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Christmas Tour of Homes 2008

December 15, 2008 29 Comments
Hey everybody! Welcome to the Christmas tour of my home. If you’d like to show off your Christmas decorations too, you can head over to BooMama, Tip Junkie, Hooked on Houses, A Soft Place to Land and Southern Hospitality. They are all hosting Christmas Tours of Homes this week, and it’s sure to be good fun!

If this is your first visit to Simply Sweet Home, Welcome to my blog (and home). I hope you’ll take a look around my site. I’ve been hosting a festival of Christmas posts this month, and there’s a lot of great stuff to see. And please leave me a comment so that I can come and visit with you too.
A lot of my Christmas decorations are buried in the attic at my dad’s house, so I didn’t get to decorate as much as I would like. I was most looking forward to setting up my Christmas villages in the new place, but it was too much trouble to dig everything out. (Hopefully I’ll get it all out next year.) But I did manage to get some good pictures of the stuff I did put out. I had the post finished and then I added a few more…hopefully I didn’t go overboard too much w/ the pics! I hope you enjoy!

Here’s the front door (obviously). I know a lot of people despise colored lights. But I love them. They remind me of my childhood, and they’re just fun.

And here’s our tree, filled with mice ornaments and other fun things. My pictures don’t really do it justice, but it’s really cute. If you’d like to see more of my tree and some of my favorite ornaments, you can go to my Christmas Tree post.

Making the stereo a little festive here. I’ve been calling this the silver & blue corner (even though there are a couple of red things at the bottom). You can’t really see it too well, but there’s a couple of snowmen, some figures from “Rudolf & the Island of Misfit Toys”, and some wintery flowers & ribbon thingys. And the silver tree was actually the center piece for our table last year, and the bear & penguin came from Kay Jewelers last year. I just stuck it up there b/c it matched.

I decided to hang our stockings over the china cabinet. There’s also flower arrangement of poinsettas. And up top is small red/gold Christmas tree, and placed some little gift boxes and bags around it to make it a little more festive. And to the left, is my mouse wreath.


Another picture of the tree & stuff on top of the curio.

And here’s my mouse corner.

This is our coffee table. I just put a couple of snowman place mats on each end. And in the middle is a Christmas bowl, and it just has some little garland arrangements with pinecones & apples on them. (I wanted to get a pic from a better angle but the cat kept jumping in.)

The kitchen. The stuff is described below.

I strung some garland above the cabinets. And on the counter is a snowman cake pedastal (left). And on top of it is a homemade-antique Christmas tree that my greatmother made. Next is a Santa box tin, Christmas salt shaker set, a Christmas tree platter that my husband bought me, a couple of Christmas bowls, like the one from the coffee table, and an arrangment of poinsettas. And some snowman pot holders are hanging from the drawers.

Christmas Candy dishes.

Snowman Cake Plate.

Christmas Tree Plate.

Salt Shaker Set.

On the window sill above the sink is a snow man plate that my stepmom painted. And on either side of it are some snowman figurines and some s’more figurines.

And this is the dining room.

Here’s our table.

This is a close up of the flower arrangment on the table.

And this is a close up of the flower arrangement on top of the antique sewing machine.

Well, that’s it. Let me just “show” you to the door here.

Thank you for visiting my site and home. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you’ll leave a comment and come back soon! Merry Christmas!


-Jerri

Filed Under: Christmas, decorating

O Christmas Tree , O Christmas Tree

December 14, 2008 9 Comments
Hello Everyone! Tip Junkie is having a Christmas Tree contest on her blog, so I thought it would be fun to participate and share my tree and some of my ornaments. She’ll be picking her favorites, and then there will be voting on the 20th. There’s also a tree decorating contest going on at An Island Life. The deadline to enter is up, but they are still voting. You can also share your Christmas tree with everyone at We Are THAT Family and Thrifty Decor Chick.
There are some other carnivals & events this week that I’m thinking of participating in too, which I’ll try to tie into the “simple ideas” theme that I had planned for the week.

And by the way, if you’re visiting via Tip Junkie, Welcome! Please take a look at all of my other Christmas posts and leave a comment so that I can come visit you too. Enjoy!

My tree has a bunch of ornaments from my mouse collection, as well as some additional misc. ornaments that I’ve collected over the years. I purchased a lot of them myself, but many of them were gifts. Below are some close up shots of some of my favorite ornaments.

One of my favorites is this little mouse sitting on a cookie jar (shown above).

