The Gingerbread Man

Saw these on a Facebook user's post for the primitive decor group.

Sugar and Spice

The holiday decor went into the kitchen also, this year. I got some pine garland and a few silk poinsettias and put them above the cabinets. There were also a few sprigs of pine tucked here and there along with a poinsettia throw rug by the stove. I later added a couple of cookie cutters tied with bows to the walls. Then I saw the gingerbread men.... I think that next year this room will be poinsettias and gingerbread men. Each room seems to be getting one holiday plant and one holiday symbol theme...

Reindeere Games

I used what I had with reindeer on it and added some holly sprigs that I got at Walmart - and a holly rug. The John Deere bathroom was the Rein Deere bathroom for the holidays! Next year I plan to get some holly fabric and make some hand towels or else find some reindeer hand towels to hang on the towel ring next to the sink.

Red and White Christmas

Here are the beginnings of my laundry room decor for Christmas. The red and white striped curtain over the window opening gave me a good start. I used the leftover velvet bows and hung up all the red plush Santa hats and stockings that we had. I also scavenged the tree skirt (that I didn't think went with the living room deor anyway!) and put it over the deep freezer. The last picture has a good shot of my new screen door that Santa got me!

Grandma Lila's Fruitcake

Merry Christmas! This fruitcake recipe is the one our Grandma Lila used for years. It is famous/infamous enough to be mentioned in the eulogy at her funeral service.  I have "embellished" it with my own observations and experiences.

1 lb. dates (I sometimes use less)
1 lb raisins (Again, sometimes I cut back on these)
1/2 lb candied citron (I usually use more)
1/2 to 1 cup brandy, rum, or other liquor (Grandma sometimes used more.)
1 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbs milk
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger

Step 1 Procure the unmentionables. (The way Grandma did it) Send a male relative to the liquor store to buy the brandy or rum while you sit and wait in the car in the parking lot so no one sees you buying it!

Step 2 Prepare the fruit.  Soak fruit in half of the liquor overnight.  This is to plump it up. No other reason.  Never mind that there is scientific evidence to suggest that the alcohol content actually has more astringent properties than hydration properties. Follow the recipe.  Don't judge.

Step 3 Get ready.  Play the Elvis Blue Christmas album for festive background music.  Argue with a random grandchild that he is not really dead.  After the third time through, pretty much everyone will get tired of it and get out of the kitchen so you can work in peace. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. That is not a typo - you want these to bake slow so that they are moist on their own... but then we're fixin' to pour liquor all over them to moisten them, too, so - whatever.  (I do like to think that this is roughly the temperature of an Easy-Bake Oven, thus taking me back to my childhood, when unsafe burning hazard toys like light-bulb powered cooking appliances were perfectly acceptable gifts to give to small children!)  Grease and flour loaf pans or bundt pan. Or even a sawed off cleaned out Folger's can (The way Grandma did it.) Put on an apron now that you've spilled flour all over your black holiday sweater and stupidly wiped it trying to get it off, since you just weren't thinking clearly because you were "tasting" the soaked fruit.

Step 4 Make and bake.  Cream butter and sugar in a big ol' Mixmaster. Beat in eggs and milk. Sift flour, soda, and spices and stir into fruit. Add fruit to creamed mixture. Pour into prepared pans and decorate the tops with candied cherries and pecan halves. Then bake 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours depending on size of pans and/or cans. This is enough time to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" or "Miracle on 34th Street" AND "Wheel of Fortune."

Step 5 Liquid Decoration.  (Optional, but it IS the way Grandma made it): Splash what might be left of the rum or brandy over fruitcake after baking and wrap in foil for a few days before serving.  Store in a dark corner of the cupboard to aid in the "moistening" process.  Hide one of them for yourself. 

Step 6 Serve.  Ignore the comments about the fumes when the foil is opened.  They'll eat it.

Rags to Riches

VintageChica has a great tutorial on making rag rugs using 1 1/2" strips of cloth an an 11.5 crochet hook (single-crochet).

Christmas in the Kitchen

I would like to get some sprigs of garland on the tops of the cabinets and put a few poinsettia flowers in them here & there to dress up the kitchen for Christmas. I also thought that some red-handled vintage utensils (spatulas, potato mashers, and the like) would look cute poked in among the greenery, too.

This idea is from AStorybookLife's photos on Flickr.















These are also cute - from PineCountryDecor.com

Too Cute to Use

Here's a cute craft idea for the John Deere bathroom for the holidays. I'm also thinking of adding some touches of holly and holly print fabric or ribbon in there to give me something else to tie into.

The website that has this little cutie has lots of other Christmas craft ideas/gift ideas, too!

http://lsbuford.com/christmascrafts.php

What a Pane!

I've gotten 2 great ideas for the space between the dining room and laundry room. MyPoolBoy is working on a screen door in the doorway between the 2 rooms for me tomorrow as an early Christmas present.

ThisOldHouse.com has step by step instructions how to build it.













The other idea is to have a window pane hanging from a chain in the other opening between the 2 spaces.

http://www.robomargo.com/windows.html

Cleaning Excite-Mint

I am ridiculously happy about cleaning my house this evening. I got told about Mrs. Meyers holiday peppermint cleaning set so I got one just because I wanted the fresh minty smell in my house for the holidays. And the stuff WORKS like a sonofagun! I got onto the website and found out that they have other scents, too, and all are natural and have aromatherapy oils - peppermint, lavendar, basil, lemon - all designed to be calming and relaxing.












http://www.mrsmeyers.com/Default.aspx

So, if anyone needs to get me anything last minute I will take ANY of the peppermint stuff right now! There's even a store locator on the website.

Toyland

We got a great idea while we were out antiquing today: Next year's Christmas decor is going to be antique and vintage toys!

The nativity set and few other knick-knacks that we have can probably all fit in the curio shelves or be relocated to other rooms or given away or tossed. Then we'll get a little greenery and set stuff like old teddy bears, my Raggedy Ann dolls, old sled, wooden letter blocks, etc. on top of the piano, hutch and around on the tea cart and fireplace. Maybe a toy train at the base of the tree.

I'm already looking forward to next Christmas and this one hasn't even got here yet!

ReinDeere

So I got this wild hair that I would start decorating the bathrooms at Christmas. I've been slipping some snowflakes and snowmen into the guest bath with the blue - it goes pretty well. Then I decided to put a couple of reindeer in the John Deere bathroom. And I saw some JOhn Deere stockings at WallyWorld that I figure I'll go buy when they all go on sale. So I got online to look for them to post here and I found this. Which would be tons cuter than the yellow and green ones that I saw.

So www.goldmagnolia.com has me convinced that I could decorate that bathroom, too!

Underfoot

John Deere Plaid Tractor Mat, 18" x 27"

Oh Deere

Got this set on sale at our local tractor supply. It goes really well with the denim shower curtain, so it ties the blue and green nicely in there!

Tractor Supply Company - John Deere Modern Tractor Bath Set