PRETTY PRESENTS

Every year I pick a different theme to wrap my presents.  This year I went with Red, Silver, White and Glitter.  Lots and Lots of glitter!

Have you seen or used this kind of ribbon before?  I've seen it and even bought it before but I hated it.

I had no idea how to use it.  Then I was at the Container Store and they showed me how fun it can be to use.  It's now my all time favorite ribbon!

I don't really like to use those stick on tags.  I like to find pretty ones that match my theme.  We got some really nice ones from Costco this year. 

I also like to use little ornaments to pretty up a package too.  This little glitter reindeer fit in perfect with this years wrapping.  I had some things left over from last year that I was able to use this year. 

This photo didn't come out that great at all.  But, I wanted to show you another favorite ribbon I have this year.  It's a velvet red ribbon with a silver tinsel on the edge.  It has sort of a vintage look to it.

I do like to make pretty bows, add little extras to the packages and make them look as nice as I can. 

However, when I get tired, I just tie a plain bow and I happen to think those packages look just as pretty.

I'm not a stick on bow lover.  In fact, I never even buy those.  I like the big wide ribbon much better.

I still have lots of wrapping to do.  I just wanted to share with you what my presents are going to look like this year.

I can't afford to spend a lot of money on presents this year, but, I can take the time to make them look as nice as I can.

Hope everyone likes them.

I HIT THE JACKPOT!!!

As promised, I'm sharing with you what I found as I was unpacking boxes yesterday.

SILVER!! Lots and lots of silver. Only it wasn't mine. It belonged to my sister, Patty.

She has had it for years and never used it. She was ready to get rid of it but when I told her I loved it she gave it all to me! How lucky can I get?

Thank you so much Patty for being such a wonderful giver and great sister!


It didn't look all shinny like it does now though. It was pretty tarnished. So I used a little elbow grease and now it all looks brand new.

There is a water pitcher, two dishes with covers to keep the food warm, a butter dish.

It's hard to get good photos as everything reflects off the silver.

This cute wine holder. Also, a creamer and sugar holder. I wish I had a tea pot to go with those. Maybe someday I'll find one at a thrift store.

This cute scalloped dish has a crest on it. I'm not sure what the crest is of. I thought it could be the Kennedy crest but I don't think so. I'll have to do some research.

This darling serving tray with a handle, another bowl with a pretty rose pattern going around the edge and another scalloped dish, perfect for candy.

This is a better view of the butter dish (it matches my silverware from my Aunt) and one of the covered dishes. Which can be turned into two uncovered dishes.

You can see the bread basket and a meat tray as well as a better shot of one of the scalloped dishes.

I know a lot of people don't like silver because they don't like to clean it. I found the cleaning to be very enjoyable.

When I was a child I would go to my favorite Aunt's house and she would take out her silver and we would sit there and polish it all up. We talked about everything while doing it. I loved that time spent with her.

So when I was polishing up this silver those memories came flooding back to me.

I also love to see how the tarnish comes off and under all that is a bright shinny beautiful piece of silver.

I can't wait to use these pieces. I've already decided to use several of the pieces at Trinity's Birthday party that we are having this weekend.

I wonder what I'll find the box I unpack today?

For those of you who are interested, I had my first weigh in of the year. I lost 3 lbs this week! That means I made my goal of 10 lbs lost between Thanksgiving week and the first week of the year. I hope you did too.

I've now lost 41.4 lbs. I'm thrilled to hit that 40 lb mark.

One last thing before I go, you must go to http://never-e-nuff.blogspot.com/ and see the wonderful apron she has on her blog that she is giving away. So cute. Be sure to tell her you found her from my blog.