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Monday, December 6, 2010

Tea for Toys a success

Last week I participated in Tea for Toys. It was sponsored by Newnan-Coweta Magazine and Holly Cottage Tearoom and benefited Project Joy, a toy drive held by our local Foster Parent Association. The tea was held at Holly Cottage Tearoom on Savannah Street in Newnan. My editor, Angela McRae and I hope to make it a yearly event and though it took a good deal of work, especially for Angela, it was very satisfying since at the end of the day, we had a huge pile of toys that will find their way underneath the Christmas trees at foster homes all around our county.

I think the spirit of giving was in the air. All of those in attendance came in feeling good about giving toys to needy children. The tearoom was beautifully decorated and everyone was so nice.

We had so many door prizes, including a gift from Holly Cottage and a Times-Herald gift subscription. We also gave away the handmade Christmas craft projects we made to share with the attendees.

The tables were set so beautifully and each person was given a "shoe" favor which was a hand-made and decorated Victorian shoe with Christmas teabag inside. The shoes went along with our theme, "Stepping Up."

The shoes were all different and were a beautiful decoration for the tables. The menus included Vanilla Rooibos tea and for the main course, two gourmet tea sandwiches, one plump traditional fruit scone with lemon curd, berry preserves and clotted cream condiments, a hand-rolled truffle and fresh fruit. For dessert, a Traditional English Sherry Trifle was served.

During the dessert, we gave out a hand-made booklet that doubled as a program and a memento. The booklet contained recipes and directions for hand-made Christmas decorations and ideas.

I hope everyone had as good a time as I had. It was very nice and I think everyone felt pampered and happy that they had contributed to a good cause. I feel I should have taken a photo of all the toys but I forgot to do that.

For the next few days, I will share some of our craft and decorating ideas, beginning with the wreath above.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Ribbon embellished gift bags

Wrapping is a chore for me so I love using gift bags for Christmas presents. I usually make a trip or two to my local Dollar Tree store and stock up because they have plenty of pretty, decorative Christmas bags.

Another frustration is that at the last minute (usually on Christmas Eve) I find I have forgotten to bag one or two smaller presents and I am either panicked and have to make a last-minute dollar store run, or I have to get out the wrapping paper and tape and actually wrap a present.

This year I have decided to also purchase some white (or kraft) lunch sacks and add my own little easy, decorative twist to them. If I add some tissue paper inside and put on a pretty ribbon, perhaps people will think I am just creative and not a person who just hates wrapping presents. I know these sacks are cheaper than $1 each and they are very easy.

So, I think I will never myself short a gift bag if I keep these items on hand:

White or brown kraft paper bag
Ribbon
X-acto knife or sharp scissors

Directions: Cut a ribbon and tie a knot forming a 4 inch loop on the top. Fold the bag over three to four inches then make two slits slightly wider than the ribbon in the bag, the first at around 1 inch from the top and the second at 1 1/2 to 2 inches from the top. Thread the ribbon through the slits, making sure the knot holds. The loop will form a handle for the bag.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Free Downloads

Amazon has added a bunch of FREE holiday titles for your Kindle. Remember, even if you don't have a Kindle, you can download a FREE app for your computer, BlackBerry, Android, iPhone or iPad.

Fiction

The Judge Who Stole Christmas, Randy Singer

Classics

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

Non-Fiction

The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger, Lee Strobel

Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, Ace Collins

25 Days, 26 Ways to Make This Your Best Christmas Ever, Ace Collins

The Christmas Story from the Family Reading Bible, Jeannette Taylor

Read Mandi's post to get tips on finding FREE Kindle books on your own.

Remember that the price on Kindle freebies can go up at any time, so be sure to verify that it's still FREE before you purchase!

(this post obtained from http://dealseekingmom.com/amazon-free-kindle-titles-for-the-holidays/)

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Holiday Closures

Dec. 17 : Staff Training

Dec. 24 – Dec. 27 : Christmas

Dec. 31 – Jan. 3 : New Years

Choosing chargers

The other day I ran across these green lacquered chargers on sale. Since the price was right, I decided to buy them to to use with my Christmas china. I thought it was a very good buy, especially since I could also use them with my everyday china. I am a sucker for anything I use for special occasions that I can also use every day. It seems a shame not to enjoy things all the time. I guess it seems kind of silly to have Christmas china because I only use that during the holiday season but I do also make exceptions for Christmas.

Above is my everyday china sitting on the new charger. I think it is really interesting how different the chargers look with different plates.

My daughter disagreed with my choice because she said my Christmas Spode would look better on a red charger because the green would stand out more. I think she might have been right, but I still have more use for green chargers. I thought I would be semi-practical about my choice, especially since chargers are not the most practical thing I could purchase.

There is still time to swap the green for red so I would really like your opinion. What do you think? Should I have purchased the red or is green the best choice, or should I take them back and look for something different?