Photos: Williams-Sonoma, Inc.

In an addition to with releasing a brand new Christmas album this month, Country music icon Dolly Parton, is teaming up with retailer Williams-Sonoma, Inc. this holiday season to launch a collection inspired by Dolly’s own holiday traditions, which includes her signature sugar cookie mix, a replica gingerbread log cabin reminiscent of her childhood home, and a Christmas patchwork apron along with matching oven mitts.

“Sharing my families’ Christmas traditions is a dream come true, and who better to partner with than Williams Sonoma. We joined together to create a whole bunch of goodies that will fit in perfectly with your family celebration or get you started on creating new traditions that will last a lifetime,” Dolly said in an official statement.

“My mama always made us feel loved by making us treats in our little mountain cabin around the holidays. Now I get to invite all my nieces and nephews and their kids for what we like to call ‘cookie night’. It’s the perfect way to spend time with the special people on your Christmas list.”

I know that most of you are so excited because “the season” is here… we can smell it in the air and feel it in our hearts.  I don’t want to look at any of the Countdown Clocks/Calendars anymore because they remind me that we don’t have many days until Halloween, Thanksgiving OR “sleeps to go” before Christmas.  The distance between each Christmas is short when you think about the season instead of just Christmas day.

Last month I told you that I sponsored a child for Christmas through “Letters to Santa”… well, I am proud to announce that I committed to sponsoring three more children.   I am also considering sponsoring some children just for stockings… you can do that – you don’t have to buy them a bunch of gifts, you can just do a stocking. For information on sponsoring a child or receiving assistance, please email LettersToSanta2012@gmail.com.   I wish that I could sponsor dozens of children, but what I can do is spread the word and find sponsors… I encourage you to do the same, these children need a special Christmas – all children do.   I also located some groups that support seniors, they say “It takes a village to raise a child but takes the whole community to care for our seniors”.   Here are some programs you can support or search Google for your area:  “Be a Santa to a Senior”   https://www.facebook.com/SeniorsSantaPage and http://www.beasantatoasenior.com .   These programs are usually coordinated by Long Term Care Facilities or Senior Care Homes such as Homestead but there are many managed by small groups and individuals.

With 119 days til Christmas, 66 days til Halloween and the first day of fall is in just a few weeks, there is no doubt that this time of year is when I am making my lists; I am also laying out my budget and I make sure that I have funds for giving… sometimes the amount is very small, but nevertheless I manage to donate toys and give to the Salvation Army or other organization and the church.  In keeping with the spirit of Christmas it has been many years since I was a young girl expecting gifts… the gift to me now nourishes my soul, and it’s when my family is healthy and happy; when my grandchildren are excited and when I have made someone’s life a little brighter.

As I manage my Facebook page I am rarely looking for sources to donate to but I came across Angels for Christmas, and they were matching children with sponsors for backpacks… I immediately enlisted to adopt two girls; sisters.  Trust me, with five grandchildren I definitely had my shopping cart full with school supplies; one of them just started High School and one of them lives with me, so there are many pencils to get!  Still, it gave me a good feeling to get two more backpacks, supplies, and a “first-day” outfit and uniform.    They posted a photo with their goodie bag and thanked me… and THAT is the gift.   So, I went back the page to see if the organizer was listing children for Christmas … then out of the blue, I saw another page status from Letters to Santa and they were listing children in need.  I instantly sponsored a little girl and I will do my best to make her Christmas special… especially since she wants a dollhouse!  If you can afford to sponsor a child, I recommend that you review these groups, and if you can’t please share the information with others because there are so many children in our country who are hungry, homeless, in foster care or shelters and they need a special Christmas.  There are many groups you can do this with, but I am supporting “Letters to Santa” because it is being organized by a young lady who is just out of school and I am impressed with her warm heart.  You can go to her site or email her, LettersToSanta2012@gmail.com.

I love hearing about Christmas miracles and goodness… there is another Facebook group that posted a heartwarming story about their friend who suffered a loss and a family illness, so they arranged to have Santa for a “Christmas in August” at her house for her sister and family.  They did it big with decorations, music, food the works!

I am also really excited about all the things you can make for the holidays using lanterns, vases… even wine glasses!  You can paint them, embellish them with ornaments, snow or even candy and they make great decorations for the table, mantel or coffee table… they make great gifts too!  Check out these cool ones for Halloween, click here.    I usually don’t make things during the holidays, but this year I have to make the time for it because some of these crafts are nicer than the ones you buy at the store.   The price of wreaths are going up and I have double entrance doors so I need two every time I buy them… so I have decided to “try” to make some wreaths for the fall and if they come out well, I will do them for Halloween and Christmas.  I found this tutorial to get me started on You Tube called “How to make a Christmas wreath”.  There are so many different ones on You Tube and great ideas on Pinterest too (you know I am hooked on that site!)

Well, the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes are ready for the holidays and so am I… please share your excitement with me as well as any recipes, crafts or ideas.

Stay Merry,

I can’t believe there are only eight more Saturdays until fall… less than 100 days until Halloween, 147 days until Christmas… and the stores are starting to put holiday decorations on the shelves. I don’t countdown to Christmas, I countdown to the “season”… so for me, the season is nearly here – I can feel fall in the air!

Michael’s started bringing in the Lemax villages for Halloween and some Christmas crafts already.  And Hobby Lobby displays started going up in June and then really went up July 7-8.  There were some awesome Christmas Classic’s on the Hallmark Channel July 14-15.  Many stores were having Christmas in July celebrations… one mall near me even had Santa on a beach chair!  Here in New Jersey there was a Christmas Boat parade sponsored by Coors Light, prizes were awarded for the two best decorated boats. http://njbeachbuzz.com/christmas-in-july-boat-parade-in-the-wildwood-nj/.  I even found a Christmas in July song,  “Sufjan Stevens – Christmas in July ” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L7XcjR4JW4   QVC had a Christmas in July sale and they had tons of adorable decorations at great prices during the weekend of July 21-22.

