Christmas Program

Sunday, December 24, 2023

Christmas Program

 Our church had a marvelous Christmas musical program one evening before Christmas. We came very early because my hubby is an usher at church so I was able to go up into the balcony and take this beautiful snap of our decorated church.

 So beautiful!

Now our choir and orchestra are performing. We had guest singers which were just outstanding! What a blessing to relive the birth of our Savoir!

Merry Christmas

 

A Little Christmas Tour

Friday, December 8, 2023

A Little Christmas Tour

  I thought I would give you a little Christmas tour at my house today. I just love Christmas and love to decorate with all of my pretties.

 Woo Hoo! My 9' Christmas tree! Our ceiling in the living room is 14 feet tall so we had to have a tall tree! It takes lots of ornies to decorate this tree.

Mantles are always fun to decorate, especially for Christmas.

This was the year before and I had used my Staffordshire dogs and wanted to poke this picture in here too all lit up at night.

This is on the side of fireplace and you can see my little clothepin dolls!

 

 

 

These two little white trees above sit on the half wall between my living room and kitchen and are decorated with little Christmas cards, made by me and red balls.

 

 I found these cute Santa mugs and of course I had to buy some and poked all kinds of Christmas things inside and it seems to make Santa pretty happy!

This is the arrangement on my sideboard in the dining room. That beautiful Rooster was given to me from a friend and he proudly sits here all year round and I decorate the round wooden tray he sits in with the seasons

Mr. Cleave, the Rooster, is ready for his close up.

A simple little centerpiece for a dinner party.

When do we eat?

This arrangement is pretty constant each year. My big Nativity set and my little Bible front and center that was mine as a little girl.

Merry Christmas!

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Little Christmas Crafties

Monday, December 4, 2023

Little Christmas Crafties

A few years ago I got all smarty pants and decided to make some little peg dolls to use at Christmas time. I had never done anything like this before but was determined I could do it! I'm kinda stubborn like that.

 

These were my first little Christmas girls all dressed up in red with fur around there necks and holding little fur muffs to keep their tiny hands warm.

 

 

 

The little girls turned out pretty cute so I thought I would try my hand at a Nativity set - and here it is! Little baby Jesus is a wooden ball and so is the lamb. The angel is standing on a tiny piece of wood so she can over look the scene.

These are more little Christmas girls holding stars but these stars are special as they are adorned with little flowers. 

Last, but certainly not least is Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus! You just can't have Christmas peg dolls with Santa! Here he stands, his jolly ole self, and Mrs. Claus has on her pretty apron ready to bake gingerbread cookies! 

As must fun as this was, I've never made any more peg dolls as I was on to something else.

 

I have been making some clothepin dolls for a few years but decided if I glued a big wooden bead over the top of the clothespin, the head would be so much easier to paint and get a better expression. So that's exactly what I did with my little dolls below.

 

 

 I made a slew of little Confederate clothespin dolls. Now I'm from Alabama but live in Texas now and I have many Confederate Ancestors and I decided to go all out and make little soldiers and their wives. 

Of course I had to start with General Robert E. Lee. I tried my best to paint his uniform as accurately as I could in tininess! He, as well as the other dolls, have pipe cleaner arms and his are covered with gray felt for his sleeves. He is holding his gray felt cap with gold trim. You can see he has his beard and is very humble.

The lady in blue standing my General Robert E. Lee is Mrs. Lee. I have no idea what she looked like but I assumed she would have had gray/white hair and a bun on her head. I had to dress her rather fancy as she is the wife of the General! On either side of the Lees are officers with their wives who are holding their tiny little babies in their arms.

 

The first couple is the little drummer boy with his girlfriend. They are quite young. He is playing a marching beat on his drum and his little girlfriend has little pigtail buns on the top of her head and you can see by her expression, she is in love with her drummer boy.

The next couple includes an officer and he is being respectful as he has taken off his hat as his young wife stands by him. She has her hair pulled over to the side of her head.

 

 

Here is a group of three couples. The first couple consist of an officer and his bride, who has curly hair pulled back with a white ribbon. The second couple, as you see, is the wife holding their baby. She put flowers in her hair to look pretty for her husband. The little solider is dressed in his uniform and has his kepi on his head. The last couple look a bit older and very distinguished.

 

One last group of clothespin dolls. These are young couples and the first little lady has crocheted pigtails and her soldier boyfriend is so in love with her. The second little could are as happy as can be and his girlfriend has a long braid hanging down. Could these young men be brothers?

Okie dokie! There you have all of my little Christmasy dolls. I do have fun trying new things and I encourage you to try new things. You never know what fun you will have along the way.

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Gingerbread House in San Antonio

 Friday, December 1, 2023

Gingerbread House in San Antonio

Have you heard of Pioneer Flour and Cornmeal? It may be just a Texas thing. Anyway, I buy it and it comes from San Antonio, Texas. Here's a little info if you're interested:

 "Pioneer Flour Mills was initially founded as the C.H. Guenther Mill by Carl Hilmar Guenther, a millwright who immigrated to the United States from Germany in the late 1840s. Guenther built his first mill in 1851 in Fredericksburg and later relocated it one mile south of San Antonio in 1859. Guenther’s first mill in San Antonio was located along the San Antonio River adjacent to his home and on the grounds of the present day Pioneer Flour Mills. Guenther’s mill was the first flour mill and the first steam and water powered mill built in the city. Soon after its construction, the mill began to serve as a meeting place for the German community within the area. Guenther’s mill proved to be so successful that he expanded his business and constructed a second mill in 1868."

 

 I don't want to bore you, but now the original Guenthur house is a museum and wonderful restaurant. Their breakfast is supreme! The biscuits are really 3 - 4 " tall! Yep. Yumminess. We went to San Antonio to attend a Christmas party and of course we had to have a breakfast at the Guenther House.

Then we discovered they had made this amazing gingerbread/candy house! Just look it it!

 Wasn't this fun!!!

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