Thyme for the magic to continue and a cup of cocoa

Have some cocoa and come on in.....

As I said in my previous post

 I have always called my preparations for the

 Holiday Season

MAKING THE MAGIC HAPPEN

so thats what I'm still doing...lol

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic

so

I thought I'd post an old picture of my children

on

CHRISTMAS MORNING

20 years ago to be exact

I loved seeing their faces on Christmas morning

it truly was magical

it made all the preparations

 leading up to it

worthwhile

One  year Andrew got this letter from

SANTA

There are 4 and 1/2 years between

Christopher & Andrew

Christopher had a mountain bike

and

Andrew wanted one so much!!

BUT

we thought Andrew wasn't quite old enough for one

so

SANTA

left this letter for Andrew explaining that he wouldn't be getting

his mountain bike for

 another year

I put the letter out every year on my desk at Christmas!

Every year I made ornaments for my chilldren

so that when they left home

they could take them with them

I had them do a thumprimt in ink

and I made a little mouse drawing out of it each year

they loved to see the different

thumb prints each year as they grew

I made these Santa's for them one year

the Santa's had a little tree in their hand

with their names on it

they each have quite a collection of ornaments

So many precious memories.....

WELL

back to reality

here is that stairway today.........

how I miss those little faces

at the top of the stairs on

 CHRISTMAS 

morning

I made some more

SANTA hats

 and put them on the posts

I put one on the top of the tree in the living room

and

made a list of who's

naughty and nice!

twiggy tree in living room

front door

I painted the  SANTA sign

This little sleigh is precious to me

My mother always made a flower centerpiece for our Xmas table

My  Dad who is no longer with us made the sleigh

for her arrangement one year

The reindeer (there are 4)

my husband made with my daughter Julie when she was about 5

These bears all join Santa and his sleigh and reindeer

my family room

 with stockings hung....

I made and embroidered them

with all our names

I don't think I have to tell

how tired one gets

MAKING THE MAGIC  HAPPEN

so this weekend I am having fun!!!

I am heading to

Cape Cod

for a girls weekend

with my mother and sisters

My oldest sister just bought a new home in

Brewster on the Cape

I made this sign for my sister

as a

THANK YOU

for having us all!

 I had this wreath made

by 

my friend 

Nancy

So here's hoping you all have a great weekend

I know I will!

Hugs,
Lynn

Thyme to answer a question.......Do you BELIEVE in SANTA???

I remember about 20 years ago

when my son asked me

Mom is there really a Santa Claus????

He caught me so off guard

I wanted so much to have him 

BELIEVE

there really is a Santa

So I said

"Of course there really is a Santa"

"Santa comes to all who BELIEVE in him

I found these beautiful red knit men's mittens at the store that year

I bought them and stitched white fur on them

I took them and smudged a little soot from the fireplace on them

On Christmas Eve

we left the usual plate of cookies, hot chocolate and carrots for the reindeer

on the table

After the kids were asleep

I put one mitten on the floor by the table

and

and the other by the tree

  I held my breath for Andrew's response

when he saw them

his smile brought tears to my eyes

because

I knew he still
BELIEVED
that night after I tucked him in bed
I went back to check on him

he was sound asleep

wearing Santa's mittens!!!!!

My kids are 30, 25 & 22

I still tell them Santa comes to all who
BELIEVE
I have always called my preparations for Christmas

MAKING THE MAGIC HAPPEN

so

 this is a little peek at what I did

today to make some magic happen
again

this

Christmas

I bought these Santa hats at the $1.00 store

I dipped them in my stain mixture

put them in the oven to dry

at 200 degrees

keep a close eye on them

PRIM Santa hats!

I took red check homespun and tore it in strips

made some rusty bells

I knotted the bells to each end of the strips

I used my glue gun to glue 2 strips to each hat

I tied a hat to each of the dining room chairs

I have 20 chairs in all !!!!!!!!!!

We store 10

and

 have 10 out

On Christmas Day I will fill the hats with small gifts for all our guests!

 

May you always

BELIEVE

in the

MAGIC

of 

CHRISTMAS

I DO!

Happy Painting!

Lynn

Thyme for a snowman family and snowballs

This is a slate I painted

that

depicts our family

Our children's names are

Christopher, Andrew and Julie

I even painted a "snow dog"

for COLBY!

