It's the 2013 Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Premiere - save the dates - July 13, and 14, 2013.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Christmas in July Preview - Watching and Reading
Our new Christmas in July movies and book have arrived. We've added the following to our collection:
We also decided to read Trading Christmas by Debbie Macomber as a story time, read a chapter a day out loud activity. I just realized that they've made a movie out of this book - will have to check that out for next year's Christmas in July.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Christmas in July Preview - Christmas Pudding Truffles
Courtesy of http://www.annabelkarmel.us/recipes/christmas-recipes/christmas-pudding-truffles.html
I've been searching for a recipe for Christmas Pudding Truffles to put on the agenda for this year's Christmas in July and then, last night during an episode of Cupcake Wars, Sophia and I came up with the idea of a Christmas Pudding cupcake. It will be Christmas Pudding in terms of the presentation, not the taste, although next year I think I might work on the taste side of it as well. Our plans are to make edible chocolate cases, a chocolate cupcake and vanilla buttercream with an edible holly decoration. I'm thinking fondant will work for the holly. Hope it tastes as good as it sounds!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Christmas in July is Coming!
Photo courtesy of http://rudolphday.blogspot.com/2012/07/christmas-in-july.html
There are ten days until Christmas in July begins on July 1. The themes are up over at the Magical Holiday Home Forums and it's time to start planning.
Week One - I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
Week Two - Silver and Gold
Week Three - It's a Sweet Christmas
Week Four - Christmas Traditions
Week Five - Planning 213
Please join us!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Magical Holiday Home - April Rudolph Day
Here's the April plan:
- It’s Christmas Dishes Month! Do you have Christmas dishes, serving trays, and other items that are tucked here and there? Do you have trouble finding them when it’s time for a party or dinner? Well, this is Christmas Dishes Month and it’s time to de-clutter and organize the Christmas dishes. Find a storage area. move your dishes there, and inventory what you have. Later you may discover a random piece stuck here or there, when you do, add it to your Christmas Cupboard, so when the holiday season arrives, you’ll have everything at your fingertips! This is also a good time to organize holiday linens.
- Christmas Magic: Do you do 24 Days of Christmas activities? Do you give the 12 Days of Christmas gifts? Or perhaps you do a little St Nicholas Day gift. If so, this is the month to plan the “magic”. Make a list, pick out some items, or just get your ideas into the notebook!
I have wanted these Christmas dishes for as long as I can remember. So far, I have one piece, a votive candle holder! Perhaps this year, I will add another piece or two to what I hope is one day an amazing collection of Christmas dishes.
I need to come up with a plan for 24 Days of Christmas activities - it's going to be a bit of a challenge since Vic is at work all day and most likely won't want to head out each evening to do something Christmas-y. I might amend it to 12 Weekends (the last weekend of November and the three weekends in December before Christmas) of Christmas activities - Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays - and see what I can come up with. I know our church's Christmas program will be on the calendar, as well as a trip to the symphony or theatre, and then there is Busch Gardens' ChristmasTown. I hope to finally make it up to Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas - we've been a dozen times but never at Christmas - and we went to an amazing Christmas market about six years ago, when we lived here before, that I'd like to find again. Ah, the ideas are flowing, must grab a calendar page and do some planning.
How's your April Rudolph Day shaping up?
April Rudolph Day
April Rudolph Day
Something led me to the Magical Holiday Home Forums this morning after a long, long, long absence and what do you know - it's April Rudolph Day! I don't seem to see a Rudy Day movie list - well, there's a list but no-one seems to have signed up so I'll be watching a few episodes from this - BBC Holiday Comedy & Drama Gift Set - that I got last Christmas. Anyone else a fan of the BBC?
Our daughter, Sophia, is graduating from high school in June so we will be swamped with family and friends and all the festivities, closely followed by three of her girlfriends descending on us from up north (they are in Rhode Island, we are in Virginia). I am sure these girls are going to end up as Sophia's bridesmaids one day. A few weeks later, Sophia heads off to Oregon for the rest of the summer and then starts at Oregon State University in the autumn. Before she goes, I hope to have a little Christmas in July with her as she won't be with us this holiday season. We do, however, have a big family Christmas to look forward to in 2014. We are moving to the West Coast, just six hours away from Sophia and my sister, brother-in-law and two nephews. We will all be together next year and I love a family Christmas celebration. So tough to achieve in a military family when you are often a coast or an ocean away from the rest of the family.
Anyway, back to April Rudolph Day. It's my goal to get my Christmas albums caught up today. I make an annual Christmas Card Album - I've saved every card since Sophia was born in 1994 and I also include announcements of special events - births, graduation, marriages, even obituaries. I recently found a stack of announcements and photos from 2006 to the present so I have go back and put them all in their respective albums. Along with a little Pinterest surfing for Christmas in July ideas, that's my goal for the day...oh, and to keep more current with the Forums.
Happy Rudolph Day everyone!
Our daughter, Sophia, is graduating from high school in June so we will be swamped with family and friends and all the festivities, closely followed by three of her girlfriends descending on us from up north (they are in Rhode Island, we are in Virginia). I am sure these girls are going to end up as Sophia's bridesmaids one day. A few weeks later, Sophia heads off to Oregon for the rest of the summer and then starts at Oregon State University in the autumn. Before she goes, I hope to have a little Christmas in July with her as she won't be with us this holiday season. We do, however, have a big family Christmas to look forward to in 2014. We are moving to the West Coast, just six hours away from Sophia and my sister, brother-in-law and two nephews. We will all be together next year and I love a family Christmas celebration. So tough to achieve in a military family when you are often a coast or an ocean away from the rest of the family.
Anyway, back to April Rudolph Day. It's my goal to get my Christmas albums caught up today. I make an annual Christmas Card Album - I've saved every card since Sophia was born in 1994 and I also include announcements of special events - births, graduation, marriages, even obituaries. I recently found a stack of announcements and photos from 2006 to the present so I have go back and put them all in their respective albums. Along with a little Pinterest surfing for Christmas in July ideas, that's my goal for the day...oh, and to keep more current with the Forums.
Happy Rudolph Day everyone!
Monday, August 6, 2012
So Far Behind
Ugh, I am so far behind! I totally dropped the ball on Christmas in July this year. A move in mid-June meant that the rest of that month and early July was spent getting the new house organized and catching up with old friends since we have lived in Virginia before. Then Sophia had a guest from Rhode Island for a week and we've been gearing up since then with preparations for her trip to Oregon for a month. And to top it all off, I'm thinking about going back to work so I've been searching for the perfect opportunity.
I did manage to get the August Movie Pick for the Rudolph Club up on the Magical Holiday Home forums. It's The Christmas Card starring John Newton, Edward Asner and Alice Evans. Please check it out if you get a chance - it's a lovely story and available on Netflix (DVD), at Amazon.com for $12.97 (since I'm sure you'll want to add it to your collection of Christmas movies), and hopefully from your local library.
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