December weekend 2

 

 It was another festive weekend as we move toward Christmas!

I've already told you about the Christmas book (pictured above)  that I found at our local thrift store last week, but I will share again for any who may have missed it.  We've been enjoying it very much as it is so Christ-centered.  I paid 50¢, but Thriftbooks has it for $4.19 if you are so inclined.  You can see it here: The Heart & Home of Christmas.  I brought it along to our camp as we stayed over that night.  Mr. T enjoyed reading through it while I worked on other projects.

I guess this book came to mind because we went to the thrift store again this Friday.  It isn't usually a regular stop for us, unless we are dropping off donations.  But last week, we had bought a few Christmas plates (plastic) and we've already used several of them. It seemed a good idea to look for a few more.  These plates were 50¢, so it beats the dollar store.  We bought a half dozen in various sizes and designs.

My local daughter also suggested that I check out some special vintage Christmas books she had seen in the Christmas room at this shop.  They are subtitled An American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art.  I did buy one just for fun.  The image below is the one that I bought.  It's from 1959.  I paid $5 but have seen them online for $18 and up!  Some of the older ones at the thrift store were as high as $12.

 I hope to blog about this book later this week when I have time to look through it more.

We browsed the Christmas room a little more and I picked up a package of 3 lovely glass ornaments for only $1 (if I remember right).  The bottom part is painted gold on the inside and the rest is clear.  So pretty!

Also on Friday we did our grocery shopping and picked up a few ingredients for cookie baking. Our supermarket has rolls of really fun kraft wrapping paper for $1.99, so we got a couple rolls.  Probably some of the unused rolls we have in the attic will end up going to the thrift store.  I like these much better!

 Saturday was a festive day from beginning to end.  In the morning I was able to attend a monthly ladies' Bible study which I enjoy so much.  I've mentioned our friend Amanda Reed, who leads this study, before.  This summer, she and her family moved to a beautiful log cabin with amazing views.  It was so fun to see how Amanda had added Christmasy touches like bows and ornaments to snowshoes both on her porch and on inside walls (and I wish I'd had a means of taking photos).  She also had jars of simple greenery all around the house.  

This was the last Bible study for awhile as we finished up this study on idolatry: More Than Anything.  We will resume in the spring with a new study.

Amanda had prepared a lovely brunch for us as it was our last time together for awhile: a delicious egg bake, fruit salad, pecan coffeecake, and smoothies.  Beyond kind.  It was such a gift to all of us.  You can read Amanda's latest blog post here: Making a Big Deal of Christmas.  I'm sure you would find it a blessing!

In the afternoon, my hubby and I were embroiled in all kinds of festive pursuits as I finished some cookies and he brought in the Christmas tree.  My hubby had previously made some chocolate pressed cookies in the shape of Christmas trees and I was turning them into little cookie sandwiches with minty white chocolate.

You can find the recipe here: Chocolate Peppermint Trees.  I didn't tint the white chocolate pale green as the recipe says, but instead left it white and then sprinkled on some green sugar.  Below you see them in their freezer box.

After that, I also baked some Chocolate Orange Cookies.  I just love the festive flavors of chocolate and orange together!

 
All the while, as I baked and he set up the Christmas tree, we had Christmas music playing and it was just a nice time together even though in separate areas much of the time.  We finished decorating the tree together after supper.

And then Sunday was a very festive day as we enjoyed our Christmas program at church.  Lots of music, Scripture, kids playing bells, and much more.  It was a very nice program that showcased the true meaning of Christmas!

Sunday afternoon Mr. T was out of town for a few hours so I wrote some blog posts, packaged up some Etsy orders, and wrote a few Christmas cards.  Below you see what one of the Etsy orders was for -- this gorgeous unused vintage Christmas card.

And that was the second weekend in December!