Teacup Tuesdays #2

Christmas at Disney

Six months from today is CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!! I love doing the Christmas countdown on the 24th and 25th of every month, much to the annoyance of just about everyone I know. I love Christmas and I can't even imagine what it would be like to spend some quality time in Disney over the Christmas holiday. So in honor of the countdown, today's Teacup Tuesday will focus on Christmas at Disney!

I've seen so many trip reports where fellow Disney enthusiasts share pictures of the Osborne lights at Disney's Hollywood Studios and numerous character photos of the gang all decked out in their Christmas finery. And Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. And the decorations. And the decorations. And did I mention the decorations?? *grin* People decorate their resort rooms for Christmas and I think I've seen pictures of little Christmas trees in the rooms.

I think the #1 thing on this list however would be the amazing gingerbread house that is created in the Grand Floridian hotel. I so desperately want to be able to see that!

How incredibly amazing would it be to spend part of Christmas in the most magical place on earth??? I need to find a way to make this happen!

Mini Road Trip

All I want is to see some Christmas decorations... which means I'm dreaming of going to New York City. A place, I'd like to point out, that I've never visited. Disney World would work as well. I've never been there at Christmas time and it's something I'd really like to do.

So... I hopped in the car this morning and took a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake. It's only about an hour from here, depending on how long you have to wait at the border crossing. My trip into Canada was quick, but the border agent was cranky. The trip back had a lovely long line, but the agent was a lot friendlier!

This was my third trip to this charming little town. I went several years ago with some friends and then I just went back this summer. I would have gone more often, but I dragged my feet on the concept of an enhanced license. I finally got one this year, so I figure I should get my money's worth!

Several of the shops had decorated Christmas trees which were on display in the Court House. They were really creative!

I had lunch at Taste, the same place I went in the summer. It's a colorful little bistro with sandwiches, soups, bakery items, and general yumminess. It was wicked crowded when I was there in July, but I guess I was the only hungry person today. I had a bowl of chicken and wild rice soup (no comparison to Panera, but still good) and a delicious half sandwich (which reminds of Sheldon asking Penny what happens to the other half of the sandwich on BBT). They have several standard sandwiches, or you can create your own. I made my own creation... turkey and smoked gouda with cranberry salsa on pumpernickel bread. Yummy.

I was also able to pick up some Christmas gifts. There are some really cute shops and I was glad I made it back to be able to get some awesome presents that weren't your run-of-the-mill candle and gift card option. Can't wait to give them!!

I'll admit that I was hoping for a huge Christmas tree... but most of the shops and restaurants had decorations and some of the window displays were beautiful. It was a quick little trip but it enhanced my Christmas spirit immensely.

December Daily

So I'm curious. When does this whole "my family moved away to a place they knew I wouldn't follow them to" thing get any easier?? Because I think the last six months have been harder than the first six months. I don't understand it.

Blah.

I'm waiting for my friends to get sick of me. Of course I know that isn't going to happen. Blessedly, my friends realize that even when I'm being emotional, it's genuine. But I'm starting to get sick of me! Isn't that fun?

All right. Pity party over.

It's been a really long time since I've actually scrapbooked. I've sort of switched over to creating photobooks on Snapfish and just uploading pics to Facebook. Recently I've started getting the itch to start scrapping again, though. I think a lot of that has to do with Pinterest. As I was pinning, I came upon the December Daily idea on Ali Edwards's blog. Since Christmas is my favorite time of year, I thought this might be fun. I also knew that I wasn't going to have a bazillion fun things planned like I assume most of the DD particants would. Of course, it doesn't help that my decorating is done! But I thought it might give me some incentive to at least search for some fun things to do. I decided to keep it VERY simple and just used one of those cheap little photo albums that you get at Michaels for $2. I took out the cover and created my own with some cute scrapbook paper I found. This way I'll be able to document each day in December leading up to Christmas and I will have some room for photos... but I won't feel bad about myself if I don't have a photo for each day!

I know I'll be doing a lot of baking and I have friends coming over one day, so I'll be able to document that. I thought this was a great idea and I'm excited to record 25 days worth of memories, even if some of the days are fairly routine (which I expect will be the case on the days I'm at work!) I'm using the daily overlays that Ali created for this year. For most days I'll just print out the day and journal on it. {And I'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to use her blank page to document a super cute story that was Christmas-related but outside of the December timeframe.} I'm hoping that I'll be able to use some of the overlays with pictures as well, though. I love the way it looks on her blog and I'm hoping to be able to do something similar. I just know ahead of time that I won't have a picture for each day. We'll see what the coming 20-ish days brings.

