Welcome December!!!

Welcome to the most wonderful, magical month of the year!!!  Not only is today the first day of December ... it is my 6-month blogoversary & the day I will celebrate reaching 100 followers!  Okay ... I'm a little late with that last one since I've added 2 more followers over the past couple days but a celebration is a celebration & today is it!  I'm celebrating all 102 of you   : )   I am also celebrating the fact that we had a hard ... & I do mean hard ... frost last night!  Not as exciting as a foot or two of snow but it's cold & white outside so it's the next best thing   : )

I am going to share a few photos of a bit of my meager Christmas decor with you today as well as a photo of something neat my sweet baboo bought for me yesterday   : )

Back in my quilting obsession days I hostessed a Christmas wallhanging swap on the old Prodigy quilting forum.  This first photo shows the wallhanging that I received in the exchange.  I wasn't into gingerbread men back then & I'm sorry to say that I was not thrilled with this wallhanging ... but I have displayed it every year & this year, or maybe last year, I began a love affair with gingerbread men so it is oh so much appreciated now   : )   The edges are actually very square even though they look rather wonky in this photo.  Go figure   : )

   

In this next photo you will see the wallhanging again & to the right of it a handmade prim snowman I found at a local prim shop last year.  His mittens are made from an old woven coveret   : )   These things are displayed above my dry sink in the diningroom.  

And here's the top of the dry sink.  You will probably recognize the work of some very talented bloggers & online crafters   : )

This pie safe is to the left of the dry sink.  Again you will probably recognize the work of some very talented bloggers & online crafters   : )

I don't even know why I'm sharing the next two photos at this time but I got a tad bit over-enthused with the camera this morning   : )   This is the front hallway where I have a sofa table because I can't fit it anywhere near the sofa.  

Yes, there are no ornaments on that little tree yet with the exception of that prim bunny I've used as a little tree topper.  I got that bunny years & years ago from "the bunny store" in Manchester, Tennesssee.  I don't remember what the real name of that store was but they offered amazingly crafted rabbits made by a local woman not unlike the amazingly crafted mice that Carol Stuck makes   : )   Thus John & I dubbed it "the bunny store."  I'll see if I can get a good photo of this bunny at another time.  

And that's it for my Christmas decor for now.  I told you it was meager ... lol!  More photos will be coming another day   : )

This next photo shows the neat gift my sweet baboo bought me yesterday!  I was so excited to stop by the local prim shop & find this old tool box!  I actually found a huge amount of things there that I would've loved to have brought home but alas, it's December.  Can't go spending lots of money on yourself when it's December.  I could've spent John into the poor house if I wanted to but I was a good wife & did not do so.  I am hoping that maybe some of the other things I saw there yesterday will still be there after Christmas   : )

I just put the toolbox on the sofa table for this picture.  I have no idea where I'm going to use it yet, if I will put something in it for Christmas (my pitiful imagination can only come up with filling it with pine garland), or if it will be like so many other things & be taken upstairs, put in a box, & saved for "the new house."  Time will tell   : )

I was so excited during my shopping excursion to Walmart yesterday to find these ...

... two new holiday teas I've never seen before!  I tried the Winter Spice after dinner last night & it was pretty good!  Sometime today I will try the Christmas Tea.  I once thought it would be nice to collect some pretty tea sets to display & maybe use.  I never have gotten any although I do have a tea pot or two.  When we lived in North Dakota there was an old pharmacy with an old-fashioned ice cream counter & candy counter.  Behind the candy counter on a shelf that ran along the wall up near the ceiling was a display of antique hot chocolate sets.  I never knew that, like coffee sets & tea sets, there were hot chocolate sets!  I used to go into that old pharmacy & drool myself silly looking at those hot chocolate sets.  I've never seen them anywhere except in that store.  This store was also where I was introduced to chocolate covered potato chips.  Sin in a box ... lol!

Now ... if you've read this far then you are to be commended ... & awarded ... because, as I stated at the beginning of this post, this is a day of celebration!  A first day of December, 6-month blogoversary, 100+ followers celebration!  Naturally this necessitates a giveaway   : )   As always, I ask that you please not post this giveaway on your blog.  My giveaways are only open to current followers of my blog.  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post telling me you'd like to have a chance at the giveaway.  You don't have much time for this one.  You will have from now until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, December 5th, to indicate that you would like to be included in the drawing.  I will then draw the winning name on Tuesday, December 6th, St. Nicholas Day.  What am I giving away?  

    

You will receive this handpainted, vintage cutlery caddy filled with all the items you see in the photo.  Who knows ... I might throw in a little surprise or two as well   : )

Before I close, I want to remind all my cross stitching followers that I am attempting to put together an online Secret Sisters Stitching Group.  Please click here for further information if you missed the first post.

My plans for today?  A bit of cleaning, perhaps decorating the tree, & most certainly some stitching   : )