Here’s the same mouse on the cookie jar. And below it, is a Santa-mouse in a gingerbread train, and two mice with a Christmas tree, which says, “Our Christmas Together.”


And here is two mice sitting on a xylophone that says “love” on it and a mouse on a box of candies.

Here’s a mouse on top of a box of jell-o (left) and mouse sitting at a desk (right).

This overall-wearing mouse is hanging out of a pack of strawberry seeds and holding a shovel and watering can.

And this is a handpainted birdhouse ornament. My best friend’s mom painted 2 of these for me and all of our friends when we were in high school. Above it is a mouse wearing a birthday hat. In this picture it kind of looks like they’re attached….they’re not, but come to think of it, that would be a cute ornament idea.

And here is our Under-The-Tree Cat Ornament.


-Jerri

Filed Under: Christmas, decorating

Recipe of the Week: Peanut Butter Balls

December 12, 2008 7 Comments

To me, no food says, “Merry Christmas” like Peanut Butter balls. When I was growing up, we used to make these every year at Christmas. It is, by far, my most favorite Christmas recipe and favorite candy recipe of all time!

I didn’t actually make the ones pictured here. They came from a friend. These are a little different from the one’s we always made. The biggest difference is that we covered our completely in chocolate, and these obviously are not completely covered. But they taste good either way. Some people also refer to this “not completely covered” version as Buckeyes.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Balls
Ingredients:
3 cups peanut butter
2 boxes powdered sugar
2 tpsp vanilla
2 sticks margarine
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 oz)
1/2 block paraffin wax
Directions:
Mix peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, and margarine, roll into balls. Place on trays, covered in wax paper. Insert toothpicks. Chill in the refrigerator for about an hour. Use a double boiler to melt chocolate chips and wax together. (The chocolate will be a thin liquid, and will be shell-like once the balls have cooled.) Dip balls in chocolate and place on wax paper.
Tips & Suggestions:
-If you’re in a hurry and/or only need a small batch of these, this recipe is easy to divide in half.
-Be sure to use semi-sweet chips. If you use milk chocolate, it won’t melt in properly with the wax.
-Chilling the balls for an hour with the toothpicks already inserted will make the dipping easier. If you stick the balls at room temperature and then immediately dip them, the balls are more likely to fall off into the chocolate.
-Keep a spoon or other utensil handy, in case you have to “fish” any of the balls out of the chocolate.
-To completely cover the balls in chocolate and fill in the holes, go over all the balls with a spoon of left over chocolate at the end.
-Don’t forget to stir the chocolate occasionally in the middle of the dipping process. And use a double boiler to prevent sticking.
-If you’re making the large batch, be sure that you have your counter & fridge completely cleared so that you have plenty of space to lay out the balls.
-The rolling & the dipping can be a very timely process. It definitely doesn’t hurt to have a partner or helpers on this one.


-Jerri


Filed Under: Christmas, cookies and candy, recipes

Visions of Desserts Dancing In your Head

December 11, 2008 4 Comments

Christmas Raspberry Vanilla Cream Petite Cake from Nina at Nina’s Cooking for Fun. Nina was great to pick out a couple of her desserts for me to feature. This one was my personal pick from her site. It’s just so pretty & festive looking!

Snow Man Fondant Christmas Decoration from Nina at Nina’s Cooking 4 Fun. Aren’t these cute? Nina features a whole host of desserts and foods on her blog, and all her photographs are just lovely. And you can email her at ninaartdesign@yahoo.com for all the recipes.

Reese’s “Jingle Bell Rock”-y Road Road Pie from Anne at Anne Strawberry. If you were looking for something rich and decadent, here ya go! Wow! All of Anne’s recipes sound delicious. Go by and see other Christmas treats.

Jam & Cream Cake from Dell at Cooking and the City. Very nice! Dell features a great variety of foods on her blog, and everything looks Dell-icious! (sorry, I couldn’t help myself!) Happy Blog Birthday Dell! You’re a great friend!

Apple Pie from Grace at A Southern Grace. Hot apple pie is such a perfect dessert for this time of year, and this one looks scrumptious. And Grace’s other recipes look scrumptious as well! Her blog lives up to its name.


-Jerri

Filed Under: Christmas, desserts

Half a Dozen Christmas Cookies

December 10, 2008 7 Comments

No food is more closely associated with Christmas than cookies. So here’s a lovely selection of yummy Christmas cookies from our fellow blogging friends. That Santa’s a lucky man! Below each photo, you’ll find a link to the blog where the cookies came from. And thanks everyone for allowing me to share your goodies! Enjoy!

