Holiday Home Tour 2022

Happy day after Christmas! I have several Christmas-related posts to write, and figured that I should start with a home tour. At this point in my blogging career (ha!), I am less aspirational when it comes to this particular post and more practical; I'm simply documenting the decor as a reminder to myself of where I displayed things in previous years, so I can either recreate a look or shake things up, depending on my mood.

This year, I went pretty traditional. The five foot Santa that Hugh and I bought decades ago still greets visitors in the foyer, and the tree is in it's usual spot in the living room. You can also see a portion of the village on top of our entertainment center. I don't put the village up every year, more like every other year. Last year, we were in Hawaii in the weeks leading up to Christmas, so the village didn't come out. 2022 was it's year.

And, a choir of blow mold singers greets visitors on the porch. The choir doubled in size this year and I love it. Next year, Hugh has plans to build a set of moving risers that will start on a motion sensor, complete with music, so it will look, and sound,  like the choir is singing for our friends and family. It was my vision, but he'll put it into action.

 

Mr and Mrs Santa are also front and center on the porch. These two are some of my favorite blow molds (I love them all, of course).

One of my angels watches over the Santas and the choir. 

And a North Pole sign welcomes guests.

The porch is draped in cedar garland that I order from a local pre-school fundraiser. Each garland is six feet long and I order six of them each year. They are surprisingly affordable and last for the entire season without browning or dropping needles. I hung the massive popcorn garland that Hugh made for me last year over the garland for a festive touch.

In the interest of full disclosure, the garland yellowed horribly last year. We definitely should have painted each "kernel" before we strung it. Instead, Hugh had to separate each kernel from each "cranberry" with paper plates before spray painting it before we hung it up this year.

In front of the porch, we displayed Santa and Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, and Comet. Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen are MIA because everyone and their dog has discovered what I've known for years: blow molds are the bomb-diggity. Now, the vintage reindeer are becomming harder and harder to find and the prices are getting higher and higher. It may take years for me to finish off the team.

As always, I hung a lighted garland around the door and window; this year I used my deco-mesh garlands and matching lighted wreath. I also candy-striped the porch posts, which I do most years.

Last year, I started collecting the large lightbulb lights for the house, including these bulbs on lawn stakes. If they are available on clearance this week, I will try to get a few more sets, to finish off the walkway.

My blow mold nativity is tucked happily into the stable that Hugh build for me two years ago.

And, the house is outlined in the large lightbulb lights. These were unavailable at the Hellmouth this year, so I don't know if I'll ever be able to add to the set, but this does the trick, for now.

Back inside the house, not a lot has changed this year. I used my normal garland and Santa portrait for the fireplace. This year, I added stockings for Shanti and the Rodeo Princess. In the future, I'm going to have to retire our old stockings, if I want matching ones for all our family members.

In the dining room, I displayed the two large Santas that Mom gave me when she downsized the house in Mayberry. My Dad purchased three of these Santas for Mom over three Christmases. Barbie took the third one, and, I would have been content with one, but my sister Midge didn't want one, which is how I ended up with two. No complaints, here.

I displayed the large Santas with my smaller Jim Shore international Santas.

In the foyer, I hung Santa's outfit and boots, next to a table adorned with a garland and my old radio. People always comment on the suit, and, when my Great-Niece came over this past Friday, she was over the moon excited about it. It's a really simple thing, but it brings great joy.

There are several other decorations throughout the house, but, this post is already pretty picture-heavy, so I won't post anymore.

Well, maybe one more. This is the way I displayed my collection of Christmas Vacation  Funko Pop figurines this year.

I printed and framed the picture that we used for this year's Christmas card and it fit into the display, beautifully. The display was definitely a topic of conversation at Christmas dinner.

Anyhoodle, that's the tour for this year. More Christmas posts coming soon.

It's the Sweetest Time of the Year

The Rodeo Princess made it to town Wednesday morning and we made sure to welcome her with open arms and an open kitchen. Cookie decorating and popcorn ball making was on the schedule and I know she wouldn't have it any other way.

