Final post for Christmas

Today I finally unpacked our most treasured decorations. These are gifts that have been given to us from our family some who are no longer with us...  I am honored they shared their love of Christmas with us.    

This china was passed down from my husband's Aunt..  I adore it!



dessert plate

Two sets of cups



I added a thrift store tea pitcher to the set. I paid a whole $3.00 for it this week. Gotta love that!

   These cups are simple... but take a look inside.

cute huh?

Looks so much like a story book illustration.

The table

Another gift from my cousin.. doesn't she have the most gorgeous face? Thank you Connie.. The green china is from my father in law.. I will do some pics of it later.. I love it.. good story behind the gift.


Made by Connie Tognoli




One of the original.. I like him better than the new guys.



Painted in 1977. She is so beautiful to me.

Well that are my post for Christmas.. I am waiting for my second new granddaughter in as little as two weeks. Hopefully I will soon be too busy rocking to post for a while..  Have a great weekend!

Santa's here y'all!

Wanted to get some pics of my favorite Santa's.. I love this blog thing, it's like a photo album but fun.. No one is forced to look at pics but they are there if you want to take a look.. I hope you enjoy these guys as much as I do.

This Santa was a ceramic project that I painted in the 70's. He needs some touch ups but I don't have the heart to alter him.  I still can't believe I painted him although I think I remember writing colors on him in pencil to replicate the display.. guess that would pretty much verify I am not an artist




Dear Santa

 

  

This guy is lovely to me. A local man (Newton Prince) acutally carved this santa and sold them.. he is made from the mold of the original carving. It is dated 1987.

Another look..

This one is a knockoff of an original somewhere.. I loved his green outfit.. from the 90's  

To cold for no shoes

This guy is holding his shoes and is barefoot. A gift from sister in law, thanks Rhonda. (Dept 56)

 

Don't these look like brother Santa's?

Birthday Present this year.. (Mark Roberts)

A handcrafted gift from doll artist and my talented cousin Connie Tognoli. She made him expecially for me.. can you tell I like to sew?

Santa is everywhere .. hubby and I went thru the dive thru at Mc'D's on Sunday with our four year old granddaughter and guess who was in the Buick in front of us? You guessed it, SANTA... oh course sweetie girl wanted to know why Santa was not on his sleigh.   

Decorating for Christmas

So I finally made some progress in decorating for Christmas. The kitchen is done. I started decorating a tree for the kitchen when my oldest granddaughter was two. I had always wanted to have a tree in the kitchen with sweets. Grandchildren have given me the incentive to do some things I have put off for years. What a wonderful memory this will be for her one day. The baker..
(from Khols)

I love these glass ornaments of candy.. We lost a few last year..

Cute isn't he?

I wrote a note on the bottom of this one for my granddaughter documenting the first Christmas we baked together. 

The Pillsbury dough boy! I love his shaker.

Another baker (again from Khols) got him 1/2 off. Gotta love that 

My latest Santa, found at Home Goods this year.. love the vintage look

View of my hutch.. Pottery went up when the grands came along. The evil looking Santa has been around for over 16 years.I painted this one over 10 years ago

Closeup of the pottery.. I love it because my husband has bought it for me on trips.

Find at Crate and Barrel is perfect for the tree.. the table runner I usually make but for 12.95 at Home Goods I decided to pass all that work.  

Thanks for the visit. 

Thanksgiving & Green Stamps

• Just one little pic of the table at Thanksgiving.. not much but pretty good for the day my daughter came home from the hospital after a c-section. The glasses were a find in my own attic.. I bought them w/ green stamps, yes anyone remember green stamps?

Yum Fall!

Yum!

So my daughters and I start the fall season every year by making pumpkin bread. I made it using a variation of a recipe I have had since the 70's. I think it turned out delicious and moist. It is an easy recipe and makes two loaves. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

Pre heat oven to 350

1 can pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup veg oil
2/3 cups of water
3 1/2 cups of self rising flour
3 cups of sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teap nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 allspice
1/2 tsp cloves

Mix pumpkin, eggs, oil, water and sugar until mixed. Wisk together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture slowly until well mixed. Do not over beat.  Spray pan two loaf pans with non stick spray and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake for 50 mins until center comes out clean when toothpick inserted.

