Another Year Comes To A Close

2011 in review

Counting my many blessings as another year comes to a close.

And wishing all good things for you in 2012.

Cheese Reindeer

I hope you all had a wonder-filled, joyful Christmas!

I sure did.

I made these cute little cheese reindeer

for our big Christmas gathering.

Everyone thought they were so fun!

The idea came from  Cute Food For Kids.

Laughing Cow Cheese Reindeer: 

Laughing Cow cheese wedges (any flavor)

pretzels (antlers),

red bell pepper circles (nose)

  olive pieces (eyes)

Ta Da!

So easy to make!

Merry Christmas!

In sweet jubilation

now sing and be joyous!

Our heart's joy 

lies in a manger

And shines like the sun 

in his mother's lap.

                    -translation from old carol

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

(And happy Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, Kwanza and 

whatever else people are celebrating this month.)

I Do Love Trees!

Santa leaves a sparkly little tree brooch in my stocking each Christmas.

These cute, diminutive trees have turned into quite the collection.

I have them displayed in a hammered aluminum tray this year.

I wear a little jeweled tree on my lapel when I go out.

And on Christmas Eve I'll pin them to napkins at the dining table. 

A couple of weeks ago, after reading one of my tree craft posts,

a fellow blogger called me the "Queen of sweet trees".

And looking back at my Christmas posts I realized she might be on to something.

I really do love trees!  I have them all over the house.

I'm not the least bit regal.  I'm just a Mommy from the Midwest.

But if one is going to be called Queen of something, 

I can't think of a nicer subject than trees.

The Enchanted Forest

Blue Smurf Tree, Gingerbread Tree, Rudolf Tree and Dazzling Pink Tree.

These were just some of the festive evergreens in the Enchanted Forest.

Creative trees in every color were auctioned off 

to raise money for Marillac, a children's mental health program.  

Mr. Garden and I had oohed and ahhed over the trees for several years

and we believe that all children deserve a chance to grow up healthy,

so we decided to make a bid.

Imagine our excitement when we found out that we had won!

We were very happy to bring this little tree home with us!

It fits right in with all the gingerbread in our kitchen.

Forest Of Glass...

A herd of tiny deer peek out from

their forest of glass and glittered wax trees.

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Sparkling Christmas Tree

My sparkling Christmas tree, 

branches heavily laden with baubles bright,

gifts from little hands, 

symbols of the holy season, 

memories and much joy!

The Flock

The good shepherd watches over his flock.

Well.... at least he is supposed to.

A certain little troublemaker (Natasha)

has managed two sneak attacks already!

"No no kitty!  Put that sheep down!"

I may have to hire a new shepherd!

(Some of the sheep in these pictures were made by

fellow blogger Spot On Cedar Pond.)

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I recently started making boards on Pinterest.

I hope you'll stop by and take a look.  Let me know if you'd like an invite. 

Triangle Trees

Yesterday I stitched up a few simple little triangle trees

to share with the gals at book club.

So easy! 

It's lots of fun working with all this vintage ric-rac.

Looking at this picture now, I realize I should have added 

a star or some bling to the top.

Oh well... it's too late now.

I think they liked them anyway.

Make Room For Him

Attending Advent services helps me to focus

 on what is important during these weeks before Christmas.

These little church ornaments remind me that

I want to be willing to make changes on the inside,

 to make room for Him in my life.

Wreath- Grab And Go

Yesterday we drove out to a Christmas tree farm.  

We wanted to make a fun day of it and bring home some
 lovely smelling boughs or wreath to deck the halls.  

Nothing like that fresh evergreen scent!  

We planned to drink hot chocolate,
wander through the trees singing carols

and take lots of wonderful pictures.

....Ummmmm,  didn't happen quite like that...

It rained.  

A lot. 

We ran from our car to their garage,
where they had moved the wreaths to keep them dry.  

We found several we really liked and bought one.  

There was no hot chocolate to be had in the garage.  

We moved out to the covered porch 

where I quickly clicked one picture of Mr. Garden with the big snowman.

Neither of us wanted to wander in the trees and get soaking wet.

So we raced back to the car and jumped in.   

We laughed!  The whole thing took 10 minutes.
Grab and go!