At any rate, this is my absolute favorite time of year and I'm looking forward to a great Christmas season! It prompted me to come up with a new phrase, which I'm hoping to work into conversation:

Your Bah Humbug is Not Welcome Here!

Special Delivery!

I really, really love Christmas cards. I wish more people sent them because I get giddy when I open my mailbox and there's a Christmas card in it. I always get mine sent out early... I like being the first card that people get.

This year, I decided that I was going to do them even earlier than usual. The child in me wanted to sent them to the North Pole and have them postmarked that way. So I wrote up all my cards, stuck 'em in an envelope, and sent them off to Santa the North Pole postmarking station. (Click here for the address and instructions. You still have some time if you want to do this, too!)

Every year I save one of the cards I sent. I like looking back at them and seeing what design I chose each year. I love the one from this year. Are those birds not absolutely adorable? Not only did I keep a copy for myself this year, I *mailed* it to myself! I wanted to see the postmark that everyone else would be getting! And to make it even more fun, on the inside of the card I put the year and listed all of the people I sent cards to.

I think I may have started a new tradition! Here is what the postmark looks like:

And I think I'm kind of in love with those stamps! They're perfect.

All Decked Out

My decorations have been up for about a week now. I just love looking at them. People think I'm crazy, but it's so much fun to me to put them up early. Besides, if you wait then you have less time to look at them! Here are some pictures of my Christmas happiness. It may be a one-bedroom apartment, but I like to think of it as a cozy cottage. *giggles*

I love Christmas trees. They make me all kinds of happy! I actually have three of them... this is my regular one and it has both old and new ornaments as well as ones made by my sweetie-pie niece. They aren't as smooshed together as this picture would make it look. I put some of those Scentsicles on it that I posted the other day and I love getting a whiff of douglas fir! Putting the lights on it was quite an adventure. I think I probably need a second set, but I didn't have the patience or desire to go buy more. I also have a pink tree with silver ornaments that sits out on my landing and a small tree with Star Wars ornaments!

This is my jingle bell tree that sits on top of my rustic looking corner shelf. The tree was a gift and it just screams Fa La La La La to me. The little red candle holders were also a gift. Just a note that this shelf just might be one of my favorite things. I bought it at a craft show last September and the police wouldn't let cars down the streets where the show was being held. Which means I had to carry it through the streets of town to get it to my car! Luckily, it was a two-piece shelf. Not so luckily, my car was parked about a gazillion miles away. Hilarious. Not really. But it was well worth it, because it is perfect.

I just bought this little Santa Mug at Hallmark last week. It's actually a candle holder and I think it is too cute for words. I made the spiral Christmas tree using red and green floral wire (that I bought at Dollar Tree!) and wrapped them around a styrofoam cone (also a Dollar Tree purchase). I originally saw the idea online, and I'll see if I can find the source. The little red frame was a Michaels dollar bin purchase and I put a little piece of Christmas-themed scrapbook paper in it. (And if you can't tell, I've been having fun playing around with the editing options on photobucket. I love all the borders and fun stuff you can add to your pics! It's also nice that they have a mobile app that lets me take cell phone pics and upload them right to my album.)

I love this snow globe that my niece colored for me. I bought it at Hobby Lobby when I was visiting in San Antonio and she happily decorated it. She even added the "I love you" all by herself. My little Peanuts ornaments are a set from Hallmark that I bought as individual pieces about ten years ago. Love me some Snoopy! That little book on the bottom shelf is an ornament version of A Cup of Christmas Tea, which is such a sweet story. It goes well with the pine cone teacup candle holder that I bought at Yankee Candle last year. The tea canister is a permanent fixture on my shelf and the framed picture is actually a printable Christmas scripture that I found here.

If you posted pictures of Christmas decorations, I would love to see them! Post your links in the comments section. I've linked up to Bernideen's Open House Blog Party (It's all about Christmas decorations this week!) as well as the Home Sweet Home linky party. And if you're looking for some Christmas inspiration, check out my Christmas-themed board on Pinterest.

Happy One Month Til Christmas Eve!!!