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Wednesday 26 December 2012

Christmas Hits & Misses

I was just thinking about all the projects and decorating I did for the festive season and what mattered most to my family.  Boxing Day is also a good day to reflect on what I will and won't do for next Christmas.  In fact, thinking is about all I feel up to today!  I'm pooped!

Next year, I will not be sewing dolly blankets and little cross stitched doll cradle pillows on the 23rd of December! ~


Some extra thought in wrapping was a resounding success with the grandkids loving their Believe tags and jingle bells on their gifts. ~


The kids second favourite decoration in the house was the tall glass vase turned into a candy cane parfait with some strings of beads.  If I took five minutes on that one, I'd be surprised! ~


Hanging fewer snowflakes, up higher, saved the chandelier from last years near disaster as kitty Maeve lunged for the decorations! ~


Farm girl tells me her youngest four kids were thrilled with their personalized pillow cases.  Thank you Graphics Fairy and Citrosolv!!!  $2 per present cannot be beat.  Of course I gave them a store bought present as well, but I may not have needed to. ~


The ornamental polar bear from the library became a ride on toy and looks like he has a bad case of mange now! ~



The snow village goes on a table in the family room for children to play with.  It  hadn't been out in years as the grandsons had reached their teens.  When five new grandkids joined the family, it was pulled out of storage and back to being loved.

Two years ago the village nestled on a bed of snow that my grandmother had used under her snow village.  The kids dove right into that stuff and a few hours later started complaining about being itchy.  O'mgosh!  The stuff is fibreglass!  Oops. ~


That led to endless jokes from my daughters about children in the olden days playing with barbed wire and caustic chemicals.  That's ridiculous.  We played with BB guns, fishing knives and DDT.  On the train tracks.  While smoking.  Anyway, those are the first kids who wrapped themselves in the fibreglass snow!

Still, I've switched to a bag of loose snow and accept that I'll be vacuuming it up in April.  The kids got out the basket of toys from the spare room and had a heyday marching dinosaurs and circus animals through the tiny town.

The next day, when Baby (otherwise known as Cindy Loo Who) arrived, she marched right up to that snow village with an armful of dinosaurs and did the same thing. ~


I've applied for disaster relief for the snow village and Peta should be here about the polar bear soon.  My feet are on a stool and I'm about to pour myself a long shot of rye.

My favourite decoration?  These paper angels my daughters made for me so many years ago, that I framed last Christmas. ~


I love these angels almost as much as I love the artists that made them!  And, I love them almost as much as the village wrecking, polar bear torturing, pillow case hugging and grandma kissing angels they made for me!

I hope everyone had as merry a Christmas as I did!
ps~I must be very tired.  I spelled It's All Connected wrong on every single pic!  I'm not going back and fixing them so we'll all have to live with it.

22 comments:

  1. Sure did, Maureen! We added Penguins that you wind up and walk and poop to the nativity this year-Those little brown pellets give it such a realistic touch.

    We also had a Cindy-Loo-Who, too, that graduated to LuLu- which is STILL not her real name...lol

    I am about ready for a shot of something myself- LONG coupla days, wasn't it? xo Diana

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  2. We had a wonderful Christmas, and it sounds like you had a nice one yourself! Sounds like all your hard work payed off, and now it's time for you sit back and relax. Enjoy!

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  3. Merry Christmas Maureen, it looks as though you all had a fantastic Christmas. Poor polar bear, I hope he recovers. I love the pillowcase please do or link me to a tutorial. Our Boxing Day was also spent recovering :) Here's to the new year xxxoo

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  4. Christmas has so far been hectic and fantastic. Your grandchildren were such angels. Just getting ready for my big dinner on the 30th. January sounds like a great time to recoup.

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  5. Maureen, sounds like your days have been full and Merry!!! I love the pillowcases and may just be making some for future gifts. Hoping your New Year is Happy and Safe!!!

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  6. I keep going back to the photo of your grand-daughter and the dinosaurs...so sweet. I am still tonight finding items all tucked in strange places put there by my 2 year old grand-daughter. I will be picking up tree needles for a month. Oh well, it was fun. I was so beat tonight I fell asleep sitting up. I thought that was just a guy thing. Glad you had a fun Christmas.

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  7. Maureen.... this is a really cute post. Just really sweet and funny.

    Bliss

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  8. Funny how traditions keep on going - I bet your kids played with the village too. Looks like a wonderful Christmas at your house!

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  9. Merry Christmas, super Maureen. Love your tales of the day and the kids and grands in full "hands on" mode! Framing the angels is brilliant -- I'm going to do the same thing as soon as I rest up from all the hoopla. (Next year, we clearly need more dinosaurs.)

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  10. Sounds like you all had a great Christmas. Thanks for following my blog and visiting. Happy New Year.
    Rob

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  11. First of all, Cindy Loo Who is adorable. I love that tall glass piece. Glad you had a great Christmas.

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  12. Oh my, Maureen, what new memories were created at your house this year. Sounds like and looks like so much fun. No small kids around here to enjoy.
    Love your framed angels.
    Blessings in the new year.
    Audrey Z.
    Timeless Treasures

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  13. Ahhh...the Do's and Don'ts of Christmas. I just wish I would remember all the Don'ts from year to year! The memories are too precious, and I'm sure the fiberglass snow will be remembered for years to come! Hope you have a very Blessed 2013!

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  14. Looks like you had a lovely Christmas. I love that pillowcase. And Cindy Loo is a sweetie pie. Lucky you!

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  15. Oh Maureen, you are even funnier when you're exhausted. The fiberglass is priceless. Glad your holidays were so special and that now you get to have a bit of a rest. :) Merry Christmas.

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  16. Sounds like a wonderful time and I remember that itchy angel hair. My dad use to cover our tree in it.I'm starting to itch just thinking about it lol. Have a happy New Year!

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  17. Loved this post Maureen. Grunged Polar beers and village wrecking are some of the things that make Christmas so wonderful! I use to put my Dickens Village under the tree. My little ones would lie there so long and move the little characters all about town. Have a wonderful New Year!
    Hugs,
    Jann

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  18. Oh my god...tears are rolling down my cheeks from laughing Maureen. You really got me with the fiberglass snow but then you finished me off with the train tracks. We were flattening pennies on ours! Thanks for the good chuckles. I would certainly be cherishing that lovely angel art as well! The best and most valuable kind of art!

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  19. I have an entire bag of bells and now I know what to do with them. Next year. :)

    Have a very Happy New Years!

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  20. Glad you had a Merry Christmas! At the end of the evening on Christmas after everyone had gone home, my husband turned to me and asked "Is it really worth all the work?" I answered him "Absolutely without a doubt. All the traditions are what connect us as family and there is nothing more important than that." Next Christmas you may not be making dolly blankets and pillows at the last minute, but you will be busy creating memories for yourself and everyone you love. Have a wonderful New Year!

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  21. Looks like you had a wonderful, memory making Christmas.... I love the Candy cane tall vase, what a wonderful idea & the Jingle bell tags, I think I may have to do something like that next year for my grands. I just got back from my daughters after spending New Years Eve with them & I brought home the Mike's Hard Cranberry lemonades home with me, think I'm about to put my feet up & enjoy one too!
    Happy New Year~
    Cheryl

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  22. This is a great post. I loved it! I need to learn these things as I will be a grandma for the first time in April.

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