral arrangement or plant.
Don’t forget to put away some of the items you have on display all year, so your holiday vignettes are not competing with other collections. Besides, it is nice to have a little change once in a while, even if it is just for a month.