Christmas Postcards

Really, can you believe that the magic hour is almost here? I thought I was doing really good. Packages in the mail. Check. All cards sent with the exception of the handmade few. Check. Decorations up. Almost check. (is that truly ever done?) So I made a little list of the last few details which turned into a ginormous list of to-dos.
Neighbor, teacher, coach gifts. Most certainly not checked off. Cards mailed for the few who won't chuck them with the trash on December 26. Um, not checked off. Stocking stuffers? Still light on the fillers. Meals planned for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Not so much. The big game night showdown invites & planning done? Nope!

Am I stressed? A little bit. Nothing too bad yet. The day is coming whether I'm ready or not. The activities are ticking by on the calendar and the snow that was supposed to strand me at home where I could nest for 2 days straight went north leaving us with only rain. Cold rain, but just blah rain.

We didn't get the time to put up a lot of outside lights, so we went super simple this year. Superdy duper simple. While we won't be on the light tour this year (well, we never were, but wouldn't that be kind of nerdy fun?), this little scene is making people stop their cars for some odd reason.

Just a few other little postcards from our home...

And my oldest is home from college for Christmas. Look what the big softie brought his mom! He didn't even pull away from the bear hug I gave him. Good to have him and his bottomless pit of a stomach home for the holidays!

Happy Happy Mail Day!

There are still some amazing deals to be had on Ebay and today, several boxes of those deals found their way to my doorstep! Dozens of the smallest, sweetest little ornaments which will be perfect for loads of projects, strand after strand of mercury glass garland and fun boxes packed with perfectly petite pink (how's that for alliteration?) Shiny Brites!

Here are a couple of tiny canvases I had taken to the Open House this weekend. After I made them, I fell in love and had a tiny hope that they wouldn't sell. My hopes were not in vain. They will be settling in here at home with me, but lots of other bits & bobs will be making their way to Etsy shortly in hopes of finding a good home. Love that blue tinsel! Snagged that up at Vintage Melrose in Phoenix when I was at Creative Escape and kind of wish I could've picked up more in both volume and color.

Have you seen the video of these guys? Click here for Christmas cheer: YouTube - Straight No Chaser - 12 Days Love it!

The line between tasteful and tacky is a thin one indeed

As the decorations go up around the house, I've been trying to practice a little advice from the great Coco Chanel; always take off the last thing you put on (in terms of accessorizing). It's works for home too. I am kind of a cottage cluttered spirit at times and would rather be a cottage cozy spirit.

In that vein, I kept the door wreath super simple this year. I wired several vintage ornament picks together and attached them to the wreath along with a simple tulle bow.

The bottom half of the tree is buck nekkid not for want of ornaments but because a little scamp of a kitten named Bailee who thinks it's her personal jungle gym. She is also enamored of rearranging the tree skirt. I fully expect to find her stuck up in the branches well before Christmas arrives!

As for that tree, this is our first year for a fake tree. Our family tradition was to go out to the same tree farm each year and cut a Frasier Fir. Several forces came together to get us to the decision to try a fake tree: complaints from the kids about it being too wet, too cold, too something whenever we went therefore become joy suckers (people sucking all the joy out of your fun?), no one agreeing on the perfect tree and feeling bad about cutting down a living thing so we could enjoy it for a few weeks each December.

Soooo, we extract this new tree out of it's numerous wrappings, we go through the initial steps to put it together and I promptly burst into tears. It made the Charlie Brown Christmas tree look like the Rockefeller Center tree. Turns out we had to arrange the dang thing. Over 1000 tips to be adjusted, arranged and cajoled into place. This called for a drink, maybe 3. After a couple of hours of primping the thing up, I'm proud to say it's now almost to the status of a Charlie Brown tree. I'm not crazy about it, but I'm giving it a whirl. I'm hoping that it I throw enough ornaments at it, it'll grow on me.

One little bit of fun on my girly-girl back porch Christmas extravaganza; a tiny reindeer who can skip about a tree without tearing it apart ala Bailee!

A cool yule is on the way!

Don't tell my son, but it's a good thing he's still at college because when we took all the Christmas boxes down from the attic, they filled his room! It's always a bit of a surprise to start going through those boxes because inevitably I've forgotten since last year that I have this little bit or that tiny bauble.

Hubby isn't going to be happy because I had set aside a couple of boxes of decorations to donate and he packed them up into the attic instead. It's all good stuff, just not my kind of good stuff. I should really get those boxes into the back of my car before he starts questioning every item in each box. Yes, it's a nice roll of wired mustardy gold ribbon, but I can't see myself ever using it again, ya know? I'm married to a packrat who still has issues of Boys Life from the 70's somewhere. I can see the future after we have passed from this earth:

Our mourning (hopefully) children are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of STUFF packed into our attic, basement, closets and outbuildings. In their busy lives at professional organizers, they simply don't have the time to sort it all out, so they hire an auction company where our 'prized' possessions will be auctioned off in $2 box lots to our neighbors.

Yep, running out to the car now!

This week, I have two, count 'em, two exciting events going on. One is an art share. We're each going to bring a project or two with supplies enough for everyone and spend the day learning new skills, making fun stuff and communing with likeminded crafty gals. I'm bringing a couple of projects to the table. Sneak peek of one of the projects~ornaments made from vintage candle reflectors. I had seen something similar a few other places, but the prices were kinda high, so began to wonder 'could we make that?'. After a few attempts, the answer is happily yes!

What starts out as this:









Ended up at this:


I also found this fun garland at Kohls that reminds me of vintage mercury glass garland! I'm not sure yet whether I'm going to take it apart for projects or keep it intact for one of our small trees. Maybe I need to run back to Kohls for another package!

The 2nd event coming up is an open house at my friend Michelle's home on Sunday afternoon. Several home biz people will be there and I will also have a smallish offering of fun goodies that are a little retro, a little vintage, a lot of fun. I'm so excited because my Moo cards finally arrived so I can pass them out! They're like tiny little business cards with my info on the back. I love them! Wish me luck for this Sunday. I'll need all I can get. Putting my stuff, my babies, out there is a big step and I'd hate to think that people didn't at least like it a little bit. Leftovers will be going into a new Etsy shop.

And the winner is...

Jeanne! Hey Jeanne, drop me an email at PassingThymeHerb@aol.com with you snail mail addy and I will get this box o'fun in the mail to you ASAP!

After a day of glittery crafting happiness at my friend Kelly's house, I came home to check the first day of Teresa McFayden's 12 Days of Comfort & Joy blog/e-zine: Paper Bella Studio Why do I still have turkey in my freezer? Do I even like turkey? Doesn't pizza sound good for Christmas dinner?