Hustle and Bustle

Whew! We got Thanksgiving taken care of and all of us had such a great time being together! You can't see the two other tables set up in my living room, but we had 12 adults and 15 children - and everybody fit niceley and got PLENTY to eat!!!


This is the adult table I had all set up. I'm not a big pillar candle fan, but there's something cool about eating a nice dinner with the glow of firelight and this was all I had - so that's what we used. This table cloth was a piece of remnant upholstery fabric at JoAnn's that I hemmed quickly the night before (it barely fit!). I LOVED how it was velvety soft yet very thick and heavy-like. And because it's a rusty red color, which perfectly matches my home decor, I can use it for many other occasions like Valentine's Day, Christmas, or even a nice dinner with friends - so my $12 piece of fabric has turned into a seasonal LIFE-SAVER!

So now it's time to move forward with the Christmas decorating and projects I've got lined up for myself. I decided this year that I want a "Peppermint" tree, so I'm beginning to find all kinds of ways to incorporate all things red, white, silver, glittery, and minty.

This picture is just a sneak peek - I'm a LONG way off in getting the tree all done. I'm envisioning some red and white ribbon candies (made with actual ribbon) with the glitter spray in my craft box, and real peppermint disks in the wrappers glued to something somehow - not quite sure what I'll do but I'm thinking!

I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Just one more thing - you DON'T have to go out and spend a bunch of money on making your tree beautiful. Everything I'm doing has been very inexpensive - it doesn't get any cheaper than a 65-cent box of candy canes!

And don't understimate the power of great ribbon!!! You can make a room pop with a splashes of big, glittery bows on your tree, on your ornaments, on your garlands, on your picture frames, you name it!






Another bright idea I had was a simple Christmas countdown activity. I REALLY want to make one of those adorable hanging advent calendars with little pockets to hide candy and treasures, but I ran out of time and this was my next best idea. I found these packages of jewelry boxes at Wal-Mart and I got five 5-packs. I'm going to fill each one with a little scripture or a service project and a candy for each of my three kids. They get to open one box every night for 25 nights. GREAT, eh?! No sewing or glueing required! And they don't loose sight of why we celebrate Christmas.

Well HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all of you! Have fun with your festiveness - don't forget the mistletoe!

Stay tuned because I'm going to be posting my fleece winter hat and scarf soon!