MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

It's almost time!

I hear sleigh bells in the distance. I cannot believe it is already here. In a few short hours the joy of Christmas will be in every home around the world.

GOD JUL to my Scandinavian family & friends.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of my friends old and new I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

And last but not least, a safe jouney to Santa Claus. Thanks for doing such a great job every year! Our little Quinn-Estelle is looking forward to her first Christmas gift from Santa, don't worry about the rest of us, she is enough gift for always.

BAKING, DELIVERING AND A NICE SURPRISE.....FOR ME!

Well, we are down to the wire. Santa is checking his list one more time. I am also checking mine. I am in pretty good shape. Yesterday I...

....Finished my Christmas baking. I made some lovely Almond Squares this year. I add something new every Christmas to keep it interesting.

I delivered all of the presents and cookies to my lovely family and friends I will not see on the day.

Today I will finish all of the wrapping and make my stuffing. I made the gravy base on Monday. I know it sounds strange making your base ahead but I use Jamie Oliver's recipe and I tell you it is like Christmas in a bowl. I will tell you the recipe at the end of this post. I also received a fabulous surprise in the post today.

I got these lovely Penny Rugs from Felicia at Raggedy Creations. I just think they are fantastic. Stop by and see her sometime. Thanks Felicia!

JAMIE OLIVER'S CHRISTMAS GRAVY

In a roasting pan put in 8 large cut carrots, 6 onions, 1 bunch of celery cut, 10 chicken wings and cut into the bone but not right through this adds flavour. Add salt and pepper, fresh rosemary about 4 sprigs, and 10 sage leaves. Add a little olive oil. Roast at 350 degrees around 2 hours turning veggies occassionally. When all is nicely soft put on top of the stove over medium low and smash everything all together with a potato masher. Keep doing this as you add 2 tbsp. of flour per pint of water, I use 2 pints. Add 1 can of cranberry sauce. Let simmer appr. 25 min. until thickening. Don't let it stick. Now salt and pepper to taste. Put through a strainer removing everything. You can freeze this or just put it in the fridge until the day. Add this to you turkey juices and thicken if needed. You can double the recipe if you need to. This is the best gravy I have ever had!

JUST ONE MORE THING,

Samantha at SAMANTHA'S ACCESSORIES BLOG is having a huge GIVEAWAY which she will draw on Jan. 1st. Go to my sidebar under GIVEAWAYS and drop by.

CHRISTMAS WONDER!

The decorations go up, the carols play and Christmas is in the air. Less that 5 days away. I get waves of Christmas feelings as I walk through my house and see the decorations. Sometimes it is a carol that makes me smile. It is different for everyone, I think.

Is it when you first put up the tree.

Wrap the presents.

Bake the Christmas cookies.

Go to your kids Christmas pageant.

The first snow.

When you hear the first Christmas Carol.

The anticipation on your children's faces as they wait for Santa Claus.

Christmas service and the Nativity.

Your home filled with loved ones.

The smell of the turkey.

That look on your child's face that never changes every Christmas morning.

For me it is all of the above. I love Christmas. It can be sad at times but memories are what makes us who we are and this Christmas I choose the ones that make me smile.

SLEIGH BELLS RING.........

Yesterday I picked up the very last of the presents. Today I bake! I give all of my family a healthy supply of Christmas goodies. They don't usually make it through the holidays but that's okay, it's Christmas the time to indulge a little. When I had my Christmas Baking business a few years ago, my husband had dropped off the days deliveries and that night I got a call from one of my customers. Her husband had accepted the package because she was not home. When she came back he had eaten most of the desserts that were for Christmas dinner. Lesson learned, if you want to save your Christmas cookies for Christmas, hide them.

Even though this year is a sad without our Duffy, the Christmas spirit has been slowly creeping back into our house.

Luca has been looking for his Christmas presents.

Even though the weather has not cooperated with snow we will have a white Christmas at our house thanks to my snowflake projector. I can watch these beautiful snowflakes from our livingroom every night. Sorry the picture is not very clear, it was hard to get a good shot at night without a flash.

Soon Santa will stuff the stockings.

I wonder if Santa ever take the reindeer out for a dry run. Late at night I swear I hear sleighbells.

The snowmen are looking even happier knowing the special night is near.

This is Beau Bear. I got him a few years before we had our son. He slept with him every Christmas Eve. Now he is the head of the bears who sit under the Christmas tree waiting for Santa. Our son wanted to take him to his house this year but he refused to leave his post.

With just over 5 days until Santa spreads his joy and magic, the presents are wrapped (mostly) , the stockings are hung on the staircase with care, the trees are all trimmed, cue the snow, I am ready for Christmas!

MAKING YOUR BLOG WORK FOR YOU!

I love blogging. I enjoy having visitors, getting to know people through my and their blogs. I have been on blogs with and without advertising. Some review books, I haven't seen a movie review yet. Some review and endorse products. I was thinking of doing one of these in the New Year. Here is the dilemma.

I treat my blog like my home. I like to keep it clean and decorated. Do I want ads all over it and how much can you really earn? Do you get a choice of what you want to advertise?

I am very particular about the products I use. I never buy anything tested on animals. How does this work with reviewing products. How honest do the companies really want you to be?

Now this would be right up my alley but I don't think you get paid for it. I would gladly do it for the movies but I have yet to see any sites that offer you a free dvd for a review.

This would be my dream job. I read a lot and I like a wide variety of literature. There are some sites that will send you a book to review and some that are just e-books. I do not think I could sit on the computer and read a whole book. I like the feel and smell of a book. They are like old friends. I read a few chapters and when I come back, there they are, the characters, waiting for me just where I left them. I have applied to a few sites only to find in the end they are just on the computer.

If anyone has done or is doing any of the above I would value your insight. I spend quite a bit of time on my blog and I thought it would be nice to make it work for me in some way.

SOME CHRISTMAS TEA IN THE STUDIO!

We spent the day with our sweet little girl yesterday. Darn she is cute. Almost walking and a laugh that melts your heart. I have been catching up on my blogging this morning and now it is time for all of us to go into the studio and have some Christmas Tea ( or whatever you fancy!)

I love Christmas movies. I have a mini dvd player in the studio and when I work this time of year there is always a Christmas movie on. When I was decorating the studio it was "LOVE ACTUALLY" for the 3rd time this season. If you have not seen this film you will love it.

I found these wooden cutouts a couple of years ago in a craft store for $1. I painted them red, they look so nice in my old doors.

My studio is very Scandinavian so I kept the decorating light and simple. I always wanted a blue tree and found a small on at the end of last season. The one in the window I sprayed with snow and decorated with white and blue bells and glass snowflakes.

I have always wanted to pool white lights on the floor but with the cats in the house I never dared. I had a left over string and it looks wonderful on the french doors with my Wizard of Oz stocking. Three white lit trees sit by the dining table. My grandmothers mirrors make the perfect backdrop.

These cute little Santa Boots were from my grandmothers collection. They sit in front of another great buy, this metal tree candle holder was only $5. at HomeSense Christmas in July sale.

All work is put away until after the New Year. This is a time for family and friends.

Penny & I are enjoying our visit so much. Let's just sit here by the fire all day. What more could you ask for, good atmosphere, a festive time of year and great friends to share it with.