When our Founder, Jennifer Hunt, was thinking through her Christmas card this year, she asked Holly Hollon, our Creative Director, to include artwork of a Boston Terrier, the dog breed Jennifer and her family have owned for five generations. So when Holly was gathering design inspiration, she asked Jennifer for any Christmas memories that would help her with creating a card that would be personal and special.
Jennifer immediately thought about her childhood home in Russellville, Alabama, its Colonial Williamsburg design and how beautifully and thoughtfully it was decorated by her mother, Donna Norris, each holiday season. Having a deep interest in history and also having lived in Greenville, North Carolina, where home design is heavily influenced by Williamsburg, Jennifer’s parents chose to build the first Colonial Williamsburg style home in Russellville in 1980. It’s still the house the family calls “home” after almost 40 years.
Donna’s holiday decorating was also influenced by this design style and Jennifer recalls fruit wreaths on the doors, candles in the windows, lots of holly, magnolia and ivy and certainly the quintessential Colonial Williamsburg pineapple used throughout the house. Her mother decorated with rich historical colors – blue, red, gold, green and cream – which translated into the colors Holly used in the Colonial holiday card suite she created.
With these visuals of Jennifer’s childhood Christmases to design around, Holly created several Colonial Williamsburg-inspired Christmas papers. Jennifer’s Boston Crest card ties in the pineapple, glossy dark green Magnolia leaves from her childhood Christmas dinner table and mantle, and it also features a certain Boston terrier that is near and dear to all of our hearts!
Using citrus is a long-standing Colonial Williamsburg Christmas decorating tradition, so Holly expanded the collection to include that theme with her Colonial Citrus collection and her Colonial Pineapple collection. We love the elegance of the cards and the option of either the crimson ribbon or the gold ribbon.
Stay tuned for our post on Monday where Jennifer will share her family’s spiced tea recipe! We think it is the perfect thoughtful holiday gift for neighbors and family friends!
All vintage photos taken by Jennifer’s dad, Lanny Norris. Photo inside Boston Crest cards by Holland Williams Photography.