Christmas in the House

 

A few shots of some of the treasures ( mostly my parents vintage treats ) I put out each year. Actually, I didn't put out everything like I usually do. Left in the box this year is my little village scene, instead I've made a scene with just Christmas trees, flocked reindeer & a few Santas. To the left of it is the tv with two Santa heads I found at Michaels, my one and only really big Partylite treasure is the skating snowman tealight holder with music box, the snowman actually skates when the music is playing.

There's our coffee table display with my fav. chubby snowman & funny greeting card from a dear friend ( Janis, you gave me this card over 10 yrs. ago ! ).

The fireplace is waiting for an electric insert ( previous owners haven't used it for over 25 yrs. and we don't relish using wood ) so it shows off more treasures --a couple of Christmas sock bears I made over 15 yrs. ago ( using my dear dads old socks ), a tree our son made when he was in kindergarten, thrift shop found jewel tree picture, moms kitschy animated Santa and a few other items from when I was little.

The next image shows a mixed media painting I made 'just because'. A porcelain bird sits on top & gold sprayed plastic branches hold tiny decoupaged images of angels & Santas. Copper tubing is home to 'Joy' and 2 sweet stockings.

The big bear was a prize my husband & I won at the Vic. General Hospital back in the early 90's. Very huggable !

Above the fireplace display hangs one of the trio of musical bells next to my bungy Santa --and the egg dude I brought from Ottawa happily rests inside the vintage wreath that still gets packed in its original box.

The musical angel is one of two ( also in original boxes ) standing in front of an old German advent calendar.

Two of my fav. garage sale finds are these lovely pictures. Everytime I look at them I feel instant peace.

Even the kitchen got a touch of Christmas this year. My newest items are the two small red trees purchased from a fab. shop called Cameron Rose in Sidney B.C. ( they're known for selling Christmas Krinkle treasures ! )

So there you go for now. As said, I didn't put everything out this year, wanted to keep the decor less cluttered. What's missing are a couple of small nativity scenes, trio of musical bells, a few small & large houses. I did take out my most. fav. music box of my parents, it's on the dining table, will post a pic. later when we have the tree up. We're getting a real one sometime next week !

Now off to make some cherry cake balls ! ( I wanted to make the red velvet cake kind but there was no RV cake mix to be found. So I went with cherry chip mix & added red coloring for a lovely pink mix, yum ! Baking photos to come too woohoo ! )

A BeauTiful ThaNk-You & CooKies with TeA !

Awhile back I found a lady online who makes beautiful altered art wonders. Her name is Kecia Deveney and she has a natural talent for creating things out of found objects, turning them into delicious shabby fun elegant ( and even Steampunk ) treasures, from necklaces to paintings to dollies with whimsical dressings !

You must, must, must check out her links - 2 fab. shops and 2 blogs:

-Etsy shop
'Lemoncholy's'
-Lovely blog
Lemoncholy's Flight of Fancy ( she's also posted her Facebook link )
-Her fab. shop of gorgeous eye candy for the body and soul
Lemoncholy's Studio
-Her other blog where you can find out about upcoming flea markets and other fun flea market delights:
Flea Market Junkture ( Kecia LOVES flea markets ! )

Kecia also teaches classes. If I were anywhere near her I would be one of the first to sign up !

We are friends on Facebook and I'm always looking forward to reading up on her latest finds and makings.
She had posted a picture of some found beach glass and so I decided to send her some of the beach glass my birth-grandmother had collected over 30 years ! Of course the parcel ended up getting stuffed with other wee fun finds too, couldn't help myself it was so much fun :)

As a thank-you to me, Kecia created a necklace using one of the pieces of beach glass I sent her. When it arrived I was so excited and thrilled at how lovely it was --and how much it means to me to be wearing something my birth-grandmother found with her hands ( she passed last year. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to meet her, if only twice and for a few short hours ).

The necklace came 'packaged' inside a most unique piece of art. It is so much like a mini quilt with wonderful stitching, lace, various fabrics and a sweet image of a child. I just love it and will proudly hang it in my art room, on the wall by my tv, so every time I look up it will always be in my line of sight :)

Thank-you Kecia for your beautiful treasures and for bringing joy to so many.

Isn't this necklace beautifully elegant ?
The child is part of a pocket sewn onto the 'quilt' piece, inside which was the necklace. Love the thoughtful details, such a delight
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After receiving Kecia's treasures I then popped onto Facebook to see any new updates. Another of my FB friends had spent the day baking a load of mouthwatering goodies.

Since it was raining today I too decided to bake something, something in which I could sprinkle some tea leaves !

I have well over 50 varieties of tea, in fact, I have my very own tea cupboard in the kitchen. It's stocked with boxes and bags of tea and all my tea accoutrements.

So, I decided to make whipped shortbread...an easy dough with few ingredients (butter,flour,icing sugar). I then divided the dough and in one portion I mixed the loose tea from 2 bags of Stash's Double Spice Chai & added a wee bit of cinnamon. In the other batch I added 2 bags of Stash's Earl Grey Green tea, some Formosa Jasmine and a handful of leftover milk chocolate chips. Yeh, I was feeling kindof adventurous lol ! Too impatient to let them sit in the fridge, I chose to make them drop cookies instead....

After approx. 13 minutes in the oven, they came out like this:

And after several bites, we decided the Earl Grey Formosa ones were the better tasting. The chai cookies were okay too but they left a wee bit of a bitter aftertaste. Maybe next time I'll bake some with freshly brewed tea leaves ?

That's it for today. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lovely new treasure to hang on my art room wall ( I'm wearing the necklace, had to put it on asap ! )...and then I'm grabbing a plate of cookies, some tea and my book for a few good minutes of quiet time.

Tracy ♥