Christmas Notebook

We are as ready as we can be, other than for a few tweaks we need to take care of Sunday morning. Saturday, I started out by sorting the sugar cookies by shapes to make the decorating faster to finish. I frosted the cookies and Genny put the sprinkles on, which saved me a couple of hours. It usually takes 3-4 hours to decorate all the sugar cookies. Today we finished in two hours.

When the sugar cookies were finished, I moved on to my last cookie to bake. Butterscotch Chip Gingerbread cookies. I would have baked them sooner, but the freezer was stuffed. No room in the inn! These are about the plainest cookie I make for the open house, but they have a ton of flavor. So good!

The Eggnog Cookies had been baked a few days ago, but I frosted them today. This is a new recipe for this year, so I am wondering how they will go over.

Finished cookies!
Front row: Gingerbread cookies, Date Balls, and Macadamia Nut Short Bread.
Stack of three in the back to the left: Elfin Bites, Candy Jumble and Daniel’s Cookie Bar Bites.
Stack of three in the back, to the right: Petits Four, Oatmeal Crisps, Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, and two kinds of Biscotti.

Front row, left to right…other cookies: Nutmeg Logs, Macadamia Nut Craisin Bark, Sugarplums, Orange Cranberry Cookies.

On the top of the cart: Oreo Truffles and Candied Pecans.
Middle of cart: Cream Cheese Mint Truffles, Raspberry Truffles, Mocha Truffles.
Cream Cheese Mint Truffles, Peanut Butter Truffles, Almond Truffles.
Cherry Fudge Truffles, Chocolate Creams.

Chocolate Mint Shortbread

Top two trays: Eggnog Cookies
Third tray: Peppermint Meltaways.
Bottom six trays: Sugar Cookies.

The links to most of these cookies can be found in this post: Open House Cookies and Candies

Again, all my helping hands took care of the rest of the house, while I took care of the kitchen. Tomorrow is the party! We hope you will be able to come!

~~Rhonda

When we are preparing for our annual Christmas Open House, there is always a long list of tasks that need to be done. We keep a running list on Google Docs, shared with those who come over to help. They can check that list to see what needs to be done. We can add to the list as the week goes by. Easy and so helpful! The list is organized by rooms. Most items on the list are not cleaning chores but other things that need to be done. Add bows to the banister garland, wash the cabinet fronts in the kitchen, hang wreaths on porch windows, etc. It seems that every time I go through a room, I see something else that needs to be done!

Older Son and his family came back on Saturday to help with party prep. Rose Red and Snow White were our busy, little elves. Running errands, setting up nativities, placing poinsettias, and washing windows. They were ready to jump in to help whenever we called their names. And if they got to climb up on something that is usually off limits, all the better!

Rose Red filled the Three Kings gift boxes. She had red, green, and silver foiled candy Kisses. She decided the silver ones were for the gift of gold, the green ones for the gift of myrrh, and the red ones for the gift of frankincense. If you are here for the Open House, you can check to see if there are any left!

Genny came back to help on Saturday and Sunday. We worked on the Putz tree. I ordered a new white tree this year. The other one was looking worn out. The new tree is taller and looks great! What it doesn’t look is that pink! My phone camera would not adjust for the LED lights. There is a pink faint gleam to it, but nothing like this picture.

We added Putz houses and churches from my Etsy stockpile.

On Monday, I finished seven new shadow boxes for the local gift shop Breath of Eden.

And I finished this Christmas Tree Lot Putz. Fun to make! It is listed in my Etsy shop – ChristmasNotebook.

On Tuesday, DH added garland to the top of the kitchen shelves.

I made enough Chex Mix to fill four one-gallon Ziploc bags.

I made Oreo Cherry Truffles.

The paperwhites are shooting up. A sweet reminder that spring will come again!

I made new ornaments for one of the trees. It used to hold pictures of our children and grands. I changed the theme to “Christmas at our house.” I used foam core board and pictures I printed to make the ornaments. After the Open House is over, I plan to post a tutorial. I got the idea at Making Lemonade.

On Wednesday DH finished cleaning all the light fixtures. Clark helped change the burned out lightbulb.

I put ornaments on this little aluminum tree. Winston and Amy supervised.

Winston even offered to help decorate.

Afterwards, he sat in the basket and admired the tree with its vintage ornaments.

My sister found all the vintage ornaments in thrift stores a few years ago.

I straightened the beads on this little tree. They stay on the tree when it is stored and had somehow become tangled a bit. Not hard to fix. Amy watched from the chair and Ski made a close inspection. To attach the beads, I bend the very end of the branch back and over the bead string. Holds them in place very well. I do the same thing on the blue and silver tree in the downstairs bedroom.

DH hung the snowflakes from the kitchen ceiling. Now it feels like Christmas!

My usual routine for open house prep is to spend Thursday, Friday and Saturday (before the open house on Sunday) in the kitchen. Today, I made a big pot of chicken tortellini soup which we can lunch on this weekend. And I dipped truffles and cookie bar bites.

