Tag: Holiday Decorations

Bring On The Nutcrackers!

My guys are coming up out of storage today along with all of my other outside decorations. It is a little early for me as we usually wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I’m opting to take advantage of the nice weather today to work outside.

I’m standing firm that there are no indoor decorations yet, because I have my santa curtain tradition that is important to me and I really need that this year.

Doing this part now also gives us the chance to organize that under stair storage space for the contractors to be able to close it off when they come to work on my craft room.  Since they are supposed to start any day now, this really needs to get done.

Getting these out is making me want to work on another project, which I can’t yet. My cabinets are going to be my next project. But these were SO much fun to do! I’ve tossed around the idea of trying to do some much smaller than life sized versions, but what I want to do requires even more tools that I don’t currently have. And I’m SO not going to buy anything for like 10 years after my craft room is finished!

But… if anyone else out there is feeling extremely ambitious and wants instructions, feel free to steal or use as a guide for your own version… https://tjfox.net/2018/11/26/repost-giant-nutcrackers-how-to/.

 

Going Nuts

I’m feeling a bit run ragged (kinda like this poor, frazzled looking nutcracker) at the moment. Trying to get all my baking done in between a week of appointments, unexpected errands, runs to dance and the normal activity of trying to feed my family has left me almost no time to be calm for more than maybe 5 seconds at a time.

Today is my last really crazy day for a while (fingers and toes crossed), so hopefully that means I won’t feel quite so rushed after today. I had fully intended on getting a few more things made today, but I have to work on homemade pizza for dinner and one of my FIL gifts, so I’m giving myself a baking break today. I have at least one more recipe I plan to post as it is a new one for me, but I think that is the last of them. I’m really not sure.

If someone finds my brain lying around somewhere, would you mind returning it? I might need it again.

Peace Dove

I’m starting my annual marathon of holiday baking today. I have a massive list this year, though I doubt I’ll actually make everything on that list. I have a few items that have been prioritized and will be made first because I plan on including those in a gift. The others will get made if I still have the motivation and we aren’t all sick to death of sweets by the time I get to them.

The first on my list is a new one for me. I tripped across it when a friend shared it on FB. I had completely forgotten about it as I hadn’t had it since I was a kid. I didn’t even know it had a name, just that “white candy with bright colored dots”. FYI, the recipe I found named it “Nougat Candy” and those spots are supposed to be gum drops (which are apparently impossible to find around here. Really?!)

Because I couldn’t find the actual gum drops, I’ve improvised. I haven’t a clue if I’m even going to like it, but I really wanted to try as I remember liking it when I was a kid. Anyway, that is my project for today. Fingers and toes crossed I don’t botch it.

Nutcrackers On Duty

My guys finally made it out to the porch last night! I’m thrilled to say that they are still in amazing shape and are holding up well. Part of that, I’m sure, is because I don’t leave them out if we are getting a lot of wind or it is going to be wet out (rain or snow). That’s why they stood guarding my entry for the last several days. It was rainy for a couple of days before turning crazy windy.

I’m a little more surprised that they are still as solid as they are with as much as they get moved around. Having to bring them in and out throughout the season and then to the basement to store in the off season, I thought for sure I’d start to see them getting a little loose in the joints, but they are still amazingly solid.

For anyone new to the blog or if you are looking for the supply list and instructions, you can find them in the original Giant Life Size Nutcracker post. Three years later and I’m still absolutely stunned I was able to pull this project off.

Tree Pretties

I feel like I’m falling behind on where I should be as far as the holiday season goes. I think this is probably because it was a late Thanksgiving this year. Whatever the reason, it is starting to stress me out a bit.

Normally the kids would have given us their wish lists and we’d at least have started talking about what we want to do for them by now. The only thing that has been discussed is MC’s gift, which is actually also part graduation gift and something we all talked about and agreed on last year, a laptop that he will be able to take to college but is still powerful enough for him to play the games he likes. I haven’t a single clue what I’m going to do for any other gift. At all. Not BG. Not Hubby. Not my in-laws. Nada. Hell, I don’t even have any ideas to give to Hubby as something to get me. Not sure you can wrap up world peace and a cure for ignorance in a box and put it under the tree.

We are at the point where the gifts are very different because the kids are teens and the things they want aren’t the same as the latest cool toy (not that any of my kids were ever into that, unless it was a video game). It doesn’t help that my kids really don’t ask for much and never really have. Every once in a great while there will be something big, like the computer, but it is so rare.

BG mentioned wanting to go shopping for clothes, but that sort of changes the whole gift under the tree thing, so I’m not sure what I want to do about that either. I could be evil and take her, but tell her she can’t have any of it because it is still getting wrapped and put under the tree.

