Indholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2008 i Victoria

Through the pages of Victoria, the editors share with you our favorite stories about people, places, special events, and other things we hold dear. We invite you to tell us what inspires you. We want every issue of Victoria to speak to your heart, so we’ve listed some questions that will allow you to tell us how we can serve you better. • What is your favorite Victoria column? • What topics would you like to see covered in future issues? • What is your idea of a dream vacation? • Who inspires you? • How would you define your decorating style? • If you had an afternoon all to yourself, how would you spend it? Visit www.victoriamag.com/share to send us your responses. We look forward to receiving your answers.…

Influenced by the rich, vibrant hues characteristic of late fall and the holiday season, we’ve collected an assortment of cards that celebrate the art of painting and the many ways it can inspire and delight. Artist Paula La Mont’s passion for painting, cooking, and gardening grew into a fruitful career—she produces a line of greeting cards featuring depictions of flowers, tasty treats, and nature scenes; each card has an original recipe on the back. Her line also includes colorful prints and recipe journals. MacKenzie-Childs produces handmade, hand-painted ceramic and enamel dinnerware, furniture, home furnishings, and gifts from scarves to tote bags. Bold and colorful, products from MacKenzie-Childs are distinctively charming. See more at www.mackenzie-childs.com. Curious Art Glass is a small shop specializing in stained-glass portraits—owner and artist Michele Mowbray designs…

As we enter the season of gratitude and love, I’m happy our family and friends are breaking the mold a bit with their holiday celebrations. Our memories are of times that were lived fully and appropriately. Now we are ready to embrace change. In the past, many of us had young children at home who brought great joy to these seasonal get-togethers. My husband, Peter, and I remember with fondness our first Thanksgiving dinner after our marriage. We had twentyfour guests seated in the large hallway of our New York City apartment: my mother, Peter’s mother, my younger brother, Peter’s children, my daughters, my mentor and boss, Mrs. Brown (the grand dame of American interior design), artist friends from England, Lord Alastair Gordon and Lady Anne Gordon, and their daughter…

Though it cannot be stated unequivocally that Antonio Neri unlocked the secret to creating cranberry glass, there is little doubt that it was he who shared the centuries-old formula with the rest of the world. A priest by vocation and an herbalist and a chemist by trade, Neri published L’Arte Vetraria in 1612, in which he revealed the methods of making and coloring blownglass objects. The book was met with much consternation by Italian glassmakers. These artists, primarily Venetians, had long jealously guarded the secrets of their profession, ensuring a limited supply of exquisitely crafted glasswares to the lucky few who could afford them. The publication of Neri’s book, however, altered not only the supply but also the demand for functional and decorative glass pieces for the home. The Florentine…

The holiday season is such an exciting time at our house. I grew up in a close-knit family that gathered for every special occasion, especially Christmas. Uncles, aunts, and cousins galore would make their way to my grandmother’s house, and the reunions were wonderful times, filled with hugs, warm wishes, bountiful food, and the scents of pine and cedar. When I married and established a home of my own, I continued the family traditions and, over the years, added a few that reflect my immediate family. The day after Thanksgiving may be a shopping bonanza for others, but at my house, it is “decorate-the-tree day.” With a towering evergreen securely in place, we open the dozens of boxes of ornaments to begin the nostalgic tradition of remembering, for each addition…

IN THE PROCESS OF RAISING my four daughters, the bond of womanhood became a sacred thing that we often recognized subconsciously but did not openly discuss. We were always together at Christmas—the symbols of the season were precious reminders of the faith and values we shared. As a young adult, my eldest daughter moved 1,200 miles across the country to go to school. For the first three years, she was able to come home for the Christmas holiday. But the day came when the dreaded event happened: She began a new job and had only one day off—Christmas Day. She decided it was not worth the expense and stress to fly home for only a few hours, and we agreed, but our hearts ached. Through a small miracle of favor,…

PRODUCT STYLING LINDSAY KEITH KESSLER PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY MAC JAMIESON FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY MANNY RODRIGUEZ HAIR AND MAKEUP JOANNA HATHCOCK MODEL ANNA THEUNISSEN…

WREATHS & BOUQUETS by Paula Pryke (Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.) Many believe that wreaths should be reserved only for the front door and that a bouquet is best carried down a church aisle. Wreaths & Bouquets challenges those beliefs. Paula Pryke, an internationally acclaimed floral designer, inspires readers to bring the outdoors in and to shed those traditional beliefs that the use of flowers should be restricted. She offers step-by-step instructions on how to create colorful arrangements that often can spin off into other projects. Pryke removes the wreath from the door and demonstrates how, with a little imagination, it can transform a tabletop or a wall. She gathers buds and leaves to form swags, napkin rings, and garlands. Hand-tied arrangements take a distinctive turn with a new emphasis on…

ACT I The glowing tableau pirouettes from room to room, telling in snippets and scenes the age-old story of a little girl and her dashing Nutcracker prince. The stage is set for a grand Christmas ball. The tree tapers upward in a glittering spire, its gilded boughs heavy with globes of crimson and gold; underneath, ribbon-wrapped packages coyly keep the secrets of the presents they contain. Fragrant swags of evergreen bundled with posies of roses adorn every surface, trailing from entrance to mantel to banister and beyond. As the adults mingle, the children cozy up to the Christmas tree to see what gifts await them. The children streamed into the drawing room, where their parents, aunts, and uncles had just finished dressing the grandest of Christmas trees. A great whirl…

