DOWN TO THE FINISH LINE

So.... In case you were wondering, I managed to finish up with everything Christmas Eve day and  I took a few photos to show you so you can see how busy I actually was. The photos are of the prep area waiting for me to start putting everything into gift bags.

There were 22 of these nifty red bakery boxes filled with cookies.....  I really like the boxes and think they add so much to the gift. If the cookies aren't up to snuff at least they look pretty, don't they?

.......and there were 6 tins of fudge and 12 mini loaves of Christmas breads.

Snickerdoodles anyone? I made the tags on the boxes and wrote the name of the cookie on the reverse side.

I did the same for the breads.

The baked goods and homemade fudge ended up in gift bags that were delivered to neighbors and friends on Christmas eve. This year I also made the Christmas cards which is something I've never got around to trying before. I liked making them so much I'm going to try to make all of the ones I send out next year.

We had a lovely Christmas and I'm going to spend this week enjoying the peace and quiet and rest up from all of the work spent getting ready for Christmas. I'll be taking down the decorations and putting them away the weekend after New years.  We have a tradition in our family. The decorations are up for the most part for my birthday and come down a month later after my daughter's birthday.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and at this time I want to wish you a very

~Happy New Year~

As always, thanks for stopping by. 

Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year

May your Christmas be filled with love and happiness and we will see you all next year.

             Warm hugs,

              Maddy Rose and the North Pole Bears

More on our Christmas preparations

Hi everyone, it's Bellamine and Wendy again. We're going to show you a couple of photos of our decorations that didn't get in to our last post and to tell you what we've been doing to get ready for Christmas.

Mom painted some paper mache gift boxes to put under our little tree. Although they are empty now we're hoping that on Christmas morning they will be filled with little pressies for us. Perhaps some candies or toys will be in them when we open the lids and look inside.

There's a snowman box almost like the one our mom has and a cute ginger boy and a Christmas tree that's next to the star. Thanks Mom.

In our last post we really didn't show much of our tree because we didn't have it finished. Now it is and we're really happy with the way it turned out this year. Our mom has been collecting the ornamnets for this little tree for almost 30 years so we guess it's her tree as much as it is ours. Doesn't it look like it has snow on it? Mom said we could choose a Santa to sit next to it so we picked this one cause we like the pressies in his arms.

Mom is always rearranging things. If you look at the last post the three little Chrsitmas bears were on the other side of the everygreens and those BEE-U-TEE-FULL hand painted wine glasses weren't there. The wine glasses were a gift from our mom's friend Miss Crystal from Crystal Clear. Mom has already tried them out and says she thinks they make the wine taste even better. We asked for a sip to see if she was right and thought the wine still tasted YUCKY!!

There's a new ornie on the big tree that came in the mail the day after the wine glasses. Do you see it? It's a BEE-U-TEE-FULL beaded ornie with beads that spell Maddy Rose that our dear friend Karen Anne from Ireland Brady made. Mom just loves it and she and our grown up sister want to learn how to make some so we can have even more on our tree next year. We would make some for our little tree but it's really hard to work with beads when you have paws.

Today we're putting on aprons and giving our mom some much need help with the Christmas baking. We're hoping that we're going to be making gingerbread boys because one of the ingredients is mole-you-know-whats. Heheheheheheheheh Get it? Mole-asses. We know it's not really said like that but it's funnier when you do say it that way. It always makes the boys laugh.

Well that's it for us today. We're going to check the blog list really quick to see if we missed any posts and then we're off to help with cookies. Mom always lets us eat the ones that get broken and we feel a case of oopsies coming on.

Hugs,

Bellamine & Wendy

Holiday Decorating

Hi everyone, its Bellamine & Wendy here and we're going to show you what we have done so far to decorate for the holidays. This is just the beginning so we may have more to show you closer to Christmas.

First we're going to show you our big tree in the living room and go on from there.

The tree is 7 1/2 feet tall and is decorated with only handmade ornaments. Most of them were made by our mom and we helped with some of them. Other ornaments were made by our friends and relatives.

The BEE-U-TEE-FULL polar bear ornie is from our friend Prudence and her mom.

Bellamine, that little snowman isn't handmade. Is it?! I thought Mom said this tree was just for the handmade ornaments.

It's OK Wendy, Mom said I could put my snowy ornament on the big tree cause he's too big for our tree but maybe we shouldn't say anything about it and nobody will notice.

This cutie pututie ginger boy was made by our auntie Maggie. Isn't he the sweetest little softie?

Our mom has many collections and one of our favorites is her collection of Christmas bears. 