Out with the old in with the new

So I survived the yard sale. No spiders, but found a huge bug in a cup.. gave my husband a heart attack with my scream. Now I can officially say I absolutely hate a yard sale..the husband wants to have another next weekend. Guess we might as well finish off this project since we have it started. This will be my last yard sale for about the next 10 years. It is always good to get rid of junk in the house.. unless you are like me and go straight out and buy some more junk.. but it is cute junk... I am thinking about starting a new collection.. hey maybe I better get rid of those old gnomes next weekend.. The wonderful part of the day.. spending time with family.. even in the midst of getting rid of junk, I enjoy family.

Friday

 So happy Friday everyone! I am busy getting ready for a yard sale. Can't decide if that is a good or bad thing. Good, for the fact that we will be getting rid of loads of junk and making some extra money. Yuck, because everything has to be dug out of its resting grounds, cleaned and labeled. You can't believe the extra stuff I have found and I haven't even went into the attic yet! I have stuff in the attic from when the kids  were in college, hey, wait a minute.. I think there is stuff up there from middle school. Wonder if some of the stuff will fall apart when I lift it up? You know dry rot? Another yuck factor is ... spiders, I HATE spiders! I seem to always run up on one of those creepy things when I am digging out. You know they will be hid out in the garage and the attic, EWWW! My sister in law just told me that while my brother was tearing out a floor board, a whole bunch of spiders came running out! SUPER CREEPY. Of course that put my phobia in high gear. I think I would have had a heart attack. So anyway, shake it off girl, whew. I am trying to decide what to do with the extra money. What I would really like to do is go to the mountains next weekend. The mountains in NC are just beautiful, espeically this time of year. But, all that depends on how much money I can make. And that depends on how deep back in the attic dear husband is willing to dig out.  So anyway, no pics of the garage sale mess. Guess I better get back to work... see why? You guys have a great weekend!

Breathtaking!

Faith and Baby Showers

I am the grandmother of a wonderful little girl and boy. Both by my oldest daughter. Several months ago I learned I would have two more granddaughters. Yes, two! Both my daughters are expecting sweet little girls within two weeks of each other. My oldest daughter wanted to host a baby shower for her little sister at my house, makes sense, I have more room. The morning of the shower I get a call from daughter, my precious granddaughter was sick, she had to go to the hospital. I sat down and cried.. not for the shower but for the fact I cannot stand the thought of my sweet granddaughter going to the hospital. My granddaughter has cystic fibrosis so we never know if a mild illness will end up being a long hospital stay... How could I put on a pleasant face and throw a shower knowing my granddaughter was going to be in the hospital? ...How could I do this alone? Suddenly I remember what a bible study teacher had told me years ago, "thank the Lord before it happens".. so that is what I did. A feeling of peace came over me, I got up and started to get the house ready.. The thought of my granddaughter still nagged me somewhat, but a calm I could not explain remained with me that morning. Suddenly when I was  finishing everything up (with the help of a wonderful husband) the phone rang, "she  is coming home" said the voice on the other end.. a miracle? maybe not to you, but it sure was to me.. and the shower? probably the prettiest event I ever held. My granddaughter was able to come and had a blast, she even jumped into a large gift bag while my daughter was opening gifts.. wish we had a pic of that. I think I have leaned to start thanking the Lord before anything happens.. I think it is called FAITH, something I need more of.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.



Rabbits again.

  



Added the babies initials on jars of candy









What a cupcake stand, love it!






Babies initals on banner made to match the runners.
Thanks for taking a look.
50th Table Top Tuesday take a look I think you will love it!
I am linking to http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/2011/01/50th-table-top-tuesday.html

 

Welcome Fall



Rabbit peaking out of mums

  When I was young I swore I would leave the south for big city living. Surely I would not remain here. I would move up north, maybe even California. What did the south have to offer me? Now at 54, I realize I realize what it had to offer me. The south must be one of the greatest places God ever created. One of the wonderful things about southern living is watching the seasons change. Although there is something about every season that I love, the fall is probably my favorite season. I love the colors of the leaves when they change, the nip in the air, the smell of burning leaves and the holidays.. yep fall is probably my favorite time of the year.


Did I forget to mention that I love rabbits any time of year?

Another rabbit with cabbage plants sitting at the back door. How did the rabbits get broken ears? My dear husband likes to see how fast he can go on his riding lawn mower, do I need to say more?

Pumpkins are the perfect addition to fall. Sitting on the front porch. I was going to make a topiary but chickened out. I may give it a try later.

These sit at a quiet spot at the back door.

Made this wreath after seeing the one my oldest daughter has.

A sign to welcome soon to visit trick or treaters..

Love the vintage look

Don't know exactly what type of tree this is but aren't the berries in the fall pretty?