Frou Frou Gypsy in Combat Boots

wishing you all the best in the new year!

I made a set of cards for my mom for Christmas. She send out a million cards a year and i thought it would be nice to give her some so she didn't have to buy so many..and we all know handmade cards are the best! this is the wedding/anniversary card, quite lovely! there were two of these... and this is a birthday card i think there were three or four..wait maybe only two. oh well. I'll show the rest later! always cyndi

We had a great Christmas, i hope you and yours did too! The kids got up at 5 a.m. Christmas morning...but it was worth it, they were so excited. We had three days of celebrations and now we are taking a breath before all the New Year's hoopla begins. I thought i would pause and share with you some of the things i like to allow myself to indulge in during the holidays..... Wearing Pajamas all day...and maybe even getting a new pair! Having several Christmas trees! all in one cozy house! apple cider, my mom always has it! New Calendars! yeah, i am a bit OCD and i love them!!! a whole new year to plan! watching Christmas movies!!! eating cookies for Breakfast!...or lunch...or snack...or anytime! baking pies and cookies and all sorts of yummy goodies! being lazy! SHOPPING! even better AFTER Christmas shopping!

Everyone in my family has a stocking. Me, DH, and both kids. Even my parents have stockings...they hang at their house, but we fill them up! I don't think you ever out grow stocking! Stockings are fun!!! We put a big combination of things in our stockings: food, silly things, fun things, anything that will fit, and sometimes things that don't! Growing up when i had pets, even they had stockings! Also i had a "special stocking" that would be on my door. When Santa came, he would slip a candy cane filled with M&Ms into it...so if i woke up during the night, i would know if he had been there or not yet! i had a BAD habit of getting up at 3 a.m. on Christmas morning! I know my parents loved that! My kids thankfully, don't get up so early! i usually beat them up in fact!

Things i have LEFT to do: 1. make pecan pie 2. make cheese ball 3. make final batch of cookies 4. bake ham 5. clean kids' bathroom ...AGAIN 6. Clean off island in kitchen 7. vacuum one last time 8. wait for guests!

Dear Santa, All i want for Christmas this year is for my kids to enjoy the day and not get too wrapped up in all the presents. Help me, as well as them, to remember that we are celebrating Christ's birth even though we are the ones getting the presents. If there is room in your sleigh, i'd like a bone folder, and new blades for my paper trimmer. thanks cyndi These little goodies are what i sent to school with my kids for their classmates. I got the suckers at the Dollar Tree, 8 per package! I made the tags with SU! punches, ink and stamps. Added some glitter and ribbon! ta -dah! These are the gingerbread people i made for the playgroup kids. Here's a close up of the tags...SU! again as well as some stuff that's just been hanging around! hope you all are almost ready for the big day!

this is one of those treasures i have hung on to for quite a while and just last year found a truly GREAT purpose for them. OK, first i truly don't recall which Grandparent's stash these came out of but they are truly fabulous! there are 5 of these little girl choir angels: French, German, American, Spanish, Polish, and Swedish. On the fronts, they say "Merry Christmas" in their native language.... and then on the back it says "in German we say Merry Christmas" or whatever the language is so you know because unless you are fluent in those 5 languages or a linguistics scholar or the Big guy in Red himself...you'd never know what the languages are, especially the Swedish and Polish in my case! I have hung them from my chandelier over the kitchen table on lengths of chiffon ribbon. They all hang at differing heights because i am not foolish enough to think i could ever get them all to hang at exactly the same height! (so should have turned the light on fo

this photo actually has two of my favorites! See those little clothes pin thingies? those came from IKEA several years ago. I was there and they were $1 and i figured i would find a use for them some day! Guess what? I did!!!! I hang them, one on each side of the doorway into the kitchen. Then i hang Christmas cards on them as they come in the mail. This allows me to enjoy the photos and cards as well as have a place to put them and keep them all together during the craziness of Christmas. The other thing is this wreath my DD made in her preschool class. I love the things the kids bring home from school. sometimes they don't make it through until the next year, but sometimes they do. I will admit to tossing a few things here and there because honestly who can keep every little thing made by those adorable chubby hands??? This year in fact my DS came home with 3 ornaments he made in 1st grade ( maybe I'll show you those later). So there you have it..my favorite things for today

how cute is this little guy? i just love him! I rescued this from some of my Grandparent's things. A friend of my Mamaw's made it for her, i have no idea how many years ago. I don't typically have a lot of PINK Christmas decorations, but i just loved this! In the detail shots, i hope you can see how it's put together. The snowflake (there is one on the front and back) is a large sequin thing held on with hundred of straight pins with beads on them. All different sizes and sorts of beads. It is really beautiful! the little "feet" it stands on are oblong pearl head pins with and extra pearl added. Last year i put this in my Daughter's room for the Holidays, but i was afraid she would be too curious this year at 4 to handle it. She has a great capacity for getting into and breaking things! I chose a safer spot in the living room this year! always cyndi

