Holiday House Party...

Don't you just love Christmas parties? All the food, games, food, gifts, food...well, I digress. When I got the invitation for Kimba's Holiday Open House, I decided that I'd bring the entertainment. Who doesn't love a good Christmas movie? One of my favorite Christmas traditions is snuggling up on the couch and watching some good holiday movies. For Kimba's party, I brought along a few different ones. I hope there's one that you'll like!
The first is one that I'll watch whether its December or July, "Christmas in Connecticut" with Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan. Dennis Morgan is Jefferson Jones, a war hero who is spending Christmas with Elizabeth (Stanwyck), her husband, and baby at her Connecticut estate. The trouble is, its all a farce, and things get a little sticky when Elizabeth and Jefferson find themselves falling for each other. Here's a scene:




The next movie I brought is another oldie but goodie, "White Christmas". Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen star in this classic holiday film.




Here's one that's been one of my favorites since I was a little girl. Who can resist this little guy?



And finally, my favorite one of all: "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Charlie and his friends learn what many adults never do, what Christmas is all about. Here's my favorite scene:




I hope you enjoyed my holiday flicks!
Do you have a favorite Christmas movie that you can watch over and over each year?

Bedecked and Bejeweled...

My favorite gift to receive at Christmas time is ornaments. I LOVE getting new ones and I do get a few new ones every year. I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you today. (Some of them are a little dark...sorry.)

My mother-in-law was an avid collector of all things Coca-Cola, and we found this one the Christmas after she passed away.

My father-in-law brought this back from Denmark many years ago. A Santa with a dreidel? What's up with that?

A shepherd ornment that my mom gave me.

Love the reindeer!

And lastly, my new Cardinal. For some reason, I'm drawn to red birds this year.

Do you have any favorites on your tree?

A Garland Party...

The Nester is having a garland party to showcase our Christmas garlands. It going to be a great place for inspiration!
Now, as much as I'd like to show you a big, lush, amazingly gorgeous garland on the piano (we don't have a fireplace), I have to admit that mine is a bit, uh, puny understated. I'm not lucky enough to have a big bunch of greenery around, so I had to just make do with what I have. Here's what I came up with:

Why is it so hard for me to take good pictures of things with lights?

I also fancied up my kitchen window wreath a bit:
I knew it didn't look finished. All it needed was a bow.

Hop on over to Nester's and show off your garland too!

Christmas in the Kitchen...

As promised, here are pictures of some of my Christmas decor in the kitchen. My little tree (that I got for half price the day after Christmas last year) has some traditional ornaments, but it also has a few that are fitting for a tree in the kitchen. If you look closely you'll see a baby fork, a baby spoon, a tiny whisk, and a star cookie cutter.

I put a wreath in the window over the sink this year.

I still have a few things to put out yet. I'll share them with you when they get done!

'Tis the Season...

Christmas decorations go up around here on Thanksgiving weekend. This year I've had a terrible time waiting until then after seeing all the gorgeous things you ladies out in Blog Land have shown us! Usually we don't drag everything out until the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but this year we did it on Friday, since we ended up buying a new tree (the old one was literally falling apart!).
Here's our tree in the living room. (I'm still trying to figure out the secret to taking good pictures of a Christmas tree!) I couldn't begin to tell you how many ornaments there are on it. Each one is different and most of them have a memory attached to it. One of my favorite things to do at Christmas time is to find new ornaments. I bought 4 at Cracker Barrel on Thanksgiving!
We don't have a fireplace, so we decorate our piano as we would a mantel. Here's the garland, but it still needs something, I think. I'll have to dig into my candle stash in the closet to see what I have. I've had the garland for years, but all the fru-fru came from Dollar Tree this year.
I have had this nativity set since was a little girl in Michigan. One year I apparently wasn't thinking when I set it up because I put the cow in the loft. Now, everyone knows that cows can't climb ladders, but that's where our cow ended up. Derek got such a kick out of it that we left it and its been up there every year since.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Christmas in the kitchen...