Wishing you and yours...

May your 2010 be filled with good health and happiness!

Tradition

The first Christmas my Sweetie and I were married a cute little tradition started. On Christmas Eve when it was time to unplug all the outside lights and turn off the tree before turning in for the night my husband said, "Let's leave them all on tonight." Now I'm the type who would leave every lamp on 24/7 if left to my own devices, but my better half is not. He's the frugal fellow with an ever mindful eye on the electric meter, making sure I don't send that little spinning contraption (or him) into orbit during the month of December. Giddy about leaving the lights on, yet curious about the logic I asked, "Why?" He sweetly responded, "So Santa will be able to see the house." A tradition was born. Global warming and exorbitant electric bills we care not for thee. On Christmas Eve, the lights stay on!

For Christmas traditions both sentimental and silly pop over to the blog of our fabulous hostess Beverly for a complete list of today's participants. My tree will light your path. Merry Christmas!

Noel

This is one of my favorite decorations. I keep her out year round, but at Christmastime she takes center stage. She is guardian over the bottle brush trees and the butter mints. What a delightful occupation, don't you agree?

For a glimpse at other dear treasures, pop over to the blog of our wonderful hostess Beverly for a list of all of today's participants. Hope you are enjoying each day leading up to Christmas!

Christmas 1974

I don't remember what was in this package, but I do remember that the Christmas I was four my family bought a brand new artificial tree and all new candy land themed ornaments to go on it. We previously had a white tree with all blue ornaments, but that year we wanted something different. I remember vividly going to Sears to help pick out the new tree and all that would go with it.

The ornaments were my favorite part. There were gingerbread boys, girls and houses along with glittery white reindeer and snowmen that looked like sugar cookies, yet were made out of styrofoam. To my four-year-old sensibilities all these delightful decorations looked good enough to eat. So much so, that is just what I did. One by one I sampled each type of ornament. I left some of the houses with tentative teeth marks in them while the gingerbread men suffered more severely by having whole bites taken out of their heads. What was not bitten was at least licked. Hey, I'm not proud, I'm just reporting the facts.

In this photo I was caught red handed, absconding with yet another decoration. I can't tell if a gingerbread man was about to be crippled or if a reindeer was about to become lame, but it didn't look like I had much remorse over the whole thing. So much for our new decorations.

Thanks so much for strolling down memory lane with me. For more fond recollections of Christmas past, pop over to the blog of our wonderful hostess Beverly for a list of today's participants. Hope your Christmas is delicious!

Snow Day

I'm so excited! School was cancelled today because of the snow we received overnight. My four- year-old was a little grumbly because Friday is Show and Tell Day at her school, and she hated to miss it. The girl lives for performing. LOL! I on the other hand was elated to stay home. My high schoolers have their own daily version of show and tell, and frankly I have seen and heard enough of them to tide me over for awhile ;>)

To detract from the trauma of missing Show and Tell, we decided to spend some time making paper chains for Christmas decorating. We had quite the assembly line going. She would glue and I would make the paper loop. I started referring to her as "Glue Girl," and she then started calling me "Paper Lady."

In my opinion they are never too young to learn the value of crafting in pajamas.

Hope you are having a cozy day!

Fairy Wafers

Hello sweet friends, thank you for stopping by for Scrappy Jessi's 3rd Annual Cookie Exchange!
The recipe I am sharing is tea party perfect and a delightful companion cookie to the Cherry BonBons I showed you last year. I call them Fairy Wafers. They are light as air and delicious! Enjoy~

Fairy Wafers

1cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter

3 to 4 tablespoons half-and-half

Powered Sugar Frosting

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place flour in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender cut in butter until pieces are pea size. Sprinkle one tablespoon of the half-and-half over part of the mixture. Gently toss with a fork and push to the side of the bowl. Repeat until all is moistened. Form into a ball.

On a lightly floured surface roll dough until slightly less than 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2 inch fluted round cookie cutter, cut out dough. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges start to brown. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

Spread 1 teaspoon of Powdered Sugar Frosting on the bottoms of half the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies, bottom sides down. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes about 20 sandwich cookies.

*IMPORTANT NOTE *If making a batch of these for a blog photo shoot, let your family know in advance so that they don't act like wild monkeys and eat over half of them, leaving you with only six for the picture.

Powdered Sugar Frosting

In a small bowl stir together 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of softened butter, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in about 1 tablespoon of half-and-half, 1 teaspoon at a time to make frosting of spreading consistency. Tint with paste food coloring.

Hope you have fun making these but more importantly hope you enjoy eating them. For a complete list of Cookie Exchange participants pop over to the blog of our fabulous hostess Jessi. Happy Holidays!

Christmas in a Can

I found this yummy little tin awhile back, and it had to come home with me. By no means did I need another tin, but I couldn't resist the faded peachy pink perfection of it. Can you blame me?

It has proven itself to be quite utilitarian. After all, at this time of year one cannot have enough places to display jolly little trees. Don't you agree?