She puts some on tables

and sits others on the mantel

and some are put on the buffet

Another thing our mom collects is Snowpeople. There are many different kinds of snowmen like the two here made of iron and there's a hook that holds a Christamas stocking.



and then there are the softie snowies like this little family here. The mom and dad were made by our auntie Maggie and their son was a gift from our grownup sister Bambi.

 Bambi also gave us the little Snowman snow globe under our tree.

We especially like the Snowman painted on this little house. If you look close you can see where is says, "Let it snow....somewhere else." Teeteetee

In the weeks between now and Christmas we'll be helping our mom do some more decorating and help her bake cookies and make candy to give to our friends and neighbors. 

We will also be watching Christmas movies and wrapping gifts and being the best little bears there is so we get lots of pressies from Santa and our mom.

That's it for today. Now we're going to go see if our mom needs help with anthing like maybe licking a spoon or taste testing something. We think she's making peanut butter fudge today.

See you all really soon. Remember that you need to be on your best behavior if you want Santa to leave you lots of pressies.

Hugs,

Bellamine & Wendy

and the winner is

Only twentytwo more days and it will be Christmas. It hardly seems possible doesn't it? I still have so much to do and am so far behind on everything. I think it's because I try to do too much and never leave myself enough time to do it all and then I start feeling stressed and when I get too stressed I get sick. That just makes me more stressed because when I'm sick I'm not getting anything done.

Having said that I'm keeping this simple. No need to make a big production out of it. Right??

Here is Santa's old bag:

and here is the list of names that went into the bag:

1. Flora @Bone Head Studio
2. Prudence @The Bears Blog
3. PKlaw
4. Lori @Apple Grove Treasures
5. Sara @Salmon Falls Prims
6. Julie @Julie’s Little House
7. Amy @Bumble Bee Lane
8. Wendy @Raven wood Whimzies
9. Linda @Buzzing and Bumbling
10. Pippirose @Pippi Stitches
11. Kay @ Kay’s Kids
12. Maggie @Off My Rocker
13. Pam @yoborobo
14. Karen Anne @Ireland Brady
15. Oma Linda @Olde Baggs ‘n Stuft Shirts & @Ye Olde Crones Gazette
16. Mary @Colony Mountain Stitcheries
17. Diane @Lavender Dreamer
18. Akasa Wolfsong @Stone Soup
19. Miyako @Orchid’s Daily Voice
20. Stacy @Magic Love Crow
21. Dessa Rae @ Dessa Rae Original Art Dolls
22. Beverly @Rhissanna
23. Susan @ Glen Oaks Primitives
24. Bren @eSynergy
25. Crystal Donnelly @Make it Easy
26. M @Off Center
27. Martha
28. Carmen @mi pequena evasion
29. Katy @The littlest Thistle
30. Mary @Marmmies Mammy’s and Me
31. Ana Camara ….acamarah.50@gmail.com
32. Rosa Maria @Contrustes
33. Ascension @mis miniaturas
34. Drora @Drora’s Minimundo
35. Sherrie @SympleThymes Cloth Art
36. Burning Rubber ?
37. Laura @ Cobblestone Creations

And here is the Santa:  



and the winner is: 

number 25. Crystal Donnelly of Make it Easy.

Congratulations Crystal. I'll be emailing you for your address and will have your Santa in the mail as soon as I hear from you. 

I want to thank everyone who entered the drawing and to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday and as always, thanks for stopping by.

Santa Giveaway

Since the season for giving is upon us I feel like having a giveaway and since I have a Santa or two just sitting here I decided to give one of them away to one of you. I used the old eenie, meenie, miney moe method for choosing and here's the Santa that is going to be sent out to one of you.

Santa is dressed in red from head to foot and has a dear little bear in his bag.


I'm going to keep it simple for you to enter the giveaway. All you need to do is leave me a comment saying you would like to be entered and your name goes into Santa's bag. It's the old bag that Mrs. Claus gave me because she gave Santa a new one for his birthday.

I will be drawing the winner on December 3rd and mailing out the prize on December 4th so Santa will arrive in time to be used in your holiday decorating this year and then for many years to come.

I don't know about you but I'm so far behind in my holiday preparations that even if I had twice the time I don't think I'd be able to get everything I want to do done. I have so much to do I would use a few clones to help me out. Having said that, I will wish you all a wonderful day and lots of holiday cheer and as always, thanks for stopping by.

The Second Wee Santa

I finished this Santa yesterday. He is the second of the four that I told you about that I’m making in this approximate size. The overall measurement for this jolly Santa is 6 ¼ inches tall including the ¾ inch thick section of Christmas tree trunk base he is mounted on.  This makes him ½ inch shorter than the first one in this series. Unlike the first Santa who has long skinny legs, this one has stubby legs and is quite rotund.

