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Friday 17 November 2017

Christmas at Chatsworth 2017

 It still feels too early to tackle Christmas shopping but I have started on the fun side of the season with a trip to see Chatsworth House in its festive decorations. Their chosen theme this year is Dickens and his works. The author was a friend of the sixth Duke and several first editions are on display as you go round the house. As you enter, though, you're welcomed into a room where some less precious old books have been turned into decorations - garlands, paper 'baubles' and even a paper person.































As you follow the route through the house, every room has a Christmas tree decorated to tie in with the "Dickens",with letter-shaped baubles, haberdashery items for a Little Dorrit tree,














this one's made of books ...

























With some I wondered if I could possibly adapt the idea for a smaller tree at home - maybe one of sticks, or a smaller version of this fretwork tree (below)

























some though are just too big for an average house








This unusual 'tree' is made of the beds slept in by Fagin's young band of pickpockets
















and for Miss Haversham sitting in her cobwebbed dining hall, the tree had decayed to twigs

























Here's Mr Dickens himself, checking out the guide to the displays.




My favourite bits though were the Scrooge/Christmas Carol rooms - with a quite friendly ghost appearing in a mirror
















and Scrooge being terrified by ghostly lights on his ceiling

























Christmas continued with visits to Hardwick Hall 

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like this is a place I should visit. Dickens and Christmas are an exciting coupling. I'm desperate to bring out the Christmas decs but I have a deadline looming at the end of the month. Will be fun when I do, though.

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    1. It's fabulous at any time of year - the Christmas decorations are lovely but at other times more rooms are open, and obviously the gardens look better in summer. I'm holding off on decorating at home- mid-December is generally early enough for me!

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  2. This looks absolutely amazing - I am a huge Dickens fan and his observations on society are sadly as relevant now as they have ever been! I went to a stately home near Cardiff last Christmas called Dyffryn Gardens and they had been equally imaginative with some old books! I got carried away taking pics but don't think I'd be able to make them myself! Thanks so much Mary for sharing with us at #TweensTeensBeyond

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Sharon. I wonder how long some of those paper decorations took to make. I like to think of myself as a 'crafty' sort of person but I think I'd be limited to a few chain garlands.

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  3. Mary this looks amazing. So gorgeously creative, I'd really like to see this. So many Christmas things I want to do, so few weekend. I just love all of the book creations. Thanks for sharing with #tweensteensbeyond

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    1. Oh, there are so many things to be done in the run up to Christmas that fun things can get neglected, can't they? We try and catch as many as possible but a time machine would be useful! Thanks for dropping by, Nicky.

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