A CHRISTMAS BLESSING FOR MY BLOG FRIENDS

God be with you at Christmastime
And keep you in His care,
God grant you peace and happiness
And answer every prayer,
God fill each day ahead of you
With blessings from above,
So you will know, your whole life through
The fullness of His love.
                                              Author Unknown


The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11

Christmas Blessings,
Sue

A CHRISTMAS MEMORY AND A CHRISTMAS TRADITION

One of my favorite memories from my childhood is of our family’s Christmas Eve tradition.  My Daddy loved Christmas and could not wait for Santa to come – so on Christmas Eve my parents would load my brothers and me into the car to ride around and look at the Christmas lights.  But, just as we were ready to leave, my Mama would have to go back into the house.  Being kids and being so excited about our outing we had no idea what was going on.   We would ride around and enjoy all the lights and then when we came home we found that Santa had come to our house – on Christmas Eve!  (I didn’t figure out until I was much older why Mama went back into the house.)  We just thought that we were special because Santa had come early at our house.  

As our kids were growing up we did not choose to have Santa come on Christmas Eve, but we always set aside time to go for a ride and enjoy the lights together as a family.  Our children are all grown and now they are taking their children to see the lights.  Since there are 17 of us, with all of the grands, this is not something we can do together anymore.  So a few years ago my husband and I started a new tradition – we began taking my parents for a drive the week before Christmas to look at the lights.  Last year we were not able to do this because my Daddy was very sick, but this year he is feeling much better.  So last night was the time we chose for our Christmas lights drive.  What a special time it was for me to be able to share this with my parents and see my Daddy enjoy all of the lights and decorations.  I told my husband as we came home, “We just made a memory.”  We never know how long we will have our loved ones with us, but we will always have our memories.

I hope you and your loved ones are making special memories and that you cherish each one.

Christmas Blessings,
Sue

MY GIVEAWAY WIN HAS ARRIVED & A LITTLE BIT MORE (Christmas Decorating Part 4)

I was so blessed to be a winner of one of Carol’s Christmas Giveaways (Firecrackerkid Primitives).  What an awesome early Christmas gift – a Rolling Pin Dough Bowl Cubby!  When the box arrived my DH opened it for me, while I was putting the grandbaby down for a nap.  Thankfully he knew to stop when he took it out of the box and saw this beautiful presentation!

 
It was almost too beautiful to unwrap.

But I got over that real quick because I couldn’t wait to check it our further.  Here it is in all it’s glory!
 
Isn’t it gorgeous?

I put together a quick little gathering, just so you could see it with a rolling pin and bowl – and a touch of Christmas, of course!
 
Oh my – so many display possibilities!

Carol thank you from the bottom of my heart for blessing me with this awesome treasure.  I LOVE IT!

Check out Carol’s blog Firecrackerkid Primitives and follow her links to her selling sights.  Words cannot describe the treasures you will find.  You will just have to take a look!


& A LITTLE BIT MORE…the rest of my Christmas Decorations around the house.

The Kitchen and Dining table.


A Gingerbread Man display on Hoosier cabinet.


Adorable mouse I received in a swap.

 
Stove board.

 
A little cubby with candy canes and drieds.

 
Black goose in old trencher on Dining Table.

Snowmen in Guest Bedroom.

 
Love these pillows – I’ve had them for years.

 
Skinny snowmen on top of bookcase.

 
Display on dresser.  (Couldn’t figure out how to take photo without the flash.)

It is so nice to have all of the decorating done and be able to relax and enjoy it for a while.  I’ve also just about finished my shopping and have wrapped everything that has been bought.  I plan to finish the shopping tomorrow and will hopefully have a week to enjoy the season without a lot of stress.  I hope you are all enjoying this blessed Christmas season.

Christmas Blessings,
Sue

SANTA CLAUS HAS COME TO TOWN (Christmas Decorating Part 3)

The children of early European settlers believed that St. Nicholas would visit them in their new country just as he had in their homelands.  As a result America’s image of Santa Claus, like America itself, was a blending of many ethnic contributions.  Santa Claus is a beloved part of the holiday season…a spirit of sharing, giving and loving.  

MY SANTA COLLECTION!

I love this wooden Santa, kneeling to pray beside Baby Jesus in the manger.
 

Santas displayed on bookcase in the Living Room.
 
    
 

Little wall shelf in Living Room and wash stand in Bathroom.
 

Guestroom decorated with Santas.

    

Old cardboard and plastic Santas, and a Santa I made in a class many years ago.
 

I hope you enjoyed looking at my Santas.  I have enjoyed collecting them over the years.

