Have yourself a merry little Christmas!!

Hello my friends!! It's been a while since I've posted. I have been sooooo busy!! You see, last week I began my medical transcription intership!!. Oh my, it has been overwhelming at times, but slowly I am getting the hang of it all! There are so many new things to learn besides the acutal transcription work, but I am hanging in there!! I really do find it interesting and am glad I will be able to work from my home. I did take time out last Thursday to host our miniature club Christmas party. We had soup, salad and all the trimmings with toffee browies and frozen custard for desert. It was so good!! There were girls in the kitchen and the diningroom. Thought I would share pictures with you!!


Sorry, this picture was dark and a little blurry too!! After our lunch it was time for our annual "mini" gift exchange!! Everyone makes a miniature gift to give and exchange. This year there were some beautiful items created, so I thought I would show you some pictures of these tiny works of art!!!

First up a tiny tussie mussie and tree ornament made by Blossom. She made it for her granddaughter to bring and exchange, so Blossom made two gifts. Isn't it sooo sweet?? Blossom LOVES any thing pink!! You should see her magnificent dollhouse!!!

See the tassel?

Minature quilt and matching pillows made by Allana. She has some new quilt program on her computer and she can PRINT out these gorgeous designs!!! She said she can make a design from anything. This one is in colors of blue and yellow. Gorgeous !!

These little wreaths were made by me. A larger pine wreath in greens, reds, and ivory, and a smaller bead wreath like the ones everyone is making this year in full size.

Blossom again made this tiny silk purse with lace and tiny, tiny pink crystals and pearls. Isn't it exquisite?? Also, the tiny ornament to go on MY tree. Yes, this is the gift that I drew!!! I was thrilled!!!

A very tiny Candy - Cookie tree made by Charlsia. The cookies and candies are made of tubes of fimo clay which are formed in a design in tiny pieces. Then the larger piece is rolled out to become a very small cylinder. The design stays, and then the pieces are sliced off with a razor blade. This is the same technique that hard candy maker of old used. Soooooooo sweet!!!

Joann sculpted this tiny fairy!! She is about 5 inches long! She is made from oven-bake clay and handpainted. The wings are from a pheasant she said. Isn't she beautiful? WOW so impressive!!

This little bed was not actually a gift in the exchange, but a sample of an upcoming class taught by Allana. Isn't it so beautiful?

A tiny arbor for a winter vignette made by the talented Debbie. What wonderful addition to any dollhouse landscape this would be!!!!

Tiny chest filled with Christmas wrapping supplies and so cute!!!! Well, now I'm embarrassed!!. I made a list of who brought what but forgot to check it twice!!! so I can't give the artisan credit where credit is due. But narrowing it down, this precious little chest was made by either Carol or Lyn.

Little Miss Candy cane dressed by Joyce. She used a little doll she got at Dillards that was an ornament. Redressed her and worked on her hair. She also makes the little bears out of pipe cleaners. Her little red shoes are made from some kind of plastic tape. She is soooooo precious, isn't she?

I scanned this old postcard to share with you.

As well as this precious old card. It is tiny. Didn't scan as detailed as I would have liked, but isn't it beautifull?

May every one of you in this wonderful family of Bloggers know the perfect peace that only Jesus himself can bring to your hearts. May you make wonderful memories this Christmas with all those you love.

It is snowing like crazy here right now, so we will be having a white Christmas for sure!!! Our children, all but one family, hope to come to celebrate with us on Saturday, so that means I still have another day to "get everything done"! I am keeping food simple this year and no one will mind. We always eat way too much anyway.!!!!

Warm Christmas Blessings to you all, Linda
and many thanks to all of you for blessing my life through your blogs and comments this year.!!!

Christmas Tour

Hi Friends, Today I'm joining in the Tour of Homes with the Nester!! I'm showing the remaining Christmas decorated rooms in my home. To see all the homes of the tour, click HERE!! It's so much fun to see how each one interprets CHRISTMAS in their homes using the talents and creative gifts given to us all.

