Today is my birthday. This year, instead of a cake, I have a yummy Kahlua cream cheese pie. I would take a picture for you, but I’ve already eaten half of it. How about some pictures of cute animals eating cake instead (from my birthday card)?
Birthdays are funny to me. Some years they are great. Some years it’s like they didn’t even happen. I have a good feeling about this one.
Filed under Holidays.
Our holiday was lovely. I hope yours was too. This is a picture of my niece participating in our most solemn family tradition – the counting of the presents. Ok, she might be a bit young to be counting. Maybe just asking the age old question, “is this one for me?”
We are still relaxing here and soaking up more days where the biggest topic is when we should venture out of our cozy lair to find more food.
We do have some goals this week (selling a couch, painting a room, etc), but it’s nice to know that none of them are rushed. There’s still plenty of time to spend in fuzzy socks. Hope you can do the same.
Filed under Holidays, House & Home.
The fudge is ready; the presents are wrapped. Wishes have been made. We will be loading up the cars here in a little bit to make the short drive to our parent’s house. I’ll be signing off here for a few days while we spend time with family, open gifts, and eat too many sweets.
Yesterday, we took part in our annual Christmas tradition: the making of the Christmas tags. For the past 5 years or so, my husband and I have collaborated on our gift tags. Some years they’ve been elaborate. Other years, more simple. However, I think this year might just be my favorite.
All of the presents have a North Pole shipping theme. We wrapped them in two shades of brown kraft paper and tied them with red and white ribbons. My husband gets a ton of credit on the design execution. I was busy tying all the bows.
The main label looks like this:
However, my favorite part are the Christmas shipping stickers. They are extremely silly (like us).
We’d love to share our Christmas stickers with you as a present from the Lee-Creel family. You can download them here. The download includes a 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet with several different sizes. We print them on full sheet white label paper and cut them out using a paper cutter. Enjoy! (These are for personal, non-commercial use only. Thanks for your understanding.)
May you have a wonderful holiday full of many good things and unexpected blessings. See you soon!
Filed under Holidays.
We interrupt our regularly scheduled “peaceful Christmas thoughts” for a bit of last minute frenzy. Yesterday evening was our dinner party, and I had to put all of that Christmas peace on pause to get the food ready and dishes arranged. Once our friends arrived, I could go back to relaxing with fork and wine in hand. However, I just wouldn’t get very far without that adrenaline rush before people arrive.
It’s in that hyped-up, manic state that I start taking on extra projects. Maybe you do this to? Like this Christmas wreath. I knew I needed to take down the fall wreath that was still on the door, but I didn’t have anything to put there instead.
I did have an extra wreath form and a roll of green ribbon, so I decided to try making a quick wreath. I wasn’t completely sure that it was going to turn out, so I didn’t even use glue. I just held the ribbon in place and wrapped it around the form. Once I made a full loop, I decided that the wreath had potential and rummaged through a drawer with my free hand to find a few straight pins. It clearly needed something else, so I found a gold pine cone ornament and hung it from the top with fishing line. I cut another piece of ribbon to fasten a little bow to hang it from the door. Total time elapsed: 10 minutes.
I’ll admit – sometimes that frenzy is good. However, I’m not going to argue with going back to some relaxation time now. The couch is calling…
Hope you’re enjoying your week – whatever it brings.
Filed under Holidays, I Made This.
Thank you for your kind words on yesterday’s post! They warmed my heart this morning.
I was having a slow start today when I heard the jostle of sleigh bells coming from the other room. There is no other sound in the world that signals Christmas to me as much as hearing these gold bells ring.
I think all bells are lovely, but these have a certain quality to them that sounds like they could come from the door of a cozy village shop or off of the harness of a reindeer. To me, they sound like the possibility of snow (highly unlikely in L.A., but lovely to dream about nonetheless).
My husband is less in love with the bells than I am, but that’s ok. We moved them to the hall closet so they ring less frequently, but that only makes them more precious to my ears. It’s a childhood memory that I share with my sister. In fact, I once heard her set ring in the background while we were talking on the phone. Hundreds of miles away – even over the phone – I was transported back to another time. “Oh, you have your bells up,” I said and no other explanation was necessary.
These bells belonged to my Grandmother. She had them hanging on the door to the guest room hallway. I’m not sure if they were originally intended as a festive touch or as a warning bell for when the grandchildren were awake and out of bed. Either way, that special Christmas sound signaled only good things. Their ringing filled the house as we dashed from one room to another ready to open presents or peek downstairs to see how Granddad had decorated the basement for us.
It makes me happy now when I hear these bells to think that they are ringing in my sister’s home too and serving as the backdrop for entirely new Christmas memories.
Filed under Holidays.
