Ruedy family decorates every room for Christmas

CEDAR RAPIDS - It's Christmastime at the Ruedys!

Wreaths and ribbons and holly galore. Ornaments and garlands and Father Christmases make more. Indeed, like Topsy, our Christmas decorations have grown through the years, burgeoning from a meager few in a newlywed apartment to the plenty in our last move to a rambling ranch.

Yes, it's Christmastime in the Ruedy household: Ruedy meaning my husband George and me, Shirley. I'm a veteran writer of numerous Home stories for The Gazette and have a special penchant for Christmas decorating features. I'm telling of my own holiday décor this year at the urging of friends who saw the photo album I put together of our house last Christmas. The Gazette was receptive to the idea, so here is a nod to all those who so eagerly create a welcoming home in this blessed season.

Our once-small trove of decorations now has blossomed to include a huge Victorian wreath with miniature lights and furled ribbons that greets holiday visitors in our foyer. A small ceramic house with a snow-laden roof and lights shining from gabled windows sits serenely on a small table. An heirloom library table sits beneath the Victorian wreath.

Turn your head and you spy the 8-foot tree at the far end of the living room, a luminous mass in the center of a paned bay window. The tree drips with ornaments till its boughs are ready to scream for mercy. There are ornaments from those early married days, ornaments from trips, antique ornaments, sentimental ornaments, laugh-erupting ones ('Go ahead, be naughty! Save Santa a trip!”), cheap ones - and 'you-didn't-pay-that-much-did-you!” ones. Some hang there simply for their beauty.

Fortunately, George, 79, and I, 80, are both Christmas aficionados. He usually starts weeks early, swagging bushes, hedges and the fence with garland and bows - making sure the lamppost is postcard-pretty with greenery twisting around its pole and a sprightly bow topping it. Even the garage gets a wreath!

A favorite with us are the three vintage sleds, one that was George's when he was a boy. On it sits a white teddy bear all muffled up in a burgundy hat and scarf. Garland with tiny lights accents the sleds' tops.

My pride and joy is a collection of 20 Father Christmases spread throughout the house. Some are elegant, others whimsical, all in differing apparel. They range from a foot high to 2.5 feet, from thrift shop to boutique finds.

Other touches: A manger scene takes prominence on a lighted living room shelf. A Victorian baby buggy that once held George's father sits quietly, a silent witness to the 100-plus Christmases it's seen. A double-sided fireplace has blazing flames on the living room and dining room sides.

We decorate every room in our near 2,800-square-foot home, including the three bedrooms and bathrooms. It takes 10 to 14 days. George erects our lifelike artificial tree and strings the lights.

My job is the ornaments. Out come the glass dolphins, the Victorian ceramic purses, the Noah's ark with the animals peeking out.

Preening their beauty are the satin swan and the white feathered doves; the cobalt blue glass ornament from a trip to Istanbul, a fancy Oriental one from our daughter's stay in Beijing, and several from the White House collection. Each one has real meaning for us. Our only theme is memories and beauty.

We are the traditional hosts of the family Christmas dinner, attended by our daughter, Anne Marie, her husband, Bill, and their two children, Ella, 12, and Jack, 10, all of Brooklyn, Iowa.

Other relatives and the occasional friends come, too. We also invite small groups in throughout the holiday season.

Table settings have always been my 'thing” and for years I have set the holiday table a la Colonial Williamsburg with the 'satin” scarlet ribbons crisscrossing the table, and pine cones, nuts and freshly cut evergreen boughs accenting the ribbons at intervals.

The traditional centerpiece is the eye-catching apple cone, a centuries-old custom of that colonial village.

It's made of polished red apples on a wooden cone or nowadays a Styrofoam cone. The apples are interspersed with greenery and crowned with a pineapple, the early symbol of hospitality. It's all artificial, but George once made a fresh apple cone every year.

Sitting on a white damask tablecloth with my favorite Christmas china (Lenox, white with a holly rim) and George's favorite raspberry-colored crystal, the apple cone is the finishing touch to a festive holiday table. It takes three to four hours to set the table for 8 to 10 people, but it's my enjoyment and I love doing it.

On Christmas Day after dinner, the family gathers ‘round the tree and the grandchildren distribute its plethora of packages. Christmas music plays, young voices ring with excitement, and grandparents contentedly survey it all.

Christmastime reigns at the Ruedys again!