Author Archives: ~~Rhonda

Living in a small town, I share my life with my husband Russell (married in 1977), five children (one still at home), and six cats (one indoors, the others outside).

I teach an online class called “The Christmas Notebook” which is about all things holiday prep. The many facets of celebrating Christmas comprises one of my favorite hobbies. Other favorite things include gardening, reading, cooking, and scrapbooking.

tutorial…wrapping framed pictures as gifts

Each Christmas, I wrap the kids’ baby pictures as gifts. Usually with coordinating gift wrap paper. I saw this idea in an Olan Mills Photography studio years ago (25?) when I went with my friend Linda to have her children’s pictures taken at Christmas time. I began wrapping my own pictures then and have done […]

magical music

During our Christmas open house, my friend Becky and her daughter Kira played lovely Christmas music on their flute and viola. It was wonderful to hear the music throughout the house. My granddaughters thought the music was fascinating! They sat in front of the musicians and wouldn’t take their eyes off the instruments. Kira shared […]

menu plan monday ~ December 5, 2011

I haven’t managed to post menus for two weeks. We’ve been SO busy. But I found out that, just like planning your Christmas preparations, it’s when you are the busiest that you need a plan the most! Our annual Christmas open house was a great success. So much fun! We have several more events to […]

ornament garland

After seeing an ornament garland on the blog Pretty Quirky, I decided to make some for my scrapbook/crafting room. My sister Genny loves shopping thrift stores, so she began scouring them for shiny ball ornaments. Except for a few ornaments DH bought near the end of the project, all the ornaments used were thrifted. I […]

open house 2011

Our annual Christmas open house was yesterday. The weather was wet and chilly, with light rain during the first part of the afternoon. It didn’t dampen the holiday spirit, though! We had a wonderful time with 195 guests signing in. We are told each year that this party begins the Christmas season for many of […]

a few pictures from today

Today was very busy! Genny and the family worked hard today, decorating and cleaning. I spent all day in the kitchen, dipping truffles. Raspberry, mocha, chocolate cream, Oreo peppermint, plain Oreo, peanut butter, and strawberry cheesecake truffles. These are the chocolate peanut butter truffles. The centers are dipped in chocolate, then in almond bark. Our […]

candy cane tree

Two of my daughters worked on this tree. After the fourth tier was done, DD wasn’t sure how to finish the top, so I did that part. It will stand on a candlestick…haven’t decided which one yet. I saw two similar to it at “Making the Moments that Matter.” ~~Rhonda

living room tree

We finished the living room tree today. It’s a nine-foot tree and sits on a two-foot box. This tree has red beads, popcorn and cranberry strings, and multi-colored lights. It displays all the family ornaments, the kids’ collections, and the ornaments they have made through the years. It also gets a final twinkle of tinsel. […]

some new decorations this year

I will have more to say (and show) about our new decorating projects at a later date. We’ve been too busy for me to take time to post, but here are a few pictures to whet your appetite. A glass ornament mobile in the hall bath upstairs. The iridescent balls remind me of soap bubbles. […]

our Christmas letter

Merry Christmas, Family and Friends! We pray this finds you well and enjoying God’s many good gifts and blessings. In January, we savored a week of lovely weather in Florida, while home was hit with an ice storm. We were glad to get reports from friends that all was well at our house, though we […]