HAPPY NEW YEAR!

May your New Year be a wonderful one full of good health, love, laughter, prosperity and a wonderful creative muse.

Where might the path of the new year lead you? Have you made any resolutions for this new year? I have been thinking long and hard on this one, myself. I do hope that all of us find the hours in the day to allow us our work and also our quiet time. Whether it be time to reflect, time with your family, time to create, time to enjoy a hobby or indulge in a passion. My wish for you is the gift of time.
HAve a Happy New Year!

The Dancing Mockingbird and lovely flower

This is my latest creation. I love the red glass beads. One side has a Dancing Mockingbird and the other has a closeup red flower that says lovely flower. It is under frosted glass and is 20" long. I have two more to make but am toying around with images and words. Any ideas of things that you would like to see? I always weigh creativity against what people want. It is a hard balance with personal items like jewelry. Anyone want to comment on that? What drives your creations? Please do share. I'd love to hear your opinion.

Christmas Swap and our Christmas

Yes, we all wore our crowns from the Christmas crackers, just so I could humiliate everyone with this photo. Just kidding, sort of. ;D Beer bottles on the table. Classy, huh? Oh well we are not completely full of etiquette. We did place napkins in our laps, if that counts. lol
I was partnered with Elizabeth for the Vintage inspired Christmas Swap. What fun it was putting together her package.Of course as always I did not photograph what I sent. Darnit. One day I will do that, just like the before and after photos I always forget to take of our home projects. Oh well nobody is perfect and I never claimed to be. Not even close. Look at this gorgeous package Elizabeth sent me!
She took the time to actually burn me a Christmas music CD. Isn't the label so darn cute?! She's so talented.
Look at the pretty Vintage tags she sent me. Do you recognize the maker? Yep, Sherry Smyth of Esprit D'Art.
This lovely bookmark was made by none other than Miss FiFi Flowers. Check out here artwork here.
Look at these two treasures she sent. Vintage ornaments. Aren't they darling?!
Elizabeth sent this thin ribbon candy that is made right where she lives. Love it.
Okay, so no Christmas goes without a hitch around here, so this one was no different. Yes, that is Chris and Jack splicing our Christmas lights back together. I asked the Mr. to put the star on the tree and of course he had to cut a few branches to make it fit. So while doing that our son said,"dad the red bulb is flickering , you might want to stop". My daughter and I chimed in that they are blinking lights. Well, turns out that one wasn't. Oops! ;D No worries a little electrical tape and some splicing and voila we were back in business.
Jack set up the train his father left him around the Christmas tree. This track can become huge but I have to limit him because he would wrap the darn thing around the whole living room if I let him. He also has a whole lumber yard of buldings and all sorts of cars for his train.

Well, that sort of sums up our Christmas. We did a lot of shopping and way too much eating and played games and enjoyed one anothers company. It was a nice Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A Merry Christmas to all!

Click on photo to enlarge. I am going to make these. Yum! This recipe is from that Gooseberry Patch Christmas All Through The House book I bought on Super Friday.
Click on Photo to enlarge. Timi asked for this recipe so here it is. Oh my gosh were they delish! No more left. This recipe is also from that Gooseberry Patch book. You know they have so many wonderful color photos and I just love to see what a recipe will look like when I make it. Presentation is half the battle. Hope you enjoy making these.

Empty Nest...Christmas recipes

First of all yesterday our son turned 24! My 1st born is a man and I'm not sure how much I like it. ;D He is coming home to spend Christmas with us. We will be so happy to have him. We only see eachother 2-3 times a year. He attends UNC and with him working and us working it is hard to manage the 8-1/2 drive, so we see eachother in the summer, at Christmas and sometimes Easter. This makes me sad on two counts one for him but also knowing our daughter is graduating high school next year and then she too will be going off to college. I am not sure how I will manage. She is my baby girl and therefore I tend to mother her a tad more. Heck who am I kidding? I tend to mother everyone, it seems. I cannot help it. I have the gift of Mercy through and through. This empty nest thing is for the birds. Pardon the pun but it does seem to fit quite nicely, don't you agree?
Oh my gosh, I got a little melodramatic there. So sorry. Anyway, my daughter sent me a link last year to this really cool Christmas site that has some fantastic recipes. You click on the link and then in the left hand column you will see many choices. I clicked on Holiday recipes and it has so many to choose from. It is pretty neat. There are recies for cookies, candy, cakes, breads, pies and others. There are also games and all sorts of fun things to do with children. So go check it out and see what fun you can get into.
Happy Saturday!

Christmas items

It's fun to see Santa depicted in so many ways. The photo below of the primitive santa is quite a juxtaposition to this one.

I love these boxwood wreaths for many seasons. Just switch out the ribbons they are hung by and voila you have a whole new look.
This is the primitive santa figurine I was referring to above. I love the time and effort to create this wonderful santa.
This is an ornament I saw in an antique shop and I thought it was too cute, the little guy was a ttached to a candleholder and clipped onto the tree. Clever.
Candles say welcome and this one along with others greet customers arriving at the local antique shop. You will see candles like these displayed in the windows of homes all over during this time of year but also throughout the year as a welcome sign. It looks so nice to pass by a home that has one in every window. VEry cozy looking. I have the battery operated ones so I don't have to worry about finding a nearby outlet to plug it into and seeing the unsightly cords. But that also means I have to buy fresh batteries every year.
This cute little guy was on display among some bottle brush trees. Isn't he adorable?

Christmas is in the air

I donned my Christmas apron and started my Christmas baking. Family and friends will enjoy the goodies.
Strawberry Preserve Thumbprint Cookies
Praline Shortbread Cookies
The cookie jar half full of yummy Chocolate Chip cookies
These are what is in the cookie jar. I added heath bits instead of nuts to them.
Happy Holidays to all! We bought a case of fresh fruit from our local 4-H Club. The fruit was/is so delicious!
Milk and White Chocolate Dipped pretzel rods.
Christmas sprinkles on Chocolate dipped pretzel rods
The wreath that adorns our kitchen cupboard
This is the front of the china cabinet
This sleigh is the centerpiece on our dining room table
Fleur De Lis candleholder in our dining room
The wine holder in our dining room gets a litle something too
This strand of lights fought us for a good 1/2 hour. We finaly got them lit and I was so exited.
I hope you all are enjoying this Christmas Season and your hearts and homes are warm and cozy. May you enjoy love, laughter and good cheer now and throughout the New Year!