Thank you so much for stopping by today. For a glimpse at pink things both functional and frivolous, pop over to the blog of our fabulous hostess Beverly for a list of today's Pink participants. Happy Day!

Blessings to You

Hope you and your family have a wonderful day together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pink Christmas

Summer before last I made some Christmas in July projects. I tried to do it again this past July, but I stalled out. My intent was to make a whole forest full of sequined trees...

You know, the retro ones made from a Styrofoam base with a million pins stuck into the surface in almost voodoo-like fashion.

I wanted them to be pink and fabulous.

At this point I would settle for finished.

For a tour of all things pink and wonderful, head over to the blog of our fabulous hostess Beverly for a list of all Pink participants. Happy Day!

McCall Memories

I found the most wonderful vintage Christmas patterns today, and I just had to show them to you!

I fell head over heels for these little beauties in all their 1960's glory. I love, love, love the nativity scene at the top.

And aren't these tablecloths sooo kitschy cute?

Ooh, and the one for the card table is retro FABULOUS! Bridge anyone?

Aww, and the Victorian boot on this packet is just like the ones my grandmother used to make.

The best part is that each of these patterns are completely intact! I can whip up any of these delightful creations at my leisure. Hopefully forty years won't pass before that actually happens.

Almost Famous

Guess what... I'm in the winter issue of Artful Blogging! During the summer I participated in the Mad Hatter's Tea Party hosted by the fabulous Vanessa Valencia over at A Fanciful Twist. Well, the folks at Somerset Studios selected some of the photos from the blogs of the party revelers to feature in a little article about the event, and two of my pics made the cut. This is one of them! Yippee!!!

Now if you are a regular around here, you might recall my previous brush with periodical fame. Let me assure you dear readers that although this is a very exciting time for me, I will not allow the attention to go to my head. I have decided however that this magazine exposure might necessitate the need for me to look at (I mean for) an agent.

I wonder if Ari Gold aka Jeremy Piven is available?

Oh please, please, please!

Pink Lady

Well kids, Halloween costume 2009 is complete, and with minimal cursing I'm pleased to add.We have been having loads of fun modeling and practicing the twist. Boy can this skirt twirl! Now while I didn't let the Baby Girl pound on the treble clef with her saddle oxfords in true 50's fashion, I did let her pose on the bench so you could have a full length view.

She loved that part almost as much as the costume!

Thanks so much for stopping by our little sock hop today. For a list of today's participants please twist on over to the blog of our fabulous hostess Beverly. It will be a treat. Happy Halloween!

Variations on a Theme

Halloween cupcakes were the order of the day at preschool today. Much discussion was had on the topic of how they would look. (It's amazing how detailed a four year old can get.) In the end we settled on two varieties...

Green icing for the boys.

Orange icing for the girls. Oh yes, and sprinkles all around. It was a jolly day at preschool indeed.

Petticoat Junction

If you have been following my adventures in costume making, you will recall that I am making a poodle skirt for my daughter's Halloween regalia. In order for the skirt to stand out in all its glory, it is necessary to wear a crinoline underneath. Since we had no underpinning such as this at our immediate disposal, I had to construct one from scratch. The result is shown above. I am happy to report I only let one expletive "slip" during the process. Let's hope I can keep it as chaste when I begin work on the actual skirt. For that update, please visit me next Saturday.

For a peek at all things pink both unmentionable and otherwise, twirl over to the blog of our delightful hostess Beverly. You'll be glad you did. Happy Day!

By the pricking of my thumbs...

Double, double, toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the cauldron boil and bake.

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork and blindworm's sting,

Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double, toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf.

Silvered in the moon's eclipse,

Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,

Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,

For the ingredients of our cauldron.

Double, double, toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

When shall we meet again, in thunder, lightning, or in rain?

For more Halloween hurlyburly, fly over to the blog of our bewitching hostess Vanessa Valencia.

You'll be charmed.

Sew Pink

October is here, and it is time once again to dust off my sewing machine and get to work on my daughter's Halloween costume. She is going to have a poodle skirt, ponytail and cat eye glasses. I figure since she is four, this might be my last shot to have a say in what she wears. Even now that's debatable seeing as how she has been telling me she is going to be a cat!?! Funny how kids become so decisive after the fabric for the "other" costume has been cut and purchased. Nice. Anyway, I'm sticking to my plan and making the perfect "bobby soxer" outfit. Wish me luck on the project. Hopefully cutting and sewing a little felt won't lead to a repeat of Swearfest 2008. I'll keep you posted.

If you'd like to take a peek at what the other Pink Ladies are up to, hand jive over to the blog of our fabulous hostess Beverly. Happy Day!

Cowgirl Up

Yesterday was "Western Day" at the preschool. The baby girl tried really hard to get her daddy to buy her a pony for the big occasion, but that just did not happen...

Mommy on the other hand, just couldn't say no when asked for a pair of PINK boots. Can you blame me?

For a list of more pink goodies that will knock your socks off, ride on over to the blog of our fabulous hostess Beverly. Thanks for stopping by today. Y'all come back and visit again real soon! Happy Trails...