turkey feathers

December Daze

December days are winding down fast; here it is the eve of a new year already! With all the prep and excitement of Christmas, with friends and family coming and going, along with some miserable colds going around, I spaced out on the blog and my best of intentions went right out the window. 

A Christmas Blessing

May the season put a song in your heart and happiness in your holidays.

A very Merry Christmas to all!

Jingle Jingle Jingle

Today . . . I'm putting cute Christmas pictures in frames, staying out of the way in the kitchen (lots of sweet stuff going on in there), waiting for glue to dry on old-fashioned calico stockings, gazing happily at the small trees around the house, wrapping presents, and making merry.  It's the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year and there is much to do!

I am always grateful for the sweet friends who stop in and humor me with their kind words.  Thank you for being there--hugs to sweet blog pals. 

One of the things I'm really loving this season is Mollie Makes, which is published out of the UK.  I was beyond thrilled to discover that our local co-op had added the magazine to their inventory.  (We LOVE the awesome folks over there at  First Alternative  and are blessed to have them working so diligently on our behalf).  Found the darling little book, Mollie Makes Christmas online (from Amazon).  The felt fox finger puppet, made by Grace, was the first creation from the book.  What's funny is, my son, who lives in Washington state, was here visiting a couple of weeks ago and was telling us about a puppet theater he'd made for his little girls, and asked if we would be interested in making puppets for it.  What!  Of course we were thrilled to be asked and sprang into action. 

Here's the result.  The girls made these from free patterns I found on the Internet, with the exception of the fox.  They've been stitching all week and I think they turned out really cute.  Now it's my job to make a shoe-box "Puppet Show" trunk to store them in.  I can't wait to see these critters animated by little hands and high-pitched voices. 

And speaking of cute felty things, my friend Missy made these adorable felted ornaments, from the "wool" she gathered and dyed from her own alpacas.  Her story and more wonderful things can be found at her etsy shop Precious Gems.  Everytime I pass by this tree in the upstairs playroom, I am reminded of my sweet friend and her family, and their visit this summer, which went by much too quickly.  I will treasure these and the memories.

Behind me, on the other side of the room, it looks like someone's been busy.  Christmas pies cooling in the dollhouse bakery kitchen.  Can you smell them?

Down the hall...everyone thought I was slightly off my rocker when I voiced my intentions about putting the old dresser out here, but once everything was in place, it all came together perfectly.  Hmm...what happened to the chocolate truffles that were in that bowl?  

So there ya have it from my home to yours.  Company's coming and I still have things to make, bake and wrap, so better get to it.  Have a great weekend everyone!  Stay safe. 

 

With Merry Measure

My it does seem that this year went by fast, and that we were just packing up all this and here we are again.  Our kitchen is bustling with activity.  The Christmas decorating and baking has begun.  The girls and I are making and mixing and wrapping up a storm.  I've shared some of our favorite seasonal recipes on the blog already; here's a quick list if you want to check them out again. 

Cranberry Tarts

Almond Butter Cups

Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies

Crunchy Maple Corn

Blackberry Jam Tarts

Quiche Brunch Cups

Pumpkin Cranberry Ring 

 You can also click on the category Someone's In the Kitchen for a bunch more cooking and baking info (and inspiration) as well.  And speaking of inspiration...look who's back with another wonderful dish perfect for the holiday season.  You are going to LOVE this! And I just discovered their blog: Savoring The Past with all the recipes, and baking and cooking videos.  I'm dying to try this recipe for puff pastry.  Here's the website for 18th century supplies.

 

 

Winter Tree

Lots of tree trimming and peppermint cocoa with a lovely backdrop of Christmas carols yesterday.  The kind I grew up listening to.  Nat King Cole, Doris Day, Dean Martin, Andy Williams, Burl Ives, Patti Page and of course,  Bing and Frankie, just to name a few.  Outside the sound of rain falling, falling, falling.