NEW CHRISTMAS CD'S

I love to listen to Christmas music. It seems to always put me in a happy mood. Really gets me in the Christmas spirit.

I have a pretty good size collection of Christmas CD's. Every year I try to get at least one or two new ones.

This year, my wonderful sister, Patty, picked up two new ones for us while she was out shopping.

One of my favorite singers is Tony Bennett. So I was thrilled when I saw the first CD was Tony Bennett's "A Swingin' Christmas" featuring The Count Basie Big Band.

There is just something about the good old singers from the past singing Christmas songs that I adore. Sure, I like some of the newer singers and the new songs but my heart holds a special place for the traditional songs like, Have Your Self a Merry Little Christmas, Silver Bells, I'll be Home for Christmas and Santa Claus is coming to Town.

So this CD is perfect for me!

Growing up it just wasn't Christmas without Elvis singing in the background. So this CD reminds me of Christmas past.

It's Elvis Presley "Christmas Duets". Through the power of magic Elvis is now singing with the likes of Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Wynonna Judd and several others.

OK, well it's not by magic but by the wonderful technology of today they have remixed and remastered the old versions of Elvis' Christmas songs to make this beautiful CD.

My all time favorite Christmas song is The First Noel. I get a bit misty eyed every time I hear that song. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Be sure to stop by tomorrow as I'm having a GIVEAWAY!

FOUR CHRISTMASES ~ REVIEW FOR YOU

I love Christmas movies. Every year I always go see the newly released ones. So, when I got an opportunity to go to a Sneak Peak and see Four Christmases, I jumped at the chance.

This is a cute movie. Not a real thinker. But then again, most Christmas movies aren't. But it does have a sweet message that family is important, no matter what family you belong to. It's a fun movie and seeing all the Christmas decorations in the back ground is enjoyable.

I don't think it's for small kids. After all, it does let it slip out that there really is no Santa! I know, I know! I was shocked to hear that myself! I still don't believe it though.

It's a perfect movie to go see after a long day of shopping for Christmas gifts, wrapping presents and/or baking cookies. Grab your friend, family member or go alone. Just make sure you go to the theater, get some popcorn and coke and relax a bit while you enjoy this movie.

I'm not sure of the release date but I know it's coming to a theater near you real soon.

HATS, HATS AND MORE HATS

I got several emails asking me about the hat I wore at the Victorian Tea Society this past weekend.

So, I thought I would give you a better picture to show you what it looked like up close.

I loved this hat. The only problem was it's not mine. I borrowed it from one of the other ladies in the group.

I'm now on the look out for a hat that I can afford. Or at least one I can make. I figure I can hot glue with the best of them. So all I really need is to find a hat that I can work with.

There are some beautiful hats out there but they cost a lot of money. I don't have a lot of money so I can't just buy one.

We will be learning how to make hats in our group but that won't be until March of 2009. I can't wait that long.

So I thought if I could find a hat with a wide brim I could just hot glue material, flowers and feathers to it make my own.

The hats were so pretty back 200 years ago. I wish we still wore hats today.

I love the big feathers and flowers and lace hats are made of.

I don't think a lot of the flowers today look like they did back in the Victorian era. So I would love to be able to find some vintage flowers. I don't think I will because I think they cost a lot of money too. Again, that lets me out.

So, I may stick more to the feathers and lace. Even though using flowers from today would still be a pretty hat. It just wouldn't be authentic looking.

I really want to one day have several costumes and a hat to go with each one.

Speaking of costumes, several of you wanted to know where I got my costume. The answer is the the thrift store.

Not all at once. I first got the skirt. It's just a normal long, brown velvet skirt. I got a black blouse. I got one that was way to big as they wore loose blouses with big sleeves back then. Of course the cuffs were way to big. So, I moved the buttons over to tighten up the cuffs. This made the sleeves look puffy and the cuffs still tight.

Then, I tacked down the collar as they didn't have the type we have now. I added a brooch that my sister gave me. It was a cute Cameo. Perfect for the time.


Last I found some shoes that looked to be from the era. These were a great thrift store find as you don't find them very often.

To this I added a shawl, a wig and the hat, all borrowed from the same lady. Oh yes, I also used one of her little purses too.

I think it all came together pretty good.

I love the color of this hat. Don't you? So feminine looking.

Have you ever made a hat? If so, do you have any tips to share with me.

WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR...

Do you ever spot the first star of the night and make a wish upon it?

I used to do that all the time as a kid. I would see the first star of the night and say "Wish I may, Wish I might, Have this wish, I wish tonight". Then after careful thinking I would make my wish.

Well, now when I see the stars in the sky I wonder which one is named after me. Yes, there is a star named Joanne Kennedy.

An old boyfriend once gave me a gift of a star. OK, we all know you can't own the stars but you can get one named after you.

You get a certificate and a star chart with "your" star circled and the placement in the sky is given to you.

Have you ever heard of this before? I think it's a pretty fun gift to give someone. A super idea to give to a new born child, a spouse on your wedding or anniversary, a best friend for a birthday or really anytime is a good time to buy a star for yourself or someone you know.

You can go to http://www.starregistry.com/catalog/dspProduct.cfm?prod=starkit and name your own star.

So next time you see that first star in the sky just remember it could be my star you are making a wish on.

WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS TREES

I love seeing what the White House does every year for their Christmas tree. Each year it seems like it's prettier then the one before.

