New Year's Eve Tradition

Momma always told us that we had to have our Christmas tree down by New Year's Day, so that we would have good luck during the coming year. So yesterday I began to take the ornaments off of our tree in the living room. As I am removing each of these beautiful ornaments, I am remembering my mom and all of the wonderful traditions that she instilled in me. Now they are part of my children and grandchildren's traditions. As each of the ornaments is removed, I take one more good look at them and gently pack them away for next year. I wonder what the new year will bring. I am looking forward to wonderful times in 2012. Happy New Year everyone from our family to yours.

Concrete and Crystal for Christmas!

This is one of my favorite Christmas displays - the concrete old garden cherub fountain contrasted with the vintage crystal collection and old rhinestone pins. The crystal is a collection of vintage gold trimmed glasses, never an entire set, just what I happen to find and like. The gold leaf designs unify the collection. I use old rhinestone pins as Christmas decor. They look great sitting on little silver toothpick urns. A rhinestone crown sits on top of the head of the cherub adding a little holiday sparkle.

Christmas Ice Cream Cake

For birthdays, we have a favorite ice cream cake made with Sara Lee Pound Cake, coffee ice cream, hot fudge and Heath Bar bits. So for Christmas, I decided to change it up a bit and make the cake with peppermint ice cream, dark and white chocolate ice cream, Milano Mint Cookies, and candy canes. My children were skeptical, as they love the original, but after tasting it, agreed it was a great combination for Christmas. The original recipe is in our cookbook,"Romancing the Home Entertains". It's a frozen treat, made with layers of sliced pound cake, ice cream, Heath Bar bits, and hot fudge, made and assembled in a springform pan. For this version, I crushed 2 candy canes for the topping, Pepperidge Farm Milano Mint cookies, and layered them with a dark chocolate and white chocolate ice cream, peppermint ice cream, hot fudge, thinly sliced Sara Lee Pound Cake (frozen section of grocery store), hot fudge topping and chopped salty peanuts. Looks a little messy but it was Deelish!

Christmas Day Table

Christmas Brunch is the most traditional meal of our family's year. Traditional foods of daddy's fried oysters, Marshall Fields thin roll pancakes, and other family favorites continue to be served every year. Setting the table with a series of John Grossman salad plates, given to my by my old staff at Marshall Fields, brings a sense of nostalgia to the table. Mis-matched gold rimmed dinner plates are set on top of large Anna Weatherley chargers. The crystal is Bayel and was a beautiful pattern that was discontinued in the 1970's. Lot's of candle light, even though its morning , adds to the magic of the festive meal. Merry Christmas to all from our home to yours! Join us at Tablescape Thursdays to view more festive holiday tables at www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com.

Christmas Eve- My Favorite Day

A couple of my favorite Christmas decorations- all ready for the arrival of Santa tonight! I love Christmas Eve almost more than Christmas Day. All my children joining in to prepare Christmas food, wrapping the last minute gifts, taking the grandchildren out for a late afternoon walk to see the lights, and getting cookies ready for Santa make it a very special day! Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

Snow Dust for Christmas

We are not supposed to have a white Christmas, so this little dusting was a delightful surprise. I couldn't wait to see the first snow on the arbor that my neighbor and husband built this summer. I love the way the snow falls on the branches, just icing the tops, kind of like a "snow ganache".Not having any electricity near the arbor for lights , I had to settle for the gazing ball and greens in my birdbath. Looks like Christmas is almost here.

Christmas Gift Wrapping- Tartan Inspired

I spent yesterday getting my gifts ready to mail- last minute as usual! Tartan pattern was used as the over wrap, but of course it had to be romanced by a few of my favorite things- bling, leopard, feathers and polka dots for a little surprise element. This year we are selling the most beautiful tartan silk ribbons and I love this bold black and red buffalo check pattern. It looks great with the voile leopard ribbon from Sam's Club. Red feathers are used on most of the gifts to unify the presentation. Mixing all these elements together creates a unique gift wrap- so pretty to sit under a tree! So now into a box they go, heading south for the Holiday Season.