I had a great weekend, how about you? I got so many things done and am very excited for Christmas. I love Christmas! It is one of my favorite holidays. I want to share a couple more things from around my house with you. Do you hang mistletoe? Did you ever hear of "mistletoes"? Look at these! Aren't they cutest??!!!
Do you remember these heart hangers? I don't remember how long I've had this, but I'm thinking from at least when Logan was just a little boy. Still looks good on my bathroom door and it hasn't even fallen apart!! Imagine that!
And this one is shades of blue.
The pictures aren't the greatest, but hopefully you get the idea. I love making jewelry. You can get so creative in what you do and still just use the basic tools and techniques. There are so many fancier pieces that can be made, but I'm having fun with the basics. It's a great hobby and it is such fun looking for different beads, but it is very easy to get carried away. I have such an inventory now that I could probably make about forty more pieces and not need to buy a single bead to do it. Yet I still find excuses to hit the bead store cause there's always something I just gotta have!!
This coming week will be crazy and fun. Our office party is tomorrow. We're meeting the girls from our Port St Lucie office in City Place. Should be fun browsing through the shops, a late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and a trolley ride through downtown West Palm Beach to see the festive displays. This truly is the most wonderful time of the year!!
When I was a kid, my mom had the cutest little elves. The ones pictured below she gave to me when I first got married so I could bring some of our family home to my new home.
These little guys have been around for years, peeking out from here or there . . .
This cute guy is missing his little red glove!!
You just never know where you may find one . . .
Here's another one sitting on the teapot!!
And then there's the tacky plastic Santa and his reindeer that we bought for Logan's first Christmas in 1990. Nope, just cannot get rid of the tacky plastic Santa. He sits in our television armoire faithfully each and every year.
This is a little tree collection that I display in my red bathroom. Logan made the tall tree on the left when he was in pre-school out of fabric scraps and Rachel made the little tree in front of it, also in pre-school, from paper plates. Do you have handmade decorations that you display each year?
I have loved to make crafty things for as long as I can remember. Crafts have come a long way, but each was fun in its time. I just cannot bring myself to get rid of some of the crafts I made many moons ago, as outdated as they may be. They bring back many memories of days gone by. I remember working on these things when I look at them and I cannot toss memories to the side. So, yes, they probably look ridiculous, but I made them and I like them and it's my house so it's okay. Here is a hooked wallhanging that has graced the inside of my front door for probably over twenty years.
Do you remember these heart hangers? I don't remember how long I've had this, but I'm thinking from at least when Logan was just a little boy. Still looks good on my bathroom door and it hasn't even fallen apart!! Imagine that!
And I made more "jewels" this weekend!! How do you like this car mirror hanger? This one is shades of brown/gold.
And this one is shades of blue.The pictures aren't the greatest, but hopefully you get the idea. I love making jewelry. You can get so creative in what you do and still just use the basic tools and techniques. There are so many fancier pieces that can be made, but I'm having fun with the basics. It's a great hobby and it is such fun looking for different beads, but it is very easy to get carried away. I have such an inventory now that I could probably make about forty more pieces and not need to buy a single bead to do it. Yet I still find excuses to hit the bead store cause there's always something I just gotta have!!A couple weekends ago, Rachel and I made these cinnamon applesauce ornaments for the first time. I don't know why we've never done these before as they were so easy. If you haven't either, you should try it. Three cups of applesauce, which is your average size container, and three cups of cinnamon, which is 5 containers (50 cents each at Walmart). Once prepared, I read that you can either let them sit on wax paper for three days - which I do not have the space for - or you can bake them at 175 for three hours. I chose the latter option and my house smelled great during the process.
I'm sending my Christmas cards out late this year. I was just too busy doing other things. This picture below will be going in the mail with my cards tomorrow. The background is not the greatest, but the foreground is superb!!
This coming week will be crazy and fun. Our office party is tomorrow. We're meeting the girls from our Port St Lucie office in City Place. Should be fun browsing through the shops, a late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and a trolley ride through downtown West Palm Beach to see the festive displays. This truly is the most wonderful time of the year!!
Don't they look yummy? I got this recipe from Miriam B. Loo's Family Favorites Cookbook, copyright 1977. This cookbook came from the Current catalog. I bought it way before I was married and have used it often to make many great recipes.
These cookies are simple to make and I highly suggest you give them a try. Here is the recipe.
Next is a bracelt using lavender Swarovski pearls and freshwater pearls.
I got to the post office at 9am sharp this morning to mail my packages to New Jersey and Vermont. I was able to mail them regular ground transport with delivery on Monday. I walked out of the post office at 9:05 am!!! Talk about efficiency!!! I had a very productive day and night. What will tomorrow hold???
She cleaned up nicely!!
Bella has definitely secured her place as a member of our family. She frolicks with Lacie and is probably the aggressor, but I do believe Lacie has finally come around to liking this new puppy she has to share space with. Lacie has been teaching Bella "the ropes" and Bella is doing great with keeping back when growled at, staying away from the table at dinner time and knowing what to do where when outside. They run around the house like wild animals until they drop together from sheer exhaustion until one spots a glint in the others eye and then they jump up and do it all over again!
Hope everyone is enjoying this time of year and getting done all of those things that you need and want to do. I've been thoroughly enjoying my favorite bloggers posts and am very impressed with your ability to do it all! Keep up the good work! Hopefully it will wear off on me!!!
A dainty Christmas hankie . . .
And our Dickens houses look lovely on the little table my dad made many years ago . . .
We have some really neat ornaments, but many of the pictures came out very blurry. Here's a little sampling until I get more precise photo's. 
A doll house - forever loved by me . . .
And an ornament Rachel made for her first Christmas back in 1994. She attended the daycare at the hospital where I worked at the time. It was very hard to leave Rachel as a baby, but the day care was on hospital grounds and I visited her frequently. Rachel had an excellent teacher then that I am friends with to this day. Miss Jennifer had all of "her" babies fingerpaint ornaments.
I have other trees and other ornaments to share after my next photo shoot. Tomorrow night we are going to see The Singing Christmas at the First Baptist Church on the Intracoastal. We've been there before and just loved it, so we're looking forward to seeing this year's presentation. I love this time leading up to Christmas. There are so many things to do - so many memories to be made. And that is the special part about Christmas.
