I love playing with macros and was so busy last month there was no time to play, so today we play. Today is the 3rd day of the new year…not that far from Christmas and since I did not play with Christmas pics this year, lets at least honor the fir tree. I have two in my yard that I planted about 10 years ago and they are finally big enough to really enjoy. I love how the needles hold onto the rain.
And spider webs make the rain look like its floating in mid-air.
Plants, just like people, you always have that one limb that wants to do things differently by swirling around the end instead pf being straight.
And since we are playing with a Christmas tree, lets get a night shot because I was able to put lights on it this year.
As we start this new year, lets remember to let our light of kindness shine brightly giving others a light of hope for their seemingly dark circumstance.
Cee’s FUN Foto Challenge is right up my alley for this time of year. Fortunately, we do not have a white ground…yet. I am sure it will be here before I want it. But this time of year, I have lots of white inside my house, it is Christmas after all.
We can start off with the large angel shelf…
Then we have the 4′ white tree in the dining room…well the tree is green but the lights and ornaments are white…
Or if that is not really following the rules, we do have a 4′ white tree in the sun room with 2 other trees that are not white. All toll we have 6 trees.
This is the ocean tree that is white but all the ornaments are creatures from the ocean in their natural color. The those who may be more purest that that we have the white tree, white lights and white nativity scene.
As we smile and enjoy each other’s pictures, remember the purest form of sharing is kindness. If we can be anything, be Kind.
Those of you who have read me over the last few years know that I go a little “Griswold” at Christmas. Because of a modification to my Christmas village this year, I had to move my train set and railroad station. So where…where do we put it??🤔 I know, I will go by to childhood years and put it under the tree. Okay, which tree?🤔 The living room tree and the dining room tree are too formal…
the ocean tree is not thematically correct…
and there is no room under the bedroom tree because of the large 4 foot stuffed Santa Claus…plus Daisy has issues with moving things.
That leaves me with only one option…buy a new tree…lol. And since it is going in the sunroom with the other outdoor themed decorations, lets make it an outdoor tree…so here we have the bird tree featuring many owls. And below we have the working train carrying its many imaginary visitors home for Christmas.
So as you enjoy the fun parts of Christmas, remember the heart of and why we do Christmas. God sent us a marvelous gift that came to give us life and to show us His power love that is to be shared with all of creation. Merry Christmas and remember to always be kind.
Good morning friends. So far I have shared my living room tree, more on the elegant side; and my bathroom tree, the down under tree. Today I am sharing my bedroom tree, the kitchen tree and the woodland animals tree. Its the fun side of Christmas or at least my quirky side.
My bedroom tree is the more personal tree. It has the ornament that my children made when young, happy ornaments that make me me smile and it is fast becoming the S’more tree.
I know as kids we all ate S’mores, or should have, but over the past 20+ years, I have collected S’more ornaments. Its my kids fault, they started it – I have just kept it going. My S’more ornament this year made me chuckle when I saw it, so, yes I had to have it.
A Graham Cracker truck, lol
Below are some of my more favorite ornaments from this tree because I cant show them all – they wouldn’t be here if they weren’t a favorite of some sort.
Notice the date on the bottom of the angel – ’81, my oldest made this when he was three. It always goes on the top of this tree.
Moving from the bedroom to the dining room and you have the Woodland Christmas including a cabin, the outhouse with cow, woodland animals and the hedgehog Christmas.
Then from dining room to kitchen, yes no room was left untouched by Christmas, we have the rest of the critters celebrating Christmas. All enjoying the fun of the holiday, singing, playing instruments and playing in the snow.
On Thursday I will share the Sunroom Christmas that has the big tree and the Christmas Village. I added a side village this year – the candy cane village. Until then, I hope you have wonderful week. Stay warm, its 12 degrees here in Iowa and remember to always be kind. It shows the very best side of you.
Time to share more of my fun and wish you a Merry Ho Ho Christmas. We have to say that this time because we are featuring Santa. When I was 8 years old, I went show shopping with my grandmother, my mom’s mother, Miss Lottie. She was a gentle spirit and a much beloved 2nd grade teacher. Since it was during the holidays, the shoe store had a three and a half foot tall stuffed Santa that they were having a drawing for. Well I had to put in a ticket for it but I also put one in for my grandmother, my parents and probably other people. The week before Christmas, we were called and notified as winners of the Santa, still not sure who actually won it. And now 60 plus years later, I still have it and it comes out each year. But like most folks who reach our age, we don’t stand as tall as we once did. So I place him where his stature adds interest to Christmas. Here he is admiring the beautiful tree in the living room. This tree is a white light tree and most of the ornament are white.
