I feel like the sleigh Santa uses turned into a locomotive! Since when did Christmas come so fast? Yesterday my grand-daughter announced the imminent arrival of Christmas and I couldn’t believe it. No! I need more time! Santa’s coming in a locomotive!

I’ve been busy trying to fitting in all those holiday traditions. We all have them, the things we remember forever, and look forward to every year. Here’s my list…

Cookie Baking:
Saturday was cookie baking with my grand-daughters Alyssa and Michaela. We made 4 kinds of cookies. What was I thinking? After hours of waiting for the sugar cookie dough to chill, rolling out dough, cleaning up the flour on us and the floor, our favorite was the plain old chocolate chip cookies! The sugar cookies were just OK, so if someone has a GREAT sugar cookie recipe please share it!

Break the Bank:
We save our loose change in the piggy bank during the year and a few days before Christmas we empty the pig, turn in the coins at Safeway and off we go with the girls shopping. The loot came to almost $50 so it was off to get a present for mom and dad. They knew exactly what they wanted, and Target provided gloves, socks, hair brush for mom, CD for dad.

Mini photo albums:
This was a first for us, but it was so much fun I’ll make it a yearly tradition! I printed out photos of both girls that I took during 2008 and each one made a photo album. We used double stick tape to attach the photos (no messy glue fingers allowed), and now the albums sit wrapped under the tree waiting for that special moment when mom and dad open them. Michaela kept saying, “this is so much fun!” It brought back memories, and lots of laughs.

And on the 24th we will see the San Francisco Ballet’s version of the nutcracker! This is our first time to go! At the price of tickets this will not be a yearly tradition, but one I hope we’ll always remember. I have my own little ballerina right here!

Happy Holiday Traditions everyone! Share some of yours!

Hugs,

Anne

And the lion shall lay down with the lamb…

But at my house the lamb is glittered pink, and who knows what color the lion will be. I haven’t found a lion I love yet. Humm…wonder if they come in pink?

I started counting the days with this beautiful advent calendar my friend Nancy made for me. (It has pockets and little treats in each pocket!). Well, I got to day 10 and it hit me! 10 plus 15 is 25! No, no, no we can’t have Christmas this fast! I’m not ready at all! It seems for every step I take forward I take two steps back. No presents are wrapped, and the UPS truck keeps arriving. I bought everything online this year, so brown boxes are stacking up and to find time to wrap is next to impossible. Do you feel like this? Where did the time go?

I know Christmas will arrive wrapped presents or not, and at least I’ve finished decorating. It looks like Christmas even if I’m not ready!

I collect snowmen so I thought it only fitting to have a container filled with them. I found an old box, painted it red and then painted snowmen on the front. These are decorating our kitchen!

Ho, Ho, Ho, I got a bit carried away. There were some plain wood eggs just sitting in a bowl and I couldn’t stand it. Once I had the red paint out it was so easy to just keep going.

A feather tree with my childhood ornaments sits on our family room coffee table. I can remember a time when I hated these ornaments. I wanted newer ones, different ones, and I kept these in a box in the garage for the longest time. Then one day I took them out, hung them on this tree and knew that they were somehow beautiful. Funny how that happens!

The kitchen counter gets enamelware cups, filled with berry sprays. I put floral foam in the cups to hold the spays.

And the living room gets the tree again this year. It’s the perfect place to sit and read. And on Christmas morning this is where we open presents (If they ever get wrapped)!

Aside from collecting bunnies, lambs, snowmen, chocolate molds etc. etc., I also have a bear collection that comes out every Christmas. This is a shared collection because my husband keeps finding bears and we add them to the collection. Most are “rescues” but I’ve hidden a couple of the pedigree bears in the crowd. You know, like the FAO Swartz bear…he’s in there somewhere! A tic tac game sits on the coffee table every year. It’s been played over and over!

And my favorite snowlady…an angel!

So remember those old ornaments when you decorate. Separate them from the rest and give them a place of honor. All of a sudden the won’t look so old!

Be sure and sign up for my newsletter if you haven’t already. Just go to my web site http://www.bunnyhilldesigns.com , scroll down on the home page and you’ll see a place to enter your name etc. I have some fun things planned for next year. Get on the list or you’ll be left out! That’s all the news for now LOL!

Hugs,

Anne

Oh and stay tuned. I may be hiring gift wrappers very soon.

The Christmas decorating started this weekend and of course it involved a bunny. This little bunny sits among many other ornaments on my Christmas tree. He’s a bit like Peter Rabbit…a little different than all the rest, but loved none the less.

Mooch took right to the tree skirt fabric and made herself at home!

Chelsea was busy burying bones under the ornaments waiting to be put on the tree. Who knows, maybe Santa will find it and bring her something special when he finds it!

I love an old fashioned tree with a mixture of ornaments. Anything goes as long as it’s loved!

Little houses…

Tiny vintage mercury glass…

a felt kitty…

…and little whimsical reindeer… after all it’s Christmas! The more whimsy the merrier!

The dining room table is a little glitter town.

The living room table is simple and sweet. Still plenty of room for hot chocolate and cookies!

And this little snowman sits in a garland of berries.

Now you can see how I spent my weekend. I love simple decorating! Have you finished your decorating yet? My son’s German girlfriend says in Germany most people don’t put up a tree until Christmas Eve. How about you? (:

Hugs all!

Anne