PresentPast Collection

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and wish you a very Happy New Year! It's been nice taking some much needed time off and just enjoying the holidays with my friends and family. I had a birthday as well on the 27th which adds to all the ongoing celebrations and festivities. And it was indeed a very Happy Birthday!

There are so many exciting things that will be happening in 2008 and I can't wait for all the changes. Wish I could spill all the beans right here and now, but I'm learning to be very patient. This past year has been a whirlwind of adventure and I know that the next will be just as fulfilling. I picked up this great journal calendar while I was out shopping. I don't know if I'll use it much because I rely mostly on my Treo cell phone for appointments and such, but this one was so beautiful and looks very vintage! Maybe I can train myself to use it on my desk for reminders.

So......does anyone have any New Year's Resolutions? If so, I'd love to hear them! I'm working on a very small list myself. Small because I don't want to break too many! One of the most important ones will be to de-clutter every square inch of my house. I've enlisted The Man and Sweet Girl to share in this resolution and to say they are excited would be not be accurate. It's more like they have waved their white flag in defeat, knowing that they will be forced to join the troops of Operation De-Clutter! Victory will be ours in 2008!

P.S. If some of my previous photos and posts look a little off to you it's because I've changed the format of my blog in order to bring you larger photos to view in the New Year. It's a small change I've been meaning to make and a great way to kick off another year of blogging. Hope you enjoy the improvement!

Mistletoe Kisses

Just wanted to pop in and say Thank You so much for all the well wishes and Christmas greetings! I've been feeling much better and for a little outing we all went up to the mountains for the day. We stopped for lunch, played in the snow, did some window shopping and picked mistletoe to bring home to our family and friends.

We washed and pruned them into petite bundles then tied each of them with a miniature ornament that looks like a mistletoe berry. It conjures up such nostalgic memories of old Christmas songs and watching loved ones smooching under it's spell. I hope that by passing these out it will spread some Christmas Love!

Warm Wishes

This week has been somewhat hectic with an unexpected outpatient surgery I had to have on Monday afternoon. I've been spending the last few days recovering and trying to slow down. Something my family is always telling me to do. Perhaps I've been burning the candle at both ends as they say and my body finally said, No More! Take it easy!

Now that I'm feeling a little better I'm trying to finish up all the last minute details for our Christmas plans and just focus on what's really important. I want to wish each and everyone of you very heartfelt Warm Christmas Wishes. I hope that this holiday season greets you with the love of your friends and family and that you cherish each minute. Thank you all for the blessings you give me with your kind comments, shared stories and friendship. It truly is such a gift and I'm so fortunate to receive it almost daily. May you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Glad Tidings & Joy

I know we are all very busy getting ready for the upcoming holidays. I bet there is plenty of cookie baking, tree trimming, party hopping, and package wrapping going on all over Blogland. Here are a few of my favorite inspiring holiday photos from Flickr. Grab a cup of coffee and take a break when you need some quiet time and browse all the gorgeous photos! They make the perfect little pick me up to keep us filled with Christmas cheer!

Peppermint Bark

One of the best parts of Christmas are the homemade and handmade gifts that we give and receive. They take time, thought and care in creating and are so much more personal than a gift card. My yearly Peppermint Bark is very simple to make, tastes delicious and is always just the right small gift to have on hand for friends and family who stop by. Here is my very easy recipe, I hope you give it a try!

Peppermint Bark

2 pounds of white chocolate, chopped

1 box of peppermint candy canes (11-12oz)

3/4 tsp. pure peppermint oil

Break up peppermint candy canes in a plastic bag, setting aside 1/4 of the pieces. Next melt the chocolate ( I prefer the microwave) until all pieces are smooth, then add in 3/4 of the peppermint pieces and the peppermint oil.

Pour onto a cookie sheet pan that has been lined with wax paper and spread evenly. Sprinkle the top with the remaining peppermint pieces. Cool until hardened then break apart into bite size pieces.

I package mine in many different ways. Sometimes I put them in tins or boxes or even an antique cup & saucer. For this batch I used cellophane bags and added a polka dot bow and small silver bell ornament tied up with baker's twine.

They make such sweet surprises! Well, I'm off to finish packaging up the two batches I made. This weekend I'll probably make several more, The Man has been getting requests from his employees who remembered it from last year. The list just grows and grows. Good thing is so simple and fun to make!

Christmas Colors

This year as I was pulling out all my Christmas decorations, I was feeling like I needed a change from the traditional red that normally festoons the house. It might be because I have a smaller scaled "extreme home makeover" planned for after the holidays. So, with that on my mind I used more subdued colors in my holiday decorations.  Simple greenery, softer reds such as the pomegranates and lots of mercury glass.

The mix of the natural wood and ironstone could be displayed year round. These will probably stay after the renovations.