I have always loved Christmas for the reason that it focuses our attention on the great gift the Heavenly Father sent us on that dark night in a little stable, so ordinary and yet so extraordinary in the way he chose to bring Jesus and the salvation he brought to a world without hope. Today he comes and takes up residence INSIDE each of us who invite him in. There is always room, because without HIM there is a "space" that only He can fill.

The world needs Him more now than ever before, and yet He waits patiently and quietly for the doors to be opened. Praying that the Lord will speak to your heart in a still and quiet voice to tell you that He loves you more than you could ever imagine.

And now, on with the tour!!

This picture is in the guest bath. It is actually a "framed" gift bag. I loved the Santa and also the monkey, so I thought why could I not frame it? You see, I have this little affection for monkeys....... I know, I know, it's weird, I've just always like them.



This is the window in the entry. It is clear, not a mirror. Rather than a solid wall, we had an old window frame built in to let in light and add character. I have vintage Shiny Brites hung on the garland. The iron piece hangs on the other side.

An old wash bowl filled with old looking ornaments in silver, gold and white on the diningroom table.

I keep thinking I want to work in some red into this room also, so I put a few balls on the sideboard. What do you think?? It might look more country French with the 3 primary colors. I don't know. I like just the golds, whites, silvers, and blue too!!

Does anyone else every wish you have several houses to play in? Sounds silly I know!! These days, I can barely get the one house in shape!!

This is the little fake dormer over the diningroom. I have lace curtains to eventually hang on the window, just haven't yet asked DH if he would go up the ladder and do that for me yet.
For Christmas I have a lighted tree on the table, the rest of the year, a lamp.

My fontanini nativity set. I think the pieces and the colors are so beautiful!! A dear friend gave me some of her pieces when she had to downsize recently, so now I will treasure them in my home for years to come and they are a precious reminder of her.

These are my "star" trees. I really enjoy them and the way they sparkle and shimmer in the lights!!. I think next year, I want to hang some stars from the light fixture also.

The master bedroom, sorry I forgot to pick up the camera cap!! Just have a few extra touches of Christmas in this room. The biggest piece is my "angel tree". I have collected angels for so many years. Colors are mostly pinks and creams. It's so beautiful to lie in bed and enjoy the lights and the glow.

This tree is in my art studio and holds special momentos from the past. Old pieces of lace and crocheted work, dolls, and things from my childhood. See the baby shoe? It was mine.

The little green tatted basket was a sweet gift from my Aunt Jo. She does such beautiful work!!
I love the porcelain dollhead with the real fur hat and the angel that is very old.

The blue beads were the only gift I ever received from my paternal grandmother. The rhinestone bracelet I received from my parents for 8th grade graduation. The baby hairbrush was mine.

Pieces of jewelry and other special things I have received thru the years, another tatted piece from Aunt Jo. Sorry about the glare on the mirror ornament!

Well, hope you enjoyed seeing the rest of the house. I look forward to seeing all the other great homes on the tour!!! Many thanks to the Nester for hosting this fun blog party!! She is a daily read for sure!!

Warm Christmas Blessings, Linda

Home for the Holidays

Hi Girls!! Today I am joining in the fun with Rhoda at Southern Hospitality blog.com to share my Home for the Holidays photos of my home wearing it's Christmas attire. I will show you pictures of my kitchen and family room today. Please click HERE to see all the other great decorating ideas to gain inspiration from!

Also, I am linking to Julia's Hooked on Holiday houses tour. Go and check out all the other holiday homes HERE!!

This is my kitchen. I have the stove mantel decorated with apothacary jars and Christmas trees. The jars are filled with my collection of vintage "Shiny Brites". I love them and pick them up whenever I can get them for a good price.There is a little glare in this photo. We had 6 inches of snow on the ground this morning and it was really bright when I took this picture!!


Again, this was taken in the early morning and it creates a lot of shadows that I don't particularly like but it is what it is. My little "feather looking tree" is filled with vintage ornaments. It is acutally a fibre optic tree with a wheel so it changes colors also. I have a string of little lights on it as well. To get the layered effect, I simply cut out the branches I did not want with wire cutters.

