Monday, December 23, 2013

Counting Our Blessings - Link Up!

Hello, dear friends!  It's been such whirlwind of activity here and I know I've been rather neglectful on my blog here. I didn't want to miss another Counting Our Blessings, especially since there is so much to be thankful for. I also wanted to share all my Christmas decorations and what's been happening here, before Christmas.

Are you all ready for Christmas? I think I am...almost. :)  I have some cookies I will roll and cut out tomorrow. I have the dough in the fridge ready for the morning. I will then be done with my baking! I don't do as much as I used to - I just don't have the energy or the knees for it anymore. My goodness, I remember one year making over 20 different cookies, candies and nuts. LOL Can you believe that? I can't! This year I made fudge, divinity, rice crispy treats, skillet cookies (these are a date cookie) and then tomorrow I'll do the sugar cookies. I just made our favorites this year and everyone is quite happy.

I finally got all my gifts wrapped yesterday and under the tree and finished painting some special things for my family and got those under the tree. There was a lot of hiding of these projects so they wouldn't see them. I'll share pictures of them after they have opened them up.

210. I was able to go with my oldest son out shopping one day. We haven't done that for a long time and it was such a special day. We went to our favorite thrift stores and then to Tuesday Morning where my son bought me this adorable Christmas box! I love it because it looks like it's from the 1940's (my favorite era of decorating!)


At Goodwill, I found this adorable animated doll! Now, I've wanted one of these forever! When I first saw her, I thought they were using her as a decoration in the store and that it wasn't for sale, but nope, I was able to buy her!

I love her! I think the dress reminds me of the ones that Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen are wearing at the end of "White Christmas" and that's why I love it so.

Then I found this adorable sugar and creamer there, too! It's an Avon set from 1983! Aren't they just the cutest things?


 I had such a wonderful time with my son and it was such a blessing to spend a day with my him!

211.  I went another day out with my hubby to a thrift store and found this adorable crocheted ornament. Someone went to so much work to crochet this in thread and then do the embroidery around it. I paid 29 cents for it!

Then I found this adorable little plate that was still in it's original box, unopened! It's from the 1970's and I think it's so cute! I paid a whopping 59 cents for it...

It has a hanger built right into the back and I hung it in my blue living room where it looks perfect! It's such a blessing to find these little treasures for so little! Plus, I had a fun time with my hubby!

212. Here's some decorating around my house that I did...



I collect Annalee dolls. I have just a few, but I adore them! Their little faces are so cute! I just love Christmas and all the decorating just blesses me!

213. My youngest son could see that I was having trouble getting everything decorated because of my pain and so one day he just started pitching in and helped me get the kitchen done. He did such a great job and thought of doing things I would have never thought of! Here's the buffet area that he did.

 He took paperclips and opened them up and hung those cute little gingerbread boys and girls from the plate under the tree! I thought that was just so smart! That tree is from the 1940's and comes all apart and fits in a small box. Isn't it cute?


 See the cow at the right of the picture? I didn't really want to put it away because I've had it forever and would feel really bad if it got broken. On the back of the cow is a duck and doesn't look very festive. My son put a small, green wreath around the duck and then placed some ornaments that I painted on top! Just like that - the cow was part of the Christmas scene! lol

He also hung my Spode cheese board and oven mitts on the wall. I think that just looks too cute!

We have to have some "Peanuts" stuff around and we've had this little cardboard cutout for years.

He then went on to decorate our buffet/shelf that we have in the kitchen...


I was so blessed to have my son help me and he did such a great job!

214. This fellow is quite large and I painted him many years ago. I have him under our tree and spruced him up this year with a perky, white bow with glitter.

It's such a blessing to pull out the things from the past and remember...

215. The greatest blessing of all is the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I love celebrating this time of year and remembering that our Lord was born in a humble stable so that He could grow up and then die for our sins on a rugged cross. It brings tears to my eyes when I think of what our Lord has done for us.

What are your blessings? I hope you'll link up with me and share your own blessings!


Blessings - Julie

2 comments:

  1. Absolutely wonderful Julie! You guys did a great job!
    God bless you all this Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, Julie, I just love what you did! Nice job! Been missing this link up for a while. Always tired at work, no more time to party at night :(
    May your celebration of the season be blessed.

    ReplyDelete

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