I’m picturing him here with one of my regular sized Santa figures so you can get an idea of how small he really is.

The Santa on the left is 6 inches taller but it's more than how tall he is compared to the newest one. He's bigger all over and until you see them together it really doesn't sink in.

I decided on green for his outfit with reddish colored fur trim. He has antique gold buttons down the front of his coat. He is wearing brown boots and mittins and is carrying a sweet little doll.

I did say he was rotund. Like the other Santa this one is standing atop a mound of snow. I used Martha Stewarts tinsel glitter on the snow mound but don't know if I like the effect as much as the glitter that I used on the last one. It doesn't seem to sparkle or glisten as much.

The painting seems to loose the depth I try to achieve when I photograph it and I was hoping that a close-up might show it to a better advantage but now I'm not really sure if it makes a difference. Not only that, but the color looks different. More blue than green.

I couldn't resist showing a close-up of the little doll. Her face is so small, just over 1/4 inch that I have a heck of a time seeing it let alone painting it.

Thanksgiving is only four days away and I have so many things to do to get ready for our holiday get-together. I make dinner for my family and a few friends and I still have cleaning, shopping and baking to do plus working on gifts and cards so I might not be back here until next Friday at the earliest so I'm going to wish all of my US friends a very happy Thanksgiving. If you're traveling this holiday please have a safe journey.

Happy Holidays and as always, thanks for stopping by.

FORGETTING SOMETHING?

In the dining room:

“Hey, Bellamine I know Mom said she wanted to hang this  pretty pumpkin thingy  that Oma Linda sent us on the wall but see how  it matches  this basket and it goes with our decorating scheme which is all about pumpkins. Well I’m thinking since it’s even the same orange as the orange of the basket and it looks like it’s the same diameter as the top opening, I’m thinking it will make a great looking lid.”

“Do baskets even have lips, Wendy?”

“Lids Bellamine, not lips and yes, some baskets do have lids.”

“Would you look at that? It fits perfectly and I can almost guarantee that Mom is going to just l-o-v-e it!

Are you about finished hanging the pumpkins on the tree? I’m getting hungry.”

“Don’t rush me, I’m almost done. Wendy, how do the turkeys look here under the tree? Should I move them out or push them further back or leave them where they are? Come here and take a look and tell me what you think.”

“Where you have them is fine. Now, finish with the tree so we’re done here. I need F-O-O-D!"

“Okay, that’s the last of the pumpkins. Is it too much or not enough? Do we need anything else? I keep thinking we’re forgetting something.”

“We’re not forgetting anything Bellamine. Remember, we decided to downplay the decorations because the weekend after Thanksgiving we’re going to start decorating for Christmas.”

“Are you sure we’re not forgetting something?”

“Well, now that you mentioned it Bellamine, I think we forgot to have our afternoon snack of toasted muffin with peanut butter and honey but we can take care of that right now. Last one to the kitchen is a snail bear.”

“When we get done with our snack we can watch Brave again? I really do l-u-v that movie!”

Meanwhile in the park half a mile from here:

“It looks like we’re the only ones here. Where is everyone?” - Pugsley

“I told you we didn’t have to leave so early to get here but you wouldn’t listen.” - Wednesday

“Look, the O’Dell kids just turned the corner into the park.” – Agnes May

“Looks like Donner couldn’t get away from us fast enough.” -Dory

“Dory you know how much he likes to be around Wednesday. I think he’s crushing on her.”

“Where are Bellamine and Wendy? I thought they would get here first. It was Bellamine’s idea for us to meet here so we can all go out to Snow Ville together so we could meet their snow friends.” - Danni

“Don't you worry. They'll get here. If Bellamine says she’s going to do something she’ll do it.” - Dory

“Ahhhh…. guys, how long are we going to wait?”  - Danni

While back home:

“WOW! That was great! Okay, who wants to watch it again?”

“What’s going on in here?

                      Bellamine aren’t you forgetting something?” - Mom

“Noooo…..I don’t think so. What??? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Weren't you going to meet your friends and you weren't you supposed to go together to Snow Ville so they could meet Crystal and Crispin? Well? I'm waiting for an answer young lady and your friends are down stairs waiting for an explanation.”

“This all happened yesterday and now we have to find a way to make it up to our friends. Mom said that if she didn’t know better she’d say we were both having a senior moment. All we can say in our defense is our heads are filled with stuffing. You’d better believe we’re not going to let something like this happen ever again.”

“Now we’re going to go visit our bear friends for Funny Friday.”

Hugs,

Bellamin & Wendy