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Holidays:  Anyone planning for Christmas yet?  |
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sillyfoulks
True Blue Farmgirl
164 Posts
Elizabeth
Illinois
USA
164 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 06:09:12 AM
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I know it is early, but I was wondering if anyone else has started planning for the Christmas season yet. This is my favorite Holiday, and spend several months planning. I love the decorations, making and buy the perfect gift, and entertaining. Years ago, we(the kids and I) so a show on HGTV where they talked to a lady that had tons of Christmas trees all over her house. The kids have always teased me that if I wasn't careful, I would end up just like her. I have always thought of myself a Christmas Fanatic, is there anyone else here like that?
Elizabeth
http://livingcountrystyle.blogspot.com/ |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 06:12:18 AM
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| I love Christmas -- I collect vintage Christmas items and am always searching all summer long. Also I love to do special Christmas crafts for sale at our historical society's shop. Haven't started just yet, but I do have some ideas percolating . . . I have some vintage-y Christmas ornaments from Target (January sale) last year that I will be altering and embellishing for that special, handmade look. Also I want to create some cotton batting + paper scrap ornaments. You've got me thinking . . . maybe time to begin! |
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sunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
4877 Posts
Wendy
Utah
USA
4877 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 06:19:03 AM
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yes I am already palanning the families gifts . My husbands sisters will get handmade aprons made from fabric that came out of his grandmothers attic ( 30 to 70 years old) I am still making them and looking for old vintage patterns if anyone has any they don't wany ;'). My family I have some necklaces for my sisters already ,and we will buy alot of books if and when my husband gets paid.
have a lovely day and may God bless you and keep you safe
my web store www.sunshines.etsy.com my blog http://sunshinescreations.blogspot.com/ my google page http://sunshine.harbaugh.googlepages.com/home |
Edited by - sunshine on Aug 24 2006 06:27:39 AM |
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 06:47:49 AM
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Christmas - I love it!!! I collect ornaments all year long for various theme trees. This way each year I have a different tree instead of the same old every year. Last year it was the eclectic tree - ornaments from friends and family, trips, etc. This year I think I have enough ornaments to do a garden/woodland tree - if not I have added to my seashore tree this year and can do that one. I have already started a list of gifts to get the family and soon to start shopping. I feel it is never too early to start planning for Christmas 
Anne
"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them" Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh
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katiedid
True Blue Farmgirl
601 Posts
Kate
West Jordan
Utah
USA
601 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 08:44:01 AM
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We are thinking of doing a home made Christmas this year...that is only making or bartering for gifts. Have any of you done this? Last year I got a bunch of stuff for my kids and they didn't even use it!!
We would like to bring the spirit of Christmas into the home and holiday and have it be less and less about advertising and commercialism....
Let me know what ya'll think,
Kate
http://theknifemakerswife.blogspot.com/2006/07/knifemakers-wife.html |
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BStein
True Blue Farmgirl
75 Posts
Barbara
Westerville
OH
75 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 08:52:56 AM
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I so agree with the homemade Christmas...if only dc would go for it. I usually make the kids a pair of pajamas, but past that I'd be pushing it. My 4 yo dd wants a "Princess Jasmine" outfit which I can make. I would love to hear what others are making for family members. What's big this year? I'm thinking of knitting a few fun handbags, and a few people will get religious bracelets and earrings, but I'm out of the loop and not sure if there are any hot trends right now that might be great gifts for some in the younger generation!
Barbara |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 11:31:03 AM
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My shopping is done. Most of the gifts will be homemade, from the farm. I almost always make gift baskets. Last year was matted and framed photographs from pics I took while hiking in Baxter State Park.
I've done preserves baskets with jam, jelly, pickles and such. Breakfast baskets with pancake mix, maple syrup from our trees, a dozen eggs from our chickens, a pound of bacon and a pound of sausage from pigs we've raised. Pasta baskets using a ridiculously huge colander, assorted jars of pasta sauce, a variety of pastas and mozzarella made from our cow's milk. Pizza baskets are fun. Frozen doughs, tomato and pesto sauces, mozzarella.
I'm undecided about what I'll use this year. Baskets, by the way, aren't homemade. I buy them.
Robin
www.thymeforewe.com
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sunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
4877 Posts
Wendy
Utah
USA
4877 Posts |
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Lynn B
True Blue Farmgirl
113 Posts
Lynn
Derry
NH
USA
113 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 12:46:10 PM
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I LOVE Christmas too! I haven't done much to start yet, except for the planning going on in my mind! Definitely starting to pick out and soon purchase presents for the family though. We have decided that the family will all come here this year since we have the kids. A little nervous about that, but think it will be fun. Ever since I was a little girl I couldn't wait to have the big Christmas dinner at my own house!