In years past, because of the madness that was holidays in this family, I practically had to beg them to add more things to their list just so I could pass along a gift idea to a family member. It got so bad I started to hate the whole gift concept even though I’ve always loved putting the time and thought into finding something meaningful and fun. I’m exceptionally grateful that I don’t really have to do this anymore.

It doesn’t help one bit that my normal level of creativity is currently flatlined. I’m going to need some inspiration soon, though.

 

Holiday Perspective

Is it just me or do other people’s view and attitude about the holidays change depending on those they are around? Specifically family.

Sorry if the following does not match the cheeriness of the photo.

When it is just Hubby, the kids, and me, I’m generally excited about the holidays and the traditions we have established over the years. I look forward to all those moments I know we all love.

Throw in pretty much any other person and all of that gets tainted and I start to lose some of that joy. People that cannot manage to do anything but bring negativity with them. I do my damnedest to choose beauty and joy every day because there is so much that isn’t, but it is hard to do that when all that negativity jumps in your face.

It is worse when those people bring hope of change and a promise of healing, all out of the blue, only to have all that hope get smacked back down under the weight of the reality that things are still exactly as they were before you chose to walk away.

I’ve seen others talk about how much they dread doing some family event because of how negative it can be. How do you maintain the joy around the holidays when you are forced to deal with people that feel the need to drag everyone down?

Can I Sit Down Now?

I spent the entire day getting all of my indoor decorations up. I love it when it is all done, but my poor body really doesn’t. Doing this every year the day after I spent the previous two days on my feet in the kitchen really doesn’t help. At least we had all the outdoor stuff up and done before Thanksgiving, so I didn’t have that to do this weekend as well, giving me a full two days with nothing to do before we jump back into our normal routines. I will be spending those two days being as lazy as I can possibly get and still be considered human.

Today’s Project: Outdoor Decorations

I’m breaking a bit with my normal tradition, which is to put up decorations the day after the US Thanksgiving. I decided I didn’t want to risk trying to do this in sub-zero temps when I have a nice, mid 50s day to work on them now. Nothing will get turned on until the normal day and the inside is going to happen as usual, but it will at least be up and ready before it gets too miserable. This also breaks it up a little so that I don’t have as much to do all at once, which is nice.

We aren’t the only ones with this idea as most of the people along my street are outside working, taking advantage of the small warm break we are getting. Now, I’m off to work my butt of.

Oh! I’m also going to get to see BG’s pointe costume for this year, which I’m insanely excited about because they are doing a piece from Swan Lake. I’ve seen glimpses of a stunning black and white piece, but I get to see it in person today, so I’m over the moon excited, even if it means I have to stop in the middle of my work to go watch them unveil it.

It’s going to be a good day.

Today’s Procrastination Project

Yes. I am STILL procrastinating on my edits. The BS with Amazon did not help with that, though I did get my account back last night (finally). So, instead of working on what I SHOULD be working on, I played.

Continue reading “Today’s Procrastination Project”

This Year’s Nutcracker

I have been getting at least one nutcracker a year since I was 16. When Hubby and I got together, he took over the tradition. A few years back, he started giving them to me on the day we decorate instead of on Christmas so that I’d be able to have it out for the whole season. He always tries to theme them, using something we have done over the year to create that theme. The year we fixed our chimney (finally), I got a chimney sweep. The year we took a vacation to the mountains, I got a hiker. This year, he used the massive home improvements with the windows and the new HVAC and went with a Cozy Santa, bringing my count up to 41 if you count the two giant ones I made last year. I have such a huge variety, in both size and style. They range from uber traditional to kinda insanely wacky. I absolutely adore my nutcrackers and my kids love seeing them get unpacked every year. BG is even talking about wanting to start her own tradition and collection. It is a tradition I’m seriously considering starting for her.

Frosty Leaf

Today is decorating day. Normally that means both inside and out, but we got the out done early because they were predicting crappy weather. It is kinda funny how insane my kids are about this tradition. They have been talking about it for weeks and bounced off the walls when they got up this morning. So much so, you would have thought it was actually Christmas morning instead. Time to get my sparkle on!

Let The Fun Begin!

So, today will be our Christmas Eve with my in-laws. Not because this is when we normally do it, but because there MIGHT be a SLIGHT chance of the white stuff on Christmas Eve. Since we can’t have that (no seriously, things get stupid crazy with the in-laws when weather of any kind other than perfectly dry and sunny is involved), I’ll be doing all my Christmas Eve stuff today instead. Hopefully, that doesn’t include watching for weather updates every other minute.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!