THE Big Tree

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blithewold, bristol, bristol rhode island, christmas, christmas at blithewold, mansion, mount hope bay, rhode island

Decorating volunteers making the tree dazzle

Blithewold is officially back open for the season, warmly inviting visitors to tour the Mansion and grounds all beautifully decorated in the theme of A Grand Tour of Europe. And one of the favorite attractions every year is the big tree that goes up every year, the glory of which is made possible by the hard work and dedication of decorating volunteer Joanne Murrman and her willing helpers.

Joanne, a seven-year decorating veteran, looks forward to the challenge of creating new ideas and combinations of colors for the tree, all to the end of wowing visitors. This year, Joanne was inspired by one of the decorating elements in the mansion. “This year I drew inspiration from the embossed ribbon that reflected the design as the red flecked wallpaper on the second floor.”

 

Reds and golds dominate the tree this year

Joanne bravely balanced on narrow wood planks high above the mansion’s floor, getting all the way to the very top of the tree near the ceiling. She was determined to make every last inch of the tree dazzle with magnificent ornaments and other unique decorations. To many decorating volunteers, getting to the high places was one of the biggest challenges they faced, but when Joanne was asked what problems she had, her answer was simple: “None.” Spectacular!

Joanne says that one of her favorite parts of working on the tree is organizing her volunteer helpers (who have been with her for 3 years) then getting together with them to design and fabricate the decorations. And she loves strolling through the Mansion to see how the other volunteers’ interpretations of the main theme reflect their own style and tastes.

For more progress on Blithewold’s holiday transformation check out our Facebook page and Twitter. To see more photographs of Christmas at Blithewold please visit our Flickr and Pinterest!

Warmest Regards,

Caitlin Galeotti
Roger Williams University 2014
Blithewold Communications Intern

Decadent Decorations Dominate the Staircase

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blithewold mansion, christmas, christmas at blithewold, decorating, france, gardens, hurricane sandy, mansion, paris, rhode island

Decadent decorations in front of the big window behind the staircase

Although Hurricane Sandy struck Rhode Island last Sunday-Monday evening, Blithewold’s dedicated decorators were back in action Wednesday, pushing forward with their decorating mission. While walking through the mansion I was able to speak with a few of the decorators and take a sneak peak of their progress. Beautiful!

I was fortunate enough to speak with a second-year decorating volunteer, Julie Martin. Julie and her partner, Robert Costa are responsible for decorating the staircase with a

Julie’s window pane of hand drawn Paris, France sketches

theme of Paris, France. Julie explained that once they found out the staircase’s country was France, the team knew they wanted their decorations to be extremely “decadent” and lavish, representing the elegant night-club era of postwar Paris. They did through a color theme of black and silver with bold pops of red, Julie’s personal favorite touch.

In addition to decorating the staircase, the duo is responsible for decorating the big window behind it. Julie was enthusiastic about this area because it gave her and Robert even more space to get creative with. Because the team has such a unique space to decorate, I asked what challenges they faced this year. Julie explained, “It can be challenging to reach all of the high places near the ceiling above the window.” This didn’t stop the team, though. They hung beautiful rows of garland, strung with lights.

Closer view of Julie’s hand drawn sketches of Paris, France

Julie, an artist, shared that last year was her first year decorating for Christmas at Blithewold Mansion. She came back this year because she loved her experience last year and how creative it allowed her to get. Julie’s traveled to Paris before and has the most beautiful sketches from her trip. When she learned of her assigned theme, she fed off the ideas behind her personal sketches until the staircase evolved into a masterpiece. Julie’s sketches can be seen in a handmade window pane on display at the bottom entrance of the staircase.

For more progress on Blithewold’s holiday transformation check out our Facebook page and Twitter. To see more photographs of Christmas at Blithewold please visit our Flickr and Pinterest!

Warmest Regards,

Caitlin Galeotti
Roger Williams University ’14
Blithewold Communications Intern