Luminaria

Tomorrow night Earl and I are hosting the dessert part of a progressive dinner for our Adult Bible Fellowship at our church. I haven't gotten lights strung on the front porch because it has been very cold and windy and I just hate cold wind! I hope it will warm up just a little just long enough for me to put the lights up soon. Anyway, to greet our guests tomorrow night I pulled some old green jars out of the basement, washed them up, tied some ribbon on and dropped in some tea lights.
I know these pictures are dark, but the glow of the candles on the front porch makes me think that even if I don't get the lights up this year....

It will be ok. I will take some pictures of the party to share tomorrow:>)

What it's all about...

My husband is working on a little building to go with this set, but I couldn't wait to show you one of my most prized possessions. This nativity set belonged to my dear grandmother. She kept the holy family displayed year round, but brought out the rest for Christmas. I have always loved this set.

The shepherds have LOTS of sweet sheep!
The wise men are arrayed in their fanciest robes and carry such beautiful gifts for the Christ child.

I love the sweet faces painted on each one and it just seems so much more detailed than the sets you buy today. I don't know how old it is but I know I remember it from the 60's when I was little. I am quite sure it is older than that. I was so pleased to get Grandmothers nativity set when she passed away, because it always brings back sweet memories of her and the homey farmhouse she and grandpa lived in. I just wanted to share it with all of you. Earl and I have quite a few ornaments and things from grandparents and they are truly treasures. I will share some more when we decorate the tree!

I have been hanging more pictures in the living room. I got this set of three frames at a yard sale for $6. They had old faded rose prints in them that had seen better days but I loved the frames. I had also picked up a book of Audubon prints for $1 a couple years ago and was saving it to frame some of the prints. So this is the result! It is hard to take a picture without getting a reflection in the glass that makes it hard to see the print so I took these at an angle.

The wall they are on was a huge blank for so long, I decided they belonged here and I really love how they turned out. My darling husband loves birds, and so do I, so it was a great way to put some in the house. The lighting is a little dark, again I was trying to get the glare of sunlight out of the photo, but the wall color is a little more accurate than the photos I took of the wreath over the sofa a couple days ago! I am slowly getting things decorated, Christmas is a great incentive to get the house in order, suddenly all the little disorganized spaces in the house are just screaming to be handled! Being stuck inside for the winter will hopefully get me going on some things I have been putting off because there were fun things to do outside:>) This weekend we get our Christmas tree (always a live tree at our house!) and I hope to have most of the decorating finished by then for the first Sunday of Advent. We love to celebrate Advent and make it special family time and time to slow down and remember the real focus of the season. It is one of the things our daughters look forward to the most! Do you celebrate Advent?

It's begun....

I have been spending a little time in my Christmas boxes, I thought I had so much more than I am finding, maybe it is just that I need a change. I am using a lot of bright red in the living room this year. I saw this idea in one of my Christmas decorating magazines and remembered I had a big gold frame that I had thrifted this summer down in the basement. The wreath was a 60% off deal this weekend at Joanne Fabrics. I still hadn't hung anything on the wall since painting this summer (I am indecisive if nothing else) so I started thinking about what I wanted on the walls for the holiday season. I think this turned out pretty well. The daughters looked at me like I was looney when I told them about it, but loved it once it was up:>) I also had some old silk poinsettias stored away, and had gotten this little carriage at a yard sale for $1 this summer and set it aside. I stuck some foam in it and added the flowers and now it sits in the bay window. I am having a great time finding new ways to use things and doing something a little different this year. Decorations I have used in the past just seem a little tired and I love to create new things. I will still use our family ornaments on the tree, but I think everyone enjoys a change. What have you done to decorate this year?

Well we had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I got the table set and then when guests began arriving never picked the camera up again so no pictures of the food! I could line up the leftovers but there are precious few of those too..I'm eating veggies today to make up for my disgusting lack of control yesterday! No shopping with the crowds for me today, I detest crowds, so today I am working on projects and Christmas decorating! Yay! I've already begun digging through the Christmas boxes and planning out the day. We wont get the tree until the first of December, but we have the dessert portion of a progressive dinner here next friday night so I want the house to sparkle:>) Come to think of it, maybe I should be eating vegetables all week in preparation!

All right, I confess, I am not just eating vegetables! What am I ? Superwoman?! I did intend to be a good girl and stick to my diet yesterday and today but the cornbread stuffing and gravy was calling my name and it would be rude not to answer wouldn't it? Well wouldn't it!?