Last year I made a homemade Egg Nog at a party we had for our friends and family. I will definitely have to find that recipe again, it was phenomenal!
I have two toddlers (3 yrs and soon-to-be 2 yrs), if anyone has any fun activities or ideas for the kids to do at Christmas time I would love the input!!
Though I love presents just as much as the next girl (ok, maybe a little more!) I absolutely believe the best part of the Christmas season is the feeling. Everyone seems to be more friendly, more excited, more ALIVE. I think it's all the gingerbread and hot chocolate! I just adore Christmas-time! Did I mention I'm a lunatic about Christmas carols too? Will probably start listening to them just after Halloween! I try to wait until after Thanksgiving, but that's just SO hard!
So Elizabeth, I guess I would have to say the answer to your question is "yes"!
Lynn
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
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Edited by - Lynn B on Aug 24 2006 12:47:32 PM |
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daffodil dreamer
True Blue Farmgirl
805 Posts
Jayne
Hamilton
Victoria
Australia
805 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 7:59:44 PM
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Oooh, I LOVE Christmas!! I am always planning lots of gifts to make and some always get done, but never all the list. My decorating theme is primitive/rustic, but with lots of snowmen - I collect them. Maybe it is an antidote to the horrible heat of Christmas here in Oz, but I always decorate with a 'snow' theme. Robin, I love the baskets and Kate, let us know how the homemade Christmas goes. Every year I say I will only give homemade presents but then I give in on the people I know will turn their noses up as though we are being cheapskates - I suppose I shouldn't worry about what they think!! But I'm sure everyone knows the person I mean - we've probably all got at least one relative like that!
It's never too early for Christmas - I've already started looking through my snowmen boxes - it's like discovering new friends all over again! Anyway, we already have decorations in the shops so that puts you in the mood!
Best wishes,
Jayne
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 9:27:40 PM
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oh Lynn, I have some terrific ideas for kids Christmas games..
First one is called "Reindeer Race"
o.k. make some circle shapes from red construction paper...at the start of the game everyone has to dab the tip of their nose with vaseline.. you can pit the kids against the parents if you want or team kids against kids...
Set all of the reindeer noses(red circle shapes) on the floor across the room in a row..
On your mark , get set, crawl across the floor as fast as you can.
You have to put your nose down and try to "attach" your reindeer nosse to yourself without using your hands, just touching your nose to the paper circle.
Then racing back crawling on your knees back to the start line. To win.
Another fun game is create a snowman shape on large poster board..Do not give him a carrot nose though..
Make carrot nose shapes out of orange construction paper and play "pin the carrot" on the snowman.
Another fun game is to create a Christmas poem that has plenty of the words "right" and "left" throughout the poem.
Example:
My great aunt Right left Utah to come right over to our house on Christmas day... But she left her purse and so she had to rush right back home to get the purse that she had left right by the front door.She also had forgotten that she had left My uncle Right there too. What a silly aunt Right I have right?
----anyhow you get the idea..the kids do an ornament exchange(each child brings an ornament)and while sitting in a circle they have to pass the ornament around. If you write the poem correctly..each child will recieve a different ornament and it can be quite a laugh.
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these are all games that I played with the kids in the homeschool group we were a part of..our family would host the annual Christmas party here at our home. the games always went over very well.
~Seize the Day! Live, Love, Laugh~ |
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Bluewrenn
True Blue Farmgirl
1122 Posts
Erin
Texas
USA
1122 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2006 : 11:59:02 PM
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Oh no!!! I'm late, I'm late for a very important date... I usually make all my gifts for 15 or so people, and I am WAY behind this year. With buying the land and hoping to move into the temp. housing by Thanksgiving, I'll be hard pressed to make presents on time. And I haven't even thought of what I'll be making yet either. *sigh*
I need some suggestions - My nephew has this thing for peregrine falcons (and predator birds_... What can I find (or make) that will incorporate his favorite animal?
Anyone have some predator bird photos I can trade something for??
