red squirrel christmas open house

our annual christmas open house was held in november for 2 days this year. we had lots of fun- lots of buying and over-all good cheer. the food was great and the shop looked so festive.  enjoy pictures of the shop....

                                                

                                                                      

                                                                      blue section...

                                                              
             "new" cupboard that i filled up with apple-pie filling, candy, jam,  and other homemade  goodies.

we fixed the dining room up in the house as part of the shop. these are the items that katie made and also sells on etsy.

                                              our" pillow and girly" corner in the dining room.

                                                          more in the dining room...

                                                  most of these things sold in the first hour!

                         i had a few items displayed on the porch before coming into the dining room.  the reason i only had 11 cups is because one was found on the porch floor- broken. some "visitor" had come in the middle of the night and disrupted things- was it an elf or pixy? -                                                                                                                                                     

NO.... i was able to actually see the culprit early in the morning of my open house. a large, brown RAT!, yes, rat, was crawling along the curtain rod on the porch. i left the door open all day- hoping he wouldn't pop out right in front of anyone at the open house. he must have gotten out, as we haven't had any more incidences on the porch.  (the exterminator came and found rat prints outside in the snow and set some traps- whew!) this is the trap we put on the porch - it was alot larger than it looks here.

a lot of work, but worth it!



christmas traditions...

    throughout the years we have had many traditions- some have lasted and some have been broken sometimes "just because".  here are several that have stuck and some have even spanned a generation now.. my mom started this one-  we bake sugar cookies and decorate them - one for each person who will be sharing christmas dinner with us. each person finds their cookie with their initials or name on it. these are custom made to suit the person's situation or personality. (several of us like cats. one loves red hots ). well, you get the idea.

this is a wreath that i made when i was pregnant with joanna- 27 years ago. each little ornament is hand embroidered and stuffed and is attached to the wreath - one each day in december. the problem this year is that i found most of the ornaments on the floor when i came home one evening.  the felines had discovered new toys and it was a free-for-all!  i was able to retrieve all but one and am still hoping that one will show up.

cookie trays for the neighbors have always been a fun tradition- especially for the elderly ones who no longer bake.

cracking up candy canes for vanilla icecream- always a favorite- even though one can now buy the real thing.

decorating the tree  - even though it's alot smaller than those of yesterday. this one was purchased  at a thrift store and has vintage-type ornaments on it. (more detail a little later).

we always try to have festive tables during the holidays. we also hang our stockings in the dining room and have an additional tree there. nella is demonstrating how we sit at the table!  just kidding.

this shows more detail of the living room tree. jojo sent this cute danish pixy- it's the only colorful thing on the tree and reminds us of her . she can tell us the real name for this sweet little one..".hagen das"??? :o)

these are just a few of our traditions- the ones i happened to capture on film.  mostly we just enjoy the christmas season with each other and the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

sweet revenge

christmas time and i thought a cute decoration would be a  santa hat tacked on our maple tree- the one with  the face. .one week after i did this, this is what remained of my clever idea!  my former tenants of my shop (red squirrel)  found the perfect revenge...ergo the shredded cap... they've been waiting for 6 years for the perfect opportunity.  nice going, guys.