Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Pink and Silver Bedroom tree...and a Tag Swap!

Pink and Silver...
Although I love my vintage Christmas to be as Red and White as possible...there is just something about vintage Pink and Silver.  There is a kind of 60's elegance about the color combination that is hard to resist.  So a few years ago I began decorating my bedroom with pink and silver decorations.

My bigger tree. 
Most of the glass ornaments are vintage, but I used a lot of sparkly Wal*mart snowflakes...
And a few aqua Shiny-Brites as accent.

What started the whole pink and silver thing...

...Two pretty pink and silver corsages.
I use these for the tree toppers.

Half of my dresser.  I love birds and nests.
The little nest is in a top hat

Second half of dresser. 
I added blue birds and painted a sparkly blue house to accent the pink.

My night stand is a little blurry.
I used 3 boxes of  tiny Shiny-Brite balls on the two-foot silver tree.
The downside of trees in your bedroom...falling asleep with the lights on...
then fumbling for the plugs at 2:00 a.m. =D

A Very Cherry Tag Swap...
This year I participated in the Christmas Tag swap at It's A Very Cherry World! 
My swap partner was Toni from Blue Mountain Rise .        
Side one of the tag I made for Toni.
It's hanging on my kitchen Candy Tree...
next to my favorite ornie...a sparkly Diet Coke can.

Side two.

The cute and yummy goodies I received from Toni!
(Some of the hand-wrapped chocolate didn't make it until the picture...lol!)
This has been such a fun experience. 
I've really enjoyed meeting new bloggers this way.
Thanks again, Sue, for the opportunity to participate and meet Toni.

It's a crispy blue morning on the Wasatch Front.
Enjoy your morning where ever you may be.




Monday, November 28, 2011

Christmas at Disneyland...the Parade!

A Christmas Tradition...
Every other year our children desert our nest at Thanksgiving to fly to the in-laws.  We worked it that way so we could all be together when it is our year.  On the off-year George and I have made it our tradition to take a trip to Disneyland.  I love Disneyland at Christmas!  I bring my shopping list for the Granddaughters along.  There are no Black Friday sales but my annual pass nets me 20% off all my purchases...which to me is as good as a sale.

The weather was perfect...warm and sunny.  Since we missed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...here are some pics from the "Christmas Fantasy" parade.




The Parade...
A parade needs a marching band. 

We snagged a pretty good spot for photos this time.

Mrs. Claus reads the Children's letters to Santa

Tigger and Pooh!

This Tigger is for McKenzie...who loves him.

Dancing Snowflakes

Gingerbread Men always make me happy!

Building a Gingerbread House

Still Striving for Attention

Isn't she pretty?

I only count six dwarves...who's missing?

Who else...Dopey!

Building the Toys!

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen....Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen
Oops!  Didn't get them all in the shot.

This shot should be Santa.  Just as we went to take his picture...the camera said "Memory Card Full."
I know...a Christmas Parade without Santa is like Thanksgiving dinner without pumpkin pie...
Merry Christmas anyway!

I hope your holiday was filled with love and laughter,
.




Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Liebster Blog Award...My Picks!

Liebster Blog...
My new friend Toni of Blue Mountain Rise has chosen me to be one of her picks for the Liebster Blog.  This award is to showcase up and coming blogs with less than 200 followers.  I feel happy to think that someone who reads my blog liked it enough to make me one of her picks.  Thank you so much, Toni.   I am so glad to have made your acquaintance this fall.

The rules are to copy and post the award pic to your blog; thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.  Then pick 5 more blogs and leave them a comment.  I love my picks!  They have been my most faithful readers and commenters...as well as new friends.
You ladies have such wonderful, fun blogs and I always read and look forward to your new posts.  This will be my last post until after the weekend.  Thank you for supporting my blog!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Pilgrims and Pioneers...Family History at Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving in old Alpine, Utah...
Autumn brings with it the desire to put away food, fuel, warm clothing and bedding, along with feed for livestock against the harshness of winter.

The days shorten and feelings of urgency grow stronger.  There are no longer enough hours of daylight to get everything done.  Many hands make for lighter work.  If everyone in the village helps out, there will be plenty for all.  When the work is done, there will be time for fun and celebrations.  A time of Thanksgiving.

The hardy settlers of Alpine and Highland, Utah found ways to mix work and fun during harvest time.  When the fruit trees in Alpine started to produce, those with orchards shared with others.  The ladies came with paring knives and pans and worked for hours preparing fruit to be dried.  It would be placed on clean cloths upon the roofs, slabs on sawhorses, or whatever else was handy.

The men brought their husking pegs and shucked corn while the ladies did fruit.  The children enjoyed these occasions and anxiously waited for the piles of corn shucks to increase, as they had several games they liked to play among them: hide-and-seek, run-my-sheepie-run, and tag.  At the end of the day, a delicious dinner would be served under the apple trees on tables made of boards laid on sawhorses.

Note: Turkeys in Alpine were raised by the Watkins family.  Hertha, left, is admiring that year's fine flock.

Other autumn activities which combined work and recreation were quilting bees and "rug-rag bees."  No materials were wasted.  If the cloth wasn't too worn it was patched into quilt tops.  What wasn't good enough for quilts was torn into rug-rags and the remaining scraps were clipped into small pieces to stuff bed ticks, pillows or cushions.

