The winter village that we’ve had for years and is the kids’ absolute favorite thing.

At night…

The man used to have a fish on the end of his pole but that has disappeared.  This year Audrey had the bright idea to tear off a bit of marshmallow for the end of the stick. So cute.

My mom painted both of these for me.

The little Brio train that we’ve had for over 20 years.

And my winter mantle…

There’s my old fence turned into a gift. I’m finally liking my mock-gate. Awhile back I sprayed one side of it white and I just think it works so much better with my home.  It was too much tan and brown before.

 I found these battery operated lights at Joanne’s the other day for 70% off which brought the price down to $7.50. I have no idea why they were so discounted. I already had some small clothes pins which I used to put up some of this years Christmas pictures.

 I got the idea for writing on burlap from KariAnne at Thistlewood Farm  (I love her blog) and attached the burlap to an old industrial wooden spool I bought awhile back.

The lantern was given to me from my daughter-in-law for my birthday. I put some greenery inside and added some stringed pearls and then finished it all off by tying burlap ribbon to the top of the lantern. I love it.

Audrey set this up and even added the light. She loves this nativity set because you can wind it up and it will play “Silent Night”.

I love the little white lights which add so much warmth to the room.

This morning Audrey decided that she wanted to get up with her brother when he left for work. So she was up by about 5:15. While I was laying in bed I heard “Silent Night” being played and knew it was her, so I got up and went out to the living room where all the lights were on and the fireplace going. So cozy. I then sat on the couch and my little girl crawled into my lap, laid her head on my shoulder and went to sleep. A precious moment in time for me.

Each of us has a bank account of time into which a deposit is made and withdrawals are taken. No matter how depleted that account was at the end of yesterday, today it is chock-full of moments to cherish, memories to make, and minute after minute to spend wisely or not.

Joining up with

Ten June

Thrifty Decor Chick

Since I didn’t have any Christmassy dishes, I decided to go with a tablescape that had more of a nature look.

I decided to use a toolbox my boys had made when they were little as my centerpiece.  I filled the toolbox with some juniper branches, poked some red material around the base of the branches, added a poinsettia and a bit of cranberry garland.

 I loved how it turned out.

For our Christmas Dinner we had:

Grilled Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary – Delicious!

Spinach Salad w/ Bleu Cheese, Oranges & Nuts – (Nourishing Traditions) This was the same salad we had at Thanksgiving.  I liked it so much that I decided to have it for Christmas, too.

Garlicky Mashed Potato Cakes

Roasted Asparagus

Whole Wheat Rolls

For Dessert:

Pear Cranberry Crumble

Vanilla Ice Cream

and a couple of other pies my dad purchased

How many people were at your Christmas dinner?

I got the idea for this gate from Funky Junk Interiors.  Here is her gate here.

We had this old fencing we picked up several years ago for a homeschool co-op day we had.  I wanted to save it but it has slowly been being used for firewood.  Fortunately, we still had this piece.

After taking apart the boards I somewhat followed Funky Junk Interiors tutorial and came up with this. Let me tell you I was excited.  I’ve never made anything like this before.  It was so simple, too.

Now, I’m trying to make it a part of my winter mantle scene and I’ve been having difficulties ever since.  Here was my first attempt.

A little plain – needs some color.  After consulting with my sister who asked her sister-in-law for some help, I have now come up with this.

I’m considering painting the branches white like I did in the first picture and I really would like another splash of color. (hmmm, you didn’t notice that the fireplace needs some touch-up paint, did you?)  My walls are a terra cotta color so using red is out of the question.

Now for the craft idea I’m contributing to Centsational Girl’s Holiday Craft Party.  I decided to hang the letters JOY on my mock gate. 

 To make this I needed:

Chipboard letters

Mod Podge

Scrapbook Paper

Something to hang your letters (I used strings of beads.)

Step 1:  Spray paint your letters if desired.

Step 2 (Oh, this is easy, I know but there may be some out there that are just getting into crafting.  I know I didn’t know anything about Mod Podge until a few months ago.)  Trace your letter onto scrapbook paper & cut out.

Step 3:  Using a paintbrush wipe Mod Podge all over the front of your letter and then place paper letter on top smoothing any bubbles or creases.

Step 4:  Using your paintbrush spread a layer of Mod Podge over the top of the papered letter.  This gives it a protective coating, I believe.

Hang letters using string, beads, ribbons or other materials.

Here are a few ideas I’ve found for Thanksgiving.

Martha Stewart has this Mayflower centerpiece.  Unless you enlarge it, the template is not big enough for a centerpiece.  It also is much too time consuming and complicated. Have you ever heard of veneer for a craft project? I wouldn’t even know where to find it.

For my Mayflower I used construction paper (after my first failed attempt using Martha’s directions) and hot glued it together.  Very easy.  I also used a thin bamboo skewer for the mast hot gluing it in, too.  I filled the hull with a few almonds to give it more stability.

Oops, I forgot the drinking glass in my miniature tablescape.

Another idea for a place card is to take a napkin and make an envelope fold, then seal it with a name.  Here is a video that shows you step by step directions.

Here is a shot of both types of name cards. If you did use the envelope fold with a name card, you could still use the Mayflower for added decoration at each place setting. You could write on both masts something besides a name. How about the following? …for this bounty we are thankful.