My Homesteading Journal
http://toomyvara.livejournal.com
My craft journal
http://bluewrenn.livejournal.com |
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mellaisbella
True Blue Farmgirl
1862 Posts
melanie
living on Anne of Green
Gables land
Canada
1862 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2006 : 01:53:26 AM
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good morning ladies
I found a website (haven't really had a good look yet) called www.organizedchristmas.com maybe that will help some of us out!
mellaisbella "I wanna touch the earth, I want to break it in my hands, I want to grow something wild and unruly" |
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Nance in France
True Blue Farmgirl
1438 Posts
Nancy
St. Laurent de la Salanque
France
1438 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2006 : 03:47:37 AM
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Oh you girls really have my blood pumping now. I adore Christmas and think of it/plan for it, off and on during the year. It is always a magical time for me, and even moreso when my boys were young! I like to make presents, like Jayne, for the people I know that will truly appreciate them. I love Robin's food inspired gifts too, because that is a good couple/family gift that everybody would enjoy. And yes, right after Christmas is such a good time to get wrapping paper, ornaments to give the following season, cards, etc. at great prices. I usually treat myself to one or two special new ornaments every year; my tree theme is the same every year these days; some of my grandmother's ornaments I inherited, homemade ones, vintage ones, an ornate openwork silver spoon, baby shoes from my sons, garden theme, birds, butterflies and dragonfly ornaments, abandoned birdnests that I have found or have been given. After the bazillion tiny white lights are strung and the ornaments are in place, I drape grapevine that a neighbor gave me years back all around the tree, along with pinecones and dried hydrangea blossoms, and these are all spraypainted antique gold so they give off that wonderful old soft gleam when only the tree is lit. I collect old postcards with nature and Christmas themes and I carefully prop old Christmas postcards here and there among the branches. What serenity to sit and gaze into the wonderfully smelling tree, remembering stories connected with some of the treasures your eyes alight on.
Oops! This was about planning for Christmas not tripping down memory lane! Lynn, what about a neat advent calendar for your little ones? I still get out my Tasha Tudor one every year. And Erin; could you download photos of these birds and print them on photo qualitypaper and frame them in one of those huge (and fairly reasonable) plexiglass frames you can find at big craft stores? Tina, love that poem idea! I agree with Kate too, the happiest and most important part of the holiday is the feeling and goodwill it inspires,if only briefly. Robin, I bow down to your organized self! Sorry for taking up so much space! Nance |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2006 : 04:01:57 AM
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Nance -- I love hearing about your tree -- I too love old postcards (. . . have you found some in France? My sis brought a few back for me from there.) And how beautiful to have them propped in the tree among the hydrangea and vines and pinecones. Lovely. Thanks for sharing.
PS Seems a few of us are up 'early' this morning -- although with the time difference, you're probably partway through your day already. |
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sillyfoulks
True Blue Farmgirl
164 Posts
Elizabeth
Illinois
USA
164 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2006 : 06:28:09 AM
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I have tried that organizedchristmas.com site, but found it was a bit time consuming. However, just like Flylady, I did walk away with some great organizational ideas. For example I have a christmas Journal I right all the gifts I give for to everyone. I keep a running list of gifts purchased or made through the year. I when it gets close I have my budget written in it, with ideas for everyone that is left. I keep all the receipts, in an envelop, in it. The site is worth checking out.
Elizabeth
http://livingcountrystyle.blogspot.com/ |
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Nance in France
True Blue Farmgirl
1438 Posts
Nancy
St. Laurent de la Salanque
France
1438 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2006 : 09:54:00 AM
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Katie-Ell, I have never SEEN so many postcards as I have here in France! And the quality is breathtaking. And humungous in size sometimes too, like 6 by 8 inches or more!!!! Maybe because France is mostly agricultural with "beaucoup" (gotta throw some French around SOMEtime - ha!) small towns and villages that tourists are always passing through or maybe they just SEND more postcards to their friends as a rule, I don't know. I have not gone to this really cool fleamarket near here this summer but my mom is coming to visit in September and we are definitely hitting that! Gobs of cool stuff, mixed in with more "crap quality" stuff. I have bought an old print of violets and daffodils, really muted watercolors, just lovely, and a few great old crocheted or embroidered things. It is just such a dying lifestyle (maybe MJFarmgals can change that) that I buy them almost as much to honor the women whose hands have spent hours making these little treasures that bring such grace to a home.
If I find interesting old cards that are well-priced, I will definitely be buying a few to add to my collection. If you have a favorite theme I'll be on the lookout for one for you and send it along. And yes, when I posted that original note, it was nearly 1 pm here, time for lunch in the back yard. So I am not the early bird after all! Nance |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2006 : 11:54:31 AM
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Nance -- I would adore a French Christmas postcard or old garden postcard -- would be happy to trade with you. Have fun at the fleamarket next month and let me know if you find something. I'm a 'paper person' -- love ephemera of all kinds -- tags, sheet music, old books, old cards, etc. So if you find a little something, let me know and I'll gladly send you something as well!
