We had a Merry Christmas....How 'bout you?

We had a very Merry Christmas this year!

Around here, we have a few traditions.

Our family gathers together on Christmas Eve.

First, Candle light service.

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world
 (John 1:9)

Food! is next.  

Usually ham and shrimp...

cookies, cake and a few other sides.

And then before any presents can be opened....

We take our annual family photos.

Our daughter and her family

Our Bubba boy and his girlfriend

One tradition we have continued even though our kids are grown is to exchange a $5 gift.  Each of us brings a $5 gift.  We read a short Christmas story, and every time a specific word is read (like the or is), we pass the gift to the next person. In the photo below, Bubba is posing with the gift he brought.  I was the lucky recipient of his gift.  It was not something sleezy from V.S.  It was a set of some el cheapo steak knives.  But hey, I could use some steak knives!  After all, the knives in my drawer right now were wedding gifts. That makes them like a hundred years old! 

  

Our sweet baby girl in her
Christmas jammies.
No pics of our grandson,
since he for whatever reason
was in his undies most of the evening!!

But the

Piece de resistance

wasn't the gifts....

it was the beauty of the snow that had fallen just in time for

 CHRISTmas.

It's beauty gave us reason to pause....

and consider the perfect beauty that 

IS CHRISTMAS...

a baby born to save us from a sinful world!

In this household,

Keeping it Simple

often means

CHEAP!

While some may call it being cheap,

others may call it being frugal.

But whatever you want to call it

I just like to think of it as 

common sense.....

or perhaps good stewardship.

Christmas is the perfect time to exercise these principles.

Our decorations are cheap!

I use whatever I can find around the house.  

I rarely spend money on decorating unless its a trip to the vintage store for something used or 

to Michael's.....I Love Michael's

to get supplies for crafting some kind of decoration I've dreamed up.

Anyone can go to the store and buy pre-made decorations...right?..

you now the kind...

The Santa that ho ho ho's.....

or the snowman that glows.  

But to transform everyday objects into Christmas treasures....well that's what I call being 

CREATIVE!

I won't keep you in suspense anymore....

Here are a few of our

frugal

 but 

Creative

and 

Festive 

Decorations..

And speaking of frugal and creative...

Here are a few gifts I made this year for some special people on my "nice" list.

Oven door T-towels made from 1 towel, 1 pot holder and
1 button...Easy Peasy!!

Here is a brief tutorial on how to assemble the towels!

(click to enlarge)

And how about this clever idea I saw on Pinterest.

I was able to use up beads I already had.  The only thing I had to buy was a pack of long jewelry pins, and a roll of (stiff) ribbon.

So, whether you are the kind that prefers to purchase your decorations (and gifts) or

 you're like me and prefer to do it the cheap, I mean frugal way....

I hope you enjoy the simple act of decorating your home.

And I hope you take time to drink in the joy that comes as we receive the gift that has been given to us....The true meaning of Christmas...

the gift of 

Our King!

"And you shall call His name Jesus"

Tammy

To see all of our decorations

click here!

All is Calm, All is Bright!

So my blogger friends...

How are your Christmas preparations coming along?

With just a little more than 2 weeks left until Christmas, 

I can honestly say that around here...

ALL IS CALM 

and

ALL IS BRIGHT.

  

I  don't know about you,

but I like calm.

As Martha would say.....It's a good thing!  

At our house

It's also bright....

and white!

In previous years....

I have decorated with both colored lights...

and white lights.  

internet pic

Truth be known~

I think I prefer the white lights.

But I know some folks, especially those with little ones, seem to prefer the colored lights...

and maybe you like lights that twinkle, blink, or race.  

Mine don't.

Not that I have anything against twinkling, blinking and racing lights:)

The other day,

I had a discussion with a friend of mine about what kind of wrapping paper she prefers to use. 

She likes all her packages to be wrapped in

COLORFUL

non- matchy matchy paper...

And I know some folks who just don't give it a second thought,

they just use what they have.