It says

FAMILIES STICK TOGETHER

The design came from the book

This Old Bowl

by

Margo Wightman

Speaking of snowmen.....

you need 

SNOWBALLS

to make them

WELL

I've been making some

SNOWBALLS!!!!!!

just chill and shake well

how's that for an easy recipe???

I got this huge jar at a flea market for $1.00!

so I filled it with the snowballs I made

I tied it with a BIG red check homespun bow

The label is another great label from

Jan

at

Big Brown Dog Primitives

I made the snowballs fom styrofoam balls

I sprayed them with spray adhesive

and sprinkled with Diamond Dust......

WOW

I love that stuff!

I also put some snowballs in this

great narrow wood tray  I again found at a flea market

I added some greens

and

a grungy vanilla scented tag

that says

SNOWBALLS

for

sale

How's that for an easy centerpiece???

Happy Painting!

Lynn

Thyme for some outdoor decorating

Well after nearly a week I have ALMOST finished decorating

  both inside and outside for Christmas

this is my house from the street

now from the other side

This is my front door

The fruit arrangement over the door I made

                             

I used to use real fruit

it

was not only costly but if

we had a mild winter the birds came to feast on it!

So

I bought wooden fruit, painted it and attached it to the board

It weighs over 100lbs

so its quite a feat getting it up over the door

especially if we have bad weather before we get it up there!!

 I made

SANTA

he is over 4' tall

He has a sack over his shoulder I made, I still have to
 add some wrapped packages
He also has a small tree and doll in his sack
in the other hand he has a wreath and candle

he stands on a wooden base with Christmas trees

I usually add very large wrapped packages

and place on the steps around him

(on my to do list!!!!)

I made 2 of these Santa's as gifts one year!!!

now

on with the outside tour

a fence post crow I made

wreath high above the garage

breezeway porch door

A snowman sign I painted and some snow shoes

ahhhhhhhh.....no I didn't make those!!!!  LOL!

I painted the snowman window you see

and

made the snowman family

out

of fence posts

I made a snowman  to represent my husband, I and our 3 children!

They all have knit sweaters and hats!

These are about 20 years old!!!

 I've also made several of these for gifts

over the years!

Hope you enjoyed my outdoor

Holiday Tour!!!

When I finish the inside

I'll invite you in for some hot chocolate!

Happy Painting!

Lynn

Gingerbread thyme

I just
LOVE
GINGERBREAD

This is such a busy thyme of year

in addition to painting and decorating

I've been making gingerbread ornaments

I've been rolling out gingerbread dough
this is a
VERY easy
dough to work with

here they are cooling on the rack

These little guys are soooooooo CUTE!

Here they are hanging out...I let them dry for several days....

I varnished them with a matte varnish

then

I added red homespun to hang them

I found some old wooden spoons

at

a thrift shop

I wired the ornaments to the spoon

and

added a coffee stained /vanilla scented tag

that says

GINGERBREAD

Happiness is licking the spoon

I took an old brown bottle and printed out a label that says

SANTA'S STOMACH REMEMDY

for use after excessive cookie consumption

I added some stained cheese cloth

and

pinned a rusty bell on

I have to thank Jan

at

Big Brown Dog Primitives

for the

AWESOME

Christmas labels

I also hung some gingerbreads on
my wooden Christmas Tree

My husband is making some of these trees for me for gifts

These were so much fun to make!

Ornamental Gingerbread Dough

3 T shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup water

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. each: ground cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg



Beat shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in molasses. Mix dry ingredients together. Stir them into sugar mixture and gradually add water. Dough will be very stiff. Refrigerate overnight.



Heat oven to 350º. Cut dough into three pieces. Roll one piece at a time (between two pieces of waxed paper) to a thickness of about 1/4 ". Cut out desired shapes and patterns. {*** If you are planning to hang these ornaments, poke holes in the shapes now with a straw or toothpick.***} Bake for about 20 minutes. Allow to cool and harden for several hours or overnight.



Finished ornaments can be painted, sealed, or dipped in melted wax. The possibilities are endless...

Happy Painting!

Lynn

Thyme to chill

Hope you all had a wonderful
Thanksgiving!
I did!
The only one chillin around here is

CHARLIE

Charlie looks like he enjoyed Thanksgiving  Dinner!

How about you?
Today I'm busy decorating for Christmas
AND
thinking about
ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!
Hugs,
Lynn