Sharing a Lovely Christmas with You

I think this photo tells the story...a very tuckered out pussy cat after a very lovely Christmas Day!

As the Christmas holiday winds down, I thought I would take this opportunity to share some photos of the day with you.  I think it's one of the few days in the year that you can actually get family photos taken, don't you?  I thank you in advance for indulging me.

I managed to get 4 trees up total this year.  This is one of my little vintage ornament trees.  I love anything in miniature, especially Christmas ornaments, so this is one of my favorite trees.  I also have another with miniature Santas.  The tree in the background is a tree that I leave up all year and decorate with the seasons.

For Christmas, it's all done in greens, blues and golds
in a nature theme.

I used a bit of creativity for my table this year.  I used fun Christmas paper from Paper Studio for placemats.  With the candy cane napkins and acrylic plates, it was very festive.

With all the little ones at the table, paper and plastic
was the 'safest' way to go!

The glow from the mosaic candle centerpiece was so beautiful,
but I just couldn't capture that on my camera.

You may recognize these two little ones because
I speak of them often.

This is my daughter Mallory and her boys, Caleb and CJ.

This is my son Alex and his fiance, Jayme
with my grandson, Alex Jr.

The little one was so tired out but beforehand,
he was a bundle of energy as he

opened his presents and then helped his mommy and daddy too!

I absolutely LOVE this photo of all of them together.

I am so proud to have had a part in creating this lovely crew!

I don't share my own photos often, but I had to show you
the 3 loves of my life...

Before I close, I wanted to share a couple more photos...this is what we awoke to this morning.  After nearly 2 inches of freezing rain between Christmas eve and Christmas evening, this was a welcome sight.
Make sure you click on the photo to get the full effect!

The flakes were just lovely.

As of this posting, we accumulated over 5" of this lovely white stuff and tomorrow promises 3"-4" more.  Brrrrrr......

Last but not least, it was such a lovely coincidence today that I had planned to post this photo.  The sweet fuchsia elephant at the top left was a gift sent to me several years ago from the UK by my dear friend Sarah.  You know Sarah as one of our designers over at The Play Date Cafe and as the host of her own blog, The Art of Moodling.  If you have been following me for very long, you also know that Sarah and I have been friends for nearly 10 years.  The coincidence comes by way of a phone call I received today from dear Sarah.  We spoke for nearly 90 minutes, but the time sure flew by!  I love having a friend who, even though we don't speak by phone very often, we can just pick up where life has left off and never miss a beat.

I love putting that ornament on my tree each year.  Of course it reminds of me Sarah...but more importantly, it reminds me of a friendship that has flourished over the years.  Some would find the distance to be an excuse not to try...Sarah and I find the distance a reason to try harder to stay connected.

Funny thing is, we don't have to try all that hard..... 
love you, my friend....

Winter in Illinois...Design Team Call Still On

Happy Monday to you all!
How was your weekend?  Did you manage to get some holiday shopping done?  I'm afraid I did not as I was busy getting batches of these snowflakes done for Etsy orders.  Aren't these winter white with silver and pearl just sweet?  I thought so too!  If you just don't have time to make little embellishments like this,
then pop over to my Etsy store.
They are great beyond the holiday season, too!

What we did manage to do is get some decorating done.  This is just a little peek at our main tree.  I usually have 4 or 5 up scattered about.  Some are table-top trees with themed collections, so once those are finished tomorrow, I would love to share them with you.  It should be the perfect Christmas decorating day as well.  From the weathermen of our 4 local channels to the experts as The Weather Channel, we are settling in for a  
 potential foot of snow
beginning early in the morning.  Perfect....aaaah.....

DESIGN TEAM CALL

If you hadn't heard, The Open Window has announced a design team call for those who specialize in vintage/retro paper arts.  There are so many wonderful places to draw inspiration from for lovers of vintage and we have a new challenge blog that we want to include in that list.

To get all the details, click HERE!

Some of my favorite vintage-style blogs are:

A Vintage Chic, Iralamija, Lilybean's Paperie

Some of my favorite retro-style blogs are:

Gauche Alchemy, Just Add Glitter & Stir, A Vintage Spirit and Chronically Vintage

Visiting these blogs may help you to know if you have THE STYLE!

I just HAD to share this with you before I go.

 

I have yet to set this up during this season, but I found this photo from last Christmas as I was looking for something else and it just made me smile.  That's 15 year old Lucy.  I'm not quite sure if she felt left out or if she was on guard duty....either way, she was able to weave in and out without one of those pieces moving.  The reason that is so amazing is because she is not a slight kitty....
she weighs nearly 12 pounds!

See you tomorrow!