But obsessed people like myself...

well we like everything to be

 coordinated!

and 

~MATCHY MATCHY~

And this year ...

my paper just happens to be

White
and 

BRIGHT

and somewhat

Silvery......

with a pinch of Chartreuse of course.

As you may recall from my last post I love Chartreuse!

 Besides the obvious Babe in a Manger.....

One of the beauties of the Christmas season is that there are as many ways to decorate and celebrate

as there are decorators and celebrators.

 And I can appreciate ALL of them!

So what's your style?

White and bright?

Colorful?

Coordinated paper?
Mismatched

or Colorful paper? 

I would love to hear what puts the
jingle in your bells
 this holiday season!

Whatever your style

Have a very Merry (and bright) Christmas!

Oh,
and remember to

Linked to 

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Happy December!

Happy December Everyone!  

Snapped this pic a few days ago when we had our
first taste of winter!

It has been a month since my last post.  Shame on me!

But I do have a good excuse. I've been running a marathon, 

getting a bunch of "to dos" checked off my list.

During the month of November, my hubby always takes off for parts
unknown in search of the "Big One."

His hunting trip always gives me the opportunity to catch up on craft projects, and painting and cleaning jobs. 

And I confess, I get a jump start on Christmas too!

Yes, before Thanksgiving, I begin the decorating (while I have the house to myself).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of Thanksgiving...

Little "turkey nuggets" crafted from Hershey Nuggets.

I had a lovely Thanksgiving....spent it with my daughter and her in-laws. 

I hope you too took time to thank God for His abundance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, back to Christmas.....

 Around here I always say, 

"holidays don't just happen."  

Okay, so they happen, whether we're ready or not.

But they require a ton of work, even when you're trying to keep it simple.

I don't know about you, but I have to do Christmas in a specific order.  

The Christmas Advent always begins with a plan.

I  have Christmas "to do printouts" saved on my computer.  Each year, I print them out and plan my Christmas. 

I have a page for ideas, thoughts and crafts.

A card list.

A gift shopping list.

A party planning list complete with menus and shopping lists.

The cookie list.

AND

A calendar for planning Christmas events.

YES.  
I'm a list person!

To some of you, all of this must sound, well,  ridiculous.  But for me, it's how I maintain my sanity.  I have to have a plan (and order) for everything.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where there is no vision, the people perish Proverbs 29:18

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once my planning is complete,
I begin the countdown to Christmas by decorating with some Christmas music playing (loudly) in the background.
 It gets me 

"in the mood."

First.
The tree.

The tree was first on the list. The focal
point of any Christmas decor. 

I added some touches of chartreuse to the tree.
I love this color!!

I'm not a scrooge.

So I like to

I try not to go overboard.

It's hard for me, though.

But I just keep in mind that whatever I get out, I must put back.
Works every time!

Every year, I do things differently.
Mix things up a little.

 This year, I incorporated some deer antlers.
It's just a little something to keep the men interested in the holiday decorating. 

Hubs has a whole box of antlers.  

So again, I could have gone
ANTLER CRAZY!

But I kept it to just a few subtle touches.

Outside...

and Inside

I even found some cute deer wrapping paper for the "sportsmen and sportswomen"  in my life.

I found these cute little cardboard cut outs at Michael's and painted them white and added some glitter.

Flocked one of my little deer for someone special....

Making these deer was super easy.  I just sprayed them with some spray adhesive and sprinkled either glitter or flocking on them.
Easy peasy.  
No messy glue!

Michael's had a variety of shapes to choose from

I have to say though....
the best part of all these Advent preparations has got to be the

it brings to others....

Especially....

You guessed it....

The Grandbabies!

Beneath the tree this year, I placed a 
Little People Nativity.

They love it.
Especially little Rhea Amelia.  

It's a wonderful way to teach them the 
Christmas Story
and......

Keep them away from the ornaments.

Well, sometimes!  


Stay tuned for more Christmas posts!
In the meantime.....
Remember to live simply and deliberately!

A few more touches for your viewing pleasure....

Linked to

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/
http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com/
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/