Saturday, December 10, 2011

John's Sports Tree

John's special tree is the "Sports Tree":
It's hanging on the wall in our bedroom and has special sports ornaments, such as SU,:
quite a few Yankees ornaments:

and even a few cheerleaders to represent our daughters!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Christmas Carolers

My all time favorite Christmas decorations are my Possible Dreams Carolers:
Some are from 1987 and others from 2001:


Sitting beside the carolers is a tree in a clay pot painted by one of my favorite artists....

...Angie Strauss from Niagara-On-The-Lake
It's beginning to look a lot like.....

Thursday, December 8, 2011

An Anthropologie Tree

I just saw this clever tree in the Rochester Anthropologie store:
Old books stacked high to create a tree shape, with large lights.


I want this - in my Library - that I don't have - too bad I get rid of my books after I read them - this sounds like a new project for me, which of course would require an addition on the house, gorgeous built-in shelves, red leather chairs with ottomans, a fireplace, braided rugs, and maybe even a small dog - maybe next year??

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The dining room tree

My dining room tree is one of my favorites. It is a collection of chandelier crystals, gold, white and glass ornaments and gold twigs:
Santa stands by the tree:
There are fairies....
...angels, sand dollars and stars...
... white poinsettias and lots of glistening crystals....
...and white and gold bows!

Sharing this with:

Monday, December 5, 2011

MacKenzie-Childs Knock-off Christmas Tree

On Sunday we went to Aurora, NY , to MacKenzie-Childs, to buy me a birthday present (or a few!) and I saw this gorgeous tree that I knew you would love to see (BJ, Terry and Debbie especially!) If there was a way, I would have picked it up and snuck it out the door! I just love how they put the teapot on top!
My husband showed the manager of the store, Pam, a photo of the stocking I made and she showed it to other employees (they loved it!) and then we talked a while about their textile department....I would love to work there when I retire from teaching but the daily drive would be too long...hhhmmm, wonder if they would let me move into the farmhouse??
She did encourage me to apply for a job working the Barn Sale next summer, so maybe I will!!

Here's their gorgeous tree:

Last year I created this tree by hand painting many of the ornaments:

It was a fun project that took many hours:

A few are actually MacKenzie-Childs pieces:

Some are wood, others are glass:

Last year when my husband and I met Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs, he told Richard that he must be part of our family because many things in our home had his name on it - and then invited him over for the holidays!! Men....

Sharing my tree with:
Tuesday Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Time to Shine Tuesday @ A Diamond in the Stuff

Sunday, December 4, 2011

My Christmas Fudge Wreaths

This fudge, in the shape of a wreath, is so easy to make - and it's "never fail", too. Here are the supplies:
The first thing I do is cover some "prescription" bottles with plastic wrap. These are to create the holes in the center of the fudge, to create a wreath shape.
I place these in the center of small aluminum pie tins:
I lightly brush butter on the tins and the plastic wrapped bottles:
I cut "leaves" out of gumdrops or spearmint leaves:
I chop up lots of walnuts:
And here is the recipe:
12 oz bag of milk or semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter OR butterscotch chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 t vanilla extract
Melt all 4 ingredients until creamy and add 8 oz chopped walnuts

Pour into 3-4 prepared small pie tins and add a few "leaves" and little cinnamon balls:
Refrigerate until set. Then I "twist" the prescription bottle out of center:
Peel away the pie tin and it is ready to be wrapped up for gifts or ready to slice and enjoy yourself!
This takes little time but makes a lovely gift. I usually wrap it in cello wrap with a pretty bow!
Sharing this with:

Friday, December 2, 2011

Snow Crystals

I just bought a new tree at Pier 1 Imports for my Swarovski crystal snowflakes:
This is my favorite snowflake on the tree:
No, I think this one is my favorite:
Now to decorate the rest of the mantle...
Oh, wait, this one is really my favorite:
Happy Decorating!!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Lucky me!

My dear friend, Andrea, just surprised me with a lovely gift:
She makes the prettiest cards and jewelry.
These pendants will certainly be worn a lot this month!
And she sent them to me "just because"!
Go visit Andrea at Needle Notes and let her know that you saw her beautiful jewelry here!
Thanks, Andrea - I just adore them!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Santa Claus is Coming....

I have a new addition to my little Santa collection:
A large print of the Jolly 'Ol Guy:

I have a few Possible Dreams Santas:


A santa I made in 1991:
with a face I created myself:
Ho Ho Ho!

Sharing with