My Photos: Christmas Day 2012

Since it's almost New Year's Eve, I figured I should not wait much longer to share my photos from Christmas Day.  Like always, I took far too many photos.  I took many on Christmas morning and lots at my sister's and brother-in-law's house, but I did a poor job of taking photos during Christmas dinner at my cousin's house.

We did break two of our Christmas traditions this year.  Instead of leaving Santa freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, we used our ninja cookie cutters to make him ninja sugar cookies.  Also, we avoided our youngest son getting sick on the way home from Christmas dinner by giving him a Hyland's Motion Sickness tablet before we left my cousin's house.


Here are just a small handful of photos highlighting our family's Christmas Day . . . 

"Ninja Sugar Cookies"

"A Visit from Santa"

"Our Traditional Christmas Breakfast"

"A Hand-drawn Gift"

"Group Hug"

"The Joy of Giving"

"Waiting for the Signal"

"Diving Right In"

"Favorite Uncle"

"Her Duck Collection is Growing"

"Cookie Decorating Kit from Whole Foods"

"A Work of Art"

"What's For Dessert?"

Click here to view all my past favorite photos.

Santa's Sleigh Freestanding Stocking Holder

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.  I spend a lot of time trying to create fond memories for our children, whether it be keeping the magic of Santa alive for as long as possible or making sure our home feels cozy and festive.  That last endeavor includes hanging up stockings every Christmas for the whole family.  Not having a fireplace mantle, we have had to seek out alternatives.  What we have used the past 7 years or so was a black metal stocking tree, which was functional, but not very attractive.  It looked like a primitive oversized ornament tree.  Thankfully, this year we will be using this far more attractive espresso-finished Santa Stocking Holder from Kirkland's.

This stocking holder measures about 3 feet long and over 3 feet tall.  It was extremely easy to assemble.  I only needed to line up the holes on the crossbar and the legs, insert the winged screws, and then tighten them.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

The dark finished metal on this stocking holder would fit in well with traditional, country, and mission style furniture.  With the proper lighting, the sculpted silhouette will cast a dramatic shadow on the wall.

Although our stockings are rather large, we were still able to fit all five of them on the stocking holder.  This stocking holder actually comes with an extra sixth hook, so I might try to sneak on one more since the cats have a stocking that they all share too.  The hooks are not attached to the holder, so I can space them out as I see fit.

Left alone, this stocking holder is quite sturdy.  I would not use it in a house with an infant or toddler who might pull on the stand or on the stockings because it could tip over.

To view their full selection of holiday and everyday home furnishings, visit Kirklands.com or find a Kirkland's store near you.


Thank you to Kirkland's for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon and for providing a second product for our contest prize.

Good luck in the drawing!

Ruby Tuesday: Crafty Stocking Exchange (Part 2)

Last week for Ruby Tuesday, I posted a photo of a hand-decorated Christmas stocking, which I had sent to my exchange partner (Virginia of Lady V dZine). Well, this week, I would like to show you the stocking she made and decorated by hand for me. I think she did an amazing job, especially with the gingerbread girl. She really put my glitter glue and stick-on foam shapes to shame.

Inside the stocking I discovered a felt holiday tote bag containing 3 different shades of Avon lipsticks.

In addition to the lipsticks and tote, I also found a package of very fun colored Sharpies, a bag of my favorite Heath bars candies, a Blockbuster gift card, and two magnetic photo pockets (how did she know that I love to take photos?) along with a hand-written note from Virginia.

I just wanted to say another big thank you to Virgina! She really picked out the perfect stocking stuffers for me and I just love my handmade stocking.

If you'd like to see more Ruby Tuesday photos, go visit Mary at Work of the Poet!

Ruby Tuesday: Crafty Stocking Exchange

This year I am participating in a stocking exchange on the blogging community to which I belong. This was a two part challenge. The first was to make or decorate the stocking. The second challenge was to find out as much as you could about your exchange partner and stuff the stocking with items according to your findings. I have been waiting for my partner to receive and open her stocking so I could post this photo for Ruby Tuesday without ruining the surprise.

If you'd like to see more Ruby Tuesday photos, go visit Mary at Work of the Poet!

Christmas 2009: 3 Very Stuffed Stockings

I decided to create a separate post for the photos of our three children opening their stockings because it is the funnest part of Christmas morning. Even though I was present, I missed most of their reactions to all the little goodies Santa Claus had left especially for each child. It was fun for me to look through the many photos I shot of the occasion, each capturing a different expression of surprise and delight. Come to think of it, it would have made more sense for me to use video to document this event.

Anyways, here are my favorites from this series of photos . . .

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

Out of all the goodies each child found in their stockings, I think the little spiral notebooks were the biggest hits. The boys each received different Lightning McQueen notebooks and Makenzie received a Disney Princess notebook. (Shhhhhh . . . don't tell anyone that Santa found those at Target for $1 each.)

Christmas Eve at the In-Law's

Christmas Morning

Lunch and Gifts at My Sister's & BIL's House

Christmas Dinner at My Cousin's House