A Christmas Gift of Sweet Ephemera!

It's Christmas Eve!! My favorite night of the year. I've never outgrown that wonderful sense of anticipation and excitement that I experienced as a child. My sister and I were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve. We picked up each of our gifts, shook them, felt them, and  assessed their weight, trying to make the right choice of which gift we would open. I always hoped I would pick a stuffed animal so I would be able to hold it while I slept. I want to celebrate today by offering a little Christmas Eve treat for my blog visitors. If you've read a few of my posts, you know I'm an avid collector of ephemera. This sweet Pears' Soap ad is one of my favorites from my collection. Feel free to copy and paste it for personal use but please do not sell it as a digital image or as part of a collage sheet. My best wishes to all for a very Merry Christmas!!

My Favorite Things: Places that Comfort and Renew the Soul

When life becomes too rushed or stressful I like to go to a place where my heart feels at peace and my soul is refreshed. For me this is Pittman Center, TN and this cozy cabin alongside the Little Pigeon River. Nestled in a quiet cove in the Smoky Mountains, the views are inspiring and the setting is peaceful every day of the year. We have been blessed to spend our summer and fall vacations here with our family for almost 25 years now. We play in the river, hike in the mountains, stroll in the cove, feed the horses, watch for bears, and fire up the grill. We read books with our feet in the river letting the icy water chase away the heat of a summer day. We eat ice-cream and play board games on the porch, or just put up our feet and watch the river flow down from the mountains as it has been for millions of years. While our activities rarely alter our family continues to grow and change, and now our grandchildren are making memories on this river. For all of this we thank the Price family. We treasure your friendship and appreciate this magical place you share with us. I hope everyone has a place similar to this, a retreat for the soul, waiting patiently to welcome you whenever you are ready.  

Cranberry Nut Bread

Today I had a craving for Cranberry Nut Bread. I checked my pantry and finding it well stocked with all the basics made a quick trip to Publix for the cranberries. With my ingredients assembled on the counter I went to my file to pull out my trusty recipe, but after searching and searching I came away empty handed. And so began my internet search for a new recipe for Cranberry Nut Bread. I finally settled on a recipe from allrecipes.com and with the help of my son went to work on the bread. The recipe was simple to put together. In no time at all we had our loaf in the oven and I sat back to enjoy a cup of ginger peach tea as our home gradually filled with the heavenly aroma of fresh baked holiday goodness. The end result was a moist tender loaf with the perfect ratio of walnuts and tangy cranberries. And did I mention it was absolutely scrumptious?! If you're in the mood for a little baking I've posted the link here~just click on the title of this post and it will take you right to it. Happy Holidays to all and Happy Baking!

More of My Favorite Things!

I love coordinating stamp and die collections, and this tea set from My Favorite Things is at the top of my wish list! Actually, about a dozen of their products are on my wish list (I have a very long list!) I wish I could be paid to shop because I would be really, REALLY good at it. I suppose for now I'll have to settle for sharing my finds here on my blog. I'd love to hear about your finds as well as there's always room for more on my ever-expanding list. Just imagine the lovely cards that could be made with this 'Always Time for Tea' set. It's just so sweet!! I'm certain to be having visions of this instead of sugar plums when I close my eyes on Christmas Eve. I send my wishes to all for a wonderful holiday!     

An Evening at the Dock Street Theatre in Charleston, SC

Saturday evening we had the great pleasure of attending an outstanding performance of A Christmas Carol presented by Charleston Stage at the historic Dock Street Theatre. This has become a much loved holiday tradition for our family, and one we hope to carry on for many years to come. Dock Street Theatre has the distinction of being America's first theatre, established in 1736, and is just one more reason to visit Charleston at the first possible opportunity. We all agreed that this year's performance was our all time favorite. The cast was amazing and the set was spectacular. And now, with the music still singing in my heart, I'm off to bed to dream of  Christmas ghosts, Tiny Tim, and all the blessings in my life~my family, friends, and loved ones! Merry Christmas everyone!  

Faraway Places

Are faraway places with strange sounding names calling you? Or do you just love beautiful vintage images and postal ephemera? I have a love affair with both and my gift for you today is this postcard from my personal collection. I'm using this in a vintage inspired mini album I'm making for a friend who recently visited Italy but I can think of a hundred other ways to create with it! If I close my eyes I can almost see myself attending midnight Mass at the Vatican, surrounded by angelic music and the fragrance of incense and candles. Feel free to copy and save this pretty postcard. Use it for any crafty idea that you can imagine, just please do not sell it as a digital image or as part of a collage sheet. Enjoy and Merry Christmas! Hugs, Nancy

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Today I want to share a holiday gift of a recipe! These rich, buttery squares are super soft, super moist, super thick, and loaded with chunky chocolaty goodness. Each soul soothing bite has just the right contrast of chocolate and warm buttery cookie. Because they’re bars they bake up with no fuss at all. This is a home-style treat that’s perfect for bake sales and gift giving as they stay moist, keep well, and are easy to tote along to gatherings. Many blessings to you and your family! I hope you'll enjoy these scrumptious bars this holiday season and throughout the New Year.  

Ingredients:

2 cups Butter, softened

1 ½ cups White Sugar

1 ½ cups firmly packed Brown Sugar

3 Eggs

2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

4 cups All Purpose Flour

2 tsp. Baking Soda

1 ½ tsp. Salt

3 cups Milk Chocolate Chips

1 cup chopped Nuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13X9 pan.

In large mixing bowl cream together Butter and Sugars. Add Eggs &Vanilla, beating until smooth and thoroughly combined.  In another bowl whisk together Flour, Baking Soda, & Salt. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating well between additions. Stir in Chocolate Chips and Nuts. Place batter in prepared pan and bake at 350 approximately 45-55 minutes. Baking time will depend on your oven and type of pan used so watch closely towards the end. Cool on rack and cut into squares. *ENjoY*     

Some of My Favorite Things!

Hot off the presses! Check out this adorable new stamp collection and die set from Papertrey Ink. I so love these sweet little snowmen! Papertrey ink holds release parties for their newest sets on the 14th of each month, and makes the products available for purchase at midnight. I already clicked the 'buy' button for mine:-)) Now for the hard part--waiting for them to arrive so I can start playing with them!