Saturday, December 29, 2012

Good-bye Glitter ~

Good-bye glitter...
 


good-bye glitz...


good-bye sparkle.


 
Good-bye until next year. My, the house looks so bare!
 
Why is it so much fun to put up all of the Holiday decorations and so sad to take them down? The only one having fun is Miss Twiggley who thinks the round ornaments are balls to bat around, but at least she left them all alone when they were on the tree.
 
 

Sunday, December 23, 2012

It Must almost be Christmas Eve

 
 
It must almost be Christmas Eve because...
the baking has begun;
 
 
 
The little Rudolph figure is in his spot;


 
the sugar plum tree is ready;

 
most of the packages are wrapped and the crackers are ready to put out for Christmas Eve dinner.

 
All of the Santa's are waiting for lift off;


 
the nutcrackers are tuning up;

 
and the garden tree in the entry is alight to greet guests!

 
The countdown for the holiday has begun and for some unbelievable reason, Miss Twiggley has left  all of the decorations alone ~ even the lace tree skirt in the front room!
 
Merry Christmas
 

Friday, December 21, 2012

Tree Skirt ~

I really wanted to make one of those wonderful ruffled tree skirts a la Miss Mustardseed this Christmas, but I ran out of time. So...
 
 
 


...as a stop-gap I pulled out some of my old lace curtains: drapped and layed them and came up with this.


My motto is: never throw away anything lace! You never know when it will come in handy.

 
 I rather like how it looks. And, I have decided that the time to make a new tree skirt is probably in the summer and not in those very busy weeks leading up to Christmas.

 
But for this year this will suffice. So far Miss Twiggley, amazingly enough, has left it all alone!
 
~ Merry Christmas ~
 
 
 
This post has been linked to: http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Monday, December 17, 2012

Un Petit-Déjeuner de Noël ~

 
A few days ago I invited six of the nicest people over for a holiday breakfast.
 
 It gave me the perfect opportunity to try out this recipe from Pinterest for a Christmas brunch casserole
 

 Potatoes, onions, mushrooms, bacon and cheese ~ doesn't this sound good, and an added plus: it can be made the day before and slipped in the oven an hour before serving.
 
I served it with fruit, scrambled eggs, and Merk's coffeecake (someday I will share this delicious recipe).

A fun and yummy way to enjoy this wonderful season: Christmas music, a fire in the fireplace, twinkling lights, decorations, good food and great conversation with wonderful friends; what could be better!

  Merry Christmas

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Silver For Christmas ~

I love using silver to decorate for the holidays, it gives flare, adds to the glimmer and the shine...and  gives me a chance to take it out of the cupboards and use it. Last year I made this vignette in the china cabinet ~ all of my Santa's are there this year.
 

But across the room by the sink I have the perfect place. I really wanted to hang this silver tray and I wandered all over trying to find a spot, but it it just too big so instead I put it on a stand... 


...on one side of the ledge under the window above my sink.

 
 I added some fruit...

 
...greenery, sparkles, and candles. 

 
 Voila! Something festive and pretty to look at while I wash the dishes!



 
 Thank you for visiting.
 
 
Merry Christmas
This post has been linked to: http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/
 
 

Friday, December 7, 2012

A Reason to Smile ~ Snowmen

I had finished decorating the house for the holidays and was starting to put all of the containers away when I happened upon the one with all of my snowmen. I haven't put them out for a while and they looked so cute I couldn't stand it. I decided that they would add a festive note to my bedroom...
 
 
 
so here they are!


 
All different sizes and shapes...


 
some are riding on sleds...




and some are going skiing...


 
and some are happy just looking cute.


 
 Now every time I go in this room I have to smile.
 
Thank you for visiting, I hope you have lots of things to smile about during this glorious season.
 
This post has been linked to: http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/
 

Monday, December 3, 2012

Hooray!

 
 
 
 Hooray! I am finished. I put the out the final ornament, and like always when the house is decorated for the holidays I feel that I can start having fun and most of that fun is holiday entertaining...there is just something about all of the lights, glitter, and joy of the season than make it a special time to share your home with family and friends. I have a couple of new recipes to try and then some of the old: Christmas wouldn't be Christmas at Rose Arbors without beef stroganoff, minestrone soup...and Monkey Rolls of course.
 
Unfortunately as you can see my little helper is worn out ~ Until she gets rested up I think I will be cooking alone!
 
 
 
 
Thank you for visiting. I hope that you are having lots of fun in this holiday season.
Maybe I could use a short nap too!