Chocolate Kris Krinkle Cookies from Rosie Bakes a “Peace” of Cake. Don’t these look yummy? Rosie never ceases to amaze with her delicious looking cakes and treats. Move over Betty Crocker! (You can also participate in her Sweet and Simple Bakes each month.)

Lemon & Strawberry Jam Christmas Cookies from Nina’s Cooking 4 Fun. Very pretty! Nina’s food creations are beautifully photographed. You can request her recipes by emailing her at ninaartdesign@yahoo.com. You can also check out her other blogs, devoted to art and jewelry creations, gardening, and even one of a kind envelopes. She’s a true artist. (and a busy woman!)

English Toffee from Prudence Pennywise. Not really a cookie, but I wanted to include it anyway! Prudy creates “scandously good food on a budget.” And right now she’s doing a neat little series of posts on Christmas Around the World.

Snickerdoodles with Cinnamon Chips from Dunkin Cooking the Semi-Homemade Way. MaryBeth’s Snickerdoodles are just one of many, scrumptious looking recipes on this blog. And each of her lovely pictures is worth a thousand words!

Molasses Cookies from Lamp Unto My Feet. Sherry’s blog has a little bit of everything from the realm of home and family. And she’s posted more great Christmas goodies that you’ll love!

The Best Sugar Cookies from Baking Delights. Sugar cookies are one of my all time favorites. They’re such a simple classic! Try these and other delicous cookies and food recipes made by Marye.


-Jerri


Filed Under: Christmas, cookies and candy, recipes

Deck the Hall With These Christmas Balls

December 6, 2008 5 Comments

There is such a wide variety of colors, designs, styles, and themes for Christmas tree decorations these days. Even if you discluded all other decorations and just looked at Christmas balls, you’d never run out styles to choose from. Today’s post takes a look at just a few of the many styles of Christmas balls that you can make yourself. You can also find some of these for sale on etsy, as well as countless other Christmas ornaments and crafts. Enjoy!

[Reminder: If you want to submit one of your ideas to my Christmas festival, send an email to simplysweethome@hotmail.com or leave a comment on any of my posts, saying you’d like to be featured. I’ll get back to you later! Remember that next week, Recipes/Food will be featured. And the following week (Dec 14-20) will be simple ideas/tips & misc. And then Dec 21-25, will be Christmas memories/traditions/stories, etc. For more info, go to this post. Thanks!]

One of my favorites out of all the things I’ve found are these quilted Christmas ornaments. Aren’t they lovely? These were made by Larissa at Mmmcrafts. She has a wonderful blog, full of great ideas. I highly recommend it. You can also search for these on etsy. I saw several different colors & designs.

This is an Etched Vinyl Monogram Christmas Ornament. I think these would make lovely Christmas gifts. Personally I’d love to have one to go in my curio cabinet. These are for sale on etsy at the store of Paperazzi. Very nice!

Here’s somethig a little different. The maker calls it a Bright Colorful Beaded Ball and Chain Christmas Ornament. It’s defintely not your average Christmas ball. slvilov sells them on etsy. I love the bright colors and funky design.

I found these Decorated Glass Ornaments on etsy. I just love the bright & beautiful colors of these. And look at the variety of designs. Very pretty! You can purchase them from MandarinMoon, along with other ornaments and items.


I found these beaded ornaments at a site called CraftBits. The mother of a friend of mine used to make Christmas balls similar to these. They were very nice. The CraftBits site also has some other projects that you might be interested in for Christmas and other occasions.


-Jerri


Filed Under: Christmas, crafts, decorating

Christmas Crafts

December 5, 2008 9 Comments

And now for some Christmas crafts from around the net. It’s so great seeing all the lovely things that people make. I found a lot of great ideas to share with you. Here are just a few. Below each photo you’ll find a link to the source. Hope you like these.

Next post, I’ll be sharing some Christmas balls that I’ve found.

I just love these ornaments. I have a kit to make some ornaments that are kind of similar to these. I got it from Oriental Trading. But I think these are a lot cuter. I found them on Etsy. You can purchase these from SnowFish. She has a lot of other great items that you might be interested in as well.

Here’s a cute gift idea, or perhaps a lovely centerpiece for you table. These Candy Trees came from HDMac’s Crafty Blog and More. Aren’t they lovely? Check out her blog for this and other great ideas.

