Postcards from France X: Christmas Decoration with Chandelier Crystals

I had full intentions to snap some photos of beautiful Christmas decoration in the ancient city of Aix en Provence, a few minutes' drive from where I live. Just for you, faithful Etsy Vintage blog readers.

But it's so dang cold! I'm a cold weather wimp. So what I did was go to my village presse (place where you buy newspapers and magazines) and searched through all the chic-y chic décor magazines in search of some great French vintage Christmas decoration ideas.

More discolosure: I'm also a magazine scrooge (a heat seeking magazine scrooge). So that I forked over a very chic euro price for the greater good of this blog, is tribute to the blog in itself. (I'm not kidding about the magazine scrooge thing, either. I think my entire annual magazine budget went towards buying Maison Brocante Novembre/Décembre.)

And this image is the whole reason I let the moths out of the magazine section of my billfold:


I thought this was a fine Christmas idea for us vintage junkies. It's a chandelier crystal with - tout simplement - an image cut out in the exact dimensions of the shape of the crystal. Then, and this is where the magazine caption is lacking in details, glued to the back.

But how, I don't know. If you have an idea of how to glue the image where the glue is invisible, please leave your technique in the comments!

Back to the concept: this would make fantastic ornaments with b & w photos of children, you as a child, fond moments caught on film. And of course, touching gifts.

This was also a nifty idea: a chandeleir crystal garland. Made with a simple wire and some patience.

Now that my head is full of Christmas crystals, I'm imagining a Christmas tree top ornament made of four crystals in the form of a cross!

Does this inspire any decoration ideas in you?

Postcards from France IV

Up this little driveway lies a chateau in Provence that dates to the XIVth century. This is vintage cubed - well outside the realm of vintage and well into antiques, I thought it would be nice to look at some age old design that may inspire us when we use our vintage pieces in décor.

This is the entrée to the chateau we commoners use. I'll bet there's a grander one elsewhere in the castle.

The use of two empty unglazed terra cotta vessels is so lovely on either side of the door.

I don't think there's much here that we can use in our homes, but I wanted to show you this amazing stone carved staircase.

The yellow painted walls are fantastic with all the rest of the room appointed in earth colors. The big floor vase with the large dried stems in front of the window is a great element, easy to replicate.

Here's another use of a bold splash of color in one part of the room contrasting to subdued colors covering the rest of the space.

This can be easily replicated and is a great look. This is not lit very well, but imagine it with a spot light on it. A vintage religious statue could be placed on a tiny wall shelf or simpy have a hook inserted into the back.

Something else we can't easily replicate - I just wanted to share the lovely silvery gray green hue of the olive trees on the grounds of the chateau.

Voilà, voilà. It's interesting how not that much has fundamentally changed in interior décor in the last several centuries.

If you make it to Provence, have a visit of the Chateau de Lourmarin. There are other terrific rooms to check out including the kitchen and bedrooms.

Postcards from France III

I saw this last year at a party in Provence, and thought it would be great adapted for a Halloween event. Antique auldrons and the stands are pretty easy to come by here, but I'll be you could find replacements around - a vintage fondue stand?

My favorite is the tealights in twigs part.

Joyeux Halloween!

Postcards from France II

Spotted last Sunday in Provence: a French twist on a spoon display at the biggest French brocante (flea market) I've been to yet! Get the day by day story chez-moi!

Postcards from France I

How exciting to be part of the Etsy Vintage Team blog launch! As an American living in France, I'm especially happy to be able to connect with the vintage sisters back home.

I'll be sending over Postcards from France to show you the awesome vintage buying is over here, how it's done, and some of the treasures I come across.

This restaurant chalkboard had already been sold by the time I got to it at a fantastic brocante (vintage/antique markets) on Sunday. It says "We emptied the attic, we bring back nothing! Your (reasonable) price is our price." The magnificent turn of the century wicker chair was still for sale. He was asking 30€ (less than $40) and I'm sure he'd have taken less. Hélas I don't have a spot for it so I kept on walking.

The brocante was enormous! I really only went on a whim as I'd never been to this village before. I was expecting it to be a little village garage sale type deal (which can also be amazing - unbelievably low prices), but it was huge with hundreds of vendors, many of them professional.

There were three long alleys filled with vendors, with a babbling brook right in the middle...

...with this gorgeous Provençal village as a backdrop. I was au paradis, in heaven.

It's amazing the slices of life you see at these markets. Check out this elderly lady (who was selling the most sublime textiles from her mother's and grandmother's time) with the backdrop of a graffiti covered depot that has been out of use for decades.

My pockets emptied really quickly - the things I got will soon be posted in my Etsy shop.

Voilà tout! I hope you've enjoyed the Sunday stroll in Provence.