Oops, I forgot to turn it on for the picture. Obviously I took this photo before the snow came!!



I have quite a Santa collection and choose to display all my small to medium sized ones in this little cupboard. I have kind of a fruit theme in my kitchen so the garland has beaded fruit in it.

This is on the coffee table in the family room. I just put a wreath on the table and arranged unbreakable ornaments in it. The little batting Santa sits in a hurricane vase.

The first Santa I ever made.

Over the piano, I made the wreath to coordinate with the garland on the fireplace mantel. See the cute monkeys? They like to sing Christmas carols around the piano!

This photo has some glare too, sorry it just didn't take very well.

The tree, I love how it turned out. Takes a while to get all the ornaments on it but it is worth it. Not too impressed with the prelit part. We've already had to cut out several strings that burned out. So, I'm back to stringing lights and I don't believe you can have too many lights on a tree. The more the better is my motto!!

The other side of the room. I recently moved this curio secretary in here because it had been in the hall niche where we just added to bookcases. I think it works okay here.


Hope you enjoyed these two rooms. I will be sharing more next week. I'm anxious to see everything the other bloggers have to share. Have a great and wonderful day!!

Blessings,

Linda

Here Comes Santa Claus

I am linking up to Susan at Thoughts from over the Rainbow for her Deck the Halls Tuesday blog party!! See the other displays HERE.

Hi Friends!! We are all so busy Christmasing our houses aren't we? I love how my house looks at Christmas, so warm and cosy and I have always had a special feeling for Santa Claus or St. Nickolas. I believe he represents a "spirit of giving" and the love of children. St. Nick was a real person who lived in Turkey and was a bishop in the Catholic church. He was orphaned at an early age and used his money to give to poor children and those in need.
As I said in my last post, I started making Santas many years ago and they have evolved through the years. This Santa is one of my latter ones, pardon the brightness, I used a flash for this picture a few years ago, and I cannot take another as he went to a home in another state. He was custom created for a special family to represent them and all that they hold dear. By the time I get one done, it is hard to let him go!!, but I love the process of making these kind old gentlemen come to life!!





This Santa went to an LSU fan among other personal references. All done in purple and gold.

This Santa lives with me!! I have 2 new bookcases in the hall to display all my Santas and have been having fun filling it up!! I think I'm going to have to pare down my collection though. I ran out of space for them all!!

Since I also do miniatures, I had to make a tiny display for all my mini Santas. There are about 200 or so, it's been a while since I have taken the time to count them all!! Many are handmade, some just repainted, and some are tiny Hallmark ornaments that were the perfect size.

The" gift box" is plexiglass on 2 sides and the lid and front can be removed. There is also a light inside ~ it's one of the favorite things I have made.

This is my new bookcase!! It's actually 2 (purchased at Walmart) cases that were the perfect size to fit in this niche we had in the hallway. We already had the beadboard cupboard beneath them, so we just painted everything white and put beadboard on the backs of the cases instead of using the cardboard backing that came with them. I love how it turned out! and and looking forward to seasonal displays all year as well as a great place for family pictures. I plan to store games and such in the base cabinet for the grandchildren to have easy access.

See the picture of the old gentleman with the pipe? I recently found this picture at the Goodwill Store!! I was so excited. Doesn't he look like Santa??

The only problem is one of lighting. The hallway has two fixtures and the bookcases are between them, so I think we will try to get some kind of a track fixture that doesn't look too contemporary so we can aim little spotlights on the bookcase.

To take these pictures, I put a table lamp on the opposite side of the hall on a table and it cast too many shadow, but you get the idea, not to mention that it snowed here all day and so there wasn't much natural light in the house. But it did put me in the Christmas spirit to finish up my decorating and do some baking which is a good thing!!!

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to visit!! I wish for each of you dear friends a wonderful CHRISTmas season!!

Blessings to each of you, Linda