My Wolf and Dessauer Ornament

Wolf and Dessauer is as synonymous with Christmas in Fort Wayne as Marshall Fields is with Chicago.

The upscale department store was the place to shop in downtown Fort Wayne for decades and many people have fond memories of it. Most of those memories revolve around Christmastime when Wolf and Dessauer would transform into a scene straight out of A Christmas Story with magical animatronic displays in their windows and a gigantic lighted Santa and a midcentury modern Merry Christmas Wreath on the sides of their building.

The Santa display has quite a history in our town and people still come from far and wide to see it. It's not Christmas in Fort Wayne until Santa is lit! A few weeks before Thanksgiving he starts to go up and you can feel the magic in the air that Christmas is near!

W&D, as they are known, first displayed their massive five ton lighted Santa in 1940 and he appeared at Christmastime for almost twenty years. Somehow, when W&D moved, Santa got lost in the hustle and bustle, and it wasn't until 1979 that he was found in bad shape in an abandoned warehouse! Can you imagine?

By the Christmas of 1980, Santa was restored and put on the side of one of Fort Wayne's tallest buildings, where he has remained ever since! The W&D wreath went on another building, and I may actually like the wreath better than Santa, because you know how I like wreaths. But, Santa brings me much more fond childhood memories of driving by him on our way to school. Plus, you know, it's SANTA!

About ten years ago, Santa's 25,000 lightbulbs went from the old incandescent kind to LED and someone had the great idea to turn the old bulbs into ornaments! 

I first discovered that these ornaments were on the loose in Fort Wayne a few years ago and I knew I had to get my hands on one! I love Fort Wayne history, and to own such an iconic piece of it was just too much! I really had no idea how or where to find one of the ornaments and I have been scouring the internet for one of Santa's bulbs for years to no avail.

Finally, one day last week I happened to read in the Journal-Gazette that the Fort Wayne Museum of Art was selling them in their gift shop! I could not wait to get out of work and hightail it over there. I had only seen the red ornaments before so I assumed that they would be red. When I got there I was informed that they only had white and orange bulbs left. 

Now, I'll admit, I was a little disappointed. I wanted red! I love anything red and it's just such a perfect Christmasy color! I thought about it and decided that a white bulb would really pop on my green Christmas tree, even more so than a red one. Plus, a white lightbulb could have come from Santa's beard or even one of the reindeer! So I got white. And I love it!

I am so happy that I finally have one of these ornaments! It's truly become one of my cherished items already. Now a piece of Fort Wayne history will live on forever on my Christmas tree!

Here's the old Wolf and Dessauer Santa being put up with a crane on Main St. in downtown Fort Wayne a few weeks before Thanksgiving this year.

Santa in all his glory! His whip and sleigh blink and "move," that's why in this shot it looks burned out.

Off to deliver presents to all the good children in Fort Wayne!

This is the W&D wreath, which now hangs on Wayne Street. I'd love to have this at my house!

My long-awaited ornament!

Here is a picture from the ornament box of Santa hanging on the Wolf and Dessauer building.

Now hanging proudly on my Christmas tree!

Can you find it?!?

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

My Christmas Wreaths

I cannot believe that Christmas is just around the corner already! 

And I have totally been slacking on the blog! I usually post pretty much daily on my Instagram though, so if you are missing me you can check it out. It's sweethome.indiana!

Today, I am going to post all the Christmas Wreaths that I made! I actually sold most of them at my craft shows, so I am very happy about that! The few that I have left are hanging up on various doors at my house. I have one on my front door, one on the inside of my front door, and one on the inside of my backdoor! If I had a fireplace, I'd definitely have one hanging above it too!

In my home, wreaths are a necessity on my front door! It's a great and easy way to spruce up your entry way and welcome guests to your home!

I like to make unique wreaths, ones that you wouldn't normally see. Wreaths that stand out, and that people will cherish as part of their seasonal decor every year! I love all my wreaths and selling them is bittersweet because I would love to keep them all for myself! But, at the same time it makes me happy that someone else wants them as well!

You can check out my facebook page and if you are in the neighborhood you can purchase one of my wreaths or keep up with my shows! I am hoping to do a couple of craft shows in the Spring with some happy Spring and Summer wreaths!


Here are all my Christmas Wreaths, in all their glory:

Poinsettia's are probably my favorite flower! I loved this wreath and since someone already purchased it, I will have to make another one for myself!

This wreath screams vintage to me! I love everything vintage so this was one of my faves!

Santa!

Inspired by a Martha Stewart wreath, this Jingle Bell Wreath surprisingly took me several tries to get right! I had to find the right gauge of wire (I ended up using a hanger!) and of course, the perfect bow!

This is my husband's favorite wreath! We kept it and he added lights to it. It's hanging on our front door!

My brother and sister-in-law bought this wreath from me! It's classic with it's Christmasy red and green color scheme, but also modern with the green berries!

This deco mesh Poinsettia Wreath is ginormous! It does not fit on a front door with a storm door on it! I love it though! It would be perfect above a fireplace! It's currently hanging on the inside of my front door and it looks awesome!

I seriously just discovered buffalo check plaid and I love it!!! Pair it with burlap and holly and you have the perfect farmhouse Christmas wreath!