Mom, Hugh, Queen B, the Man-Cub, Shanti, Mikey, the Rodeo Princess and I were at our creative best; frosting several dozen cut sugar cookies that I had baked earlier this month. These cookies are always the star of the holiday cookie platter, so we take our task very seriously (except for the Man-Cub, who turned a snowman into an eerily accurate depiction of Kenny from South Park, and Hugh, who turned an angel upside down and managed to create a fairly realistic dinosaur).

Once the cookies were done, I cleaned up the frosting mess while Mom worked on the popcorn ball syrup.

The kids were a captive audience, which is necessary, if they are to carry on the tradition once their elders are gone, which, I hope isn't for a really, really long time.

Mikey was a popcorn ball virgin, so the rest of the crew walked him through the process, starting with a slathering of butter on his hands, to protect them from the heat of the syrup.

Queen B and the Rodeo Princess then demonstrated the proper ball-making technique, which, he caught on to pretty quickly.

The Man-Cub was working at a disadvantage, thanks to his recent shoulder surgery. He did mange an impressive one-handed ball technique, however. Shanti was impressed.

When all was said and done, we had an impressive stack of balls, ready for snacking. A side bonus of the project is that my house still smells like popcorn balls, a couple of days, later. 

I find this quite pleasing and I know Dad would approve.

It Wasn't a Jesus Weenie Roast, But It'll Do

Last night, Mom and I went to a drive-through live nativity presented by a church in Hooterville. The church attempted the event in 2020, when their usual live nativity was sidelined by Covid. They figured, if they couldn't have people wandering around the churchyard, viewing the scenes from the night of our savior's birth, they would simply set up cones and have folks stay in their cars, doing a slow roll past each tableau. 

It was a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, that year, a winter storm dumped several feet of snow on Hooterville the morning of the event, so it was canceled. 2020, the gift that just kept on giving.

Last year, they attempted the drive through set-up again, and, it went without a hitch. Unfortunately, or- fortunately, depending on how you look at it- we were in Hawaii for the Man-Cub's graduation, so we missed the show.

This year, when I saw it advertised on Facebook, I was determined to check it out. Hugh is currently back east, officiating a wrestling tournament, so Mom and I loaded up the Tahoe and hit the nativity alone. And, while it was not quite as entertaining as the year that I dragged her to the Catholic school's Jesus Weenie Roast; I think Mom enjoyed it.

After viewing the nativity, we went to one of Hooterville's nicer restaurants; Mom hadn't been there yet so I figured that would be a nice way to cap off the evening.

It was a great night and a fun ending to my week. Today, I am preparing to do battle with several rolls of wrapping paper and a bunch of gifts. The countdown to the Big Day is on and I am woefully unprepared.

Friday Favorites

When I was decorating the tree a few weeks ago, I found these old book ornaments that we got when the kids were small. Each year, they were to write something about what they liked best that Christmas, favorite presents, etc. Opening them again is like opening a time capsule.

Translation: "Me and my sister got a dog for Christmas an it is cute and culde" (cuddly, for those of you who can't comprehend 8 year old phonetics). This is the Man-Cub's book and that was the year that we surprised the kids with Rowdie Dog (miss him everyday).

Translation: "I had the best Christmas ever I got a play station and the games (completely illegible) and guitar Heroes. And a cell phone". I love the insertion of the original design for the cell phone emoji and the misspelling of  the word rule. Pre-teen girls are awesome.

I sent out our Christmas cards last week and, I know I say this almost every year, but; I think this year's card was my most favorite of all time. The whole family got involved, some more enthusiastically than others, and we recreated an iconic scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. My life is complete.

 

For the cards I exchange, locally, I like to use my wax sealing kits with a Christmas-themed stamp; so that is what I did again this year. I wish I could do the same for the mailed cards, but that isn't an option according to the USPS.

In other news from Project Christmas Execution; I changed out all the bedding in our house. Every bed now has holiday themed flannel sheets and festive pillows. This matters not one iota to anyone in my household except for me. Unless you count the cat, who is always happy to roll his hair all over freshly changed bedding.