Closeup of Santa with his two friends, Straw Dog and Straw Elephant, that each have their own tree. Both trees are live trees with battery operated lights.
This tree also has a lighted church and a country inn underneath. The angel for this tree is well over 20 years old but an elegant ceramic lady. I love angels and they stay on tops of the large shelves year around.
My favorite ornament for this tree I have had for a couple of years. While I did buy a couple of new ornaments for this tree this year, the lamb laying with down the lion is still a favorite. You can’t see the top of the ornament very well, but it is and angel and her wings taper down to form the sides of the ornament.
This last sharing from the living room I shared last year. It is the inside wreath for this door. The front door wreath that is outside has a Christmas tree inside of it. One day I am going to count just how many Christmas trees I have that light up, there’s lots.
This wreath shows the mood for the season, Joy. It was one of my fun crafts from two years ago.
Remember to share your joy and kindness this season in all that you do.
I know it is not December yet…but it is after Thanksgiving, so I don’t feel bad about showing you my new Christmas toys. I promised I would share my pictures once everything was up but its been up since mid-November. I wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving to start sharing. I put it up early so that I can enjoy it. Since it takes me two plus week to get it all up, I put it up early so that I can enjoy it all of December… cuz it’s a lot.
Last year I started a tree for my bathroom. Whaat?? Yea. I kept seeing these cool nautical ornaments and my bathroom is beach themed…so, there you go. Yes, my daughter and I are addicted to interesting looking and different ornaments, so this was a natural direction for me to go. The tree (4 foot) sits on a small table inside my corner tub. A tub I can’t use because its too difficult to get in and out of.
The tree is white and the lights are blue and all ornaments except for a few small dark blue balls, are ocean or river themed. I love this picture because you see the tree, its reflection in the mirror and the reflection of the tree that is in the bedroom. We will do that tree one day soon.
I am not sure I really have a favorite ornament on this tree but I am partial to my manatees, because I am from the south and manatees are in the rivers of Florida. This ornament is ceramic and shows a mom and baby.
For the sharks and whales division, they are broken down by ceramic like the above manatee or glass with pearls added to represent bubbles in the water. Plus we girls like the bling anyway.
You have the whale shark with bubbles and a humpback with baby behind the Orca mom and baby
The mammals of the sea show the tight bond of love and caring between mother and child, as well as male to female pairs as most mate for life.
Sharks are most important to the ecosystem. Because of the limited understand by most people, they are doomed as evil beast instead of their own form of majestic beauty.
Here we have the Hammerhead shark with bubbles and the ceramic version. We also have the Starfish Santa, a notable hero of all children of the sea, and a dolphin making bubbles of her own as she plays.
Stingrays are also in the shark/skate family and while they can be dangerous if you are not careful, they have a grace and beauty of their own. And of course we can’t leave out the turtles, amazing sea creatures.
And with the turtle we have the unicorn of the sea…the narwhal.
I am still looking for other interesting creature’s of the sea, a sailfish would be fabulous but I have yet to see one. So I close with her close cousin in appearance, the Marlin. Then of course you have to have a lighthouse for your seascape. The lighthouse was originally part of my village but I felt it fit better here. I will share the village as well soon.
The mom and baby seals are playing by the sand castle in front of the lighthouse.
I hope you have enjoyed this fun traipse through the ocean of my bathroom. Remember all creations of the ocean have a beauty and purpose and most of them have an understand of family, love and kindness. So be kind in all you do to all kinds.
But the people of Whoville seemed to have it right
For they dance and sang around the tree so bright
Christmas is still coming even with a virus so bad
It’s coming even though we are depressed and sad
I encourage you to feel the love of this great season
For it was Christ that came to give us the reason
The reason we love to make all this fuss
Is because we believe in the Magic of Christmas
This is a monumental and challenging year especially now at Christmas. But we can’t let this virus and fear define us. We can still wave at a distance, give lots of air hugs, and remember we all have many things to be thankful for. Do I make light of the situation we are in as a world people, by no means. I spent my concerning time in quarantine, I am fully aware of the danger, the risks and the possible outcomes. At my age it is even more dangerous but I refuse to not shine my light of love and kindness in the ways that I can that are safe. This year in defiance of being shut up inside, I decorated two weeks earlier and added another tree…in my bathroom. That brings me to 4 trees. Since my bathroom has a beach theme, so does the tree. So I have posted my pictures below and hope you enjoy with a smile. Do we need to be careful, yes, but do we need to be sad, no, disappointed, yes but this hopefully won’t last much longer. So spread your cheers through the cyber ways, enjoy this wonderful season and always be kind.
For the Love of 