Dec 28, 2013

Christmas Wrap Up

Christmas dinner brought 16 family members to my house.  My parents, siblings, and most of my nieces and nephew came.  The oldest niece is 22 and the youngest is three.  I think the little one was a bit overwhelmed by all the people and being in a strange place.

As one of the desserts, I made Midnight Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting. Those cupcakes were so moist and chocolate-y!  I also made a cupcake tower that turned out looking like a Christmas tree.


The Homestead is small and as such, I had to borrow a table and chairs so that everyone had a place to sit when it was time to eat.  The dinner table ended up about 14ft long and took up the entire length of my dining room.


Originally, I had planned on putting paper doilies underneath the candles on the table.  After searching through my craft supplies, I came to the realization I didn't have round doilies!  What's a crafty girl to do?

 
Paper Snowflakes!  Remember making these in school?  I made one for each candle and each one was unique... just like the real thing.  My mom thought they were adorable.
 
In wrapping up Christmas 2013, I'll leave you with more decorations and the cards I received this year:

 
This is a Santa's Workshop music box.  See the player piano type paper?  It plays 16 melodies as this paper rotates throughout the workshop and winds down underneath.  Each room in the workshop is lighted and has animated characters.  It is so cool!

 
This is another animated music box called Welcome Santa.  It plays Santa Claus is Coming to Town.  The tree lights up, the rocking horse rocks and Santa rotates from his bag of gifts to the little girl.  See the photo of the baby in the Christmas frame?  My mom thought it was her great grandson and was asking his 16 year old aunt if that was him.  Finally, I told them both it was my niece (the 16 year old)... even she didn't recognize herself, lol.  Too funny.

 
Does that little face look familiar?  A long time ago, a friend bought this Hamilton Mint ornament for me because it reminded him of Celeste.  I always set it on a hard surface because I'm afraid it'll fall off the tree and break.

 
These three guys spent the holiday season party-ing it up in the living room beneath one of my smaller trees.  Aren't they adorable?

 




 
Remember a while back I blogged about my "first" camera?  My mom asked if I still had the camera.  In anticipation of the holidays, I got out the camera, pack film, and flash bulbs.  After a few tries, I was able to get a good polaroid shot of my parents with that almost 50 year old camera. 

It's a bit overexposed, but I attribute it to my not knowing how to use the dials on the camera properly.

Until next time,

 









23 comments:

Berly said...


Beautiful decorations and those cupcakes look yummy!! Hey, I see me on your wall!!

Katie said...

Glad to hear you had so many people over to enjoy the holidays with. Love your photos.

Grandma Luvs2DP said...

Love the photo of your mom and dad! Glad you had a great time!

*-* said...


Sounds like you had a wonderful family time, Meari.
Your cup cake tree looks great & I love the photo of your parents.
Have a great new Year.
Kay.

Kay said...

Sounds like your Christmas was great! Love all the decorations! Happy New Year!

Kay said...

Sounds like your Christmas was great! Love all the decorations! Happy New Year!

Sue said...

I absolutely loved looking at all the decorations, the beautiful way your dining room was set for dinner, and the lovely card display.

Your Mom is gorgeous and your Dad such a handsome man!!

I know you had a wonderful time and were the 'hostess with the mostest'...!!!!

Love you,
Sue your SM

Shebafudge said...

Thanks for sharing your Christmas. I sounds like you had a wonderful time. xx

Faith... said...

Love the picture of your parents! Glad the day was a success, the snowflake doilies are cute and a great idea. What a cute Celeste ornament!!

Unknown said...

Looks like your Christmas was a great success - you have some lovely Christmas things - especially the workshop.

Shelleen said...

The pic of your parents came out nice. Sounds like you all had a great time.

Carol said...

So glad your Christmas was so special, Meari--and the snowflake doilies are a great idea :) Lovely photo of your parents!!

Wishing you every happiness in the new year :)

Chris said...

What a lovely Christmas! The cupcakes sound yummy! I love your snowflakes.
Happy New Year!

Pam in IL said...

Looks like you had a wonderful Christmas! Love the snowflakes, decorations, music boxes and especially the photo of your parents.

Anonymous said...

Meari,

I enjoyed your blog so much! It sounds like all of you had great time.

Sally

MaryT said...

Really enjoyed reading your blog this year Meari, hope you have another great year of blogging.

Mary Louise in IN

Christina G said...

Awesome holiday! I love the pic of your parents. Here's wishing you a very blessed 2014. Christina

Anne said...

It looks like it was a fabulous dinner Meari! I love the cupcake tree and I bet they were super tasty. Great way to be inventive with the paper snowflakes. They look fantastic! What a great photo of your parents. Wishing you all the best for the New Year!!

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a great time with your family and love all your decorations.

Wishing you all the best for the New Year.

Marl

Vicky L said...

Glad you had a great Christmas! Wow, 16 people! I loved making snowflakes when I was a kid. I would try to make some fancy ones. Love the cards snd decorations!

Anonymous said...

Meari -

Sounds like everyone had a great time! I love all the decorations! Love the picture of your mom and dad.

Marge

glenda said...

Sounds like a great holiday. So..are you going to share that cupcake recipe? We love chocolate-y :)

Akila said...

Have missed so many posts again.. lots to catch up on
Lovely decorations. Love your table setup. Your parents look adorable