Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful day with family and/or friends. I am getting ready to watch my favorite movie of all time, "It's a Wonderful Life". And maybe make a second pie run...YUM! Anyway, I will leave you with a few random Christmas pictures I wanted to share.  Click on the photos if you want to enlarge them.

One of my little antique bisque dolls that I dressed up for Christmas...

A glimpse into my talented friend Melanie's shop, called appropriately "Handcrafted Santas and More".  She makes the most divine large Santa vignettes, using beautifully put together antique and vintage items that she gathers up from estate sales, flea markets, garage sales, and antique shows.  I'd have one in every room if I had the space.  This little guy was so wonderful.  Look at the colors on his coat and accessories. 

This fellow is a "sewing" Santa done up in shades of pink.  How could you not love it?  All of Melanie's Santas have some sort of theme whether it is sewing, music, cooking, reading, etc.

This creamy white seashell Santa is glorious...

More randomness...

I didn't do much decorating this year, but this was one of the "use what you have" things I did up and just fell in love with.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.  Just wrapped up some empty boxes with old papers, added some pretty ribbons and laces, and topped them off with old jewelry.  And added a little glittered dove for an extra punch.  Voila!

Still loving the dove theme, I used another one perched on some old maple sugar molds and antique tinsel I've had forever and added the wonderful 1920's rhinestone and feather millinery piece I just got at an estate sale.  All were nestled on an old Italian pottery compote.

Finally, a present I wrapped up for my friend Denise. I made her a darling doll which was inside, but she loved the wrapped box so much, I'm not sure she has opened it yet! I admit it, I was proud of myself at how cute it turned out.  I think glitter and tulle make everything better, don't you?

Well, that's about it for now.  My last Christmas movie calleth.  Go make the rounds through the leftovers once more before bed.  Diet is just DIE with a T at the end, ya know!

Until next time,

Yes, Judy, there is a Santa Claus...

The participants of Pink Saturday hosted by Bev are doing something special this week. We are sharing one of our favorite holiday memories. This is mine...

As an adult, I've always heard how much kids love to stay at home for the holidays. Judging from my own children and the children of my friends, I'd say this is generally true. However, it was not true for me. I absolutely LOVED going to my grandparents' homes for the holidays. I loved seeing aunts, uncles, great aunts, and cousins.  My parents grew up within 9 miles of one another, so we had the routine down pretty well, spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with my dad's folks and then Christmas mid-day meal and late afternoon with my mom's folks. After my dad would get off work on Christmas Eve, we'd get in the car and make the 2 1/2 hour or so drive to my dad's parent's house. We'd usually arrive in time for a short visit before supper and then more visiting and maybe the news before little kids like me were shuttled off to bed.

When I was about 5 or 6 and starting to "wonder" about certain jolly fellas in red suits being real or not, we were watching the weather portion of the local news. The newscasters broke in to say that Santa had been sighted and was due to arrive in the area around midnight. They even had the radar blip showing him and his sleigh (and don't forget his 8 tiny reindeer). Being a child who wanted SO BADLY to believe, I was SO relieved. I mean, they wouldn't say it on the news if it weren't true, right? Sort of like Virginia and her letter to the editor of the newspaper, I suppose. Ah, childhood innocence...it wasn't more than another year or so that I pretty much had the truth figured out, but on THAT Christmas Eve, one little girl in Texas went to bed very happy and satisfied that the Santa Claus was real and all was right with the world. That feeling sticks with me every year when I put up my Santa collection and trim the tree. Whenever I think back to my childhood and my family at Christmas, that is one of those cherished memories that gives me the "warm, fuzzy" feeling.  Nowadays, it isn't always easy, but I choose to believe in the magic of every day, especially at Christmas. Won't you join me?  You'll be glad you did. 

Until next time,