Not quite the afternoon adventure we had imagined.      

Anyway, we love our wreath.  It does have a beautiful scent!

And we'll try the Christmas tree farm experience again next year.

Humble Creatures

"Sing o the wild wood, the green holly

The silent river and barren tree

The humble creatures that no man sees

Sing O the wild wood."
                - from The Wild Wood Carol,   John Rutter

The Lights Are On!

... 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,  Hurrah!

The lights are on!

Let the Christmas season begin!

(The Plaza lighting ceremony officially marks the beginning 

of the Christmas Season in Kansas City.)

Grateful

"Grateful for each hand we hold

Gathered 'round this table."

                              - Thanksgiving Song, Mary Chapin Carpenter

Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving.

A Trio Of Glittery Trees

I finally finished up the little project I was working on!

A trio of glittery trees!

I saw these sampler trees at Amy Powers- Inspired Ideas Christmas 2010, 

and wanted to give her pattern a try.

So I gathered up all sorts of colorful beads, shiny sequins, ric-rac trim

 and embroidery floss and got to work.

When I posted the sneak peek photo a couple of weeks ago, 

a few of you thought I was making a tree skirt.

That would be a great idea too! 

Just for fun, I laid all three of the flat panels together

to see what a tree skirt might look like.

Anyway, I just love how these little trees turned out.

And can't wait to start decorating for Christmas next Friday!

Be sure to take a look at all the wonderfully creative

ideas in all of Amy's magazines here.

Hope you have a fun and creative weekend!

I'm joining Terri's "Deck the Halls", Christmas Project Blog Hop at  Artful Affirmations.


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Poppies

In honor of all those who served.

(Veterans Day, 2011)

Andre's

Oh, deary me.

Look at all that sugary goodness!!

The diet went right out the window the second I stepped foot in this place.

YUM, YUM!!!  And YUM again!!!

Andre's Confiserie Suisse  (aka dessert heaven)

has been a favorite among locals since the 1950's.

We stopped for lunch in their little chalet tearoom, where

cowbells, milking buckets and flags added color and interest to the walls. 

I had their incredible quiche lorraine, broiled parmesan tomato,
sweet beet-carrot salad and whole wheat rolls.  DELICIOUS!

And of course we took some treats home too.

If you're ever in town, I highly recommend it!
(Or just order a box of chocolates online.)

(I was not able to get a good photo of the seating area while I was there, so that one pic is from the web.)

Royal Raiment

Autumn's royal raiment.

Earthquake Warning System

Who woulda thought that people living in Kansas would need
an earthquake warning system?

But when Oklahoma starts shaking, apparently we do.

Here is all one needs:

A toy on wheels (in my case, a little wooden pig).

Place it prominently on a shelf in your craft room.  

When the whole shelf starts shaking and the pig starts rolling around 

you know the earth is moving under your feet.
(like it did yesterday)

Seriously, I hope that all the folks down in Oklahoma are OK.

Sneak Peek

Here is a quick peek at a little project I'm working on.

I hope to have more to show you in a few days. 

Pumpkin Day!

I sincerely hope the Great Pumpkin visits your patch!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Betsy

Betsy McCall is ready for the Halloween fun to begin!

This paperdoll magnet "lives" on my refrigerator door.

Visitors to my kitchen have fun dressing her for the weather and changing seasons.

Reading Reptile

We have the most amazing children's bookstore here in town:  

Reading Reptile, Books and Tapes For Young Mammals. 

It's a magical place, where all your  child's favorite characters come to life!  

Every inch, every nook and cranny, is filled with the wonder of picture books.  

Even the ceiling is covered!  

"Caps For Sale" is a classic.

Chairs in cozy reading areas invite you to sit and peruse books with your child.  

The store hosts a storytime, book club,  movie night,  authors visits, 

wonderful birthday parties and many other special events.

Do you recognize all these fun story critters?

My children loved "My Father's Dragon".

When the kids were little, we followed the dinosaur tracks to the store in Westport.  

The Reading Reptile relocated a few years ago 

to a wonderful new space in Brookside, and my children have grown up, 

but I still stop by to purchase books for the other little people in my life.   

I hope you will visit soon too!

Celebrate with books!  Read to your children!