Daniel’s Cookie Bar Bites

Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

Mocha Truffles

And Chocolate Creams

Today our daughter-in-law and older grand came over to help. They will be here until after the party. They are making great headway on the list. Tomorrow friend Laurie is coming to help and tomorrow evening my sister Genny will arrive to stay until after the party on Sunday. Also, our son and two younger grands will arrive tomorrow evening to spend the rest of the weekend. Lots of helping hands. I am very grateful!

I think we are doing very well with our schedule and the list of things that need to be done. Tomorrow, while everyone else takes care of the rest of the house, I will be dipping more truffles, making last minute cookies and candies, and cheering on all my helpers! My thanks to all of you!

~~Rhonda

At the end of last week, I worked on making twelve boxes for Chistmas card shadow boxes.

I managed to embellish one of those before setting the project aside for the weekend.

I know size is hard to figure out in pictures. This box is about 5″ wide by 3″ tall (not counting the hanger), and 1″ deep.

If you are interested in making Christmas card shadow boxes, here’s the link to my tutorial. Feel free to ask if you have any questions about the process. I’m happy to help.

Making shadow boxes from Christmas cards.

Genny came down for the weekend and we picked up with decorating again. I washed the prisms for the glass tree. All the ornaments on this tree are made of glass, mostly clear glass. I like spun glass ornaments the best, but I also have lampwork ornaments, molded glass ornemants, and more that 150 chandelier prisms, as well as chandelier chains as the garland on the tree.

We finished the glass tree (my favorite!) with DH’s help on the high part. The tree sits on a two foot high wooden box and the box has an eight inch high “box” on it to give the tree a little more lift. It’s a 7.5′ tree, but the ceilings are 12′ tall, so we put it on the box to give it more oomph.

Genny and I put stars up on the arch over the bay where the glass tree sits. These gold stars were on the Three Kings Tree but, since we didn’t put that one up this year, we are using the stars on the arch. Check out that 150 year old, walnut woodwork. We have lived here for twenty years, but this house continues to amaze me.

This is the Three Kings Tree, as we used to set it up. This year, because we aren’t decorating the upstairs, we didn’t put up this tree. We put the “Glass” tree where the Nativity used to be (in the bay). We used a smaller tree for nativity ornaments on the desk in the music room. And the Bubble Light Tree that is usually on that desk is set up in in the front window in the library (where the glass tree also is). Got that??

Where the Three Kings tree used to be, we put the green cupboard that houses our games and puzzles. We had to move it there when we put the Bubble Light Tree in the front window.

Anyhoo…DH did another high job for me. He put lights around the 12′ ceiling in the music room. We are so thankful for our Little Giant ladder! It is wonderfully secure while reaching high places. That’s unsolicited praise! No affiliation with Little Giant. It’s just a great, great ladder!

While Genny put vintage ornaments on the laundry room tree, I wrapped my “favorite gifts.”

Genny also put Frosty and his laundry on the dryer door.

Some of my friends in other parts of the country had their first snows of the season this week. Thankfully, we are still enjoying fall here!

Friday we even opened the windows for a bit. Ski, Winston and Clark enjoyed that! Ski continued to chill in front of the open window, but Winston and Clark watched intently as DH adjusted my TV in the craft room for me.

You can see five of my ten boxes of Christmas cards in the above picture. And boxes of embellishments sorted by color. I’m always looking for more cards, if anyone has some to give away!

I’ve made 25 kinds of cookies and candies in the past few months. All in the freezer waiting for the party! I have two more cookie recipes to bake. Then I have seven goodies left to make, but they are things that have to wait until closer to the party. We have ten trees decorated and four to go. Well down from the twenty-two trees we usually have. But not decorating the upstairs is the best option for us this year, so that has cut our tree decorating down quite a bit!

Back to work! I’ll check in again soon!

~~Rhonda

This is a very busy time of year for us and the past few days were no exception. As is usual this time of year, my sister Genny was here to help. We managed to get quite a bit done.

We put snow on the small tree that sits on top the dining room cabinet. Snow = cotton. I used to use shredded plastic snow, but I can’t do that in good conscience any longer. Plastic waste is so bad for our planet. The cotton gives us the same effect. Doesn’t look exactly the same, but it works. The two trees with cotton snow on them are taken to the attic for storage with the cotton and lights still on them. This year, the lights had to be replaced on the small tree, so we had to redo the snow, as well.

I opened the box with the Christmas tree toppers in it, so I put them on the candlesticks for display. We’ll probably use them on the cookie table for our Open House.

I made Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies with white chocolate chunks.

While baking, I noticed this onion. Seems to think it’s time for spring.

These items went to the freezer. Still some cookies and candy to make, but I am gaining on them!

DH and I put the red beads on the living room tree. With a little help from Clark. Winston was hiding on the box under the tree and watched the activity with a great deal of interest.

Last Friday, I finished this little house. So cute. It’s posted in my Etsy shop ChristmasNotebook.

Today, some craft therapy. I’m going to work on making a few more Putz houses. I’ll try to remember to take some pictures and let you see how I progress. Sometimes, I get so caught up in the project that I forget to document it with pictures!

~~Rhonda