On the 11th day of Christmas...

Miss Maija Lepore, from Phoenix, AZ made for me:

 Something nestled inside this cute little gift box...

and it's a soft, hand-stitched felt ornament. I love this sweet little house! Maija is so creative and always comes up with something uniquely different each year. See the stitched heart on the back? This little house is filled with love!

And it's warm, golden colors remind me of a Christmas gingerbread house - complete with a star button and wreath on the front door!  Thank you, Maija. Merry Christmas to you!

Burnin up the road

Greg and I made a quick trip to Kerrville earlier in the week to pickup an antique sideboard we purchased on Ebay.  We are going to use this as a media console in our family room.

We decided to stay over an extra day with my brother and SIL who have a home in Fredericksberg. Pat and I had a great day together, shopping and catching up on family stuff while the boys did their thing. Pat took me to Fredericksberg Pie Company for an afternoon treat on Thursday - yum! Chocolate pecan pie!

 The Fredericksberg pie company is one block east of main street.

 Look at all those freshly baked pies...

 Pictured here is the owner's wife - but SHE isn't the baker -- HE is!

 I love this vintage carousel horse out on the front lawn.  

And they also sell quilts, quilting fabrics, and gifts inside. Pat found a beautiful quilt for their upstairs guest room and I promised to find some coordinating fabric and sew the curtains.

Festival Ballet Houston's Nutcracker

I took the David girls (my 2 grand daughters and my 2 daughters-in-law) to the production of The Nutcracker Saturday afternoon.  Sara Lipp, daughter of my friend Jan, is a long time student of dance and was in the production. Photos were not allowed during the ballet but we took a few after the event.

 Mackenzie and Molly

 Mackenzie, Sara Lipp (aka Sugar Plum Fairy) and Molly

 Members of the cast - all are Ballerinas extraordinare!

Sara and Jan

Jan was also in the cast - love that outfit, girl!

On the 10th day of Christmas...

My sweet and very creative friend, Joanna Pierotti, from Peoria, AZ made for me:

Something very cool... tucked inside this clever cup-cake style gift wrapping..

 Joanna, you know I have been dying to see what is inside...

And what a treat is waiting! It's a magical, beautiful hand-sculpted snow lady! She is made from paper clay and Joanna hand painted her and dressed her with such flair! Just look at her precious little face! My photos do not do her justice - she is a one-of-a-kind treasure to behold!

I love that mine says FAITH. Go visit Joanna's blog for more photos of her darling snow ladies, and to get a glipse into her wide breadth of artistic creativity.  Joanna also has an incredible faith and is an inspiration to me in so many ways! Thank you Joanna!

On the 9th day of Christmas...

The sweet Lou McCulloch of Medina, OH made for me...

This festive and glittery ornament! 

Look closely, do you see the tiny, vintage frozen charlotte doll nested into the tiny little paper mache house?

There are so many elements to this ornament.  From the glittery and sparkly house to the dewy branches that surround it - all appear to be glistening in the sun kissed snow.

 Look how pretty it is hanging with the tree lights shining behind it.

Thanks so much, Lou, for another Christmas treasure!

On the 8th day of Christmas...

The multi-talented and charming Kelly Snelling, of Irvine, CA made for me:

Enlosed in this artsy hand-made gift wrap with hand stamped tag (oh, look, the image is Kelly herself!)...

This darling hand-sculpted, woolen felted doggie ornament! Just look at that face! Isn't she adorable? I have NO idea how Kelly manages to dream up such creative and fun ornaments each year, but Kelly - you have outdone yourself this time!

Look at the texture of the fur - look at the details of the eyes nose, and long little ears. This precious little doggie reminds me of my little beagle named Mandi that I had years ago.

 Look at the little doggie collar made of Christmas lights that she is wearing!

And look at that cute little wagging tail! Thanks so much, Kelly, for another creative and totally FUN ornament this year. I know these were tons of work and I will treasure it always.

Be sure to check out Kelly's blog to find out more about how she made these!

On the 7th day of Christmas...

the famously talented artist, teacher and author,  Ruth Rae from Claremont, CA made for me...

A fabulously wrapped gift -- all Ruth's hand dyed muslin - with a hand stamped and sewn pillow shaped gift tag...

