sheppard girls

Pointsettias

 

Despite what both Matthew Mead and Country Living magazine wrote, pointsettias in fact, do not make good cut flowers.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

 

I officially have too much time on my hands.

A very Sheppard Girls Christmas

I agreed to make some holiday items for one of the stores that sells Sheppard Girls stuff.  I make things for our house and our friends all the time, so I don't know why I didn't do anything before, except that maybe starting holiday stuff at the beginning of November, for a mid-November deadline is a little crazy.

I really love what I have come up with so far. 

 

However hand-dyed pompoms take a ridiculous amount of time to dry

 

and my house is now covered with pans of damp pastel puffs.

 

Fall front steps

The weather has been so beautiful this week, that even though it as time to get our fall front step and garage decorations up, I felt really bad pulling out some of the plants that were still growing so well.  But I got over it.  This year I ended up using way more artificial stuff with the grasses and pumpkins.  It was really hard to find dogwood and where are the rosehips?  Last year they were my go to fall item.

 

We will add some carved pumpkins later.  I am very excited about some of the templates in Country Living and Martha Stewart.  We are totally going to practice for the neighborhood pumpkin carving contest. 

Merry Christmas

 
Have a wonderful holiday.

Front door

I wanted to put old blankets in this basket by our front door, but I couldn't find any I loved that also fit my budget.  Maybe in January.  So I filled the basket with wrapped gifts instead.

This is what ended up on the chest in the entryway.

 
One of the neighbors told me that she takes pictures of all of her Christmas decorations, so she can remember what she does from year to year. That is genius.  I am always left wondering what I did previously and if I can remember what I did, I usually can't find the items.

I also learned that you should test your tree lights before December 10, because otherwise, you will spend 2-3 hours driving around looking for small, white, non-LED lights with a green cord.  And when you do find them, you will pay any price for the eight boxes they have left.
 

Glitter

2009 is the Christmas of glitter.  Actually Christmas has always been about glitter around here, but this year, I've taken it to the wreath.  The Boy Scouts were back this year with wreaths.  I may have gotten a little carried away.  The wreaths always come with those tacky red plastic bows and red berries on the pinecones.  I quickly attack it with the wire cutters, and here is what now hangs on our door.

One of the neighbors said it looked like Better Homes and Garden exploded on our front step.  They may have actually said "threw up" on our front steps, but I choose to hear "exploded".

Christmas cards

And the award for first card of the season goes to.... the Sorenson's!  Good work people.

I was so very excited for this

 
to be the picture for our Christmas cards, until I came across this one last week. 

The dad took it with a timer.  Sorry super cool feet idea, maybe next year.
 

I am thankful that...

Neil Diamond has recorded a cover of Adam Sandler's The Chanukah Song.

I am thankful for...

people who give you Gurley Thanksgiving pilgrim candles and then don't think you are tacky when you buy vintage Native American candles off of EBay to complete the set.