Sharing Ideas With You

Had an idea that I to share with any readers. I must admit that it came to me after reading a post by another blogger who I know. Tim Holtz is a very creative guy, he has been doing what he calls

"The 12 tags of Christmas" for the last two years. He announced that he will be doing it again this year. So I thought I would take the same concept and put a twist to it and do "Twelve Days of decorating ideas".

I love to decorate at this time of the year. Our homes have always been quite festive. My hope is to give some easy tips and inspiration to others. So starting on December 1st to the twelfth, I will post ideas that I use throughout the house. Please feel free to make comments or ask questions that I will be happy to answer.

Let the holidays begin!

Thankful Wishes To Everyone

At this special time of the year we all have very different things that we are thankful for. For me, I will always be thankful for my family and our home.

I'm thankful for all friends, both near and far. I'm thankful for the creative gifts that I have been given.

May your life be filled with much to be thankful for. May your heart be glad and your home be happy during this season.

A Tradition Continues

The fact that we will not be hosting the traditional family Thanksgiving this year, will not stop us from continuing another family Thanksgiving tradtion ... Cajun Fried Turkey.

This has been something that we have been sharing with the family for many years. It all started some time ago when a former neighbor shared this form of cooking turkey with us. He had created his own homemade fryer. And then shared with the neighbors, the best tasting turkey you could ever have. One year he fried 24 turkeys for a number of people for Thanksgiving. It wasn't long before we had to start doing it ourselves because of the demand for turkey cooked this way.

Each Thanksgiving we would bring a "cajun fried bird" and Mike's sister would provide a "traditional" bird. Funny thing ... each time the fried turkey would completely disappear and the carcass picked cleaned.

So once again this tasty turkey will be shared at tomorrows meal. Can't wait!

Update

Here's the update from yesterday's post:

After sitting on "pins and needles" for two hours, waiting to hear if the closing would go off without any problems this time around, the call came that the "move" would take place.

So we packed up the cars and headed to the kids new home along with the packed trucks that had been ready since Thursday.

Got much accomplished is a few hours. At least the beds were put together for the first night's sleep. Mike and I headed back to our place relieved that another of life's huddles was handled and another new chapter was to begin. Congratulations Kevin, Ali, Tess and Tioga on your new home!

Now onto the next concern ... our grandson Joseph's surgery today. Who said that retirement is boring??

We Both Forgot Our Special Day

So what do you think about two people who both forgot their anniversary?

Early last week we both had talked about going somewhere special on Monday for lunch because we knew that the week-end would probably be too hectic. Something happened to keep us from doing that. The week progressed and there were several things going on to keep us pretty much at home. Friday was going to be another day to celebrate, with Kevin & Ali closing on their little house, following that up with the closing on a newer residence. Things didn't turn out the way we had all hoped. Some problems arose and the closing was postponed till today. We sit here hoping that all will go much smoother this afternoon. Update later!

Needless to say, Saturday came ... a day that has special significance for us, and we both didn't realize till the afternoon, when things quieted down that it was our anniversary. So we laughed about it and gave each other a kiss for our 39th anniversary.

So next year when we celebrate 40 years of marriage, we can look back on many good times with some bumps in the road that we have been traveling together since that day in November.

Decorations Are Up

With the weather in the Chicago area being chilly, but sunny, the outside Christmas decorations went up today. Next week-end the lights go on!

Send out online invitations to the family earlier today for Christmas Day dinner. Responses have already began to come in. I like the whole online invites. If you haven't tried using them you should check them out. So far we have tried "evite" and recently learned of "punchbowl" and also discovered

"pingg".

One of the first things that I set up was our little Christmas village as the photo shows. I'll be sharing more.

Sorry For My Lack Of Blog Posts

Just wanted to make a quick post to keep you informed of what's going on ... LOTS!

Our oldest son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter are in the process of moving. Needless to say it's been very hectic. Way too many details to go into, but it's been a stressful week. Then the other grandchildren have been sick. Maddie had a high fever and went in for tests to see what it could be. Thank heaven she is much better now. Joseph will be having his adnoids removed next week. Hope that will solve his problem with so many sinisus infections.

I'm anxious to share photos and other things with you concerning much more pleasant things very soon.

Never Too Young

The photo is of a "craft box" that I created for my youngest grandchild Tess. At eighteen months old, she already likes playing with art materials. With her first box of Crayola crayons and cans of Play-Doh, she needed something to hold her "art supplies".

The paper mache container was something that I have had on hand, along with all other materials used to decorate it. The handle, closures and back straps were painted with acrylic paint to match the fabric. Some on-hand material was used to cover the container. Beacon's Liquid Laminate was used to adhere the fabric. Once the fabric is applied, rick-rack and decorative ribbon was glued on using Fabri Tac glue.

A tag was cut from Grungepaper, using a Sizzix "Big Shot" machine and a "tag" die. The tag was painted using Ranger's Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber in a color to match the fabric. Tm Holtz's Grungeboard letters were used for the name. They are also painted using the paint dabbers in another color. Small strips of ribbon were tied into the tag hole, then the tag was tied onto the handle of the containter.

The inside was lined with more fabric, again using Liquid Laminate. Then filled with art materials for Tess to enjoy. Hopefully her artistic interest will continue to grow!