This Christmas...

5 days till Christmas!  Wow!  Where has the time gone?  Where has the year gone?

My Holiday tree that is kept up year round in my dining room is decorated with cookie cutters, homespun, a few fabric hearts and a Christmas present from my dear friend, Donna-- the adorable Gooseberry Patch Cookbook ornament!  I LOVE it!  It's so cute!  Thank you Donna!

A few things sitting on my husband's grandmother's hutch.  I decorated with fresh greenery all over this year and I love the pine smell!

My very favorite Christmas piece was made by my mom in 1986.  She made six of them!  One for each of her children!  Although it would be a decade later before I married, I have treasured it because I know how much love and time was put into this beautiful village!

I am so very thankful for this Christmas compared to last Christmas. Last year I had to work more days at my part-time job. I was working four days a week. This year I am only working two days a week. It has been so wonderful to accomplish so many things I wasn't able to last year because of time restraints. Even though my job is part-time, working retail at Hobby Lobby is hard work! Most especially at Christmas time and the month following it! I work in the Seasonal department and it is ever evolving! Constant change is going on. Right now we are in the process of setting out garden and spring items. Valentine's has arrived also! As much as I despise pink (sorry for all you pink lovers!), I am always so delighted to see some pink after all that red and green!

Anyway, it has been a most enjoyable Christmas for me this year. I have been able to focus more on Christ and share more of Him this year. That is always such a thrill for me! My most favorite thing about Christmas is spending time with family and friends. I had a wonderful weekend full of these! Some of my girlfriends and I had a cookie swap Friday night hosted at my home. We had a most enjoyable time... staying up till 1:35 AM catching up on each other's lives! We finally divvied up the cookies at 1 AM! Haha! It was fun and such sweet fellowship. Saturday night, we hosted the main course of a progressive Christmas dinner for our church youth. It was a house full! I was worried about 50+ people having room to sit down and eat dinner, but it worked out. Good times for sure!

After a week of baking and partying, I am ready to focus on a week of my kids being home on Christmas break. Together, we are going to build a gingerbread house (that was actually bought last year, but we never had time to put it together), make jelly and mini bread loaves to share with our family, wrap presents, watch Christmas shows snuggled up on the couch eating popcorn and nestle by the fire drinking hot cocoa. Now that is a Christmas I can enjoy instead of being wore out from working so hard!

Thank you Lord! I am most grateful for the joy in my heart this Christmas!

Wishing you and your family a most warm and blessed Christmas surrounded by lots of love!

Good finds

I don't have any Black Friday good deals being as I had to work today.  But I do have a couple of good finds that I'm pretty proud of.  So proud, that I want to share.

I have wanted a cardinal Christmas tree for a few years now.  I've been searching for just the right tree.  I'm so happy to say that I finally found it!

The tree was originally $393.00.  I got it at 80% off last year after Christmas.  On top of that, I got another 15% off because of it being an employee purchase since I work at Hobby Lobby.  It is a gorgeous 7.5 foot snowed mixed pine tree with red berries and pine cones.  How perfect for a cardinal or two!!

This is the only Christmas decoration I had in my house before Thanksgiving.  I am a very traditional kind of gal.  I wait for Thanksgiving to be over before I retire my fall decorations and bring out the Christmas.  I just couldn't wait for this tree any longer!  I love it so!

I am so excited about adding another object of affection to my ever-growing list of goodies to watch out for when I'm antiquing.  You know... that 'thrill of the hunt'.  The glass balls are in place; now to add the cardinals.

While shopping in Colorado, my sister wanted to stop at a Home Goods store.  I had never heard of it but as always, I was anxious to see what goodies I could find.  Boy, did I ever come across a couple of good finds!

This candle holder was only $3.  I was so excited about the price that I didn't even think to see if the light actually worked!  Haha!  I rubbed some black paint on it to age it a little more.  I took off the sad looking homespun and added my own homespun that has a touch of Christmas colors.  The light works!  So exciting for me!

This little crock light, that I paid $2 for, also needed homespun to make it cozy.  I stopped by Wal-mart's fabric dept. one day while grocery shopping and was so joyful when I realized they carry homespun for $2 and $2.99 a yard!!  I went a little crazy (he he!), but I have lots of fabulous homespun to add to my collection.  And this light works too!

It's cute, but lacking.  I came across this sweet little wreath made of pip berries and rusted tin stars.  I really like it now, and I like its new location better too-- right next to a couple of small crock jars that I purchased for $2 and $3 at Gordman's.  They are sitting on top of a candle box that I bought as unfinished wood about 9+ years ago.  I painted and sanded it and use it regularly.  I like my things... but I also like my things to be functional!  The adorable little sign is "the cherry on top".  =]

I am grateful for the things in my home that I call my 'treasures' and that bring simple joy to me.

I love to decorate for Fall

I love the colors of Fall.  Burnt orange, mustard, barn red, mahogany, brown, olive.

I use the top of my husband's grandmother's hutch to make a full display of pumpkins, leaves, and the colors I love so much.  These are a few of my favorite Fall treasures.  I'm rather fond of my crow, I think it's cute.

I just love berries.  Any kind, any color.  Not sure, but it could have something to do with my last name?

Don't you just love the candy corn? Since I couldn't make it to the Ozark, MO craft festival, my dear friend Jeanna brought a little of it to me. Thanks girl! It's too cute!

The orange truck on the box is reminiscent of the old orange farm truck we had. I can remember sitting on the floorboard of it when Dad would drop me off at school. I was SO embarrassed! My how times have changed... I love that old farm truck so much that it's sitting at my house now!

I love my garden window.  I always wanted one at my old house but for various reasons, I never had one.  When we were looking to buy this house, the garden window was the first selling point for me.  My husband said my eyes lit up and I had a huge smile when I saw that window.  Yeah, I pretty much LOVE it!

Homespun... it's just so cozy! The small brown jars came from my Grandma Smith's house in Princeville, IL. I loved going to visit her. How precious it is for me to see these jars every single day as I look out my window and think back on the wonderful memories I have of Grandma.

"Blessings"... abundant in my life!  The sweet soul that we bought our house from, left me a handmade bowl that she made.  She was amazing with pottery.  I feel like she has entrusted me to take care of her home that her husband built from the ground up.  Special folks, Gerald and Jan Rider are. 

Ah, Ryan's baby plate and cup.  On one of the first shopping trips that Ryan, my mom and I journeyed on back in the Fall of 95, I knew I had to have this set to pass on to him one of these days.  It's such a sweet set and I wish I had one for each child.  My most simple, but favorite way to decorate... tie a ribbon or homespun around a treasure and add a pick.

My newest acquisition from my latest antiquing excursion with my dear friend, Jeanna-- the beautiful turquoise jar.

I am grateful for the many wonderful memories that my treasures provide.  Oh, how I delight in these small pleasures!