Santa's Work Shop

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We did! The weather was cold and just perfect for staying in and enjoying all the good food! I began my Christmas decorating yesterday after all the turkeys were packed and stored in the shed once more. I was happy my Thanksgiving collections had expanded this year,  and  I was a little sad to put some of them away but seeing all my Christmas boxes made it all exciting once again!

The first thing I take out is my Santa's Work Shop! This is one of my most special Christmas items as my Dad made it for me, and he is no longer with us. I miss him terribly.  I have shown you the haunted house he made for me and for those of you who are new readers to my blog, here is Santa's Work Shop! My Dad spent hours crafting this; he put so much detail into it as he was a very detail- oriented man! ( an civil engineer by trade but an accomplished painter, photographer, collector, and theater pipe organ enthusiast!) And it is those special details that make the workshop so magical to me!

My Dad made all the furniture and the fireplace. Santa's pipe is on the mantle with his tobacco.

Santa can relax in front of a fire and look at the map so he can plot a good course for Christmas Eve!

He can see who has been good and who has been bad.... some of the letters he has received are on his desk for consideration...

He and the elves have been so busy! I see a sled, a wagon, and some teddy bears...And look at the little pussycat playing with a strand of Christmas lights :) do you see him on the floor next to the wagon? 

Raggedy Anne dolls and candy sticks for the stockings! Some amazing toys are made with those tools on the work bench! My Dad made all that too! I just decorated with the dollhouse miniatures. I try to add something every year.

Lots of toys and gifts to wrap!

A special work shop that, to me, signifies the start of the Christmas season as much as seeing Santa in the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade!

I sure love my Daddy!

Wishing Everyone A Happy Thanksgiving!

May you all be blessed with a Thanksgiving day you'll never forget!

Halloween Ain't Over Just Yet!

Just when you think you saw the last of the Halloween decorations or crafts.....how about this:

Isn't it fabulous? And it lights up! It is actually a candy display showcasing Reeses, Kit Kat and Snickers from CVS Drug Store! My friend Mary spotted it the end of September when the store started putting out its Halloween candy and she inquired about it. They put her name on it for pick up after Halloween. Then, she drove to the next CVS and put my name on the one in that store! How's that for friendship? :)

We were hoping they would keep their word and not throw them out before we got there Nov. 1st to pick them up! After all, they have to make space for incoming merchandise. They were ready and waiting!

The crafting possibilities are endless! It's like a big Halloween house! I'm thinking I would do each cubby hole a different theme. One would be a witch's general store selling potions, brooms, witch's hats, etc. The other could be a witch's kitchen with a cauldron.....I'm still thinking! I'm going to need a year to make this happen! It'll be great winter project. There are 12 cubbies! I'm gonna need some suggestions, girls!

It is so well made and detailed. I love their artwork and the traditional look of the house and roof and even the inclusion of a widow's walk on top of the roof!

Thank you Mary! You are my Halloween buddy! and thank you CVS for keeping your promise!

More Thanksgiving Decor & a Turkey Craft

Good Morning!  Just a few Thanksgiving decorations to show you. I've been trying to expand my collection of Thanksgiving decor. I have a good amount but I really love Thanksgiving for what it represents and for the whole coziness of the holiday! I love when it is COLD on turkey day so we can just settle in with some good food and enjoy each other.

I wanted to share with you an adorable craft Caitlin made. It's so cute and I have shared it with several friends who are using it for their students to make in either Sunday school or the regular classroom. Super easy!

One of my friends actually made ten of them and affixed place cards for her Thanksgiving table! All you do is buy plastic spoons (at a party supply), glue the spoon to a large button (as the base) and use hot glue to do this. Use silk leaves and/or doilies for the feathers (though you can improvise; you are ALL crafty!) and glue those on to the back of the spoon. Out of construction paper cut the beak and the gobble gobble thing that hangs under his beak (don't know what's that called) and glue on eyes! You can put a bow tie on him like Caitlin did or anything else! Isn't he sweet? I love him! Caitlin made him about three years ago and each year I try to remember that I want to post him and the instructions--finally I remembered!

Back to the decorations....

Mr. & Mrs. Pilgrim from AC Moore a few years back. Always take their place of honor in the foyer.

The only Thanksgiving Gurley candles I own and treasure!

Most of my other pictures came out to dark but this is a good example of what's going on here!

