A Christmas Prayer

This is a photo of our favorite place to stay in North Conway, NH.


With Christmas only a few days away, I thought I would take the time to reflect with a prayer. Sometimes with all of the holiday shopping, wrapping, decorating and baking, the true meaning of the holiday season gets forgotten. This is the prayer I plan to say with my family on Christmas:

A Christmas Prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson

Loving Father,
Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate,
and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift,
and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from the evil by the blessing
which Christ brings,
and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning
make us happy to be thy children,
and Christmas evening bring us to our beds
with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven,
for Jesus' sake.

Amen.

Merry Christmas everyone!

DIY Christmas Gift Tags and Blog Love

I had to edit this post because after I posted it, I headed over to Paige Knudsen's blog, Simple Thoughts, and read her latest post and she has the most beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts with handmade gift tags! I wouldn't even care if the package was empty, I would just be so excited to receive one of her amazingly wrapped presents! And, of course, her post is as beautiful as her presents, speaking from the heart about her family. Thank you Paige for sharing with us.

For anyone who has not finished wrapping all of those gifts and who still needs gift tags, I found a few sites with printable gift tags that are much nicer than the store bought and if you do not have a lot of time to make handmade ones, they are perfect.

I found these tags at http://christmas-clip-art.net and http://christmasgifts.com

Wax Paper Garland

My tree is up and decorated, but I have been going back and forth as to whether I should hang garland until I saw this on Beth's blog: www.thestoriesofa2z.com.

It looks absolutely amazing! I thinking I might try it considering I have a drawer full of wax paper.

DIY Jingle Bell Napkin Ring Holders

We are having Christmas Eve at our house this year, so of course the wheels have already been turning as to how to set the table.

I was at the Goodwill on half off Wednesday and found really cute Christmas plates and matching dessert plates. I got the complete set for $7. I also found Christmas napkins which I will be using.

And I came across these really cute jingle bell napkin ring holders which I have been making one at a time when the girls go to bed. I bought elastic cord and jingle bells at Michaels. I have been stringing 12 bells on each cord and they seem to be the perfect size.

The photo I used is from Pottery Barn and they no longer sell them. Not that I would be willing to open my wallet and pay the price they were asking anyway when they are so easy to make!

The (Mismatched) Stockings Were Hung by the Chimney With Care

We hung our stockings up last night and I have to admit, they are mismatched. But not in a good Pottery Barn sort of way. Simply non-coordinating.

My husband bought us matching stockings when we were dating. Then baby girl #1 came along and got a pink Baby's First Christmas stocking.

When baby girl #2 came along, she got her very own pink Baby's First Christmas stocking and daughter #1 got a pink Princess stocking. And now daughter #2 has a vintage Winnie the Pooh stocking.

What does all this mean? It means I will deal with the stockings this year and wait for the after Christmas sales to buy new ones!

Meanwhile, I will drool over all of the pretty mantels that have coordinating stockings (or at least mis-matched stockings that look good together!)like the red and white one featured here from Linzlu214's Etsy shop!

Thrift Share Monday

I hope everyone had a restful weekend before Thanksgiving and Black Friday!

Did anyone go thrifting? I scored a few things for yself and for my Etsy store.

I went to a local thrift shop this weekend and found 10 vintage holiday napkins for only $2.98 They are perfect for my Christmas Eve dinner table! I even found a craft online to make napkin rings from jingle bells! And three really pretty vintage Readers Digest books and a vintage cross stitch NOEL for my Etsy shop.

And a local Antique shop had a holiday open house where I bought a vintage rolling pin with red handles. The owner had it tied with a really cute Christmas plaid ribbon, so it will look perfect on my kitchen counter for the holidays! I also found a red vintage metal tin with white Santas on it. I plan to put an evergreen plant in it.

I was only able to take a few photos before my battery died on my camera, so I pulled a few photos from other sites too.

Painting, Purging and Preparing for the Holidays

The weather has suddenly turned cold and I have started my nesting by purging things to make room for all of the new things for the upcoming holidays. Does anyone really need 20 sets of sheets? But I am a little sentimental when it comes to getting rid of the girls' toys. I have been searching for some storage system before Santa brings more.

Any suggestions? These are some that I am using for inspiration.


I have to give hubby credit for painting the bathroom. When we moved into our home five years ago this was the only room that didn't need painting and I was able to live with the white until we changed it to a soft yellow.

And I am really excited searching the internet and blogland for holiday decorating inspiration. I have found some great ideas at Southern Living, Country Living and Retrorenovation.