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I love Christmas Eve. It’s a relaxing night (well, compared to the chaos of tomorrow morning) and offers a little time to reflect while the little one is asleep. He’ll be jumping on our bed at the crack of dawn (or earlier), so now’s my time.

 Collage by Lise Kirk, thank you for sharing with me!

We usually have a simple dinner in the evening. This year we'll be having filet mignon, baked potatoes and an easy vegetable, like carrots. It seems to be different each year but always an easy to prepare meal. I hope one year will be the start of a new tradition with dinner Christmas Eve but while Andrew is still young, this is what we do for now.

After dinner, we get the cookies and milk ready for Santa. And of course, carrot sticks for the reindeer. I never get tired of seeing the look on the his face when he sees they gobbled up their snacks. Funny thing is, he often checks the treat dishes before he even looks at the presents. (Okay that last part was my hopeful imagination! I can't really expect much to hold his 4 year old interest more than all the presents under the tree yet!)  read more »

I’ve always been one to get my Christmas shopping done ahead of time. And, then I'm always still shopping right up til the last minute! It just doesn’t feel like Christmas until it’s really time. I got a good chuckle when I was in a grocery line earlier this month and the cashier told me (it was DECEMBER 4!!!), “I’m going to finish my last-minute Christmas shopping tomorrow.”

What?

Last minute?

Well, I guess because in the commercial world Christmas starts well before November even starts, December 4 can seem like last minute. Of course, if you wait until the TRUE last minute and hit the shopping mall, you’re probably headed for some aggravation and disappointment.

(Collage by Lise Kirk - Thank you for sending to me!)

However, if you use some of my tips below, last-minute shopping can be much more pleasurable and the recipients of your gifts will probably pretty happy too.  read more »

I’m looking forward to sharing with you a few thoughts over the Christmas holiday. I welcome your comments and ideas. I love this time of year and hearing about other people’s ideas and traditions.

So let’s get to the heart of the matter here. Christmas is in 3 days (two if you celebrate on Christmas Eve!), so dinner’s gotta get get done. Everyone thinks of the traditional ham or turkey with all the trimmings as the must-have meal, but it’s a lot of work.

You can still have a delicious meal without slaving away all day.  Really!

Ideas:

• Don’t have a lot of guests? Try oven-roasting a whole chicken or even chicken pieces.

• Take a walk on the wild side with a crockpot recipe the family loves. Even a pot roast can be cooked with a Christmas flair by topping the roast with cranberry sauce. Yes, cook the roast with the cranberry sauce on top and sprinkle a little onion soup mix for extra flavor.

• What about a Christmas pizza? A simple idea that can get the family involved. Choose a Christmas-themed pan shape (Christmas tree, bell, etc.) and go for it.

This year we are having a breakfast pizza Christmas morning - it's easy, hot and very ham and cheesy. We love it!

If You’re Still Making The Big Turkey or Even a Ham:  read more »

 

If you'd like to read more about the process that Frieda went through to put this piece together, visit her blog - http://friedaquilter.blogspot.com/2009/10/vintage-image-madness-calendar.html

Interestingly, this is the 3rd year that Frieda has participated in our calendar project! Check out the previous two years submissions along with the link to her post about it on her blog!

Here's 2008 - http://friedaquilter.blogspot.com/2007/10/vintageimagemadness-calendar.h...

 

And 2009 - http://friedaquilter.blogspot.com/2008/08/tea-and-cake.html

 

It's time for the Etsy Maine Team Scavenger Hunt!

To play, you must have an Etsy account...and some free time! That's it! Go through the following list of 25 Etsy Maine Team shops and look for this ghost hidden in a listing*:

 read more »

A Halloween Journal created by Sheila Rumney! You can see her blog here - http://blessedanddistressed.blogspot.com/

A couple of weeks ago Sheila purchased a couple of Halloween collage sheets from my Etsy shop (http://vintageimagemadness.etsy.com) for a project she was working on! Little did I know that those images would turn into this gorgeous Halloween Journal! You can read more about the journal on her blog here - http://blessedanddistressed.blogspot.com/2009/09/carving-out-halloween-m...

Here are the gorgeous pictures of the journal and all the pages! Thank you for sharing Sheila!

   read more »

I was honored to have my collage sheet, Father Time, selected to be part of the "Father Time Marches On" etsy treasury. It was fun to get a convo letting me know that I was featured.

This is the first time, that I'm aware of, that one of my products was included in a treasury!

You can find all my collage sheets on etsy and in my shoppe!

 

I am all ready for Christmas and have been looking forward to reading this story to my son, who's now 3 and a 1/2. Don't forget the 1/2! This is very important to him. I have my old book of Twas the Night Before Christmas illustrated by Grandma Moses. It was given to me by a very special person, my Grammy Hibbard. I treasure this book and I'm sure my son will love hearing this story too.

Enjoy your holidays! 

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.  read more »

What You Make of It - Freebie Collage Sheet: Vintage Santa & Holiday Images  

I have been featured on Vintage Indie again in the "What you Make of It" section of the site. I put together a special collage sheet especially for Gabrielle's readers. You can check it out here and pick up your copy!

I have been actively reading posts, etc on the different Ning networks that I belong to. (See the badges down the right side of the blog?) Anyway, I've been reading alot about the Treasury on Etsy and how to create one.  Anyway, it's kind of like needing to be in the right place at the right time - AND today I actually was!  (I won't mention that today was my first day of unemployment since I was laid off last week and had lots more computer time). So I was pretty happy and a little intimidated BUT here is my very first Etsy Treasury:  read more »