A glamorous poinsettia wreath!

Classic hydrangea. I made a very, very large one of these for above my sister-in-law's parent's fireplace. I can take orders!

I told you I loved poinsettias!

This was one of my most popular wreaths! I had to make several of them!

Everyone have a Merry Christmas!

A Busy and Wonderful Weekend!

This was one of those busy weekends when you get a ton of stuff done - some unexpected, some you've been meaning to do forever and just hadn't gotten around to. And, to top it all off, we still had time to celebrate! It was wonderful!

My husband called and asked me on Friday how I felt about putting down some new flooring in our bathroom this weekend. Uh, yeah! The best part was that it was free! This set off a chain reaction of fixing some paint spots on the ceiling and repainting some areas of the walls that needed it. Then it spilled over into some other rooms in the house. Once I start I just can't stop!

Much better than the old! We've been eyeing this sample of flooring ever since he got it in his shop and it was just the perfect size for our bathroom! I'll do a true before and after pic when it's completely finished (and clean!)

While we were at Menards getting some supplies to finish our floor I ran across these real wreaths on sale for only $2.00! I've been wanting one of these so I was super excited!

I got my stockings hung by my staircase with care.

And still had time to make some of my famous spritz tree cookies! I decided to "branch" out this year and try making some wreaths. I like the trees best.

Tonight we went to Takaoka, a Japanese Steakhouse (and the best restaurant EVER!) for a very special celebration!

Where they sing a Japanese version of Happy Birthday to you! It was a wonderful weekend!

O Christmas Tree!

I discovered while decorating for Christmas last year that apparently I have a thing for Christmas Trees. So naturally, I decided to go all in and start collecting them! Here are a few of my favorite trees to get you in the mood for Christmas!

This is the newest tree in my collection. I am obsessed with bottle brush trees and now I finally have one!

I love green and red for Christmas. It's so classic.

 But, I also love the multi-colored Christmas decor as well. I got this ornament tree at Target half off the day after Christmas! Gotta love when that happens!

I wish I would have bought another one of these trees to make a cluster of three. They always say to do uneven numbers in design.

Someone made my husband this tree a long time ago. When you get married sometimes you "inherit" some really hideous stuff you then have to incorporate into your home, but I really love this tree!

My mom made this tree out of cookies like three years ago and we just store it in a ziploc baggie every year and bust it out again. It's got a few areas where it has broken, but overall it still looks great!

These were my first tree purchases when I moved into my first apartment.

This is my most special tree ~ a vintage light up Christmas Tree that was my great-grandma's!

A Day Away!

Sometimes all you need is one day in a different place, doing something completely different from your everyday life to give you a total reset on your perspective.

Yesterday, my mom and I went down to Indianapolis and I must say, I was very impressed with the all the updates since my last trip down there! Indy is really starting to grow into itself! I mean, we're getting an IKEA next year so you know we're on the right track! 

By the way, I just learned that today - December 11, 2016 - is the 200th Birthday of the statehood of Indiana. All year long there have been bicentennial celebrations for Indiana, so it is only fitting that today we here at Sweet Home Indiana are celebrating our state capital! (Even if it is mostly about shopping!)

Yesterday was purely a shopping excursion! We started off at the Macy's in Castleton Mall where I was surprised at how much more of a better selection they had than our Macy's store. I found a new favorite clothing line called Maison Jules. These are just a few of the cute items they had for sale at 40% off! I ended up ordering two new shirts and a cute sweater that they didn't have in my size at the store.

We stumbled upon a really cool home/furniture store called Urban Styles Furniture and Gypsy Market behind Castleton Mall. They had some very unique pieces you don't see in a typical furniture store.

I was on the fence about going into Urban Styles/Gypsy Market until I saw this display of faux Jadeite, milk glass, and whatever that gorgeous blue color is called. I want it all!!! I just wish it was a little cheaper! I would have loved a cake stand in every color!

I loved this floor mat that is made to look like vintage tile!

I literally am obsessed with dishes.

Then it was time for lunch at one of my faves - The Cheesecake Factory! We split the Chicken Madeira and a slice of Cherry Cheesecake.

Absolute Heaven.

After lunch it was off to the Crate and Barrel in The Fashion Mall at Keystone where almost all their Christmas stock was on sale! I found these super cute reindeer cookie jars I would like to have.

And this beautiful aqua blue tea kettle! I think this may be my most favorite color. I have such an issue with my tea kettles turning on the inside I hated to spend this much money on one.

I regret not buying one of these trees! I LOVE trees wrapped in burlap like this and have been really wanting one to add to my Christmas Tree Collection.

Speaking of Christmas Trees! This display in Tiffany's window was really cool.

And...speaking of Tiffany's! If anyone needs any gift ideas for me I want this 50th anniversary companion for Breakfast at Tiffany's I found at Papyrus of all stores!

I loved this tin that held gift tags at the Pottery Barn. I wanted to buy it just for the picture on it! I love vintage-y anything, especially vintage Christmas.

Had to check out my "alma mater" J. Crew!

I am obsessed with these Williams-Sonoma Snowman salt and pepper shakers!

A girl can dream, right?