Monday, December 29, 2008

Some more Pix of Christmas Decorating........

These are the last pix of Christmas............

This is a closeup of the handmade ornaments:The TV and cabinet was our Christmas gift for this year. My sweetie also got me 10 romantic DVD movies to watch on it. Oh, and he came home with 2 more today. I covered these letters with scrap booking paper. They came out OK, but I think I was supposed to darken the edges so that they stand out better. I think I'll get L, V, and E and use the O for Valentine's Day. (Looking forward, instead of back).........














Notice the little dog toy in front of the baby carriage--My girls had one just like it when they were small--at least 38 yrs ago. I saw it at the Salvation Army and grabbed it immediately. I couldn't believe it was there. Then I wondered if I gave it to the SA many years ago, and if it could be the same one. I'll never know, one of life's little mysteries.





More shots of the mantle:












































Little corner table: And that's all folks!
I can now move forward and wish everyone a very Happy New Year! I hope 2009 is a healthy, prosperous, and happy year for all!
























Sunday, December 28, 2008

OK, Better Late Than Never, as Promised!

First, I want to say that I hope every one's Christmas was beautiful and that all your wishes came true for all of you. My Christmas was very nice, with lots of love and great joy. My immediate family were all together and that made me very happy. I love them all very much and it would not feel right if we were not together. As promised, (and I knew it would come), I finally have time to post some of my decorations. This is the TREE with presents: (Don't tell, but the presents have NO ribbons, shame on me!, {I don't think anyone noticed.}):








The above ornaments are hand made, mouth blown ornaments that have Sterling Silver tops and hanger rings. I found them at my favorite thrift store for 50 cents each! They are very heavy glass, it looks like two layers. The inside layer is colored and crackled and then the outside layer is clear glass. They are so beautiful and I guess they were meant to come home with me. There are seven all together and they sure are beautiful.




Above is my dining room window. I love the apothecary jar with the pine cones and silver balls. Above picture is a closeup of the snowballs I managed to make. The picture doesn't do them justice. I used the Diamond Dust on them and they sure do sparkle.




Above are some of the goodies, we also had a Cherry pie and a Pumpkin Pie.



Above is the corner china cabinet in the dining room. These bears are candles that my neighbor friend gave to me many years ago. She has passed on, so they have a special meaning to me and I put them out every year in remembrance of her.




Above: The shelf in my dining room.





One table in the living room.






These little girls are patiently waiting for Santa, they all have on their best smiles and are being VERY good.



Now because there is a huge space here and I can't get it to go away
I
will
show
you
some
of
my
ornaments:





This is a baby bootie made into an ornament. I found it at an "antique and more" store in November.
The long ornament above is actually a red plastic ornie from Wal-Mart. I put the Diamond Dust on it last year and it held up very well and really looks very pretty.




This little birdie came from the German ornament store at Disney. It is said that it is Good Luck to have a bird in your tree. Since I am of German origin, I believe that to be true.




This is a "new" ornament from the thrift store this year. I actually found three of them that were good, two in the package were broken. They cost me 49 cents for three good ones.







This one is "new", too, 49 cents, also.







I made a bunch of these snowmen last year, 28 in all, and sent one to each of my Mom, sisters and their families, nieces, brothers and families, boyfriends families and friends. They sure were fun to make and everyone liked them.




I cut these Santa faces out one year and painted a bunch of them, so I have lots of them on my tree. I love making Christmas ornaments and every year I think I am going to make them early, and I always end up doing them at the last minute.



This one is big! It's also another thrift store find, in fact there's two. The other is gold with sparkles on it and is shown in the first picture of the ornaments section.





This is one of the speakers that I use for a little table. I put some of my "old" stuff on it. I like the look. I tried to put more pictures on this post but it wouldn't let me add any more, so I will have to do another post with the rest of them..... I hope I have not bored you with all the stuff, but I said I would let you see my "Old Fashioned Christmas" and I wanted to keep my word.
Christmas is such a hectic time for all, and especially when you own a retail store, but it is to be expected and we have to do the best we can every year. I didn't think I would have time to do anything, but it all worked out, I got the shopping done, some baking and our dinner was wonderful, thanks to my sweet boyfriend, who did all the cooking. We had roasted leg of lamb with mint sauce, roasted vegetables, I made some Pampered Chef beer bread, that was delicious, delicious wine and good company. What more could I ask for? I want to do it all again next year 'Til next time, Love ya, Jean















Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas to All


May the Joy of Christmas bring Peace to All.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Getting There.....

I have not posted much this month, I have been way too busy with work at the candy store, 'Tis the Season, and I don't have any pictures to show you. BUT, I have been doing some decorating here and there, a little at a time, and eventually I will get it done and show some pics. I have been doing some shopping and a little cooking and a LOT of work, so in the end (Dec.25) I hope it all comes together. Thanks to all of you for your comments, 'Til next time, Love ya, Jean

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Making Plans for my Christmas Decorating!

I'm trying to decide how I should decorate for Christmas this year. I have my theme. It's an "Old Fashioned Christmas." I have so much vintage stuff to spread around this place and I am still "arranging" it all in my head. I was looking back at some pictures for some ideas and thought I would share some with you. I like to have some displays throughout the living area.

One year, I filled apothecary jars with Christmas candy and that was good. Everyone loved that. That was before I owned a candy store!



This was my dining room that year:






I have at least 100 Teddy Bears, all have red bows and some have Christmas clothes.
They do take up a lot of room, but the biggest problem may be Dusty, my dog.....he happens to have this thing for Teddies. He already adopted one and he loves it so much. It's bigger than him and he drags it down off the rocking chair and buries his face in it's belly. He has licked it so much he has almost worn a hole in it's tummy. So, that may not work.
Let's see.....I have about 40 small trees of all kinds, but I've used them before on my mantle. That looked cool.
Then one year I hung glittery snowflakes from the dining room ceiling on fishing line at varied lengths and everyone liked that. I don't have a picture of it.
My Santa collection has about tripled since this picture!
I have lots of ideas floating around in my head and I just have to decide what to do! I have started to put some stuff out, but I haven't gone into the attic yet. That's when the real decorating begins! I guess I'd better get busy!
'Til next time, Love Ya, Jean