Christmas Nostalgia

Every year in December, I strive to visit a National Park Site decorated for Christmas. For 2019, I planned a visit to the Sandy Hook portion of Gateway National Recreation Area (at the top of New Jersey). My previous visit focused on the lighthouse, but this time, I headed over to the old army post. Many buildings still stand from when this was an active base during WWII. One of the houses was set for a 1940s Christmas party. I was early, so I wandered the area, looking at the other houses and structures like the cannon.

If this layout looks familiar, you may remember the post from July when it was created. You can revisit the blog entry to learn how I made it.

When the official start time for the public open house came, I returned to the house. There had been a special Christmas party for the volunteers who man the base and the NRA. Many of them dressed in period attire. They reluctantly let me in (I had to show them that the public time had started). Their Christmas party was still in full swing, and I felt a bit awkward "crashing" their party. Nonetheless, they set the times, so I wandered through the house looking at the vintage holiday displays.

This layout is based on a sketch, but I cannot find the inspiration (sorry). I used paper from Creative Memories, one of the last sheets in the CM Joy kit. The embellishments are from Graphic 45, except for the car. I had saved that car sticker from the CM Decades sticker pack for the 1940s (and isn't it amazing how it matched the car in real life almost exactly?!?). 

I especially enjoyed seeing the display in the kitchen. The old tins and bottles with original labels were quite interesting. Upstairs, the rooms were set up for the commander and his family, so you see not only the uniform but also what the wife and children would wear and some of their possessions.

The left side of this layout is based on the 101 Sketches book (page 85). I'll admit it's a very loose interpretation. I turned the photos on their sides, and there were fewer pieces of paper between the photo elements.

The right side is based on a pin I've saved for a LONG time! Before the original Creative Memories went out of business, I spent time "pinning" all of the ideas from their blog, including sketches. Those sketches used a lot of smaller photos, and my technique at the time didn't match those (nor was I "reading" the sketches and interpreting them in my own style). I dug into my stash of Graphic 45 papers for this layout (both sides). I've always liked how their papers coordinate with historic home tours. I used a LOT of scraps to put these together, plus some random old stickers from my stash.