Cemeteries...Again

My youngest sister came to visit during the Christmas holidays and, like last year, we ended up at a cemetery. Or three. But this year it was less of a sight-seeing adventure and more of a recconnaissance mission to locate my grandparents' plot at Greenwood Cemetery. Found it:



Our next mission would be to find a restaurant without an hour long wait. One that served gumbo. Mandina's-X. Liuzza's-Check! We were squished between the bar, the video poker booth and some unfortunate family with a table by the door, while we waited almost 30 minutes to be seated. Why did everyone in the world want to eat out on this random Tuesday, I'll never know. Thankfully, a party of 9 were a no show and we happily took their place, with the addition of an extra chair. Frosty mug sodas. Fried green tomatoes appetizer. Cream of shrimp and artichoke soup. Boiled shrimp po-boy. Yum!


Next stop-Fulton St., downtown New Orleans, where it snows every hour on the hour. (If you squint and use your imagination, those tiny soap bubble clusters can look as much like snow as anything else in this semi-tropical locale.)

Walking Through a Winter Wonderland!

Christmas Eve Rainbow

Towards the end of a dreary, rainy afternoon, this is what appeared, a beautiful double rainbow. It began over a neighbors house and ended over our garage. I wonder if we'll find a pot of gold inside!

Christmas Cookies

Today is baking day and cookies for Santa is #1 on the list! Hmmm...what should we make? Peanut butter blossoms, sand tarts, or sugar cookies? Oooo...I know what I want to bake! And I know exactly where to find my collected recipes thanks to a little project I fashioned from an old Maya Road tin. The tin, with its clear window in the top was the perfect size for holding recipe cards featuring our family’s favorite Christmas cookies. The cards inside the tin can be rotated so that the recipe currently in use is viewable through the tin’s window, keeping the card free from drops and splatters and other kitchen mishaps while we're baking. For added durability, the painted and papered tin is finished with a coating of clear varnish. Here are photos of my tin and the recipes stored inside.



The recipe cards have a home-spun look, each decorated with a different design pieced from a variety of coordinating patterned papers. Holiday wrapping paper designs provided inspiration for several of the embellishments.





YUM...I think we'll bake old fashioned sugar cookies today!

Mini ME Albums

I made a these little booklets a couple of years ago to give to my girls. It has pages to record their favorite things in life, people they admire, favorite songs, movies, TV shows, and places to shop, as well as dreams they have and places they'd like to visit. The pages are slipped into little name badge holders which act like tiny page protectors, then they are tied together with ribbons.



A fun little album!

And yet more...

TAGS!

This Junk Drawer Advent Calendar caught my eye just as the 12 Days of Tim's tags were ending! Whatdayathink? Can I stop at one or two? A few? Here's my first:

Candy Stash-->Candy House

It's almost that time again...time to raid the candy aisles for delicious little tidbits suitable for gingerbread house decor. M&Ms, SweetTarts, slivered almonds, miniature candy canes, gumdrops, chocolate chips and more are arranged in little plates on the table. Most years we use graham crackers for the house roof and walls, cemented together with canned frosting, but last year I cheated and bought an already baked ginergread house kit. Man was that easy! Whichever way we do it, it's always fun and one tradition that is sure to continue at this house.

Gift Tags

My friend Wendy made these tags a couple of years ago, and I have been planning to make some of my own. The corrugated cardboard base gives it such great texture! Then pair that with the pretty embellishments and a bit of sparkle and it couldn't be more special! Now to tear up some old priority boxes...