Whew! It's over!

It's hard to believe that after all the hype, the shopping, the wrapping, the cooking (well, not me, but some people!) suddenly it's over. Just like that. Now we're just left with the mess . . . what to do with all the boxes, the leftovers (again, not me!) and the gifts that need to be put away.

I tend to be one of those people that is ready to move on as soon as Christmas is over. I'm ready to take down the tree, partly because I want to get the living room "back to normal" and partly because it's really, really dead. As long as I need to get out the ornament storage box I might as well just put it all away, right? I would guess that by the time this weekend is over our house will look as if Christmas never happened.

We had a wonderful Christmas full of family, great food and so many gifts. Way too many gifts - we are very blessed.

My daughter, a poor college student, gave me the gift she could afford which was using her talent to draw the picture shown here. Below the drawing was a list of things that she will do for me while she is home on break, including keeping her shoe count by the door "low". Not sure how many pairs she feels is an appropriate number, but I appreciate the effort.

I have already moved on to Valentine's Day in my 1000Markets shop! I told you I don't mess around! Here's a sample of new items listed in my shop - I'd love to have you visit my shop, write a comment on my "wall" and buy a few things! Happy Shopping!

Merry Christmas!

photo by Angie McDonald from ParentMap.com

No matter how you spend the next fews days - with family, with friends, working, catching up on sleep - enjoy. Turn off the lights, light a candle and sing Silent Night. Stay warm. Eat something you love. Merry Christmas.

Oh the weather outside is frightful . . .

Winter is definitely here in Minnesota! This tree is in our front yard and you can see the snow on the ground and the tree, but what you can't see is how hard it's snowing right now. It's one of those winter days where you just want to snuggle in, grab a hot drink and do crafts!

Normally I would love a day like that and plan not to leave the house. However, today is the day that my daughter comes home for Christmas, so I have a 1-1/2 hour drive to the airport planned for late tonight. Her flight is scheduled to arrive at 11:45 p.m. from Oregon . . . and I'm very worried that the flight will be cancelled. That would be very bad news! I'm so excited to see her and even a one day delay would make me very sad.

I'm checking the flight (still showing as on time), watching the weather on the news and on-line, and looking out the window every minute!

Since it seems to be too much to ask to have a direct flight from Portland to Minneapolis she has to fly to Phoenix first, and there is a chance that she could end up staying there. The good news is that my cousin is in Phoenix visiting her in-laws for the holidays and she has graciously offered to host my daughter if need be. Thanks Jana!

Ok, I need to get back to the window and watch the snow fall. If you would keep your fingers crossed for me I would appreciate it very much!

Christmas Gift Cards & Tags

I've been having a lot of fun making cards and tags for Christmas. I've really been focusing on very simple items because I think there's enough chaos in the season!


You can find them in my shop at 1000Markets. Take a moment to check them out!

Merry Christmas!

Fine, I decorated. Happy?

Bah Humbug. I love Christmas - being with family, eating lefse, the candlelight church service - those are the things I love. What don't I like? Decorating. Sorry, but it's true. So many people look forward to decorating and love opening each storage box and seeing each item again after so many months of being packed away (yes mom, I'm talking about you!). Me, not so much.

It's so much work . . . hauling box after box out of our basement storage room . . . carrying them upstairs . . . removing all of the "regular" stuff . . . DUSTING . . . ugh. I usually put it off and do anything else I can think of, but this year I decided to follow Nike's advice and Just Do It.

I started Friday afternoon and finished up Saturday afternoon - nonstop work. Heh. No, I managed to get sidetracked many times, so it didn't really take 24 hours nonstop. As I was going through the motions I realized that maybe I don't like decorating because I'm tired of the decorations that I have. I open each storage box, see each item and think, "Crap. Where the heck am I going to put this." The other reason that I don't enjoy decorating is because I'm a minimalist at heart, so I don't like having so much stuff around; it's just too cluttered for me. So here's what I did this year - I only put out things that I really love. The rest just went back in the box, and after Christmas when I pack it all away I'm going to get rid of LOTS of it. Yep, it's going to Goodwill. I'm also going to hit some after Christmas sales and buy some new things, or better yet I'm going to shop on Etsy for fun, new Christmas decorations. Maybe I'll enjoy it more next year.

I do have some things that I really love, and I'll share them with you here.

This is an authentic "spinner thingy". Ok, maybe that's not what it's called but let's just go with it. My parents bought this for me in Germany and I do love it. I know, I don't have the candles in it. Hmm, I wonder where they are. I like the Santa too; I bought him at an after Christmas sale years ago and he's still a favorite.

This is our center piece, made by my mom, and I love it because it's simple and the colors are pretty. I like birch trees.

How cool is this? This was made by the late Gary Wurdell; he was my boss for 6 years and passed away about 10 years ago. He was a very talented craftsman and he made this for me for Christmas one year while I was working for him. He cut it out on a band saw, can you imagine? It is truly one of my favorite things.

Here's our fireplace mantle all decorated for the Holidays. I love the mantle decorations; the colors are so pretty and it looks so homey. Also, my stocking (I'm Nancy) is the BIGGEST.

Here's close up of a couple of the ornaments hanging from the garland on the mantle. These are precious to me because they belonged to my Grandpa - Papa Olaf. I was lucky enough to get his box of ornaments and I love hanging them here rather than on our tree because they are easier to see. I also have some in a basket in the kitchen.

Speaking of a tree, that's still left to do. We always have a real tree, no taking it out of the box for us! However, that means that we like to wait a bit longer with the hope that when Christmas is over there might still be a needle or two left on the tree rather than on the carpet. I do enjoy decorating the tree and love having it lit in the evenings, even though there is a chance the whole thing could go up in flames leaving us homeless. That would certainly take care of all the decorations I'm tired of, wouldn't it??

Happy Holidays!