Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Hello, Dear Friends, I hope that you are filled with
the spirit of Christmas as we prepare to celebrate
this most wonderful day. 

In my own small way, I try to bring this  

happy spirit of Christmas home, as I decorate, 

bake, and wrap those special gifts 

for precious little ones.

Our family has grown and we are blessed,
so we have agreed that only the children
will receive gifts as we go forward.

Our gifts to each other are in spending time together
over a good meal, with a nice bottle of wine,
sharing plenty of love and laughter.
xo

As I have gone about my tasks, 

 I have been thinking about the true spirit of Christmas
and how I might honor this spirit every single day.

I've come up with one simple word to abide by....
Kindness.
xo

Let's go inside for a cup of hot cocoa
and get warmed by the fire!

You can hang your coat and hat here....

My dear Father made the metal coat rack

and his wool jacket, which I often wear, hangs here. 

I really miss him this time of year. 

He had a love of all things Christmas, and delighted
in sharing the magic with his children and grandchildren,

 making wonderful, hand-crafted gifts.

This wooden snowman on the front step 

was hand-crafted by him and painted by my dear Mom. 

I love the sweet, wistful expression.

My rustic living room lends itself to very simple greenery.....

I revamped the wreath, garland and little trees this year by 'tipping'

the branches and cones with 'snow'. This was easily done 

with acrylic craft paint (in warm white), and a small paint brush. 

It took only a few minutes and I was pleased with the results.

I'll light the fire....

And the tree. 

A few favorite ornaments - some were lovely gifts. 

The angel we bought together for our first Christmas. 

xoxo

I've started collecting glass pine-cones. 

The larger one is from our recent trip to the Christmas tree farm.

The smaller one was from a shopping trip with my daughters 

a couple of years ago.  

Decorating the tree brings me down memory lane.....

xo 

I made the pillow from an embroidered tea towel. 

A favorite book - a gift from my parents to my 

children when they were small. Now to be enjoyed 

by my grandchildren. 

xo

The illustrations by Tasha Tudor are so sweetly endearing.  

 Please come into 

the kitchen and I'll heat the kettle.....

 I've added a few holiday touches to my kitchen shelves
as I think of how many Christmas celebrations we've had here.
We built the house in 1982-83 and raised our four children here. 

Hand-sewn elf and mushrooms. 

I made the cookie houses out of graham crackers

a couple of  years ago. 

They keep nicely, wrapped in tissue and stored in a large tin. 

You can see my tutorial on how to make them Here.

I tried to make my kitchen a bright, happy place 

for the grandchildren this year.  

We are hosting the family on Christmas Eve. 

My hand-made Santa. 

He sits on my vintage rolling cart. 

The shelves underneath hold

my candy stash.  

xo

I used red and chartreuse green  

on my daybed this year. 

I made the pillows from tea-towels and linen napkins.

The 'Let it Snow' towel was the inspiration for the color-scheme. 

The plaid tea-towels have lovely embroidery. 

Holiday pillows can be expensive, but if you 

have a basic knowledge of sewing, 

you can whip these up for very little money. 

A cozy place for tea and a chapter or two. 

I decorated a grand-children's tree with a 'candy' garland

that I've had since my own children were small. 

A hand-stitched snow-man angel. 

I was able to unpack a few precious memories from long ago.....

The kettle is done....please have a seat, won't you? 

But first you'll have to pick your favorite cup. 

The tiny bottle holds green glitter and is labeled 'Christmas Magic'. 

The snowmen are a sugar bowl and creamer. 

Cocoa's ready! 

My pantry corner. 

I found the enameled metal sign

at the Christmas tree farm in my last post. 

My collection of vintage potholders

just simply makes me happy. 

I drove a wood panel vehicle

like this one when our children were young :) 

A lovely portrait of Santa and one of his favorite reindeer.

I think it might be Blixen, or maybe Prancer. 

xx

Let's go out and watch the sunset.

The days are short and the sun sets early, 

magically turning gray clouds into cotton candy

for a few splendid moments. 

And if you believe in magic......

This little elf has taken over the care of the fairy garden, 

and built a log cabin! 

(The fairies have flown south for the winter)

He's busily decorating for Christmas, too! 

xo

The world is truly full of magic if we 

keep our hearts and minds open. 

This angel in velvet, holds a rosary with beads made 

from my dear Mother-in-law's flowers. 

My Sis-in-law, sent this amazing angel to us

in commemoration of her sweet memory. 

She had a collection of Christmas tree pins, 

and I have one to remember her by. 

The Nutcracker music box was a gift from my dear Mother.

She took all the 'girls' in the family to see the Nutcracker ballet 

in Seattle one year. There were 10 of us. 

One more beautiful bauble to remember 

a special day....

A recent trip to a lovely tea house with my 

daughter and her Mother-in-law - a dear friend. 

I will share that day with you soon. 

This lovely Fenton angel was a gift from my son.

As you can tell, I love angels, and believe in their 

loving devotion to man-kind. 

There is a tender sentimentality to this time of year

that I love. 

It's a magical quality of faith, hope and joy, 

mixed with a child-like sense of wonder and imagination.

So as we celebrate this special day together, Dear Friends, 

I wish you all a Merry Little Christmas, 

filled with love, sweet memories, a little treat or two, 

and plenty of hope and faith to carry you along 

through the new year ahead. 

xoxo

A Trip to the Christmas Tree Farm

Hello, Dear Friends, I hope that you are finding

time to make sweet memories

as we celebrate this special time of year. 

One of my favorite memories, so far this season,

was our recent trip to the Christmas tree farm. 

It was a cold, misty morning when we started our journey,

 along the foothills of the Cascades, to meet my two son's, 

their wives and my little grandson. 

Mist settles into the landscape of sleeping farms and 

leafless trees as we travel the back-roads of Washington State. 

There is beauty in every season. 

Mural depicting logging history of town on side of building

We traveled for over an hour without passing through 

another town, finally arriving in the historic 

logging town of our destination. 

The sign points the way.....

We were on a mission........

To find a tree for my son and his wife. 

My son has snapped his Achilles tendon - oh, I know, 

so painful and so worrisome ..... but he is on the mend, 

a long and slow process, and is now able to hobble 

around on crutches (Jen is his crutch here :). 

Here are the rest of us, all bundled up on a cold, winter day. 

Hmmmm.....did anyone bring a saw?

The tree has been selected, cut and brought down for 

wrapping. That's my Ramblin' Man in the lead. 

He can still keep up with the young guys, although
with a few extra aches and pains the next day.
xoxo 

Meanwhile, the 'girls' and I found our way into the gift shop.
I found a few little things to take home :)

Afterwards, we all met up in the cafe'
for a cup of hot cocoa.
Uncle Dustin warms up the little guy.

The ceiling was strung with twinkle lights and chandeliers.
Santa came and sat in a big chair by a decorated Christmas tree,
but my grandson was too shy to say hello :)

So we took a little train ride.
My grandson was so excited, but very serious
about this momentous occasion.
xoxo
He loves 'Thomas the train',
a favorite book series and children's television show.

It was the best part of the day.
xoxo

We all meet at Dustin and Jen's for pizza and to
help set up the tree. We nicknamed it 'Dumpling'.

It was a wonderful day.

Thank you for coming along, Dear Friends!

xoxo

P.S. I've postponed my narrative of our trip to Italy
until after the New Year, so I will share that soon.
It's hard to believe that the new year is 'soon', isn't it?

I've been so busy decorating and hanging out with
some fat little elves (my grand-babies), so will
share the results next time.

'Tis the Season!
xoxo