Merry Christmas

Wishing all my blogging friends a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Blessings to all.

Extreme Sheep LED Art

View this extreme sheep LED art. Although these LED lights aren't on greens, they are LED lights and I think you will be amazed to view this short video. I'm linking to Susan's Outdoor Wednesday. Click here to see other outdoor/Christmas decorations.



I do have my own Christmas decorations posted. Just keep scrolling down to see those as well.

Christmas House Tour

Welcome to my home. Come on in and I'll show you around.







My tree has a poinsettia theme. I have a poinsettia star on the top, silk poinsettias and ribbon with a poinsettia design.


I also have the tree full of crystal icicles which I have been collecting for years.






Can you believe, I found this electric fireplace at a yard sale for $40. I have a ceramic village on the mantel. An appliqued quilt is hanging above the fireplace.





My nativity set is displayed on top of the entertainment center.

DH loves the nutcrackers. I had the center one and just purchased the two tall ones at a thrift shop for $2.00 each.

This is my angel collection. I didn't intentionally set out to collect angels, most are gifts. I realized that I did have a small collection, so I displayed them together.

I purchased the angel below at Macy's in NYC.

When the candles are lit, this little brass chime tinkles. Luckily, I found that when placed on the window sill, the heat from the baseboard heater activates it.

My dining chandelier has three different garlands and more of the crystal icicles.

In the photo below I have two different garlands over the china cupboard and a cute wooden snowman.

Moving into the kitchen, I put a garland over the kitchen cupboard.

We were snowed in today, so I spent the day baking. I made snickerdoodles, chocolate-peanut butter fudge, scones, and wonderful little loaves of a festive cake that Prudent & Practical posted on Foodie Friday.

Christmas Tablescape

We had another couple over for dinner Wednesday evening. I set the table in a Christmas theme. The red tablecloth was just purchased at Target for $10.



The silver chargers were found at a thrift store for 25 cents each. Flatware is my everyday Oneida.



The plates were at Salvation Army for about $3.00 for the service for four.

A salad bowl was included in the set.

Coffee mugs were included, too. The glasses with holly were also thrift store finds. They were Arbys Christmas collection 1986.

I had this little tea light holder for years. I have also been collecting Christmas napkin rings. I like having a mismatched assortment.

Fresh greens are arranged in the silverplated bowl which is also a thrift store find. The candle sticks, thrift store again. Candles were from a yard sale. I have had those little figurines for decades.

I have three layers of garland around the chandelier. Hanging from the fixture are crystal icicles.

This post is linked to Tablescape Thursday. Go on over to Between Naps on the Porch to see Susan's beautiful tablescape and all the others who have joined her party.

Santa Collection

Susan from Thoughts from over the rainbow is hosting another Deck the Halls party. Click here to go check out other Christmas decorations.

I have a few Santas I have collected. Above is my traditional red Santa. Below is one wearing an elegant white coat.

I just got this kitchen Santa this past Saturday at a church bazaar. I only paid $3.00 for him.

This is a ceramic gingerbread house.

The ceramic cupcake holds little spreader knives. Since we like cheese balls during the holidays, I will be putting these to use.

This star is made out of garden bamboo stakes sprayed silver. I did not make this, but the decoration committee at our church did. I though this was such a cleaver idea, I thought I would share.

Sunday night a group from our church went caroling. This darling sleigh is parked on the porch of a nursing home we went to. I'm sure Santa has a lot of goodies in there for the nice folks we visited.

Deck the Halls - Gingerbread House

Susan over at Thoughts from over the rainbow is hosting a Deck the Halls party. Click the link to go to other holiday decoration posts.

I have not started decorating for Christmas yet. I believe I should have Thanksgiving over before I start on the Christmas. However, my little grandson remembered decorating a gingerbread house last year and asked me if we could decorate another this year. Of course, that was our first Christmas project.

The two smallest cousins worked on the house all by themselves while the adults checked out the adds for sales.

The hard part was not eating all the candy before it went on the house.

I'll post more next week.

Alan Grant Poem

I would like to thank Charlotte and Ginger for hosting Spiritual Sundays. You must click on the link to take you to other spiritual posts. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

The Difference

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;

I had so much to accomplish that I didn't have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me, and heavier came each task.

"Why doesn't God help me? I wondered.

He answered, "You didn't ask."

I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on gray and bleak.

I wondered why God didn't show me;

He said, "But you didn't seek."

I tried to come into God's presence; I used all my keys at the lock.

God gently and lovingly childed, "My child, you didn't knock."

I woke up early this morning, and paused before entering the day.

I had so much to accomplish, I had to take time to pray.

-Alan Grant

My Favorite Things Party - November 19

Melissa at 320 Sycamore is hosting My Favorite Things party, just like Oprah. What a good idea, Melissa. I love to be able to be tipped off to things you all love, especially if I can afford it. Not having Oprah's income, I like that real people are listing their favorite things. Click on the 320 Sycamore link to check out everyone's favorites. Here are some of mine.

1. Debbie Meyer Green Bags. They really work and pay for themselves by absorbing and removing the ethylene gas which causes fruits and vegetables to spoil. You can buy these in stores, on TV or at http://www.greenbags.com/.

2. Chenille socks. OK, Oprah beat me on listing them, but whey really are wonderful. The plusher and longer the better. Don't make the mistake in getting the really short ones as they come off.

3. Chicken Marsala at Carrabbas Italian Grill - This is a chain with over 200 locations. If you have a Carrabbas anywhere near you, go there and order their chicken marsala. It is my favorite restaurant dish in the world. We went there last week. Kerri was our waitress. I thought I took a picture of the Chicken Marsala, but when I went to upload it, it wasn't there.

4. Stash Chai spice black tea with a spoonful of Splenda and a splash of French Vanilla Creamora. Yum.

5. Velvet covered clothes hangers are on my favorite list. They really keep all my tops secure and they don't take up as much space as the plastic ones.

6. Is there anyone out there that hasn't tried these? They certainly are magic. Things I have tried to clean and though they needed painting or just thrown out certainly have become cleaned. The only thing you have to watch out is that they clean too well, so don't rub your wall too hard or the paint will come off.

Of course my most favorite things are intangible items. Blessings.

To cut an onion.

We often talk about simplifying our lives. Ads will tell us that if we purchase their product, our life will be easier. Others say that eliminating the unnecessary stuff we have will make our life simpler. I thought about this the other day when I went to chop an onion.



Cutting an onion is something I may do two or three times per week. I will grab my chef's knife and a cutting board and chop the onion. I have other options in my kitchen for doing this job. However, even if I choose to use another implement, I still must cut the ends off and take the outer papery skin off.






The Vadalia chopper is my mother-in-law's favorite. She said how much she liked it, so I went out and purchased one, too. I had a very hard time pushing the top down through the onion, so much so that I had to step on the top. That's not my idea of how to use a kitchen utensil. Perhaps it will work better with another type of food. I'll keep it for a little while longer and give it another chance. Again it's taking up room and it's not the easiest thing to clean.







I like a mandolin when I need a lot of nice thin slices. This is a keeper, but I don't use it that much.






The hand chopper is used when I need a lot chopped.



I do not have a food processor. I found it took up too much space and was more work to clean than it was worth, so I got rid of it.

Do you like gadgets or have a lot of utensils? What do you use?