Christmas Is In The Air

Our yearly tradition; takes us to our usual Christmas tree farm to find the perfect Balsam Fir . Oh, I just love the smell of the Balsam Fir, it's like a citrus scent of sorts, yet, Christmas~ie...

Here you see hubby (with chain saw in hand) and Grand D following behind, I'm last in line and the one taking the pictures.

Last Sunday, the temperature was almost 40* F it was raining and snowing all in one. We walked, and walked, and walked, we searched all over, crossing the road in several places, even got back in the truck and drove down the road. This year all the trees seemed to have a brownish color to them, and they appeared to be shaggy, rather than trimmed.

It ended up, that we were not satisfied with any of the trees, figured we'd get in the truck and head for town; surely there'd be a few lots with pre-cut trees. Right? Right?

Wrong, what is going on, Not a single one, this is surreal... Discouraged, we stopped at Denny's to grab a bite to eat, and to talk over what our next option is. Will we find a Christmas tree this year, "a real one" that we can sit back and enjoy the scents. I mentioned to hubby, that a few weeks back (right after Thanksgiving) a huge tractor trailer truck had delivered trees to one of the veggie stand places. Not even sure, if he would have any left, we decided this would be our last shot at getting a real Christmas tree this year.

As luck would have it, they had 2 left, we bought one and the owner of the lot dragged the last in for his family, then shut off his outside lights.

Oh, Glory be... we are so fortunate and tickled...

In the spirit now, I drive back to town the following day to pick up a few more decorations at Wally~ Marts; the Good Will Store is right on the way so I thought I'd just take a peek.

Wowser, a lucky streak, I found this snowman, for a really decent price; can you believe, only $2.00. I also purchased a 9' strand of garland (brand new, and wrapper still around it, from Wally~Mart) for only $.75

Now that's luck!

He looks so comfy right here in the front window.


Looking through my Country Sampler magazine what do I see; spotted something I knew I could do right here in my own house (I have everything that it requires) and would like to share it with you all.

1st you will need a basket, like the one you see here, or any medium sized basket would do.

The next step, is to place something white in the bottom of your basket (I just so happen to have a roll of cotton left over from my horse's first aid kits.)

For the third step, you'll need to gather some trim pieces either from a tree outside or (if your like me, you'll have some in your Christmas stash that you didn't even know you had.)

Go find an ornament of your choice (I'm a real snowman fan) could be a Santa, or reindeer, whatever you want it to be. Then start poking in a few branches around your ornament.

Like so...

Toss in some pine cones; and wha ~la you now are the proud crafter of a new Christmas center piece for your tabletop.

Your basket is complete.

I made the runner out of some old material I have been hanging onto for years, and then I placed a candle on a saucer with a ring of berries to finish it off.

There will be more decorating pictures to share, I'm still puttering around trying to cozy up the house for the Holidays.

Country Sampler is an inspirational magazine for a crafter at heart.