DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

This comes from www.afieldjournal.blogspot.com . Gool Luck. O Christmas Tree This year, Green Valley Christmas Trees kindly treated me to a mail-order tree to decorate and share with you here. I chose a 4 ft Fraser Fir and it's just stunning, even at this small size. I love the neat definition of the branches in this particular type of tree. I knew it deserved some first rate trims. I decorated it with some store-bought finds as well as 32 handmade ornaments (whew!), in five styles (one of each is pictured below). I know, Christmas day has come to a close, but I wanted to provide templates and brief/informal tutorials just in case you'd like to try these next year. Click the photo above for a larger view. The Felt Pinecones , were inspired by my mom's friend Denise who made little brown ones to top off a woodsy s'mores kit. I also used Suzonne Stirling's tutorial for Family Circle as guide (she has a much tidier meth

This comes from www.sweetopia.net . Very cool looking and very delicious! Christmas Cake Pops --> I have to start this post out by thanking Angie at Bakerella . If you haven’t heard of her, she is without a doubt, the queen of cake pops – having blogged for years as Bakerella and having published an excellent book on making cake pops. The instructions in her book are fantastic – she covers every detail from the basics on how to make cake pops of all kinds, down to how to ship and store them. I’m pretty sure she has played a major role in the cake pop craze sweeping the globe too! Her book’s thorough instructions made these Christmas cake pops easy to make for the holiday issue of the LCBO’s Food and Drink magazine. (Yay! I was so happy to be asked to make the pops for them. Btw info. in index and photo on pg. 29). If you haven’t seen Food & Drink , it’s a Canadian magazine dedicated to the art of entertaining, including the latest

    In France, different regions of the nation celebrate Christmas differently, and even at different times. Most provinces recognized and celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but in northern and eastern regions of France, the Christmas season is officially begun on the 6th day of December. La fete de Saint NIcolas , la fete des Rois , and la Fete de lumieres , honor Saint Nicholas , the Epiphany , and the Virgin Mary . These holidays are special parts of the French Christmas season.     Children in France don't hang stockings by the chimney, they place their shoes in front of the fireplace for Pere Noel to fill with gifts. Candy, fruits and nuts, and toys are also hung on the tree Christmas Eve night. Pere Fouettard , who is basically Santa's Counterpart, gives out spankings to naughty boys and girls.     In 1962, France passed a law requiring all letters written to Pere Noel, to receive a response, so Santa sends each child a postcard acknowled

This comes from www. showtellshare.blogspot.com . These would look really great on your Chirstmas buffet and dessert table. Good luck! Peppermint Topiary Trees by Lor Last week Stephanie Lynn over at Under the Table and Dreaming invited us to be part of her Handmade Holidays series using STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam. We were super excited to be featured with several other talented bloggers! Here is the project and post I shared with them: Some of my special childhood memories of Christmas center around holiday candy. Peppermint sticks and marshmallow Santas and those creamy bits of heaven called Lindt balls were stocking standards in our home. I would savor my stocking candy for weeks, trying to prolong the magical taste of Christmas. Santa always left Starlight mints for us among the cookie crumbs on his plate, and although I enjoyed them year round, those enchanted drops touched by The Man Himself always tasted special and different on Christmas morning

    I have been seeing a great many Christmas articles lately and there is a question that should be answered at this time of year. What did the "Three Kings" see? A common Question to be sure and it does tickle the mind for Christians that believe something came to pass, that could not have been ordinary.     So where do we start on this small exposition? Let's start with the Kings. We know them as Kings however, they were not really "Kings", they were scientist priests, well versed in astrology and were most honored by the ruling class of that time and place. The word "king" was used by the Christian writer Tertullian in 120 A.D. when speaking of the priests as Magi. What made these men so important during the time of Christ's birth was their ability to interpret the celestial heavens, in particular, heralds.    Because the Magi found prognostic events within the night sky, the Hebrews of that time and place found this