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. —NORMAN V. PEALE For an alternating pattern, remove the round bud from the clove so that only the four-pronged base is left, and make a vertical loop with the bud-free cloves; continue making loops until the entire apple is covered. Set aside in a cool, dry place for three to four days to dry before hanging. To hang, make a U shape with the craft wire, and place the two ends firmly and deeply into the top of the apple, leaving a small loop. Thread a piece of ribbon through, and hang.…

COVER Teddy bear and doll, available through Mary Charles Doll House, 205-870-5544. MASTHEAD Pages 6 and 8: “Rosa Union” by Manuel Canovas, available to the trade, colefax.com. CALLING CARDS Page 12: “Chaparral Silk Ombre Desert” by Ralph Lauren, 888-475-7674, ralphlauren home.com. WITH A TOUCH OF GLAMOUR Page 22: Velvet jacket, $1,295, 212-695-8362, adriennelandau.com. Gold link earrings, $125, 214-369-1200, marnierocks.com. Estée Lauder Pure Color Long Lasting Lipstick in Maraschino, $22; Signature Hydra Lustre Lipstick, $19.50, 877-311-3883, esteelauder.com. Page 23: Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Cream Shadow in Burnished, $22, 877-310-9222, bobbi browncosmetics.com. Estée Lauder Shimmer Compact, 877-311-3883, esteelauder.com. La Mer The Hydrating Infusion, $95; Crème de la Mer, $130/1 oz.; Gel de la Mer, $230/2 oz., 866-850-9400, cremedelamer.com. Caudalie Vinotherapie Gommage Crushed Cabernet Scrub, $35/7.8 oz., 877-SEPHORA, sephora.com. Copper Diamond Mini Brush Set,…

Take joy. That’s what I do,” said Tasha Tudor, the beloved illustrator and author, whose simple, peaceful way of life in rural Vermont infused her work with wit and wisdom. Although generations of readers have delighted in Tasha’s knack for celebrating everyday life and finding joy in the smallest tasks, her philosophy especially inspires me at Christmastime. This year, as the holiday season approaches, I go to the bookshelf and reach for the volume that declares in bold red capital letters TAKE JOY! The Tasha Tudor Christmas Book, a collection of songs, stories, poems, and activities that has inspired our family’s celebrations for years and has become a tradition in its own right. Sitting down with a cup of tea, I open the book and remember Tasha, who died this…

CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIES Treat neighbors, friends, family, and even Santa Claus himself to beautifully decorated cookies. We’ll show you how with step-bystep instructions for creating these simple-to-make yet dazzlingly festive Yuletide treats. SHARED JOYS Join the Victoria fellowship as readers recount joyful and sentimental holiday anecdotes and narratives. Childhood memories, charming traditions, and heartwarming stories will put you in the Christmas spirit. CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS Our Web-exclusive Christmas party guide will show you how to host a seamless get-together—from decorating ideas to full menus to tips, we’ve got a plan for a beautiful soirée. GO ONLINE and discover a wealth of resources right at your fingertips. The elegance, the style, the femininity, the romance, the magazine that you adore—it’s back and better than ever, with a sensational Web site just…

LANTERN LIGHT TOURS 2008 Mystic Seaport Mystic, Connecticut November 29–30; December 4–7, 11–14, 18–21, and 27–28 Immerse yourself in a tale of the magic, merriment, and mystery of an Old-World Christmas during the annual Lantern Light Tours in Mystic, Connecticut. Costumed actors dressed in Victorian-era garb lead visitors through the illuminated village, stopping along the way to greet various townspeople and nineteenth-century sailors in port for the holiday. The tour features a performance of the “play within a play” Nothing Without Charity. It’s Christmas Eve in 1876. The shipbuilding industry isn’t what it once was in Greenmanville, so the town is putting on a benefit play, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. But things are not going as planned. Tonight, one prominent businessman must face the choices of his past. The…

Very little evokes the spirit of the season as well as the sugary scent of a warm batch of cookies baking in the oven. We don’t need words to describe the waft of golden butter and warm vanilla mingling with the perfume of pastry; we need only our senses and a store of Christmas memories to call upon. Perhaps that is why virtually every culture that celebrates Christmas can claim at least one classic cookie contributed to the holiday season, from the gingerbread men of Germany to the almond-laced macaroons of Italy. Here, we interpret the international language of Christmas with thirteen cookies from countries around the globe—some old, some new. Perfect for keeping, for sharing, or even as an offering to Santa on Christmas Eve, each recipe speaks not…

Amid the warm camaraderie of loved ones and the golden glimmer of the setting, the evening will be filled with “golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes,” as Horace Mann wrote. “Christmas was close at hand, in all his bluff and hearty honesty; it was the season of hospitality, merriment, and open-heartedness.” —Charles Dickens “Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.” —Washington Irving…