Well as you can see the decorations are still in containers/boxes (12 to be exact)however they are one step closer and my 4-1/2 year old granddaughter will be coming over this afternoon after preschool to help YaYa deck the halls-walls-tables-shelves-tree . . . no doubt there will not be a bare spot in the house (now I am glad it is a small home) . . .

In getting ready to begin the decorating at home I decided to begin putting up the decorations at work . . . still need to get the greenery and candy/cookies put out . . . but its getting there . . .

Thanks for stopping by to visit . . . until later . . HUGS & KISSES!

Well . . . it’s the second day in December and I still have not decorated the house or tree yet – hubby has promised that he will bring in all the boxes today . . . I did however want to share with you a picture (from last year’s tree) of the very first handmade ornament that I ever made . . . it’s unbelivable that this Santa is 41years old this year . . .

my husband was still in college when we got married in 1969 and as typical college students we could not afford anything . . . we had purchased a Christmas tree (thanks to a Christmas check from my grandmother) but we did not have one thing to put on it . . . no lights, no ornaments, no tinsel – nothing . . . I remember how that poor tree looked so sad standing naked in our living room . . .

a few days after we purchased the “tree” my mother-in-law’s care package arrived (she worried about us starving & freezing – sooooooo every month she would send us a box with strange food/clothing/books & magazines in it – anything that she thought we poor college students would need – I remember she sent us a box of “hamburger helper” when it first came out and had us rate it – it was terrible! – glad to hear they have improved the product over time) . . .

anyway back to the Santa ornament . . . in this particular box was a McCall’s Christmas craft magazine and it had the cutest Santa and Snowman hand puppets and all you needed was felt, glue & some hand sewing – hey I could do that – I could afford those items . . . soooooooo off I went to the local Ben Franklin’s (the town we lived in did not have a fabric store) . . . now I know I said that this Santa was suppose to be a hand puppet but as I am not very good at math I did not enlarge the pattern and so I ended up with cute 5″ Santas and Snowmen (stuffed with cotton balls) . . .

over the years most of the Santa’s and all of the Snowmen have gone to Santa/Snowman heaven (felt & glue just were not made to stand the test of time apparently) so all I have left now is this little jolly fellow . . . he is falling apart but he will always have a place of honor in the very front of our Christmas tree every year and he brings back such wonderful memories of Christmas’s past . . .

Well that’s all for today . . . thanks for taking the time to stop by and visit . . . I will have more to share tomorrow . . . HUGS & KISSES

WOW . . . I cannot believe that we are already in the month of December . . . it seems that the older I get the faster time goes by and the slower I move . . . I mean I do not have one, not one, Christmas decoration out yet . . . usually by this date I have started decorating the house, I have baked at least two different types of cookies, the tree is up and we are beginning to trim it (this takes a whole month), and I am beginning to wrap presents (you know all those special gifts that you purchased/made during the past year and that are hidden throughout the house). . . welllllllll I have done NOTHING, NADA! . . . I am going to have to have my dear hubby start bringing in the decoration boxes tonight as I have a little girl (my precious granddaughter) wanting to help me decorate (this has become a yearly tradition with her & I). . . I should have taken this week off from work!!!!! Oh . . . and throw into the mix that I am hosting a sit down potluck dinner party for 16 people in my tiny tiny tiny home (945 sq. ft)Sunday, December 12th!!!!!!!!

Well I had better get started and in the meantime you should check out a couple of blogs for inspiration . . . these talented ladies are Christie Bryant (she is on the Graphic 45 design team) and Irene Tan (she is on the Tim Holtz design team) . . .

Soooooo HI HO – HI HO it’s off the decorating I go!!!!!! . . . thanks for stopping by . . .