Saturday, January 3, 2015

Farewell To The Holidays

 One of my office-mates. Steve.

 A bit of my Snow Village...
 Another bit of it....
 Even more of it...
 Hard to believe there's only 8 houses in it at the moment, eh?
 My simple version of our entrance hall decor...
 I purchased two sets of 4 Santa hat chair covers for our dining room chairs, but snce we didnt do holiday entertaining this year- I used the extra ones to holiday up our bedroom by hanging one on each corner of the headboard and putting one over a pillow. Then I put our everyday duvet set on- layered our Christmas star quilt my mama gave us before we left for the UK- and then put a bright red fleece throw on the bottom of the bed too! A few christmas packages on the bedside tables completed the look!
 My lovely Santa's workshop snowglobe/musicbox sets the tone for the dining table.
 In the livingroom tinsel garland draped over our picture frames is an easy festive way to holiday up on the cheap!
 Sadly- this is NOT my home...but it will be a close copy when we buy our own home. The only thing I think I would change is the candles with the white tops will be replaced with my granny's green and white plates from her wedding china. I have the only two dinner plates that survived after 60 years and I treasure them!! They deserve a place of honour on the mantle amongst all the Holiday Finery.
 Hurricane globe was a gift from my daughter and her finacee several year ago- I added the red pillar candle, and the snow....the Gingham  & Cinnamon Christmas tree is a gift from my Bezzie.
 A better view of it in our Kitchen window!
 My daughter in Law- Kathy- sent us a personalized bottle of merlot for Christmas- so I put it in the Candle wreath and set it on the side table in the livingroom. Beautiful display!!
 Our Tree with a few gifts under it....and the Snow Village beside it.
 A branch of our Christmas Tree. I LOVE Sparkly, Glittery pretties!!
 O.M.G. I made this Sour Cream Banana Pecan Bundt Cake. Replaced the 3 cups of white sugar with 1 & 1/2 Cups EACH white and Brown sugar. after it was baked, I cooled it- turned it out- cooled it completely and then dusted it with a nice sprinkling of confectioners sugar. Lord Have Mercy- that thing weighed at least 7 lbs. But it was sooooooooo Good. Best Recipe EVER!
 Our arched mirror serves as our Christmas card display. With the snow scene below it- I think the silver and ice blue tinsel fit in perfectly with the theme. Don't you?
 My holiday nails...I did them myself. Looks great- but it took me 2 and a half HOURS to get all that red glitter off and back to a french manicure after the holidays were over. A lot of work!!
 Not a lot of cards this year, but enough to get my holiday gift tags for next year!!
 This is one of the gift tags from my Christmas cards from last year. After the holidays are over- I take the christmas card fronts that dont have anything written on them and cut them into  several tag sized shapes- depending on what the subject is. I can get anywhere from 3-6 gift tags out of one card front. I havent bought ready made gift tags in 10 or 12 years. And the best part is- I see the tags and get to enjoy them more than one year. I can tell you where each tag came from. hahaha.... Some of them have enough room on them for the name of the recepient...and I tape them on the front of the gifts. The smaller ones, I have a hole punch I use in a corner of the tag- then tie a small ribbon thru it to tape to the gift and I write the recipients name on the back of the card. I may have to do a tutorial on it for my Sunny Says Blog.
 My kids childhood stockings. I still hang them every Christmas Eve. I dont fill them with treats..I fill them with hugs and kisses and lots of love.
 My sister Valina sent me this for Christas(and birthdays for the rest of my life she says.) He SINGS!!!!!He's 5 foot 3 inches tall!!
 My in-laws, Joan and Glenn, Having a chat with Santa.
 Since it's daylight- I suppose we was the last stop on Santa's Route. SOMEONE has to be LAST!!
 I can't get over how lifelike he looks!! Especially in THIS photo!!!
 New Years Day night after all the excitement is over.
And it's farewell to the Holiday Season until December again!!
.
.
.
.