GIngerbread Fun

I wanted to share some of our Christmas traditions with my niece and nephew while they visited for Thanksgiving.

I planned a sleepover for them, and our sickness prevented that ~ but I still gave them their matching gingerbread pajamas and they wore them for our  gingerbread breakfast the next morning and they were all adorable.

The 2 E's

  Emma and Elizabeth

The table was set with brown craft paper ~ easy clean up ~ and a house for each family to decorate.  I had aprons for the kids to wear {no pictures:-( }.   

Our menu was simple, pancakes and fruit.  I found the pancake syrup at World Market and that set the menu.  And at Grandma's pancakes come with whip cream and sprinkles, so of course I knew they'd all eat that.

                                                                             

Cute little bottles for water while they were decorating.

I made each child a placemat, and they got a fun headband to wear too.  I had gingerbread stickers to decorate the placemats but they were quickly covered with sticky frosting, so I will save those for another morning at Grandma's.

Darling ready made house I found at our local grocery store.  Yeah ~ I didn't like the idea of trying to put together my own.

And how cute is this little ornament?  I got an ad in the mail with a picture of this and knew it would perfectly represent our gingerbread breakfast.  I gave one to each mom and one for me!

We read this book to begin our decorating.  If you are familiar with the story, you  remember that the little boy's gingerbread baby has escaped and no one can catch him, until the clever little boy makes a gingerbread house for his gingerbread baby.   It was the perfect intro for us to make our very own houses for the gingerbread baby.  

My little grandson Ben was looking proudly at his house when it was finished and said "I know he would want to live in here!"  I was so glad that he had payed such careful attention to the story.  With all of the chaos of 6 littles decorating you're never quite sure just what sticks!!

We are a little Minnie Pearl around here ~ note the price tag on Elizabeth's apron.  Whoops!!

It was so much fun, I think a new tradition has begun!

Merry Christmas!

Open House

Come on in to our Christmas house.  If you were here last year, very little has changed.  But I do move around the doodads, hoping to find the best look.  Once I really love something, it usually stays that way for years!

This picture is taken standing in the front door ~ we don't really have an entry, but this works.

To the right is the dining room.

I put my red tin toile dishes in front of the regular ones.  I love those tin Christmas dishes.

My nativity sits in the dining room.  It's about 20 years old, but the manger is really old, from my grandparents house ~ maybe even older than me!!  It's musical and plays Silent Night. 

The living room is opposite the dining room.

This nativity sits under the tree for the grandchildren to play with.  I love its bright colors.

I got some new pillows from Dear Lillie ~ love them!

I love this little Italian nativity that sits on this little table.  I could only afford to get one new piece each year, and it was retired before I could get that last king.  My blog friend Debbie only has 2 also and as she reminded us it is not biblical that there are 3 ~ so I am going with that.  I don't feel incomplete any more!!

Thanks Debbie! 

The Nutcrackers are a fairly new addition.

I will get busy and post a few more rooms, I figure I might be ready by the 25th!

I am joining Marty for Tabletop Tuesday.

{and I apologize for the wonky picture arrangement ~ I don't know why they aren't all centered, and that kind of thing really bothers my OCD:-) }

Mantels

I am getting pretty close to finishing my decorating and am ready to join in my first blog party.  And by finished I mean ready to be done.  There are so many good ideas on Pinterest and on different blogs that it is very easy to be unsatisfied with what you have done and feel the need to keep tweaking or make one more trip to H*bby Lobby!  So, I decided to love what I have done, and BE done.  It's a wonderful feeling.  I will admire everyone's decor without feeling the need to "fix" mine.

   Pamela at From My Front Porch to Yours is hosting a mantel party, and as I have 4 mantels I wanted to join in the fun.

This is my see through fireplace.  I get 2 mantels with just one fireplace!  This is the living room, and on the other side is the

library.

I have decorated it this way since we moved into this house, for 5 Christmases.  I love the simplicity and the focus on the Holy Family.  Last year I added some beads for bling, but I like it this way the best.  It looks lovely at night.

Here's the library side.  It is hard to get a photo in this tiny room.  I was having some issues with this mantel and trying a few different looks.

Here's my first try.

This is the final.  I took off the Santas and I like it so much better in this simpler look.   I have had the lanterns forever.

This is the fireplace in our family room/kitchen.  Again, I went for a simple look.  While my sister was visiting we played around with a few of my collections but I decided I like this look the best.  2 snowball candles on one side and my Santa on the other.

A basket of our Christmas books on the hearth.  These are some of my "non" Night Before Christmas books.  I have a collection of those and they get their own basket in the library.

Today is a rainy, gloomy day, but I ran outside anyway and snapped a couple of the outdoor fireplace.

Mason jars and epsom salt ~ simple.  I get the fresh greens at Home Depot in their freebie bin.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at the decorations.  I'll get busy and get some pictures of the rest.  

Merry Christmas!

Peppermint Party

Ho Ho Ho

It's that time again!

Time for the boys' annual Peppermint Party.

{I am a terrible proofreader.  I know the apostrophe is missing.}

The peppermint trees are holding up well.  I think I made them 2 years ago ~ I just put them in a baggie and store in the cupboard above my cooktop.  The cupboard I can't reach without a tall stool.

We are so "fancy" for our party!  I use wrapping paper to cover the table, and plastic chargers and paper plates.  This year for some reason, the table made me a little dizzy to look at ~ lots of stripes going on!

I found the cute headbands in the dollar bin at Target.

Each child got a little peppermint bag with a peppermint sucker, a candy cane ornament, and a snow globe.

Dessert was peppermint ice cream and "snowballs."

Sweet Elizabeth.

Evan didn't want to wear his headband.

Cooper and Ben having fun.

Our baby Jackson.  { I could just eat him up!}

Cutie pie Emma.

Another favor ~ peppermint play doh made by Laura.  It had glitter and smelled wonderful!

The kids all had a blast, and it was really a very easy party.  We began by watching Rudolph and eating peppermint popcorn.  Then, lunch was ready and they ate and opened their treat bags.  That's always their favorite part I think.  After lunch while the girls cleaned up, I played Christmas bingo with the kids. We play that at all of our Christmas parties and use mini marshmallows as markers.  We also have a stuffed Rudolph that acts like a "hot potato".  He plays music that gets progressively faster as we pass him around the circle.  He's always a fun activity too.

I think the main thing is just to keep it simple, and I keep to my theme with all red and white decor, and a few peppermint foods.  They seem to love it.

I know I do, and I am hoping that these are memories of love and fun at Grandma's that will stay with them always.

Merry Christmas!

I'm joining in the 12 Days of Christmas Party at Keeping the Christmas Spirit Alive, 365