Fa la la la la!

We had lots of fun yesterday making gingerbread houses. This was Team Stephanie/Mark/Cole.
This was team Grandma and Grant. Grant just liked eating the candy as he worked. We all had lots of fun. Those kits from Costco make it so easy.
We also had fun sledding and playing card games. We've wrapped lots of presents and have done lots of grocery shopping. We have had tons of snow and done lots of shoveling. The worse part is that the baby got the flu on Sunday and everyone has been dropping since. To date we are 6 down and counting. At least for most it seems to be a 12 hour flu... although a very violent variety. We are hoping that no one has it on Christmas or on the flights home. Wouldn't that be awful to be sick while flying?

Thanks for all the nice comments on my Christmas decorations. Maybe next year Christmas won't sneak up on me and I'll actually spend some time being creative instead of just getting a few things up. Merry Christmas everyone.

More Christmas Pictures

Here are some day light pictures of my table scape. I had several people ask me about how I did it. So...the centerpiece is a glass platter (I bought at a garage sale at Lake Tahoe). It is on my grandmother's glass cake stand. Silver beading, silver glass ball ornaments, glittered stars and snow flakes, and a lighted wired garland that I bought at Costco that I doubled. The Snowflake is a tree topper I bought at Target after Christmas last year.
The center square is a square vase turned upside down with a red pillar candle in it.
One of my Nativity based ornaments...another after Christmas purchase.
Oh, and I love these. I bought more to add to my tree this year. I call them light cozies. They are light Brillo pad balls that fit over your little mini lights.
Here it is in my hand.
A few close ups of my grandmother's ornaments. I think this is of Jesus calming the sea. It is very old and was hand made in a small town in Germany. Martha wrote an article about an ornament just like this one. Quirky but great right?
I have quite a few of these great little birds. Not reproduction...the real deal from my grandmother.
Stockings on the railing.
Oh, these are great. Stained glass stars that my husband designed and made. They are wired so they light up at night. This year he lined the right side with red stars and the left side with white. Different colored and different size stars are in the trees.



See...don't you think they are great too?
Here is a closeup of the bubble lights that are around my front door.
That's it for now. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Decorations

Boo Mama has a Christmas tour if you want to see a ton of decorated homes. And, if you want to see more you can go visit here at tip junkie or you can also check out Hooked on Houses or here at Internet Cafe Devotional, or go see Kimba at A Soft Place to Land. Welcome to our home. Please leave me a comment at the end of the tour. I would love to hear from you and be able to visit you as well. I really do love making new friends.
A closeup of our new outdoor lights. I'm not missing those old brass ones at all.

Come on in.
My husband took these pictures for me. I hope you enjoy some of our Christmas decor. I didn't quite get it all up this year and I got rid of tons.
I love our tree. I used to have all glass Santa ornaments. Now I'm on the hunt for glass nativity ornaments. I found some great ones on sale after Christmas last year.
A closeup of the presents. I love to have a new theme every year. New wrapping paper, ribbon, and hand made tags. (Don't worry...we have some great places around here to buy a jumbo roll of paper and ribbon inexpensively.)
A few of the Santas I have left. I didn't put them all out this year.
This is our scarey Santa at least according to Steph. Larry hides it around the house so Steph can be surprised by him. She thinks no Santa should have purple pants and a court jester wand. Maybe she is right but it is funny.
The jars that are on my kitchen counter this year. (My husband moved them to the table for the picture.)





Dining room table close up.

Dining room table.

Dining room window.
Family room advent tree. I think I better catch up on hanging the ornaments.

The whole corner.
Christmas wreaths.

I love nativity scenes and have started collecting them from all over the world. I also like vintage...the real and reproductions. This feather tree has ornaments I inherited from my grandmother and one vintage ornament that Candice bought for me in Kentucky when she lived there. Looking and decorating this tree each season brings back happy memories of visiting my grandparents at Christmas time. I also have reproduction bubble lights around my front door just like the ones my grandparents had on their tree.

Some more of my nativity scenes from Brazil, Guatemala,Africa, etc. The all white one my sister made for me a year or two after I got married. The single "Mary," next to the white cow, Marissa gave to me when she was little. I don't know who would sell just one piece of a nativity but she was so excited for me to open it on Christmas day. She spent all her money and even got a loan from her sisters. I have grown to really love that little Mary. It is like the widow's mite for me. Every Christmas eve when the kids reinact the birth of Christ, Mary is posed like the Mary in that figurine. Memories!
This little scene is from Mexico.
The one on top my parents brought back for me from Africa. The one on the bottom we bought a ton of one year. We gave them to our neighbors door bell ditching a different piece every night until on Christmas Eve we delivered the baby Jesus in person.

Merry Christmas Every One! I hope you enjoyed my little tour. Here are more pictures if you want to see them.

Candice's Latest

Here is a peek but go to Candice's blog to get more details. I think they are so cute. Maybe she will make me one for Christmas...hint, hint.
(Here's my little Coley. I can't wait to get my hands on those boys! I miss them.)

Candice has a new 12 Days of Christmas for sale. Check out her blog or Steph's by clicking on their names on my sidebar buttons. I'm always amazed by what my children come up with.

Steph and I made miniature Christmas flag garlands for the fairy doors last weekend. I'm glad at least one of my children lives close enough to do projects with me.

My young women (from church) came over to sew tonight. They were so excited to go home with new bags they had made by theirselves. So much fun! I love being in my sewing room.

Thanks for stopping by. I really will try to post some pictures soon. I've got to finish getting my Christmas decorations up. I just haven't had a spare minute. I'm sure you all feel the same way. How can Christmas only be 2 weeks away?

This is for Candice

There are some interesting things on Etsy. How about a Christmas Bell? OK, this is all I found searching for Christmas decorations and ideas that I liked. Candice was trying to find one for Grant. He wants to see if it really works that only those who believe can hear the bell. I believe. Do you think I'll be able to hear it?

You know that those who don't believe get underwear for Christmas just ask Eli. The year he said he didn't believe, and peeked into Santa's pack before Christmas, that is all he received. We hid all the other presents until he had opened underwear, socks, t-shirts. I even made a wall hanging to mark the occasion. He'll get it when he gets married.

Happy Holidays everyone! I'm starting to get into the spirit of things. I've been wrapping up a storm and sewing away. I wish there were more days before Christmas. It is coming too quickly.