A fun little secret and some other stuff

Before I get to the the fun little secret I have to show you pics of our favorite Christmas tree farm. Last weekend we headed out to pick our annual Nash Christmas tree and it was so beautiful. Now as you know I don't like the cold and snow but even I have to admit it was gorgeous.

Oh yes, and big brother Michael has to make Taylor squeal by throwing snowballs at her.
But she got a few good hits in on him too.

And here it is.....our Christmas tree being drug through the snow.


And now it's all decorated. It's full of all my old glass ornaments and we strung a popcorn and cranberry garland. It will be a miracle if the garland makes it to Christmas.....the dogs have decided they like popcorn and every now and then I catch one of them nibbling on it....ugh

Oh and I have to show you these wonderfully old looking papers. I bought them in the Fall when I was at Country Sampler. I had no idea what I was going to do with them but they were so cool I couldn't pass them up.
This was so easy and I love sitting at my desk looking at it....it smells good too. I just rolled the paper up and popped it down in a glass vase and then threw a few fresh sprigs of greenery in the center.

I love love love this big huge picture. Sometimes when I'm sitting at my computer working I find myself staring at her. Now do you see how I get so far behind ; )
Jeanne at Country Sampler ordered this picture for me in the Spring and I finally got to see her in the Fall. I couldn't wait to get home and hang her up. I saved this huge spot for her for 6 months and now finally she's here.
It barely fit in the back of the truck and I worried about it all the way home. But thankfully she made it in one piece.
This is where I fell off the ladder and broke my arm in the Spring. Every time I looked at that big bare wall that's all I could think about. But now all I see is this beautiful picture.
Thanks Jeanne : )

Here are more of those wonderful old looking papers. I had 5 of the same print so I just rolled them up and stuck them in an old pitcher with some fresh sprigs of greenery.

Ok, this is one of my favorite things that I bought on the way back from Wisc. last Fall. I love this old thing and it will stay on the mantel every season. Spring it will be filled with tulips, summer I'll throw some hydrangeas in it and I just took my bittersweet out so I could add the holly.
This is the one piece that inspired my Holiday decorating.....lots of old silver and mercury glass.

This little thing is too stinkin' cute too. Got it at the same time I bought the old trophy.
So, now I can share the fun little secret.
See the old silver platter in the background?
Now look down at the next picture.....

This is hanging on the front door.....an old silver platter, a little fresh greenery and a couple small old pitchers. Every year I would hang a fresh greenery wreath with some pine cones and a little ribbon and that just sounded boring . So I kicked it up with some old silver.
I have silver platters and pitchers and bowls all over the house for the Holidays. Bowls full of fruits and nuts, pitchers full of greenery and glass candy dishes set on silver platters.
And you will never guess where they came from.....the Goodwill Store.
I know....I couldn't believe it.
This is actually my Moms fun little secret.....she has been scouring all the Goodwill Stores around the Indianapolis area collecting all these old silver pieces. And the prices are incredible.....$10. or less. I'd say the average piece is 3 or 4 bucks.
So fun!!
And soon we'll be filling some of the silver platters with fresh baked cookies to give as gifts.

Last night we were talking about our store.....we miss it so. One year for our Christmas Open House we filled the store with old white milkglass......and I don't mean a few.....I'm talking about a ton. If you put a candle in a milkglass urn it has the softest glow. And little sugar and creamers are so cute with tealights. Mom shopped at all the Goodwill stores for weeks and collected tons of milkglass. We had so much fun with that store.....you just never knew what we were going to collect.

And a little update on my website.....I think we got it going. I'm a little afraid to get too excited but I think it's going to be updated tomorrow. I have a new book ~Home for Christmas~ and 2 new patterns ~12 Days of Christmas Sewing Roll~ and ~Colonial Homestead Pinkeep Drum~ that I hope to add. And I'll have a few finished pieces to offer too.
I have to give a big huge thanks to my husband. He has put in many many hours trying to figure this out. And I have to thank a stranger on the internet.....my husband met a very nice man on one of his forums that has gone out of his way to help us. It's really been a blessing.
I hope to pay it forward one day.

So, that's the news from the homestead. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and I'll let you know as soon as the website is up and running.
Oh, and I'll put up some pics of the new patterns here too.

Happy Stitching my friends....