Hello blog friends, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends.  I had a wonderful Christmas with my family and we enjoyed opening our presents and eating good food.  I went to a few parties which were fun and it's always great to reconnect with family and friends.

Julie

Hello everyone, I'm so excited to share with you the ornaments and goodies that I received from Chel at Sweetbriar Dreams.  We both decided that we wanted to do our own ornament exchange and then we would share with everyone what we both received.  It was so much fun and I really enjoyed making the homemade items and gathering the goodies that I wanted to give to Chel.  Take a look at what I received, you will be amazed.

Here is a fabric heart ornament that Chel made herself and the roses stand for Sweetbriar which means a rose.  I really love this ornament with the pink roses, so pretty.


When the box arrived in the late evening this is what I found when I opened it up.  Everything was wrapped up in pretty gold and navy wrapping paper with gold ribbon scattered inside the box.


On the outside of the box was taped this cute picture of two children looking out the window at a Christmas tree with snow falling down and a beautiful Christmas card written from Chel.


Here is the beautiful fabric heart ornament with a button on it and there is red fabric on the back of the ornament too.


There was also this glass ornament with the saying Merry Christmas to a Special Friend with Love and it was tucked inside this red felt ornament holder with the white snowflake on the front.


Next I found this wire star filled with cinnamon sticks and orange peels and the smell is just so nice and wonderful.  This really fits in beautifully with my country Christmas tree theme.


Here is another ornament that Chel crocheted and it's just so cute with the beads and bells on it.  The white, green, red, and turquoise colors of the yarn are just so pretty.


This is a crocheted pin cushion and I think that it's just so cute.  I have it on display on my kitchen window sill.  I love that I can think of my friend when I look at it.


This is a cell phone holder which I really love and the colors are so bright and cheery.  It is crocheted with light green, white, and pink yarn with a cute button in the middle, and Chel made this too.  Chel is so talented and creative and she did a great job making everything.


These beautiful hand warmers are one of my favorites that Chel made.  I love the purple with the pink roses on them and I will love wearing these when I'm driving in my car this winter.  The hand warmers  fit me just perfectly too.


I love how pretty the star ornament looks on my tree and it smells wonderful.  The glass ornament and the crocheted ornament are just special and perfect.


I think that this fabric rose ornament is one of my favorites too and it stands out and looks so pretty on my tree.

Thanks everyone and enjoy.

Julie

My husband and I spent recently spent the afternoon in New York City.  We went to see a basketball game, the Knicks vs. the Boston Celtics.  It was a good game but the Knicks lost.  My husband loves all kinds of sports and it was so much fun going to a game at Madison Square Garden.


After the game I needed to do more Christmas shopping and we were right in the area of Macy's on 34th Street.  In the background you can see the Empire State Building on the right. 


It is a busy area with a lot of people sightseeing, shopping, and people who work in the area.

Here you can see the big department store Macy's.


The afternoon was cold and there was a light dusting of snow, but there was an excitement in the air that Christmas would soon be here.


This is on the side of Macy's and you can see how busy it is and of course there are hot dog trucks with their yellow and blue umbrella's.


Here is Santa with Virginia.


I love the big windows with the clock and the statues and you can see a large lighted wreath in the window.



I took a few pictures of the window displays but I couldn't get too many since it was so crowded by the windows with people.  Here are some cute ducks in the snow.


These children are from the book and tv show Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus.  Virginia is the girl all the way to the right dressed in blue with brown hair, with a book in her hands.


Around the corner of Macy's to the left were more window displays and they were so crowded with people that I was only able to get this picture and another one.  This is of a boy dreaming with his teddy bear in his arms.


This is a reindeer with presents on his back.


My husband and I were standing on the street eating a hot pretzel!  The hotdog and pretzel stands are all over the city.  We felt very festive standing there sharing our warm pretzel watching all the people walking past us.

Thanks everyone and enjoy.

Julie

Hello friends!  As many of you know I love my dog Bosco and I decided this year to make him some homemade dog biscuits for Christmas.  I went on a search for the perfect recipe on Pinterest and found the recipe HERE at the The Scrumptious Pumpkin.

Here is what the baked dog biscuits look like when baked.


My dog Bosco is so happy with them as you can see.

Thanks everyone and enjoy.

Julie

Here at my house I would love to show you some of my Christmas decorations!  Step inside and have a look with me.  On my kitchen window sill I have this red candle that I light up each night when we have dinner and it looks so festive.  On my window sill near my kitchen sink I have this holiday sign with a happy snowman on it.


Here is a gingerbread house that lights up, sings Christmas carols, and the snowman and gingerbread man move around in circles.  My husband's aunt and uncle gave this to my daughter when she was little.  I have this sleigh with Santa on it that holds all my Christmas cards.


These two mini Christmas trees are my daughter's and she decorates them each year with gold angels and beads.


This is a crackled old looking Santa that I have near my lamp and this Santa rug is on the fireplace floor.  My mom and I were shopping many years ago together and we each bought one.


This manger set was my Mom and Dads and my Mom gave it to me many years ago.  I love how rustic it looks.  I have it displayed on my window sill in my living room.



I love this Candy Land village that my sister gave to me before she died in 1992 of cancer and I put it out each year in remembrance of her.  She was only 30 years old when she died!





On the top of my tree I have this fabric angel which I think gives it a country feel.  There are three crocheted wreaths in my bottom windows and upstairs I have 2 crocheted wreaths displayed in the windows too.


This is what my Christmas tree looks like in my living room.  The tree is large about 7.5 feet tall and not real since I have allergies.


You can see some of my ornaments displayed and I love them all.  The shell snowman ornament my Mom made for us and you can find the snowman in the bottom picture.  The post and tutorial are HERE to make one for yourself if you like.  The gold snowflake ornaments were given to me by Anne at the blog Stuff & Nonsense recently.


The yo yo fabric garland I made many years ago and I love using it on my tree to give it a country feel.


Most of my ornaments on my tree are homemade and I love them.


Thanks everyone and enjoy.

Julie

Thanks everyone and enjoy.

Julie