And inside - another layer of cool wrapping. More hand-dyed lace and a hand stitched heart closure. Ruth's gifts always come packaged in multi-layers of wrapping with lots of rich fibers and textures - her specialty - yum!

And look what's inside! It's a wooden block ornament, about 4x5 in size, that Ruth has completely covered with her marvelous collage work.  Paint, vintage papers, hand stamping, wire work, vintage buttons, etc - surround each and every side of this precious ornament.

This is the front side of Ruth's ornament. See the free-motion sewn and quilted pillow on the front of the block?  The focal point which says "FAITH"?  Also note the nails she used to attach the little pillow to the wooden block? What a purposeful symbol and reminder of Christ's sacrifice for us. What a blessed reminder to each of us that without Faith and without HIM we would have nothing; we would be nothing!  He is the reason for Christmas!

This is the back of the ornament. Don't you love all the details here?  Look closely - there are lots of layers! I especially love that wire wrapped embellishment with all the stacked vintage buttons! It's obvious that Ruth put so much love and lots of time into these beautiful treasures for each of us. Thank you Ruth!

Please take a moment to go read Ruth's blog. She has published a tutorial on how she made these very kewl ornaments. Check it out! You willl also find links to Ruth's publications, classes, and info about where you can purchase Ruth's art.

Celebrating Christmas...

with my Monday afternoon ladies fellowship bible study group.

We always have a pot-luck luncheon and party at Christmas time. The "re-gift" gift exchange is a tradition... and only then is stealing okay! And stealing is what makes it fun...

Jan taking a good look at which gift she wants to pick...

 Oh, look what Linda got!

 Sharon is all smiles with that horseshoe around her neck...hmm.. can I try that?

 Jan sitting sweetly beside Shirley's beautiful tree.

Don't be fooled by her innocent grin - she likes to steal the best gifts!

Look! Mariko got a glass platter... but not for long because Sharon stole it!

oooohhh..Kuniko got a warm and cozy blankie...

And then showed some attitude when someone tried to steal it from her!

Now, Miss Pemba was really proud of the doggie picture frames she stole from Cindy. But Cindy got even later in the game and stole them back!  I tried to get Pemba to pose with the gifts she eventually got stuck with  - but she refused (inside joke people). Maybe someday she'll give them to me so I can make dolls out of them for her. Really cute dolls. Uh huh. Yeah.

Shirley is so proud of the light up musical Santa/Snowman toy she got for her son... Now, what is Santa doing exactly?  Just look at his face!  I'm not telling but it is hilarious...and Mr.Snowman is waving his hands around for some really good reason.....good thing this isn't smell-a-blog or you could figure it out!

 We always have such fun singing at Christmas time. Shirley plays the piano so beautifully. We sing all our favorite carols and hymns and...

 ...the twelve days of Christmas, complete with gestures and poses and giggles. Can you tell what day of Christmas this strange pose is supposed to be? Are those geese a layin? Cindy looks confused...just what the heck are yall doin?

We are blessed every year when our 3 sweet friends from Japan sing Silent Night in their native language. They are all three beautiful ladies and they sing so sweetly about our blessed Savior's birth!

I got to hold Shirley's dog Kupert for most of the afternoon. He is a mama's boy and usually stays put in Shirley's lap during our meetings.

Isn't he sweet?

Shirley was so sweet to give each of us a Christmas music box ornament - each a little different - each play a holiday tune that coordinates with the figurine inside the globe. Mine is a nutcracker. It plays "the dance of the sugar plum fairy"...

Once we figured out our tunes, Shirley made us all sing them aloud together. All singing our own songs. All at the same time. Oh, Shirley. What a riot you are!

Last but not least, we always take a group photo every year at our Christmas party. We had a few members missing from our party this year, but we had alot of fun. Shirley's husband was gone, so Shirley went outside searching for some kind soul on the street to come inside and take our group photo so we could get everyone in the picture. Much to our surprise, after a few minutes she came dragging in the trash collection guy to do the honors!! Needless to say, we got a good chuckle out of that, and offered him some of our holiday cookies in return for his good deed! That is sooooo Shirley!!

And thank you for "volunteering", kind sir. You are a great photographer!! This gentleman will remain nameless and I have purposefully hidden his identity to protect the innocent...