Here’s something I haven’t seen in a while, Doily Angels. You can learn to make a lovely angel like this one at Makestuff.com

My mom used to have a tree like this, made from garland, lights, and coat hangers. All Free Crafts has the full instructions for this craft and others.

I found these “Potted Paper Cone” Christmas trees at Familyfun.com. This is really cute & simple. If you’re looking for something to make the kids, check it out.

-Jerri

Filed Under: Christmas, crafts

The Santa Craft

December 4, 2008 5 Comments


Here’s a cute and fun craft you can make this Christmas. This Santa was made by a friend of our family about 15 years ago, and it’s been a part of our Christmas decor ever since. It hangs on a door or wall. It would make a great gift for your craft-loving friends or something cute for the kids to give the grandparents. Or you could make one and keep it for yourself. It’s a great conversation piece.

It’s made with yarn, felt, a pom pom, plastic eyes, pipe cleaners, and a Clorox Bottle that’s been cut in half. Since I’ve never made one myself, I wouldn’t be the best person to instruct on this one. But I did find find a site that gives you the basic instructions. Here it is. Have fun!


-Jerri


Filed Under: Christmas, crafts, decorating

A Wreath of One’s Own

December 3, 2008 5 Comments

To begin our Christmas crafts & decor week, I wanted to post about wreaths. Everytime I go to a crafts store, I’m amazed at all the beautifully designed wreaths. But some of them are a wee bit pricey. For this reason, I recommend making your own. You can get the wire frame and cover it in garland yourself or just buy a simple, plain wreath, and add whatever you want. There are so many different possibilities! Here are a couple of examples and some ideas.

My mom is a dining room manager at a resturant. And she’s also in charge of special events and seasonal decorating. Last year she made the wreath pictured here to display in the bar at the resturant. It has some little wine bottles, martini glasses, and a shaker on it. All she had to do was make the bow and attach the ornaments on it. The ornaments were either tied on from the back with ribbon or tied on with wire.

This year my mom was told that they were limiting their decorations to just a tree in the lobby, which means she got stuck with a bunch of extra decorations she didn’t need. She gave me the wreath and told me I could change it however I wanted, so I gave it my own little personal touch. (see below)

A lot of people don’t know that I collect mouse ornaments and little mouse figurines. (I know, strange thing to collect, huh? But I just think they’re cute!) Anyway, I took a handful of ornaments and attached them to the wreath using green ornament hooks. Once I got the bar ornaments off, it only took me about 10-15 minutes to attach my own. A very quick & easy project!

I wanted to share these with you because I think making your own wreath really can save you money, and it gives the wreath a more personal touch. And the best part is that I can take the ornaments off if I want to and make an entirely different wreath for next year. The possibilities are endless, and you can get a variety of materials for fairly cheap.
This is also a great gift idea because you can do so many different themes for various interests/hobbies/professions. Here are some things you may consider adding to your own wreath:
-Christmas balls
-plastic fruits
-misc ornaments
-pick a particular theme of ornaments (Disney, Precious Moments, Teacher, Nurse, Sewing)
-letters, such as your sir name
-cookie cutters
-flowers
-stuffed animals (my mom has the cuted Beanie Baby wreath!)
-little figurines or toys

Related Posts:


-Jerri

Filed Under: Christmas, decorating, Simple Solutions, Wreaths

Saving Money This Christmas

November 28, 2008 Leave a Comment


In a time of economic uncertainty, everyone is looking for ways to save. In this post you’ll find a link to another article I wrote last year, which explains various ways that you can save money on Christmas gifts this year.

Here are just few key things to remember:

  • Create a shopping list & budget ahead of time and stick to your budget!
  • Pay with cash. This will help ensure that you stick to a budget, and you won’t have to worry about paying off those credit cards next year.
  • Use gift cards & shopping cards to buy your gifts.
  • Save money by making gifts yourself. Make your own crafts, jewelry, or Christmas candy and cookies.
  • Buy throughout the year when items are sale rather than splurging on everything at one time.

To read the entire, detailed article, follow the link below:
Tips to Avoid Spending Too Much This Holiday Season

Also, while I’m posting about saving money, here are few more points, which are not in the article, but are important to remember this holiday season.

  • Remember that it’s not the quantity of gifts or the amount of money spent that counts, but the thought behind the gift.
  • Sometimes good things do come in small packages.
  • Sometimes less is more.
  • No amount of money you can spend will ever replace or mean as much as the time that you spend with family and friends.
  • And don’t forget the reason for the season.


-Jerri

Filed Under: Christmas, saving money, shopping
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