15 December 2010

bells, bells, bells...

jingle bells, Bells of St. Mary’s, sleigh bells, bells on bobtails ring, I heard the bells on Christmas Day, Silver Bells, Carol of the Bells….

Favorite Bells

on my keychain...
which always mysteriously gets detached when one of the guys has to take my car!

on my IPhone which has Santa’s sleigh bells as my ringtone
my year-round ringtone!

on our front door
(and, ahhh, three other doors too)
on our bookshelf
on our piano
all over one of our Christmas trees that we call the Jingle Bell Tree

When the guys were little, we hung jingle bells of all sizes on the tree and those were the ornaments they were always allowed to touch as toddlers.
Also works well as a puppy-alert for the hounds!

On my apron
Which needs to get jingling with the cookie baking

And did you know jingle bells were the first instrument in space?

On December 14, 1965, Gemini 6 astronauts were preparing for their journey home. NASA received a report from them saying they had spotted a UFO. According to Schirra's memoirs "Schirra's Space," Stafford contacted Mission Control and said: "We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit.... Looks like he might be going to re-enter soon.... You just might let me pick up that thing.... I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit."

Before Mission Control had time to digest the "UFO sighting," they heard an extraterrestrial rendition of "Jingle Bells" coming from Gemini 6. Schirra and Stafford had smuggled a harmonica and miniature sleigh bells onto the spacecraft especially for this moment.

Here with bells on…

...and I’ll be there with bells on!




13 December 2010

Reserved Chairs...

Wait, what?!
Never heard of reserved chairs?
In the city areas of Pittsburgh it is customary to reserve your
freshly shoveled parking space with a chair.
There are parking chair etiquette rules to be followed.
Wikipedia has an entire entry for Pittsburgh Parking Chairs

Fortunately, we do not have to practice this tradition.

except in our kitchen...

where we always tag our chairs for holidays.

The tags have stayed the same for years and years,
which just makes them more special every holiday.

Christmas reserved chair tags just went up!



10 December 2010

Christmas elves...

Santa’s magic helpers who wear lots of red and
green, and pointy hats with bells.

In Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem
A Visit from St. Nicholas
more commonly known as Twas the Night Before Christmas,
Santa Claus is described as
“He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf”.

After dark last night I slipped my elf hat on and quietly
tied fresh cut evergreen boughs and big red bows to an
elderly neighbor’s fence posts.
No elves were helping in my workshop today,
but as I reached into a bag of cashmere scarves to be
monogrammed I was delighted to find a gift for ME!
that had been hidden there by a Christmas elf!

Not telling where this surprise elf bag is headed!
Find your elf!
Spread some cheer!

08 December 2010

...four calling birds...

or colly birds
What is a colly bird?
A blackbird!
In England a coal mine is called a colliery, and colly means black as coal.

This year the price of four calling, or colly birds, has remained steady
 at $599.96 per the PNC Financial Services Group here in Pittsburgh.
Since 1984 they have calculated the costs of the cumulative
gifts in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas in the Christmas Price Index.
The Twelve Days of Christmas has been recorded by countless performers.

The Muppets and John Denver rendition from 1979 is my favorite version. The song lyrics remain the same as the classic version, with Miss Piggy adding in her long drawn out "Five gold rings" and classic "ba-dum-bum-bum."

What’s your favorite version?

06 December 2010

deck the halls with boughs...

Ahhh, the wonderful smell of fresh pine.
The tree arrived today!

Tradition has it that I choose the tallest, fullest, widest tree that can
fit through the family room French doors to fill one corner of the room.
The one year I chose a smaller tree, every single family member and guest asked,
“What happened to the tree??”

Gathering the tools for outside decorating…
 Cut greens - check
Pinecones - check
Wire- check
Cutters - check
RED boots for festive look - oh absolutely!

My pine branch necklace for more festiveness from
favorite local mom/daughter designers Lexi and Gem.


And it’s snowing!


Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!


05 December 2010

monogram

K.K.C.
K.K.C.
could it possibly be Kris.Kringle.Claus?!!
tis the season to be jolly...

03 December 2010

unlock some eclectic

     I Made It Market!
the nomadic indie crafts market

                      Their Holiday Market lands in the Southside of Pittsburgh this weekend.
Always full of unique and eclectic things we all want need.
The Market features local artisans which supports the local economy.
Plus part of the proceeds go to local non-profit groups.
Win/Win
Producers from three films shot in Pittsburgh this summer purchased
wares from artists participating in Market to add to their movies.
Hollywood knew handmade is the way to go.

To eclectic-up (is that a word?) my look for Market, I grabbed one of
my scarves and added this very cool Old Skeleton Key design.

Hmmmm…
the periwinkle blue color still screams “MOM” though huh?!

01 December 2010

Santa Secrets



Shhhhhhhh!  
Can you keep a secret?
There are so many designs flying off my work table now.
BUT...
They are mostly all gifts YET to be given!
So, my lips are sealed on those.




I can show you these two designs given recently when
A.M.B and N received their early acceptance letters to college.
Go Spiders! Go Bears!
Back to helping Santa with his lists...

Now where are those elves when you need them?!

Have you turned your family and friends into elves yet? 
Try the JibJab Elf Yourself sponsored by Office Max.
Lots of giggles!