I remember some old quilts Grandma Zetta had from the time when her family raised fruit in Fort Canyon.  In those days whenever a quilt began to wear out, she simply recovered it in another layer of fabric.  Women like my grandmother definitely followed Brigham Young's counsel to "make it do, or do without."  They were born recyclers!  Those quilts were extremely heavy, though, as well as damp and musty.

When Thanksgiving Day came in Alpine, it was generally celebrated rather quietly.  People spent the day at home with their families.  Later they added an afternoon dance for the children.  An adult dance and ball game was held in the evening.


The Pilgrim...
Going back even further in time, I learned the First Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts, was a traditional English harvest festival to which the colonists invited Massasoit who was the most important sachem (leader) among the Wamapanoag Indians.

The festival was celebrated in response to "God's favorable Providence" in times of plentiful game and bountiful harvest...with no little thanks to the Indians, who had introduced the settlers to native food plants and animals, and deserve much of the credit for keeping the Pilgrims from starving.


Among those gathered at the feast in 1621 was a man named Francis Cooke and his 14-year-old son John.  Francis' wife, Hester, was still in England.  She would follow in 1623 on the Anne with her three other children, Jacob, Jane, and Hester.

There isn't anything particularly remarkable about this family.  If Francis and John had not sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, no one would have remembered them at all, except maybe their descendents.  But this is where it gets interesting.

The Pioneer...
One of Cooke's direct descendents was a Mormon pioneer named John Joshua Tanner who came to Utah in 1851 and settled in South Cottonwood in the Salt Lake Valley.  The family of John Joshua Tanner now numbers in the thousands...hundreds of which live here in northern Utah County.  He is my ancestor as well.

Both men...Tanner and Cooke...were men of conscience and conviction, a remarkable family pattern to hold up over such a long stretch of time.  The Pilgrims were refugees from religious persecution in England, just as the Mormon pioneers traveled west to practice their faith in peace more than two centuries later.

I became a member of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers in 2003.  Since then I have learned many things about my pioneer ancestors.  Because of what I have learned, Thanksgiving has a special meaning for me.  Family history is kind of like an archealogical dig.  Among the dirt and stones a single golden nugget of information could be hiding.  Discovering my  family genealogy is a blessing for which I am eternally grateful.


At the top of my list of things for which I am grateful this season, I am placing the names of Francis Cooke and John Joshua Tanner...the Pilgrim and the Pioneer.

Blessings to you and your families this Thanksgiving.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Vintage Christmas Snow Domes!

 The Kitschier the Better...
One of the things I loved about Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion was the "Finders Keepers" feature in each issue. One December article was about plastic snow domes (or globes.)  Plastic snow domes became popular in the 1950's, made in Japan or Hong Kong.  Some of them are so cheesy and cheap looking that you can often find one at the thrift store for less than $1.  Seen together...in a collection...they are colorful and very, very fun!



My Small Collection...
Five Figural Snow Domes

I had already started a small collection of figural snow domes before the magazine article came out.  I was please to find out that figure-shaped domes are hard to find.  Some shapes, like an elf with a gnome and mushroom in its tummy is really rare.  I have a Santa with a Nativity scene in his tummy...how tacky is that?  The tipsy Santa hanging on a light pole is really a funny one.  I don't think any of my little guys are particularly valuable to anyone but me.  I don't always display them, so it's fun to post them here.

Sorry this is so short, but I didn't want the weekend to go by without a post.
I'm grateful for the joy of watching the little birds at my feeders...their sweet feathers all fluffed up in the cold.



Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Fun Christmas Table Setting...and a Winner!

Vintage Table Decor...
I have always loved how Mary Engelbreit decorated tables for Christmas.  The picture on the left is from her 2002 book Here Comes Santa Claus.  I can't find the picture of the one I love most...but they are all so much fun!  I have the same glasses and plates she shows here.  I thought it would be fun to put together a table setting to honor ME.  I was amazed at what I had accumulated over the years.

My Christmas Table
A Closer View
I love the red-stripe Hazel Atlas tumblers.

The old spool is now a place-card holder.

Finally...a chance to display the darling napkins I found so long ago.

Gingerbread House Winner is... 

...Comment #12 Kris Thompson!  Yay, Kris!

I am so grateful for my life and the beautiful morning.
The oranges have faded to browns and rusts...so many combinations of colors and textures to be found.
Have a Thankful Day.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Collecting Pinecone and Other Elves!

Cute and Quirky...
Whereas many of America's favorite vintage ornaments were made in Japan...Pinecone People and a whole host of little characters originated in Germany, West Germany and Italy.  Martha Stewart's magazine did a whole layout on these ornaments last Christmas.  Unfortunately, Japan was quick to copy the German designs...so all my quirky little characters say "Japan."  They are almost identical.


Pinecone Snowmen

Assorted Elves.

Clowns and Cute Baby Elf

Batting Mr. & Mrs. Claus
I found them still in their little box.

Angels.

Elf Musicians.  Remind me of Lucy.

Unusual Pipe Cleaner Elves.
They spell "XMAS"...not my preferred spelling of Christmas!

Hope you liked my little characters!
Today I am sharing a dinner date with my husband...it's our anniversary.
1975 to 2011...36 years of adventure!
For these years of happiness, I am particularly grateful.