20 Things I Love About Christmas

Well, I'm all snowed in with the first real blizzard of the year, enjoying a quiet cup of coffee, waiting for the kids to get up so I can start the mixer & bake all day! Yum!

I figured it's a great time to get my list of 20 things together to join in the fun over at The Inspired Room.

In no particular order:

1. Twinkle lights. Hung merrily on trees, laced through garlands, looped among mantle decorations, gathered in glassware.

2. Harry Connick Jr. All 3 cd's full of Holiday tunes, & even better, live & in person this year! What a treat!

3. Christmas lists. Not so much the shopping, but thinking of wonderful surprises. To tuck in stockings, or wrap in packages, to bring a smile on Christmas morning. It really IS the thought that counts.

4. Hot chocolate. With tiny marshmallows. In the special "only to be used for hot chocolate" mug.

5. Fresh fallen snow that sparkles like diamonds in the moonlight.

6. Cookies. Special Holiday cookies. Made once a year from recipes handed down from a great-grandma whose name I don't even know. That somehow managed to cross the ocean with Grandma (who died before I was born) back at the turn of the century. From a tiny village up in the Trentian Mountains in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

7. Candy Canes. The chocolate mint ones.

8. Piling everyone in the car to drive around for hours looking at all the gorgeous light displays.

9. Making sure the tree is up for our Christmas baby. Her brother remarked, "It's just not her birthday without the tree!!"

10. Christmas cactus. A new tradition. A "must have" for when the college son returns from the desert.

11. Wassail. Here we come a wassailing. The smell of the spices filling the air.

12. Merry greetings from friends far & away.

13. The Muppet Christmas Carol. At least twice.

14. Sitting in front of the tree on Christmas Eve. All the other house lights off. The kids tucked snuggly with visions of sugar plums. Remembering Christmas past.

15. The Nutcracker, preferably the Baryshnikov version.

16. Taking the time to stop & do something kind for a stranger in all the hustle & bustle. Making someone smile.

17. Tamales. They just taste better this time of year!

18. The Christmas Waltz. My very favorite song.

19. The magic of Christmas morning.

20. Family. All of them. Nuts & all!

A Faerie Crown

Since I had the jewelry stuff out due to the snow day & a little time on my hands, I decided to make a crown for the Christmas Faerie. She looked a little bare with just the berries & ornaments. Especially after her festive Fall array.

So, I set about with wire & rhinestones & a few freshwater pearls. I twisted & twined, baubled & bent; and eventually had a crown fit for a Queen.

A Faerie Queen, that is!







And since we've had nothing but snow for a couple weeks now, I decided to move the Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas/etc tree down to the hearth for the season. Gone are the orange lights, & the red & white fits nicely into the rest of the scheme!

A Snow Day & Crystal Icicles

Well, we are officially in the midst of our first Winter Storm. We've had some good snowfalls already this season, but this one is a doozy! It started with freezing rain that coated the roads, & now we have 6-10 inches of heavy snow.

I didn't even consider attempting the drive to work.

Instead, I stayed warm & snug, twinkle lights lit & Christmas music playing. I have been toying with the idea of making some crystal icicles for the tree, given our new theme this year. I know somewhere in the jewelry jumble there is a stash of unused Czech crystal in just the right hue.



I poured another cup of coffee, popped in a new CD & got to work.



I used stretch cord instead of wire so that nothing interfered with the sparkle.

I tied a double knot in the end, & set to stringing.



I looped the stretch cord back through the last big aqua bead & knotted it firmly. (Sorry, the photo turned out very, very blurry. Maybe I shouldn't have had that extra coffee!)



As soon as the roads are clear, I need to get some Super Glue to dab on all the knots to secure them. I don't want beads all over the house if the big kitten gets hold of them!




Don't forget to stop by The Inspired Room to see everyone's great ideas!

I'll Have a Blue Christmas...

With the bold new look we gave the Great Room, our old traditional decorations didn't blend so well. So, I hit Michael's again (& now my husband knows what I am up to when I go visit "Mike" so often!)

I stripped the old garlands & added blue & sliver & lots of sparkle!

I decked the halls & sang along with Harry as I did. (Harry Connick Jr is maybe my favorite Christmas music.)

And the results:















We like it so much we may forgo the memory ornament collection this year & redo the tree as well!

Don't forget to stop by The Inspired Room

I've also just joined the fun over at Smiling Sally's Blue Monday