Pretty paper ♪♫♪...pretty ribbons of...♫♪♫...and a WINNER!



...♪♫♪...BLUE...ooo...♫♪♫♪..wrap your presents...♪♫♪


Wait a minute...stop the presses!
...no blue ribbon around here this year!
Just beautiful gray and silver.



I received my goodies that I won from Ozma of Odds and I was over the moon just viewing the packaging.
Seriously...I didn't even open them up until the next day because I just wanted to stare at them for awhile! So beautiful and so Rosemary!!

She didn't miss one little detail from the silver ribbon to the tags, fabric flower and book cover.
Every little detail was perfect.

I know that I have told you before that I am a *detail* girl.
I so appreciate all the little details in life and I just ooed and ahhed over the detail on my giftwrapping.

What a gorgeous tag on the package that my dream catcher was in!!
{I will get to that one of these days, but this post is just about the wrapping..hee hee}


I also can't help but think how much more gorgeous these photos would be with Rosemary's addition of white flourishes etc. I just love her blog and her extra touches on her photos, but I haven't a clue how to do that. Well , I kinda do know how it is done, but ME actually doing it...now that is another story.

Thank you so much Rosemary!! You made my day, I mean week, oops, I really meant month,
okay ,okay you made my YEAR!

Linking up with Faded Charm today as I do for every White Wednesday celebration.

...and now for the winner of my giveaway....
drum roll pleaseeeee.......

*FLEURCOTTAGE*
Congratulations to Esther! I will send out your goodies as soon as I receive your mailing addy.

Winter ONEderland party!

 12.10.2011 little Ms. Ainsley celebrated her very first birthday and of course we were there to help celebrate. It was her Winter ONEderland party and she had a grand time.

This is the beautiful cake that Ainsley's daddy made and her mommy decorated. Chocolate cake with strawberries between the layers and strawberry frosting. It was soooo good! In face I just ate a huge piece that I brought home. :)

Marshmallows and a little snowman that Ainsley's mommy made. Too cute!!

The birthday girl!

Ainsley was much more interested in playing with the boxes and paper than she was opening her gifts. This box was pretty well smooshed by the time she got done crawling all over it and standing on it. Thankfully it was not breakable. :)

Annika got Ainsley a cute little ornament for her birthday.  I think she had just as much fun as Ainsley did and it was a beautiful party for our precious little granddaughter.

THEN...
Friday evening my older sister was blessed with her first grandchild...a little boy named Greyson Matthew. She was a nervous wreck living in PA and her daughter giving birth in Alabama. We stayed in touch via facebook and I didn’t go to bed until about 1 am Saturday. I was sooooo tired. At one point she put on facebook, “PLEASE pray for Megan...Greyson is being stubborn”...the next post was “they are prepping Megan for a C-section”. She did end up having a C-section, but mommy and baby are doing just fine and my sister is heading for Alabama tomorrow.




He just missed being born the 10th. {He would have been born the 10th if Alabama was not a hour behind us} Had that happened we would have FOUR family members with birthdays on the 10th , but it was not to be. My sister , Ainsley and my niece LaShawn all celebrated birthdays yesterday and it was a grand day for all!

Still a favorite

Point of Grace

{photo from online source}



{click on arrow to hear this holy song}

Oh this song...this wonderful song...still a favorite Christmas song of mine. I cry every time I hear it , but I have to listen. It pulls me in and I play it over and over.  It IS the embodiment of Christmas...it IS a holy song. Young Mary giving birth to Baby Jesus and how she must have felt.  Laboring on the cold cobblestones...in a dirty stable.  I can't even imagine it.  He came for US in the most lowly way possible, but yet He came.  For me and for you.  I am so very thankful that He came!

LABOR OF LOVE

sang by Point of Grace

It was not a silent night

There was blood on the ground

You could hear a woman cry

In the allyways that night

On the streets of David's town.

And the stable was not clean

And the cobblestones were cold

And little Mary full of grace

With the tears upon her face

Had no mother's hand to hold.

It was a labor of pain

It was a cold sky above

But for the girl on the ground in the dark

With every beat of her beautiful heart

It was a labor of love.

Noble Joseph at her side

Callused hands and weary eyes

There were no midwives to be found

In the streets of David's town

In the middle of the night.

So he held her and he prayed

Shafts of moonlight on his face

But the baby in her womb

He was the maker of the moon

He was the Author of the faith

That could make the mountains move.

It was a labor of pain

It was a cold sky above

But for the girl on the ground in the dark

With every beat of her beautiful heart

It was a labor of love.

For little Mary full of grace

With the tears upon her face

It was a labor of love.

It was not a silent night
On the streets of David's town...


I intended to add a copy of this CD in my giveaway here, but totally forgot about it so I will be doing another giveaway in a few days. Be sure and stay tuned! It has many wonderful Christmas songs on it...peppy ones too! :)
In the meantime if you haven't already signed up for my giveaway click here.

GIVEAWAY for White Wednesday

I have been so blessed lately to win several giveaways in blogland and it is past time for me to have one so here we go.
What better time to celebrate 630 followers {wow!} and also to celebrate the spirit of the season.

The winner will be getting this beautiful rose pin made by Erica over at Meadowstreet.

An 8 foot long vintage gold glass bead garland.

A lavender sachet made by yours truly.

Three little stars embellished with tinsel glitter and paper banners.

A glass glittered mitten ornament made by yours truly as well.

A soldered *holly* charm with white ribbon so you can use it as a necklace or anything you choose.

A beautiful gold glass candleholder and a pair of candles embellished by moi.

A couple papers that I hand stamped with Merry Christmas and carte postale.

This *believe* sign that has been painted white and glittered.



and...this beautiful wall plaque that I picked up at the Christian bookstore over the Thanksgiving weekend.


To be entered in the drawing just leave a comment on this post.
It is that simple.
{Sorry , but this giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only}
A winner will be chosen and announced next Wednesday on my White Wednesday post.


By now you all  know the drill.
Visit Kathleen over at Faded Charm for more beautiful White Wednesday posts.



Decorating in silver and white {and sprigs of green}

Sharing a few more photos of my Christmas decor that I finished up yesterday. I purchased two bundles of greens from *the big box store* for $5 each {in the live flower section} and it really went a long way. This is a very long shelf in my kitchen that my daddy made for me years ago...out of oak...I painted it white a couple years ago , but we won't tell anyone. :)

This chair also sits in my kitchen and I love decorating it for the different seasons.
I picked up a few of the paper ball glitter ornies at Pottery Barn this past February on clearance for little of nothing. I love them. They are so pretty and sparkly.

My beautiful Joyeux Noel cone that I found on Etsy. I put some greens in it and then added a vintage sprig of berries.  {It still has the original Japan label on it}

My basket prettied up for the season.

I still adore my vintage silver ornies and try to pick unique ones up whenever I can. I purchased a few of the mercury glass trumpet ornies at Pottery Barn this past February on clearance for peanuts.
Sorry there is glare in this photo. The lighting has not been good at all so I had to use the flash.

A cute little sleigh that I found at Hobby Lobby a few years ago holding a vintage SILENT NIGHT ornament.

I picked up two of these linen stockings at the sidewalk sale this past summer. $2 each and they are monogrammed with *S* on the points of the cuff. I think it was meant to be. This hangs on my bathroom door.

A little fake charlie brown tree in my living room.



Wings and stars that I created that are also sitting on my long shelf in the kitchen. Should have got a photo of the whole shelf. oops.



Love my zinc pots and tart pans from Belgium. These are sitting on my windowsill also in the kitchen.
Hope you enjoyed your mini tour of my home decorated for Christmas!!