Decorating and Baking

After church on Sunday we spent the afternoon setting up the Christmas tree and setting out decorations - bringing the brightness of Christmas into our home to help cheer these shortening days!

I have allergies, preventing a live tree (or previously living tree).

And as we want to be as green as possible - we've used our tree for the past 12 years.

Some handmade - the stockings I stitched last Christmas Eve, just in time for filling!

My favorite ornamet that I made at Zuzu Studio Gallery last year.

Some handmade by my mom with love many years ago.

My mom crochet this snowflake garland for me the first Christmas I was married.

A quilted runner made for me by my mother-in-law several Christmases ago

and shiny glass ornaments that were my grandparents' many years ago.

Purple Bead Garland that I've had for years -

I love the way it looks knotted and swagged over the doors to the playroom!

A little wooden snowman on the kitchen windowsil - let it snow, just a little!



This is just the beginning of decorating.  As you can see, we're in the midst many changes in our home.  We've been working on the kitchen for about a year and a half.  It's basically done now.  We've been painting in the dining room and family room.  We received my parents' dining room set and gave my grandparents' set to my uncle.  Our refrigerator was dying, so we bought a new one.  Lots of changes that have prevented all of the decorating to be finished - but I'm looking forward to having my creche set up very soon and finishing the decorating in the remainder of the house.  I love the warmth that this time of year exudes, despite the cold weather setting in and the over commercialization of this Holy Holiday.

I started baking cookies last week - oatmeal chocolate chip craisin and mocha chip.  Today I continued with walnut and date biscotti and dark chocolate pistachio biscotti.

In the coming weeks I am planning on making lime thumbprints - using lime curd made by Sarah from SweetNSourinFlorida.  Then I'll move onto pizzelles and sugar cookies.  Typically I roll my sugar cookies, cut, brush with egg wash and decorate with sparkly sugar most years, but my 6-year-old wants to use the cookie press, so I'll probably pull that out and do some with that contraption this year.  I have a bunch of ingredients ready for peppermint bark and I think I want to make a batch of lavender shortbread.

Homebaked cookies were what my mother gave to my teachers each year at Christmas time.  I've kept up that tradition with my children.  I love to package them and tag them so that they know what to expect - especially in this age of food allergies.

This coming Saturday I'm hosting four of my dearest friends for our annual cookie exchange brunch.  I finished baking the cookies today for that event.  Typically I do a full dozen of the same cookie, sometimes half-dozen of two kinds.  This year I chose to share the mocha chip, walnut-date biscotti, and dark chocolate-pistachio biscotti, they fit nicely into the tins that surely will be re-used by my friends.

I'm looking forward to sharing more of my home during Christmastime in the coming weeks.  I'll even share photos of special gifts I'm preparing for family and friends.

If you're interested in purchasing from WoodstreamDream for Christmas, orders are due by December 11th.  I am no longer accepting custom orders for Christmas delivery.  All custom orders placed now will be filled in January 2012.  Any instock orders placed after December 11th will not be guaranteed for Christmas delivery.

Thank you for taking the time to read and have a blessed week!