Happy Friday!

Goody Bag!

Yesterday we got our first snow of the season. Just a small amount but it sure made everything so pretty! Our temps are arctic cold here today --27 degreees! Puts you in the Christmas spirit! The photos of snow are early on; by lunchtime our lawns had a light covering. Here is the shed and of course the playhouse/chicken coop all covered in white!

Some day this shed  above will be my own little store, Maggie's Lil' Fixins..... I  can dream a little :)

So, I was looking for something in my big closet that holds all my house decor and this is a very large walk in closet on my second floor and I was digging around looking and looking and suddenly I saw a large Christmas bag that I had completely forgotten about! I pulled it out and what a surprise! A bunch of Christmas buys from after Christmas last year! I immediately brought it down and found inside some great stuff that I purchased for next to nothing last January from Family Dollar! Don't you love when you find something you forgot you had? It was like Christmas all over again!

Here's what I found in my goody bag:

Ornaments in gold and red purchased for 75 cents, 2 boxes of lighted garland for 1.00 each box, green and red bead garland for 25 cents!

A cupcake stand for 80 cents!

Snowman box & small lighted tree topper!

Dangle leg snowman and Santa candy holders for a whopping 50 cents each!!!!!

10 cents each!

adorable wreath made of jingle bells for $2! The most expensive item of them all!!!!

I was so shocked I forgot about this bag and so glad I found it! I'll have some fun with these items. If you have Family Dollar by you (it's a chain store) check them out for all the holidays and AFTER the holidays! You might make your own goody bag for the following year!

A few more goodies to show you:  My husband has a customer who knows I love chickens and roosters and decorate my kitchen with them ( I actually just typed the word "chicken" instead of "kitchen" and had to correct it--I'm chicken obsessed.....) and when she was consulting with my husband for some work she needs  done, she sent him home with this beauty:

How sweet of her! As my husband said "just what you need....."

Have a great day! And stay warm!

Thanksgiving Decorations!

Good Evening! I've been trying to squeeze in a blog post , but I have been super busy! Besides packing away all the Halloween, I also cleaned and decorated for Thanksgiving and had a bunch of Girl Scout events to take care of. As a leader I had to get our girls prepared for some events we have coming up. We focus on community service. As 3rd graders, it's important they learn and appreciate that great feeling of GIVING! Not just at Thanksgiving, but all year! We have two charitable events coming that the girls worked very hard on  plus in January is our Father/Daughter Snowball dance!

 Anyway, here are a few shots of decorations on the outside!

I used the second pumpkin "tattoo" from that FALL-OWEEN set I had gotten....here is "Give Thanks":

I have to photograph my indoor decorations....love them turkeys! I also have to show you my repainted basement! I LOVE the color peanut butter ! We are so pleased at how it turned out,

Oh, I wanted to mention that I know so many of us love putz houses; well, I get this catalog (and there is also a website) called Collections Etc. and they have a set of 3 putz houses for $14.99 in pastel colors for anyone that is interested! They would be perfect to decorate! go to www.collectionsetc.com and look them up or request a catalog.

Well, I have to say good night as I have a few things to do before the night disappears--I have four lady friends coming over tomorrow, and I want to bake my almond snack cake to enjoy with our coffee! Plus I want to  make sure this how is ship shape for their visit!  Have a great night!

Beautiful Autumn!

I spent yesterday taking down the Halloween decorations; carefully packing them up for next year. I was exhausted. 15 tubs and and an assortment of bags all in the shed ...I was pooped. It's sad but joyful for me as I love Halloween, but I do embrace the entire Fall season and adore Thanksgiving! Caitlin was sad to put our three cackling witches away; she wants them in the foyer all year long! But once she saw the turkeys and pilgrims and all the other Thanksgiving treasures she was excited to see them. I just love Thanksgiving. I did keep out some Halloween items as my Halloween crafting goes on all year! I'll be looking to see what great crafts all my blogging friends are doing for Thanksgiving and Christmas too!

Remember that great garage sale I went to a few weeks back? Well, I get to use some of those Thanksgiving buys for decorating. I'll show you where I how them displayed once I'm all done.

I think I'll have another cup of coffee and get rolling!I have some more spiffing up to do around this house before I can fully decorate. The temps are dropping too. It's going to be cold here tonight! 29 degrees. I think I may need to make some soup today!