Oh the joys of Christmas Dinner! The food lovingly and perfectly prepared. All the family gathered around one big table dressed up in their best Holiday clothes. The crystal and China is sparkling and there is a smile on everyone's face. That's what Christmas Dinner looks like, right? I suppose so in a Norman Rockwell or Currier and Ives painting. Certainly not in my house! We use to have a more traditional Christmas dinner, with Turkey and dressing and all the fab sides. It was certainly never all of us at one table, none of us lives in a castle! the kids were usually at the "kids' table" and the adults if they were lucky, all sat together in an adjacent room. As the years went by and we got larger and larger....the more and more tables we needed! so now we may be in any number of rooms at any number of tables. There were years when some china was used because we needed that many plates. I think one of the best stories is that one year my Aunt who was hosting Chr

The perfect gift. How elusive? Have you ever given it? Received it? Do you even look for it, or do you stick with what's on the list and a sure bet? Honestly i have such a bad memory, i can't remember what i got..except for one year i got THE Barbie Dream House and it was totally amazing! I remember being so happy that Santa had brought me that! I would LOVE to find the perfect gift, but i don't think it is something you can stalk. I think it just happens when you least expect it. Like today, hub was showing me something online, and i found the perfect gift for the Duchess. Since we don't "do" Christmas gifts, it will have to wait until her B'day or until i just can't stand it and have to buy it for her. I'd tell you what it is, but she might read this!

This is our Advent Wreath. I use the term loosely because i don't know what else to call it, and it is round. It sits on our kitchen table where we eat dinner. Well, i guess where we usually eat dinner, or eat dinner on good nights! I would love to tell you some great story about this being some family heirloom, but i don't have one. I purchased this several years ago from a company called ABC. I don't recall how much i paid for it, but it wasn't a whole lot. It is sort of like a puzzle, fitting it together every year. It has to be "just so" or it won't sit right. and before you leave me comments telling me that the candles are supposed to be purple and pink, i KNOW that. I decided to go with white because the one year i spend the $8 and bought "Advent" candles, they dripped all over the wreath and i had to scrape purple wax off Joseph and the Angel! I've decided to stick with my $4 cream candles and just be "non traditional". I

In the midst of all the Christmas posts i am doing, i wanted to take a little time and show you some of my most favorite Christmas decorations. This wreath is definitely one! 1. yes, i made it 2. yes, those are mostly vintage decorations 3. in my grandparents attic, garage sales, and antique/junk stores...that's where they came from This is supposed to be made on one of those cheap plastic flocked wreaths...and i had one, but it was too small, and eventually, after about 2 or 3 years died on me. I removed all the do-dads and put them on this wreath. If i FIND one of those flocked looking ones, I'll snag it, but until then this will have to do. Here are some of my Favorite parts of the wreath....goodies on it! Do you remember putting these huge lights on your tree indoors??? apparently Mother Goose says "Christmas". Isn't she cute though? It actually holds up surprisingly well on the front door, we do have a covered porch though. and WOW have you seen how much t

Coke Zero Heavenly Chocolate Chunk cookies My Parents the Disney Channel My two sweet children My amazing husband and almost 10 years of Marriage The REAL meaning of Christmas Christmas Carols Good Friends My home and all the family that visits it Sinus medicine a dish washer and washing machine Microwave Popcorn! Starbucks! Scrapbooking and stampin’ supplies Glitter and rhinestones Hub’s job and his recent promotion! Gooooooooooooo team!

It seems to be the new tradition; us hosting Christmas Eve. My Dad's family, what's left of it, comes over around 10 a.m. and spends the whole day. We have a lot of fun, visiting and playing games, etc. I love having things at my house, i don't have to go anywhere or worry about my kids being bored or messing up someone else's house. Plus, and i know this is a strange one, it gives me REAL incentive to clean my house really well! Also, since the kids, my parents have spent the night with us on Christmas Eve as well. I wish i had an actual spare bedroom for them, since they won't take our bed..but we make do. We have a Christmas morning breakfast before they leave and we all begin to get on with our Christmas Day celebrations!