The Simple Joys of Christmas ~ Dec. 24th

It's Christmas Eve, and just like a little kid, I woke up early today, filled with excitement! For me, it's the little things that all add up to making Christmas a special time...


I love my little Christmas tree with all its special ornaments! The angel that tops my tree this year decorated my friend Maria's tree for many years, and now she watches over mine.


I love the shadows that the tree lights make against the wall -- in the same way I love cloud shadows on the mountains in summer.



I have collected so many special ornaments over the years. My dad was the first to get me started with an ornnament collection when he gave me a group of vintage ornaments back in the late 1970's. This lovely red bird was given to me just last year by Maria.



It's fun to wrap presents. These were sent off to Silke & Daniel in Savannah.



And it's fun to see how others wrap gifts. This is one of my favorites this year. Thanks, Maria! I'm enjoying it without even having opened it yet.



I don't typically decorate with themes the way some folks do. But this year I did end up creating a little pastel tablescape in one corner of my living room. The centerpiece is a pretty blue and white tea cup my friend Barb brought back from Russia. It's holding this wonderful old corsage that Silke gave me a few years ago. In the back is a DREAMS jar that I made as part of my Artist's Way group and a bright magenta tree in a silver pot.



I also made this little grouping on my porch to greet visitors as they come into my house. It started with a little red chair, circa 1920's, that I found at a flea market in Jersey about 15 years ago. It holds 2 little volumes of poetry from the 1880's and a reproduction bottle brush tree.



I like to make small gifts for my friends. This is a wreath I decorated for my dog-loving friend, DeeDee, who owns a biz making all-natural dog food.



I love stationery and I always have fun choosing Christmas cards to send.



Sometimes I like to relax on my couch with my favorite mug filled with hot chocolate and just enjoy the little presents underneath the sparkling Christmas tree. (My Christmas tree lights are doing magical things this year: sometimes they blink, and sometimes they don't.)




I'm blessed to have wonderful friends, several of whom are also fabulous bakers. Every year my friend Patty sends me a box of what I think of as THE COOKIES. Patty and I have known each other since kindergarten -- and believe me when I tell you, that's a loooonnnggg time! With 400 miles or so separating us, we don't get to see each other that often, but she is never far from my thoughts. This year she sent 16 (!) different types of cookies. Here are some of her pretty sugar cookies on a vintage plate that Maria, another close friend, gave me one year for my birthday.

And so, I'll wrap this up by wishing a very Merry Christmas to all my blog readers! Thank you for reading my little blog. I hope that wherever you are, whatever you're celebrating, you take some time to enjoy the little things that make the season special!