Closer & Closer to Xmas

My husband and I had a fun weekend - Saturday we did our annual gig as Santa and Mrs. Claus in the very windy Channel Islands Harbor for their Xmas celebration and passed out candy canes and posed for photos with the kids.  The kids are always so cute.

As usual, I did my own Mrs. Claus costume, and I piled on the layers under my vintage green velveteen coat, making me a bit more of a butterball than usual - but I WAS warm! At the Dollar Tree, I even picked up a rose fleece headband, the sort skiers wear around their ears, which I put under my fancy and glittery hat to keep my head warm.  Santa, of course, was covered by his snowy beard and wig under his Santa cap!

My husband Mark downloaded some darling Alvin & the Chipmunk Xmas songs from the inernet - gratis - and we played them on a little boombox hidden in Santa's green mesh bag.  Gee, the Chipmunks are so cute and happy, even a Grinch would have to smirk a bit.

Now I am back to tweaking my Xmas decorations - I had a straw wreath I had picked up somewhere & I twisted a bright red Chinese decorative string of what look like silken firecrackers around it and topped it off with a nice pine sprig I found at the Dollar Tree (meant as a topper for a package?). Turned out surprisingly well.  (Cost  = whatever the wreath & string were + 99 cent decorative sprig.)

I also have some of my collection of large pinecones scattered about. (You know, on a pedestal of some sort, you could even make a tiny desk tree out of one with a few beads and glitter. )

Figurines and decorative objects look better on pedestals, somehow.  I have an Austrian angel carving I have put on a lucite cube I found at a thrift shop - and another little angel figurine looks more impressive on another stone base I had - from an old incense burner....In the 60's they often mounted sculptural pieces on wood blocks -  maybe you could find some for your seasonal or regular pieces to make them stand out.

Also had some candy canes left from what Santa handed out on Saturday - so I put them on my little apartment tree and even my pine bough arrangement - along with some ornaments - Who needs a big Xmas tree?

Sad to say, the cousin of a dear friend of mine in Virginia is gravely ill - it's worse than thought at first - I am burning candles and incense to remind me to keep both of them in my heart and send prayers and good wishes their way...

On another note - I just discovered www.houseparty.com which offers you a chance to give themed parties with them providing party things for you - sometimes nuts and a DVD of a new show - sometimes Ziplock bags.  And you can invite everyone and keep track of the rsvps through their site, too.  That's an excuse to have people over on their dime...I do like freebies...

There is SO MUCH Xmas stuff at the dollar stores - You could go gaga with it all.  But maybe if you are a careful shopper you can find some nice pieces to add to your Xmas collection...And ornaments do make nice little Xmas presents, too.  We just received a very cute one from friends of ours. Remember to get a big cardboard box or 2 out for storing your Xmas decorations after the first of the year!  (Liquor stores have great sturdy clean boxes for the asking, you know. PAY for boxes? Me? Never!)

We used to live in an apartment complex and people TOSSED Xmas decorations (some of which, I have to admit,  I rescued. ) If you are moving or something like that - please think of donating your extra usable stuff to a thrift shop! It's charitable and green all at once. And that might even go for gifts you get which you couldn't even re-gift - someone out there might like it....

There is a carol that goes "in the bleak mid-winter..." and I think it will be for many people this year... so I want to make sure that I make at least a modest charitable donation to help the helpers...(You can check charities out - according to the L.A. Times  - at CharityWatch.org, Charity Navigator.org and the Better Business Bureau (give.org)....and they remind us to keep the receipts for tax purposes...)

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Santa & Mrs. Claus!

Remember that there is a woman behind the man, here, too!

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