How wonderful to live in France! My niece, who just graduated High School in June, has studied French for years -- 1/2 of her classes were in French -- and she just got back from a month on the Continent -- I am so pleased that she has had these wonderful opportunities. And how lovely that Love brought you a wonderful husband and time in France. |
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mommom
True Blue Farmgirl
854 Posts
Susan
Lancaster
Pennsylvania
USA
854 Posts |
Posted - Aug 25 2006 : 12:07:31 PM
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| I collect snowmen and Santa's. I have one Santa a friend of mine painted on a bowling pin! I have started crocheting some dishrags and sewing some pillowcases. I am halfway thru a shawl for my best friend (knitting it.) I've got my Christmas card list made out and I basically know what everyone is getting. We don't go overboard....we pull names from a hat and the person who pulls your name has to make you something. Last year I got a birdhouse from my oldest son. With eight of us in our immediate family, we tend to have a loud, laughing, happy , time just sitting around our dining room table on this special day when we reminice about some of the crazy things and not so crazy things that have happened to us in the past. But most of all, we always remember just whose birthday it is! |
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Nance in France
True Blue Farmgirl
1438 Posts
Nancy
St. Laurent de la Salanque
France
1438 Posts |
Posted - Aug 26 2006 : 08:03:06 AM
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| Katie-Ell, you sound like my kind of woman! I am a paper nut also, but it sounds more dignified if I say I enjoy the pursuit of ephemeral paper wonders from gentle days gone by!! Yeah, that's the ticket! I will be surprised if I cannot find a wonderful card for you (and me too, of course)!! There was an ephemera artist named Wendy something or other featured a good deal in Victoria over the years....loved her dreamlike creations. I will be on the lookout!! Nance |
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Nance in France
True Blue Farmgirl
1438 Posts
Nancy
St. Laurent de la Salanque
France
1438 Posts |
Posted - Aug 27 2006 : 07:08:54 AM
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| Kati-Ell!!! Can you email me your address??? My wonderful husband surprised me (we have an uncanny way of thinking the same thing at the same time) At dinner last night I began "Honey, tomorrow morning, if you will, I ...." He said "Wait!" Got up, went in the house and took a piece of paper and wrote "flea market" on it, folded it and brought it back to the table outside, and said "continue..." I finished with "can we go to that neat flea market?", at which point he handed me the piece of paper to read. My mouth fell open, as I have not asked him about going there since June!!! Anyway, got a few cool cards................!! Nance |
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cindi
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
cindi
sedalia
mo
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - Aug 27 2006 : 6:43:22 PM
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Last year the women got fleece mittons ,hats and scarfs. GS fleece quillo fleece mittons and scarf. Son got a pieced fleece throw. GD got fleece poncho, scarf, hat and mittons. ANd I made myself a matching fleece poncho and bolero.
Every year i make something different. One year it was "gift jars" of soup mix, another it was pasta gift boxs( our town has a pasta factory).
I have given me grand kids thier gifts in hand made pillow cases. In fact that is how i give baby gifts. I figure you never can have tomany pillow cases, even if they don't match. |
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sunshine
True Blue Farmgirl
4877 Posts
Wendy
Utah
USA
4877 Posts |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Aug 27 2006 : 8:32:23 PM
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I always make most of the gifts we give at Christmas..especially the ones we send to relatives far away. Just seems more personal. I start this time of year with planning, but do a mad rush it seems in November and early December in order to get done. I hope to make a quilt for my mom this year with the photo fabric transfer stuff for some of the squares with pictures of all her kids and grandkids on it, in a triple Irish chain pattern. If I don't finish it for Christmas her birthday is Jan. 31...so that would work too. I always make matching pajamas for the kids and dolls for the little kids..boy dolls for the boys. I am thinking of doing cow dolls this year..just for different. We will have company here staying with us over Christmas so that will change things up a little bit. But chaos is fun too if you are ready for it, right??? I always knit alot of socks too. And caps.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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katie-ell
True Blue Farmgirl
1818 Posts
Katie
Illinois
1818 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2006 : 03:58:56 AM
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| Nancy -- I've emailed my address to you. Thanks bunches for thinking of me! And do send your address so I can pop some ephemera from a bygone era to you! -- Katie |
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Nance in France
True Blue Farmgirl
1438 Posts
Nancy
St. Laurent de la Salanque
France
1438 Posts |
Posted - Aug 28 2006 : 04:19:31 AM
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| KATIE, just emailed you back! This is fun; I've got goosebumps!! Have a great day, Nance |
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Holidays: Anyone planning for Christmas yet? |
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Anyone planning for Christmas yet?