One last favorite for this post and then I'll call it a day: earlier this month, I used my birthday money to purchase this amazing antique silver punch bowl set. I am planning to make homemade eggnog to serve in it. Mark my words: punchbowls are going to make a comeback in the next couple of years. I'm getting ahead of the trend.

That's it for today. Later this evening, Mom and I are going to hit a drive-through live nativity at one of the churches in Hooterville. I'm hoping it becomes a favorite this year. 

Stay tuned!

Life Lately

Just for a change of pace, how about I don't start this post with an excuse for not writing more often? That definitely seems to be my MO, recently, and, while I do wish I were posting here more often; it is a simple fact of life that times have changed and that I just don't live a very interesting life anymore- not that I ever did, but, at least I used to have the children for entertaining stories.

Waaaait a minute...I do have an entertaining story about one of the children, after all. Well, not entertaining, exactly, but informative., and, in keeping with the Life Lately-ness of this post.

The Man-Cub went under the knife Friday evening, for a repair of the shoulder injury that he got clear back in high school. The surgery took a little longer than anticipated, but that was mainly due to the fact that the surgeon got started quite a bit later than originally planned. 

The Cub is now resting comfortably at home, or, at least as comfortably as one can get when wearing a sling 24/7 and sleeping in a sitting-up position. He's young; he'll survive.

While the Cub was knocked out, Shanti and I ran to the pharmacy to pick up his pain meds; while we waited for the prescription to be filled, we visited the newest sweets shop in Hooterville: Twisted Sugar. Neither of us had been there yet and we were curious to see how it stacked up to Crumbl Cookies, which has been in business for just a little over a year, locally.

The general ambience of Twisted Sugar far outpaces that of Crumbl, but, I don't think Crumbl is too concerned with aesthetics, so I doubt they are concerned.

 

Where they may want to take note is in the competition for tastiest cookie, which, is a contest they might just lose. We ordered similar cookies from each store and Shanti and the Cub will be conducting a taste test to determine the outcome. Stay tuned.

Saturday was a stay-at-home day for me. I managed to knock quite a few items of my holiday to-do list while enjoying classic carols on my record player.

Sunday, I busted out my Kitchenaid and made cookies: cut sugar and molasses chews, respectively.

While I toiled away over copious amounts of butter and sugar, Hugh was putting the finishing touches on the outdoor lighting, which, is a post for another day. I will say, however, that my blow mold choir has doubled in size and I'm not mad about it.

We finished the weekend by joining Shanti and the Cub at mom's house for dinner followed by a viewing of the latest episode of Yellowstone.

So, you see, my life is both boring and basic. Much literary content, there.

Kind of explains the lack of posts that I swore not to complain about in the beginning of this post.

Oops.

All Aboard the Reindeer Express!

 Yesterday, I grabbed all the old folks in my life and we hit the local community theater for a production of Miracle on 34th Street, done in a live radio format, including commercial breaks brought to us by Lux Soap Flakes. It was a hoot.

After the play, we jumped back in the Tahoe, all decked out in her finest reindeer finery, with the addition of magnetic Christmas lights...

...and headed to Mom's place to wait for Hugh to join us for dinner (he was just getting back into town from a wrestling assignment in Utah).

While we waited, we enjoyed Mom's Christmas decorations, listened to some classic holiday music, and sampled a bottle of crema de tequila that she got on a trip to Mexico with my aunt and uncle a while back. None of us had ever tasted crema de tequila before and, I'll admit I was skeptical, but it turns out that it's actually quite tasty, no hint of tequila flavor that I could detect.

Then, it was off to dinner at one of Oscar and Emily's favorite Italian places. I had the pasta primavera and it was delish.

It was also a huge portion, half of which came home with me for a meal later today.

Speaking of later today, Hugh and I will be decorating the outside of the house with my blow mold collection. I can hardly wait! 

It's been a great weekend.