coffee, bakery, snowman. . . . skeleton & elf

Peace on Earth . . .

This was in my mailbox today . . . what a wonderful surprise!

Thank you Lorraine!

My dad used to make wood cutouts similar to this.  He would have liked this one.  I have a feeling he would have looked for the pattern and made a few.  

Lorraine also makes the most wonderful cards.  

I am always so excited when I receive one . . . and I love snowmen!

Peace on Earth!

Christmas cookies . . .

There's joy and wonder everywhere

when you see the world through the

eyes of a child.

Baking cookies with a three-year old is so much fun . . . and ever so messy, but some messes are just worth it.  She insists on helping every step of the way.  I guess I wouldn't have it any other way - although I have to keep an eye on her or she will just do her own thing . . . like picking up the salt and adding some more.  I have gotten pretty good at keeping things going like they should and still letting her have fun and think she is doing most of it herself.  

Now the decorating . . . that was a different story.  I just let her do her thing.  After looking at her cookies I do believe that sugar cookies decorated by small children have to be some of the happiest looking cookies ever . . . 

On the other hand . . . my kitchen does not look so happy.  

Pink Snowlady in January

My pink snowlady is not quite ready to be packed away - so she has settled herself under my new pink tree waiting for me to gather some cute valentine ornaments for February.

Even though all of the other holiday decorations are put away - she is not lonely - she has the company of a Neil Diamond bear - souvenir that my friend Michelle bought me at the New Year's Eve Concert.
I have a bunch of beanies that I made awhile back - ones that never were scooped up by the boys and their friends, or that I just stuck away because I didn't really like how they turned out. I thought they would look better with a little something added - and since I love hearts and buttons . . .

It was back to work today. I so enjoy the fact that working at a school gives me holidays off. Sometimes it is hard to go back after two relaxing weeks - especially getting up at 5:00 after staying up late and sleeping in most of Winter Break. Once I was up and at work though - it was OK to be back at it and it was busy and as hectic as usual - like we were never gone. The day flew by! Tomorrow morning will arrive much sooner that I would like - so time for some sleep - even though I would rather stay up late, watch a movie and crochet.

"Not the buttons! Not my gumdrop buttons!" ~ The Gingerbread Man - Shrek

A Little More Christmas

A new pink Christmas ornament
A new pink Christmas Tree - I've been wanting a small pink tree for some time. I don't want to put it away with the Christmas stuff. I am thinking maybe I can somehow hold it over until Valentine's Day. It is soooo cute. I wrapped a pink boa around the base and now it is just waiting for some ornaments.
A perfect place to hang out.
Jennifer and Josh were over on Christmas Eve and made up the last gingerbread house. I like Jennifer's icicles. Josh proceeded to eat this when they were over for Christmas. I forgot and left the other houses on the table last night - Sadie put a dent in those. Ooops!
One last ornament made - Our friend and neighbor collects Coca Cola things - and her tree and house are decorated around this theme. We made her this little angel out of a Coke can. I had seen one at Urban Outfitter's - but they only had one made with at diet coke can. I added the small heart on the bottom because I had gotten glue on the front of the angel and could not get it off. I like the addition of the heart more than anything - I guess sometimes mistakes can be a good thing.
Never say, "oops." Always say, "Ah, interesting." ~Author Unknown

Surprise!

Look at all this fun stuff! The origami paper is so small - it will make the cutest cranes. - My uncle always made origami cranes out of the silver liners of his cigarette packages. (I still have a couple that I put on my Christmas tree every year - they are a little worn after thirty years - but I am careful with them.) These will be small like those.
Amy always sends me these cute tissues. I wonder if she has any idea how much I enjoy them? :-)
And Santa in a pink sleigh . . . How cute is he? The kitten thing is a small coin purse.
Jake took this apart and fixed it - but I sort of like him this way. It was a do by number thing - I don't know what happened this first time he put him together. Amy's package was full of fun, little surprises. It makes me miss her more than ever!

A little more Pink

One of the girls I work with put a small tree on her desk and tied a pink bow to the top of it. She had a couple of small pink ornaments to get it started - I told her I would bring her something pink everyday for her tree. She has been off work for a few days - so I get to welcome her back to work with five days worth of pink ornaments. I found the small pink umbrella in a box - (sometimes it seems to make sense that I keep everything). The flower is left over from Jennifer's baby shower. I bought the little snowman for 99 cents this past weekend, strung some beads that I had on some wire, and stitched up a little heart. I have 10 more days before we are off work for the holidays - her little tree should be fully decorated by then.