Christmas Blessings,
Sue

FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN - (Christmas Decorating – Part 2)

NATIVITY SCENES/SETS
Remembering or re-creating the Nativity is one of the ways that we celebrate Christmas.   Christmas Nativity Scenes are a replica of the birth site of Jesus and are an essential part of the Christmas celebration all around the world.  Christmas nativity crèches originated in Europe. Many of the Christmas crèches made today are modeled after elaborate German crèches dating back to the seventeenth century. Also the Italian presepio, which used small carved nativity scene figures in the eighteenth century are used as models today.  In America the nativity scenes are known as a creche, a word meaning “manger“ or “crib“ in French.  The creche usually depicts the entire Christmas scene: the manger, angel, star, shepherds, kings, and of course the Holy Family. 
 
 MY NATIVITY SCENES
 

 

 


 
 

For unto us a Child is born,
      Unto us a Son is given;
      And the government will be upon His shoulder.
      And His name will be called
      Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
      Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.    Isaiah 9:6

Christmas Blessings,
Sue

OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE - (Christmas Decorating – Part 1)

I was a little late with our Christmas decorating this year, but I am finally finished.  I have a lot of pictures to share so I thought I would divide them into a couple of posts.  This post is about – you guessed it – Christmas trees!
Our Living Room tree is not prim, but we love this tree.  It is filled with old glass ornaments that we have collected over the years.
 
Our Dining Room tree is my first attempt at decorating a prim style tree.  (I shared a little more about this tree in the previous post. ) The tree topper was made by my SIL many years ago from an old quilt – I love it and thought it was the perfect finish for this tree.   I love the wooden tag ornament from a friend that says, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”   I dried the orange and apple slices and rusted the cookie cutters to use as ornaments.
 
 
Our Santa tree – decorated with Santa lights and ornaments and located in our Sun Room (which is the grandchildren’s play room).  I found the Santa tree topper at a flea market many years ago.  The Mr. & Mrs. Claus ornaments were painted by a friend and my parents brought the old world Santa, made from a piece of quilt, back from vacation several years ago.
       
  
A few other small trees around the house:
A grapevine tree that DH and I made years ago.  This year I added the rag-tied silicone lights (see A Primitive Place magazine for directions).  This is my favorite tree this year – it looks much better than it appears in the picture.  

A grouping of trees on top of the TV cabinet.

This tree in the Master Bedroom is styled like an old feather tree, but is actually plastic – I have had it for many years.  The ornaments were bought many years ago at a craft show – she had a few old things she wanted to get rid of and I was thrilled to find them.  Old – glass – unique shape – RED – a must have item for me!  The questionable shape behind the star tree topper is a twig wreath on the wall above the bed. 
 
My DH bought this little bench for me on our antiquing trip to Renniger’s in November.  I had seen a greeting card with a picture of a similar bench, with a simple little twig tree sitting on it – so off I went in search of the perfect tree.  I found this little tree with the burlap wrapped base last week  and it was just what I wanted for the entry hall.

I love Christmas trees – if we had the room I would probably have more.  I hope you are enjoying this Christmas season.  Thank you for allowing my to share my Christmas tree with you.
Christmas Blessings,
Sue

TUESDAY’S DISPLAY CHAIN ON WEDNESDAY - “T0 SHARE”–RUSTY COOKIE CUTTER ORNAMENTS

Since many of us are browsing through magazines and looking online for holiday ideas such as gifts, decorating ideas & recipes, let’s give a little of ourselves here through Blogland.  For this week’s Tuesday Display Chain we were “To Share” a Holiday Inspiration, tutorial, recipe, etc.  Visit Misi at 1890 Gable House Musings and check out her display, along with those of the others that are participating. 
 
This is my first year to decorate a tree with a prim theme.  As I was looking for inexpensive ideas I saw a photo of a tree decorated with old cookie cutters and dried orange slices.  I loved the look, but did not have any old cookie cutters, and the ones I saw at antique stores were pricey for a large quantity.  I was in Walmart and found a package of 18 cookie cutters for $9 – but they were shiny and certainly not prim looking.  I bought some anyway, thinking I would try to find a way to age them.  I searched online and found several links to instructions for rusting safety pins and bells and thought this should work for the cookie cutters, as well.  It worked out great so I would like to share what I did, for those of you who are interested. 
 


RUSTING COOKIE CUTTERS

Items needed:
    cookie cutters
    bleach
    cider vinegar
    salt
    Spray Acrylic – matte finish
    strips of homespun for hanging

1.  Layer the cookie cutters in a plastic or glass container (I used a plastic shoe box).  (I also set the shoe box inside a larger plastic container to prevent spills.)
2.  Sprinkle 3-4 tablespoons of salt over the cookie cutters.
3.  Pour bleach in next, covering the cookie cutters about half way.
4.  Pour in enough vinegar to cover the cookie cutters.
5.  Let them sit for 2-3 days.  (I put mine outside as the fumes were strong.)
6.  Remove from solution (I used tongs) and place on newspaper in the sun for 2-3 days.  (They will continue to rust after removing from the solution.)
7.  When they have achieved the look you want, spray with matte finish acrylic and let dry.
8.  Tie homespun on cookie cutters and they are ready to hang on your tree. 
 


I hope you are all enjoying this Christmas season.

Christmas Blessings,
Sue