New Year's Resolutions to Do or Not to Do

A friend asked me a few days ago if I had resolutions for the New Year. It caught me off guard as I had not made "New Year's Resolutions" for more than a dozen years. Surprisingly, it was the first year that I had thought of making some in many years.


Resolutions are always positive and motivating? Well the ones I make are to the best of my recollection.  Just the act of making resolutions; whether or not you ever manage to bring them to their conclusion, seems like the best possible reason for going through the exercise. Dredging up some positive ideas or notions about how you perceive the future can only be good for your serotonin levels. So filling my head with all sorts of thoughts and emotions regarding the coming year has become a lovely sojourn into the future over the past few days. No doubt a few majestic ideas will make it through the rigors of the coming months and bring forth some interesting events ... more than if I had never planned or made a resolution about anything at all.
Happy New Year!
Deanna

Christmas Night - The Time is Upon Us

Many will have been satiated with a fine dinner the kind reserved for this special day and time of year. Having been invited to join a friend's family I too dined well but in a very relaxed manner. Young children were tired from the extreme hype over the past few days. They were mellow but lively enough to fill me in on the fine art of constructing modern buildings with Lego blocks  - blocks that are so sophisticated as to be daunting.


All will sleep well knowing that once again the rituals which are created within families and cherished year after year, along with newly evolving ones, have been honored for another year.The evolving ones are all that is needed to keep creative Christmas inspiration alive.  Knowing that it will all come bubbling up to the surface again to be treasured and nurtured.
Have included a photo of dining room light festooned with delicate branches and Christmas balls, (Truly . the photos do not do it justice).

Good Evening.

T'was Two Nights Before Christmas

The wrapping is about to begin. Made seven dozen chocolate truffles today. Flavors include; lemon pistachio (made to taste like the lemon pie Mum used to make), rum/raisin, Kahlua latte, espresso creme brulee, Yin/Yang, Poire William, ginger/apricot, toasted mocha pecan and more...

Finished decorating my dining area last evening. It is an area where friends will gather so special attention was paid to making it festive and inviting. Will have a photo soon.

Will go out now to pick up the elements for a wreath including fresh greens, foam core and  fresh roses. Have found it is important to incorporate a new creative element each year - keeps me in very good spirits. Like to think everyone I come in contact with benefits from the positive flow of creative juices as it is the fuel for my soul, and many others that I know.

Plan to view some of the outdoor lights in my neighborhood tonight as I go about doing some Christmas errands. It is a terrific display of good will to others and a boon to the spirits of all who pass by these beautifully decorated homes. Humans seem to seek out light and I believe their generosity soars at the sight of the seasonal decorations leading us through the dark and rainy nights of a Vancouver winter.

Christmas Lights in My Neighborhood are Splendiferous

I say thank you to all the homeowners in the Queens Park area of New West. You have outdone your selves this year. It is pure magic that you have created. I want to walk your streets at night and revel in the celebratory mood which you have created for all.

It would be a pleasure to walk up to every door in my neighborhood and say Thank you! Thank you for creating a magic wonderland out of the darkest days of the year, dispelling the gloom. There is even wonder in the fact that the displays are all so uniquely individual. They have thrust a huge dagger into the depths of winter and fill the heart and soul with such magic - a gift to all who live here.
An example of how people use the opportunity to celebrate and share their creativity at Christmas the like of which does not happen at other times.

"http://www.etsy.com/shop/silverliningxmas"

Gift Wrapping for Christmas

Fear and loathing or joy and passion polar opposites and some of the emotions elicited by the thought of having to wrap those gifts so carefully chosen for those near and dear to us. I know my thoughts when  offering a Christmas gift to someone special are thoughts of bringing delight and even thrills to the recipient. Happen to think the wrapping is part of the gift and equally significant?

One way of bringing some personal satisfaction to gifting and wrapping of same is to collect objects of decoration/baubles all year long. Beautiful buttons, silver stars or snowflakes, decorative ribbons in a range of colors all qualify as decorative materials. Save those beautiful paper bags which some stores generously give out with purchases. Turn down the top in a crisp fold use a hole punch (decorative one or your handy standby punch)and thread one or two colorful ribbons through the holes to seal.