I was so excited when I saw the Facebook post by ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas letting me know that ELF was playing on June 7^th on ABC Family.  I’ve been watching Christmas movies all month!

I also started some “decorating”… yes -I went in Michael’s last weekend and bought some fall flowers 🙂 But someone told me today that Hobby Lobby has Halloween AND CHRISTMAS stuff out already!!! I don’t have a Hobby Lobby near me but I wanted to share the news.

I love the summer for one main reason; how all the holiday stuff magically appears in some stores when they start the back to school displays.  I remember last year, my daughter and I went into Kohl’s and we were shocked that the Christmas trees were on display before Halloween – honestly, we started doing the Snoopy happy dance IN the store 🙂  Some of the local stores that I used to count on for certain items and last minute wrapping goods for Christmas have closed down in my area, Cost Cutters, K-Mart… so sad.

Well… I do have some good news… I received my invite from Hallmark for the Keepsake Ornament Premiere for July 14 -15 – that’s LESS nearly 2 weeks away!!!   Do I need to say anything else?
OMG I AM SO HAPPY!!!

As I am reading my Facebook feed I am instantly reminded by Countdown to Christmas that we are 208 days away from Christmas and so I am going to keep this short and sweet.. I am so excited and overwhelmed at the same time!

It has been very hot and humid here on the East Coast so it the worst month for focusing on Christmas… I have had to really move into the “spirit”.  I’ve been organizing my decorations (getting more of those Martha Stewart organizing labels), watching Christmas movies, chatting with my friends on Facebook that love Christmas as much as I do, and listening to Christmas music.  I am excited though, I just got another coupon mailer from the Hallmark Store for Father’s Day and I KNOW that the next one will be for the Hallmark Ornament Premiere in July.   I also just finished going through the Hallmark Ornament Dreambook for 2012;  I picked out  some adorable ornaments; some will be released in July but most won’t be available until the unveiling in October; here is the link for the book so you can pick yours!

As of today, we are 64 days away from our Christmas in July celebration, 186 days until Halloween and ONLY 241 days until Christmas.  Now I am starting to feel like we’re getting closer to the most wonderful time of the year.

With Easter behind us, we are done with “gift holidays” until the fall.  I have been asking and observing how lovers of the Christmas season have been “feeling Christmas” in the springtime…

Recently, I delivered some gourmet cookies to a friend and she (also a lover of Christmas) had her life-size Santa in her dining room but it was very festive since Santa was wearing “bunny ears”.   Another friend was sharing the Christmas spirit by placing ONLY the green and red jelly beans in candy bowls for visitors; she also left out a carrot & carrot juice for the Easter Bunny!  Traditionally, my family goes out to eat for Easter, but I still make a festive dinner after the holiday; I made a spiral honey ham, macaroni & cheese, fresh string beans and candied sweet potatoes…  it smelled of Christmas all day!  Cooking foods with cinnamon, nutmeg and other holiday seasonings will definitely have you thinking about the most wonderful time of the year.  In fact, a neighbor of mine made these decorative Easter baskets that were loaded with Starlight Mints, Candy Canes, Hot Cocoa, and Christmas DVD’s.  I would even add a CD, like my favorite, The Michael Buble Christmas album.

365 days is way too long between Christmases’ … we just have to celebrate all year long.   Today is the first day of spring, which means we just have to hop over summer… and fall will be here before we know it…in just 279 days and counting.

I am finally tucking away the last of the decorations; the winter tree and the village display that has been in my wall unit since the day after Halloween.   I love the Department 56 and Lemax Village pieces, and I put up a full display for Halloween and Christmas… thank goodness my youngest daughter is now an adult and has taken over the “display management” – it’s a lot of work!   I knew she would be a natural since she loved her dollhouse when she was younger, and was always so creative by making her own pieces.  I spent several years planning how I would acquire enough houses, buildings, accessories and figures to fill up eight shelves of the wall unit; however, now I search for new scenery and retire the old.  We put up the Halloween display just after Labor Day and then we replace it on November 1^st with Christmas.  The grand-kids love it…. My three youngest granddaughters just stare in awe… for them it’s a huge multi-level dollhouse.

This weekend, I noticed that it was Feb 25^th which means that in ten short months Christmas will be here again!  I celebrated by listening to Christmas music (more than usual).   This is the time when I begin to feel overwhelmed… wondering if I have all my planning done, but the truth is that I haven’t even finished packing away all the ornaments and other fragile décor.   All throughout January I was purchasing those nifty storage containers (in red and green of course) that were 75% off at Lowe’s.   Then I would print storage labels, reorganize my basement (this time adding craft tables around the entire basement so that I don’t have to freak out of we get any flooding), and then stack all the boxes strategically.

As I mentioned in my post ” Christmas in January“, I have finally put up my winter tree.   As I was putting away ornaments from the family tree, the foyer tree, the tree in my son’s room (yes we have ten trees), I collected some of the blue, silver, white pieces along with a few embellishments, including blue snowflakes to make the winter tree.  This tree is only 3 ft; if I had decorated a larger tree (which I may do next year) I would add some snowmen and perhaps decorate the base with artificial snow, or even flock the tree with snow.  Does anyone else have a winter tree up?  Are you putting one up?

In keeping the Christmas spirit we also mark the 25th of each month on the calendar and celebrate by watching a movie, do some holiday planning and listen to Christmas music.  I listen to Christmas music all year.  How do you keep the Christmas spirit throughout the year?  Please share your thoughts, ideas and photos of your tree(s).

Stay merry!