In the dining room I added small bits of Christmas cheer among my ironstone collection. Nothing too over the top here. In fact, I'm finding myself toning it down to just what I really love.

And just in the nick of time for my gift packaging, I finished my Christmas Vignettes from the class I took from Rebecca Sower. These will be used as gift cards to dress up my holiday packages. Rebecca has a fantastic blog and she's sharing with us some very inspiring holiday ideas of using what you have on hand. Her style is amazing and I know you will be motivated to try some for yourself.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like.....

Christmas! Our home is starting to look and feel more festive. I've been burning an Evergreen candle from Williams-Sonoma practically non-stop. It makes the entire place smell like an evergreen forest, which is nice since we have an artificial pre-lit tree. This week I plan on buying some fresh evergreen garland to add to the tops of my mirrors and pictures. Here is a little cathedral church I purchased at Homegoods and embellished with a few of my vintage baubles.

It's such a quick way to spruce up a store bought item and make it more personal. I used a vintage French postage stamp as the doormat and a few earrings as a wreath and bell tower topper. And lastly, I added a pair of miniature bird ornaments to the trees, simple and very inexpensive.

I thought I'd have a little Parade of Ornaments and show you some of the hundreds I've collected over the years. I love the hand blown glass ornaments and enjoy finding new ones each year to add to the tree.

Sugar topped ginger bread houses are always a sweet treat!

And a pair of fur lined ice skates, wish I had a pair that looked like these.

This large snow covered village ornament is one of my favorites and in the background is one of Sweet Girls snow angels.

Over the years I've been given many garden themed ornaments from friends and family. This tradition started back when I owned a home & garden boutique. There are watering cans, wheel barrows, picket fences, birds, roses and sunflowers, just to name a few.

I'm very partial to my rose ornaments, and this little basket is a charming favorite.

And every year since she was born, I've given Sweet Girl a special ornament to commemorate the year, isn't this one adorable! We write the year on the bottom of each one and when she gets married I plan to give her the collection as a gift. Now I'm thinking I should have bought 2 of the same each year, just so I wouldn't have to part with them!

Well, I'm off to do some wrapping and I've got my trimmings ready to top the gifts. It's my favorite Christmas chore.

I'll be posting some of my holiday gift wrapping ideas with you as I finish. And also on the To-Do list this week is making my annual Peppermint Bark to give to friends and family, recipe and photos to follow. Wishing you all a wonderful week filled with holiday memories!

Visions of Sugar Plums

Here's a peek into one of my all time favorite shops. It's called Mrs. Tiggy Winkles (no website link) and is located next to the national historic landmark hotel The Mission Inn. The shop is about 5,000 sq.ft. and is filled to the brim with gorgeous finds and unique gifts. Won't you come along with me for a little window shopping?

You can see why someone might spend hours in here, just perusing the wares and beautiful vignettes. Everywhere you turn inspiration abounds!

Tomorrow is the December La Maison Rustic Temecula Barn Sale. There will be lots of Christmas cheer and holiday gifts & goodies so if you have a chance be sure to stop by for a visit! The sale starts Friday and is open through Sunday, located at: 39195 Avenida Antonovich, Temecula, CA. Hope to see you there!

Christmas Cheer

Boy oh Boy! Creating holiday magic around the house sure is a lot more work than I remembered. There are still boxes spread out all over the floors but I took a few "selective" shots to share with you. After my clutter is cleaned up, I'll share some finished photos. This is a vignette on the family room sideboard, an antique wooden scoop filled with pinecones and mercury glass ornaments.

On the coffee table in the family room I added a silver bowl piled with a collection of vintage ornaments. The candle pedestal is a salvaged architectural column base that The Man glued back together for me so I could use it as a unique candle holder.

A small tabletop display in the living room is a snow covered mirror and a few chosen treasures. I bought the itty bitty ornaments from a vendor at Silver Bella, but for the life of me, I can't remember who!

The breakfast nook chandelier got a glittery star treatment, courtesy of Pottery Barn. And set on the table underneath it:

is an antique wood mixing bowl filled with huge oversized mercury glass ornaments. I absolutely love looking at this everyday! Wish I could keep them out year round.

This is one of my favorite ornaments. A sweet bisque rabbit that you nestle on top of a light. I've had it for so many years, and when Sweet Girl pulled it out of the box this year we both went, "Oooohhhh, love that one"!

The Man purchased this nativity set about 8 or 9 years ago all by himself. The figurines are so realistic and full of gorgeous color, he couldn't have picked a better one.

Well, I'm off to try and finish up my festive chores. Along with decorating, I've been working on a few Christmas crafts and I hope to share them with you soon. And if I could just get my loved ones to give me their Wish Lists, I'd work on that too!  Tis the season!