Firstly, I should have suggested that you choose a color theme for gift wrapping . This year my color theme  is wide black satin, sheer wired gray and lime green ribbons paired with narrow black grosgrain ribbon. The paper choice this year is silver imprinted paper, red imprinted paper and pale turquoise with white reindeer. Cannot get into the mood unless I have papers and ribbons that stimulate my creative juices. Collecting little ornaments and decorative baubles all year long when I happen upon them gives me a reason to check out shabby but chic and antique shops.

Please give me your ideas on gift wrapping - your own perspective. Am I one of a very small number of people who love the thought of wrapping gifts in a special way?

Stockings Are the Best Thing About Christmas Morning

Waking up to the feel of a stocking draped across the bottom of your bed or spying one hanging from the end of your bed post with lumps brings such memories. The traditional orange tucked  into the toe; the promise of good luck all year long. Intriguing little parcels peeking out from the top of your stocking such mystery and chills of delight - all of us with that experience know why Christmas stockings are the best thing about Christmas morning.

Photos of Table Top and Napkin Rings

Christmas Preparations a Blend of the Imperfect

It's All About Decorative Displays and The Colors of Winter

The colors of winter - silver, clear crystal, white and green they were my choice this year for a decorative table display.  You can choose any colour(s); pleasing to you. Voila you have created your own personal wonderland. The vignette which you create will still your heart and calm your frenzied state with just a glance. As it was lovingly created by you; altering your creation by adding to it or subtracting from it will be determined by your creative urges and whims.
Deanna

Christmas Preparations a Blend of the Imperfect

A blend of the imperfect is a phrase from  Nova Scotia writer Alistair Mac Leod. He referred to it in relation to one of his Christmas stories. It  seems an apt notion as you carry out your  preparations for Christmas. If you try to obey all the rules rather than being present in the moment for yourself and others then you will miss all the fun. Think of the season as a blend of the imperfect and let it rest on that notion.

Deanna

The Days Before Christmas ....Opportunity

I think our winter season offers tremendous opportunities to be creative and hospitable ...

The Days Before Christmas ....

Just removed a date, almond, chocolate meringue torte from my oven, actually two. They smell wonderful. One will be a gift today to a business that assisted me with social media way back in April.
Does this make up for the over- baking of a fruit ladden traditional Christmas cake yesterday? It helped a little - what to do with a dry fruit cake that I had hoped to share with friends.
The decoration of my Christmas table this year will be done in crystal and silver with a few chartreuse mirror Christmas balls thrown in with a nod to some festive color. Including pieces which are of different heights and shapes brings interest and delight to the eye and brain of the beholder. Beautiful napkin rings are an important element in bringing the scheme all together. I have some favorite silver ones with beads which I created and love using. They are multicolored and of different shapes but all are unified with the silver wires.

Most people don't have time to start from scratch making their own napkin rings but there are many Christmas decorations with clear beads, silver beads which can be shaped into your own personal and unique napkin rings.

Visit my Christmas stocking store at silverliningxmas on ETSY.ca

Hope to have photos of a table in progress over the next few days (including my napkin rings).
Deanna

The Days Before Christmas ....

Many are able to see the bigger picture when it comes to sharing at Christmas. People open their hearts to others in a special way, am always amazed how easy it is to observe this happening. As I travel about collecting ingredients for a special cake made only at Christmas or finding the exact best shade of ribbon for a friend's Christmas package - people are just different.

Will share ideas for decorating the holiday table tomorrow.
Deanna

The Days Before Christmas

My first blog post and am wishing I had begun blogging months ago. How many people were inspired to blog by the character Julie in movie Julie and Julia. The days before Christmas are inspiring as sharing of baked delicacies, my chocolate truffles, wrapping of gifts in almost all instances lovingly and thoughtfully chosen becomes a frequent refrain in my brain.
Much more to say but later .....
Deanna