Jackie Kennedy was the one who first started the idea of having a theme to the Christmas decorating every year.

In 1961, Jackie Kennedy had the Christmas tree decorated in a theme from the ballet, The Nutcracker. The tree was adorned with small toys, candy canes, gingerbread cookies and small packages.

When President Johnson was in office the theme for that year was An American Past. The tree was full of nuts, popcorn, fruit, roses made from wood and gingerbread cookies.

In 1969 Mrs. Nixon had the White House tree decorated in beautiful velvet and satin balls that represented the 50 States. They were all made by disabled workers in FL. Each ornament was embossed with the flower from each State.

By 1974, President Ford was in the White House and it was decided that homemade items emphasising Thrifting and Recycling would be the theme of their decorating. The tree had patchwork and handmade ornaments. There were blue moire swags lined with patchwork encircling the tree.

Jimmy Carter was in office on Christmas 1977. The first family decided to have their tree decorations made by disabled men and women from the National Association of Retarded Citizens. Placed upon the tree were ornaments made from nut pods, egg shells, foil and painted milkweed pods.

Skip ahead to 1986 and we find Mr. and Mrs Regan in the White House. Nancy Regan wanted to remember the children of America that year and so she decided on a theme of Mother Goose Christmas. The tree was packed with ornaments that looked like gingerbread cookies, Christmas card ornaments, State Balls and little white geese. At the base of the tree there were 15 soft sculptured scenes from Mother Goose rhymes.

In 1991 we found the first President Bush in office. Mrs Bush choose a tree decorated with needlepoint ornaments, red glass balls, needlepoint figures in shapes from Noah's Ark and at the bottom of the tree was a needlepoint village.

The Clinton's brought us a Winter Wonderland 1998. The tree was adorned with snowmen, knitted mittens and hats and tons of hand painted ornaments.

In 2001 the 2nd President Bush was in the White House and Laura Bush asked artists from the 50 States and District of Columbia to design miniature replicas of the historic houses from their regions.

So here we are nearing Christmas 2008. President and Mrs. Bush are going to have their last Christmas in the White House and I, for one, will be waiting and watching to see what the theme of their Christmas tree will be.

So if you were in the White House, how would you decorate your tree?

TEA TRAMP BRASS RUBBINGS

Saturday was my first outing with the Victorian Tea Society. When the group gets together and goes somewhere they call it a Tea Tramp. Everyone meets up at the place we are going to go wearing their costume.

That's me on the far right side.


I loved the way these two ladies dressed up. I thought they both had lovely dresses and hats.

We met up at St. Luke's Church in Long Beach. We were given a tour of the church by the gentleman in the photo. Some of the church was from the 1800's. Some had been rebuilt as it was destroyed by an earthquake years ago.

This church has beautiful stained glass windows. Some were original to the church from the 1800's.

They have a beautiful carved wood pulpit where the sermons are still given every Sunday.

Some of the women were seated in the pews. I wondered if this is what they would have looked like years ago when this church was first built.

The church is really simple but still full beauty.

From there we were taken into another room to learn about how brass rubbings were done back in the mediaeval times.

It was custom for those who died to have brass plaques engraved to memory. These were often used as tomb markers and portraits. They were often laid on the floor or walls of the church.

After learning a bit about brass rubbings we got to go do one of our own. The room was filled with tables set up with lots of different brass plaques to pick from.

This is a life size rubbing. Since no one had cameras back then people would often use a wax and paper placed over the brass plaques to make a copy. It was their way of having a portrait of those people they loved and respected.

This shows one of the brass plates on the left and one of the rubbings on the right.

Here is one of the ladies from our group doing her rubbing.

This is the one I did. This is a rubbing of Alice Hyde from 1567. She was the wife of William Hyde. They had five sons and five daughters.

Alice lived durning a very eventful period of history. The beginning of the turbulent reign of Henry VIII and the difficult years before Elizabeth I became Queen in 1528.

This brass is notable for the elegance of her dress.

After we all finished up our brass rubbings we went to yet another room where enjoyed a typical tea. With finger sandwiches, scones and yummy desserts.

I can't believe I forgot to take any photos durning our tea. The room was set up very nice with china plates, cups and saucers and lovely linens.

It was 93 out and wearing the costume, hat and wig made me fully understand why so many women back in the Victorian era fainted. We were all so hot as the rooms did not have air conditioning.

We all had a great time and I'm looking forward to our next outing.

I LOVE SNOWMEN

I love and collect snowmen. But, sadly I have never made my own snowman. It's something I've always wanted to do.

I don't live in an area where it snows. In fact, here it is, Nov 16th and today it is hot and windy. We don't get much of a winter at all. Maybe a few days of rain and cooler weather but never really super cold.

Some people like to build really big snowmen. This one must have taken a long time!

I would be happy to even build a tiny one like this.

Some people get super creative at how they dress their snowmen. I love the hat on this one.

This one is cute too but I'm not sure what happened to the little one next to it.

Some snowmen have arms.

Some have no arms but they have legs.

Some snowmen like to listen to music.

Sometimes snowmen are skinny.

Some snowmen have noses and some get theirs eaten off!

Yes, I adore snowmen. All shapes, sizes and all different designs. They are never the same twice.

Someday I'll build my own snowman. But, until then I will just enjoy what others build.

Have you ever built a snowman? If you did, what did it look like?