Pink Yarrow

Photos of the trees outside my father's home. Snow fell after rain had turned to ice on the trees.

I feel as though one might encounter a faun if she wandered this white forest long enough...

This year I decided to keep it simple when decorating for Christmas. We put all our ornaments on the tree, but for the rest of the decorating I went with a red and white theme. I did, of course, make a few exceptions for some of our favorite Christmas treasures...

The Pixies, peering down from the top of the china cabinet.



The winterscape that I purchased last year from a senior citizen craft fair at our church. I just find these irresistible!


Vintage angels that are supposed to spell N O E L, but mine spell L O O N.

As gifts for teachers. Based on this tutorial: Nordic House Ornaments by Orange Flower: Sketchbook - I used the templates for the roof, windows and doors. However, I wanted to make them look more whimsical (and, I was avoiding embroidery because time was an issue), so the final look is inspired by Tallgrass Prairie Studio's Little House Table Topper (a very loose interpretation!) I let the girls choose fabrics from my scraps (I pulled out reds, greens and whites to keep things simpler). Also, for my 3-year-old (who has 3 teachers) I gave her white backgrounds for her houses to prevent too much craziness!

These might be my best garbage-pick ever. I don't really pick through people's garbage, but I live in a city with alleys (and I used to live in Chicago, too) and when people put things out in the alley, separate from their garbage, they mean for someone to take it. Especially in Chicago, where it is very difficult to move all your stuff! These, however, came from the house directly behind me on the other side of the alley. A young man moved into his grandmother's house after she passed away and he cleaned everything out. I spied the box when pulling into my garage and just knew it contained something good! I ran across the alley, kids still seat-belted (and hollering) in the car. I made sure the guy who works on cars next door was out of sight and I dragged the box into my garage. Later, after I sneaked it past my husband into the basement, I found these wonderful figurines. They've seen better days, but they're delightful none-the-less. They live in the winter village and brighten up our Christmas! I believe they're Barclay toys, just from looking around eBay.

I had a little trouble with the shape of my daughter's cake this year (read, I had to cut off the, um, crispy outer layer...). I was going to make a version of the Betty Crocker "Let's Party" Cake and the cupcakes turned out perfect. So, instead of a tower, I lined the cupcakes around the perimeter of the cake and added a tree cookie forest for height. Looks like I planned it this way, I think! The perfect December birthday cake!

Finished and mailed today (thankfully, the deadline wasn't too strict).

Mama To Mama

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