My TDIPT Swap Package

OK...today I finally got my TDIPT Swap package from Linda of Simple Treasures!

All of us girls in the group LOVE to do swaps, and each time, they get more and more exciting, as we wait to see who gets what from whom...

Here's what sweet Linda sent me...

A precious Santa dressed in a quilt jacket and soft white cap and britches. His boots have teensy lil bells and fur tops. He has a goodie bag filled with greenery and berries, a vintage looking ornie, and even has a sweet lil teddy bear to sit on his lap. I LOVE bears, and this will make a great addition to my collection.

Another beautiful handmade of Linda's - a snowcone folk that has sweet annie tucked in the back, and OMG it smells SO yummy!

And last, but certainly not least, is all kinds of yummies - candles, chocolate, coffee, Santa stickers, a bundle of sweet annie, note cards.....
I am so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful talented bunch of the "givin-ness" ladies on the earth!

Check out www.tdiptmercantile.com to see all the great items offered by this great group of girls...there's something for everyone there!

New on Ebay

I forgot to post a picture of the Santa on a Stick Horse that I put on Ebay yesterday.

My sweet hubby made the base of him, and mounted the horse into it for me; he loves helping me on my projects, and his workmanship is always top-notch!

"Light Up Leesburg"

Last night our town had it's annual "Light Up Leesburg" festival on Main St.

Main St. is closed down, and filled with lots of fun things for the whole family to enjoy. There are carnival type rides and games for the kids - who doesn't love a good ole game of Skeeball?

There is a stage set up in front of City Hall on the town square, where the local dance troupes perform their Christmas routines.
Uncle Donald's Farm brings in some of their animals for a petting zoo.
A New Orleans style Jazz Ensemble entertains the crowd with lively music.
Street performers - stilt walkers dressed up as a giant butterfly, and a enormous "tin soldier" - seen here handing out candy to a youngster, fascinated by his size.
One of my favorites was the Strolling Carolers, all dressed in Vintage Victorian costumes. Their harmonies in singing all the beautiful songs of Christmas was remarkable; I could have stood there all night listening to them!
While looking in the shop windows at all the beautiful Christmas displays, I came across this and just had to take a photo of it! You know me, and my love of Huskies! This is in the front window of an upscale boutique, which has been in business for years.
Another storefront - the studio of Myron Leggett, was fascinating to stand in front of, as Myron was working his magic on a portrait of two children. He is one of the best photographers I've ever seen, and then he does oil paintings of the photographs. Maybe one day if I win the lottery, I could afford to get one done!

What child, or me, could resist the thrill of seeing Santa? He saw me trying to get in a position to take his photo, without his assistant stepping in front of me, as she already had several times! As soon as she stepped to the side, he gave me this:
After we finished our stroll down Main St., we got back into the car and drove over to Venetian Gardens; a few blocks from downtown on Lake Harris, Venetian Gardens is a series of islands connected by bridges. They decorate the front island as "The North Pole", and there is Christmas music playing - causing everyone to sing along as they stroll among the different displays . The first picture in this post is the sign that welcomes you to the park.
The large southern Oaks, full of Spanish moss, also held crosses of white lights, a soldier who was probably 15 or 20 ft. tall, and I wish this picture showed better how beautiful they were as they reflected into the canals.

I hope you've enjoyed my tour of my little town. I'm so glad that I live in a place that is still small enough to celebrate the Christmas holidays in an old fashioned tradition.

Have a wonderful Saturday!
Janelle

The Christmas Tree is UP!

Today after doing my running around I decided I wanted to turn on some Christmas music and set my mood for decorating the living room for Christmas. I usually do this on the day after Thanksgiving, but this year my oldest sister LaLa is coming over for Thanksgiving, and I wanted to have the house decorated for that.

Tonight when Bill got home after work, we ate supper and then he helped me get our Christmas tree up and decorated.

It's decorated in red, white and gold glass ornamants; some being vintage ones that I've collected from my ventures to the local thrift stores and yard sales.

Also adorning our tree are:

• some small cinnamon stars and cookie shaped ornaments, sprinkled with German glass glitter and tied with natural raffia


• fabric candy canes I made


• reproduction vintage postcards of Santa

Underneath and beside the tree are two larger Santas - one being the one my sister LaLa made me, that I blogged about a few days ago. I've put one of my large stick horses that I did in a great cranberry red, inside his right elbow.

The other Santa is one that I made, that I'm glad didn't sell! He was featured on: so I'm glad that I get to keep him and pass him on to my children and grandchildren! He's sitting atop an RC Harley that Santa brought Bill a few years ago.

Our tree is topped by:

TINK!
Everyone who knows me really well, knows that I just love Tinkerbell, and a couple of years ago we found this topper at Disney Village in their Christmas shop that's open year round. She's no longer in production, so I really treasure her even more!

To the right of the tree, I have a small distressed black table, on which I put my collection of all my favorite vintage Santas I've been gathering little by little. I think my most favorite out of all these is the one who is sitting in the sled with his hands under his knees. He was calling out to me in one of our local thrift stores... :)

I tend to move things around a LOT before I'm completely happy with the way they are arranged, but for now - this is how it's going to be!