Christmas Cards
We received our Christmas card order last week, they’re so lovely, probably the best ones we’ve done so far. I am quite happy with them, and I’m super excited to send them out.
I set to work addressing all the cards, it’s always fun to go through the Christmas list and think about all the people on there and what they’ve been up to this year. Our list is long, but not too long. It’s filled with family members and friends – some old, some new – clients, professional friends and a few random people we’ve met throughout our lives. Some of them we don’t talk to much anymore, others we speak to several times a week. One thing keeps them all on the list, we appreciate the part they have played in our lives past or present.
I really enjoy getting cards in my mailbox from friends and family. I love seeing photos of my college girlfriend’s kids, seeing how much they’ve grown each year. I love reading Christmas letters from friends I don’t talk to near enough, hearing about the year they’ve had. Christmas cards really are a way to connect with those in our lives that we don’t want to lose touch with.
After checking everyone off of my Christmas list I ended up with a lot of extra cards. Since I had them printed and I don’t want any of these fabulous cards to go to waste, I thought I’d send them out to some of my readers. You always make my day when you read and comment on my blog, so you should be on my Christmas list. If you would like to receive one of our Christmas cards, send me your address via the contact link to the right. I’ll keep sending them out until I run out (then you might get one of last year’s of which I still have hundreds in a box).
Do you enjoy getting Christmas cards in your mailbox?
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Indoor Holiday Decor
After picking up our tree on Tuesday, we pulled out the bins of holiday decor from the basement and set about decorating the inside of our home for Christmas. I’m partial to natural decor inside just like I am outside. I usually stick to white lights, glass balls, pine cones, and a few strings of glass beads when it comes to trimming the tree. Here’s a peek at the holidays inside the cottage at Chiot’s Run.
I made some mixed pine garland from those pine boughs we got at the Christmas tree farm and put it over the sliding glass door in the dining room. I simply love these little mica tree silhouette lights I got a long time ago, they are handled gingerly and strung up around the house each year. I had so much fresh pine left that I even put it on the light fixtures.
Of course the best part is the way the lights warm the house at night. We put our tree lights on a dimmer so we can dim them if we want to. I always love looking at them all squinty eyed to make them blurry.
Last year we didn’t put any Christmas decorations up in the house except for some of my nativity sets. Mr Chiots was very sad and said this year he wanted it really festive. I think we’ve achieved that, he’s very happy.
How do you decorate the inside of your home during the holidays? Do you go all out, or do it simply? (if you’ve posted about it on your blog, add a link below, I’d love to see it)
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O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree
Late Tuesday afternoon, Mr Chiots and I decided to head down to the local tree farm to get our Christmas tree. We went to Williamson Tree Farm on the outskirts of Carrollton, OH. It’s a small tree farm, very understated. They don’t have horse drawn carriages, nice big barns and all that stuff. They do have great service, great trees and great prices.
This was our first year getting a real Christmas tree since we’ve gotten married. We’ve had a fake one up until the year before last, we didn’t put anything up last year. When I was growing up we always had a fresh tree, we’d often make a trip of heading out to the tree farm to pick our perfect tree.
It was a cold day, the temperature was in the low 20’s when we left and right around 20 when we arrived home. That didn’t stop the tree farm people, they were all bundled up and ready to take you out to choose and cut your perfect tree. We picked out a cute little Frasier fir with lots of character (aka not perfect and straight).
We put our tree in the car, which just fit. Then we grabbed a bunch of pine boughs for decorating the stair railing and a few other spots around the house and we were on our way. They let us take as much of this as we wanted for free – a great bonus to shopping at a little tree farm instead of one of the big places!
One of things I love about this tree farm is that since it’s small, they plant the new trees in the spots in the field where others are cut down. Here’s a cute little future Christmas tree, in 5 or 6 years it will be filling someone’s home with holiday cheer.
Our little tree is set up in our living room. We decorated it with lights a few ornaments on Tuesday evening and it’s now bringing that wonderful fresh pine smell to our home and filling it with holiday cheer.
What kind of tree graces your home during the holidays?
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Celebrate a Handmade/Homemade Holiday
Many years ago we started celebrating a handmade/homemade holiday with my family. It’s been a lot of fun every year trying to come up with things that I can make for everyone. One year I made cloth shopping bags, another year I made jams/jellies and cinnamon rolls. Last year I started the tradition of making calendars and carried it on this year (I had family members asking if I was going to do it again, so I guess it was a hit). I certainly enjoy making gifts myself since I’m a very creative person.
Celebrating a handmade holiday can be difficult if you aren’t creatively inclined, you may feel like you don’t have the skills to make something. You may not have the time to make gifts yourself. You can still celebrate by buying handmade from others. Your local farmer’s market may be a great resource and Etsy.com is fabulous as well. I have purchased a few gifts from Etsy this year, things I don’t have time to make myself, or things I don’t want to invest in the supplies to make. Head over to Not Dabbling today – I’m posting about how to make a few simple gifts with scrap fabric.
Do you ever make gifts or buy handmade from others? Any great ideas for handmade/homemade gifts for this holiday season?
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The Sun Shone Brightly and the Sky Was Blue
Don’t know what got into me but when I sat down to write this post last night I decided to write a silly poem. Hope you enjoy it.
It was the perfect day to put up Christmas she knew,
The sun shone brightly and the sky was so blue.
Out of the attic came the decor, where it had been put away.
It was nearly 50, so no frosty fingers on this beautiful day.
Out came the step ladder and up went the pine,
white lights and pine cones along the roof line.
Stars, watering cans, and pots nestled by the front door,
Pine was draped down the sides that reached to the floor.
The sun was setting when she was all through,
She turned on the lights and took in the view.
Simple, natural decorations are the theme around here,
Shown to inspire others around the big blogosphere.
Do you put up outdoor Christmas decorations? What kinds?
Update: people are always asking where I got my grapevine stars. I’ve had them for many years, you can find them for a good price here on Amazon.
