Wigged out for the holidays

This is my favorite holiday photo from our weekend. Little Dewdrop snuck up onto the table while her elfish father was fixing dinner.  He wore the hat and cape for most of Christmas and I thought it added a festive touch.

We spent a lot of our time in the kitchen, and having it be one, big open space was just great.  Now, why didn't we think of this years ago? Its made our house such a cozier place.

We had one wonderful meal after another, and since the kids were staying with us instead of driving back to the woods and going to their yurt each night, we even went all out for breakfast in the mornings. On Christmas Day, our Gypsy made this fluffy, puff of deliciousness for us from a recipe we saw in the Sunday paper that morning.

Poor Sugarwings had been pretty sick all week leading up to the big day, and stayed here with us for most of the time, with her parents having sleepovers with her at our cottage.  She rallied by the time Christmas Eve came around, but was still not quite herself.

We were sad to see her so weak and tired, but It was nice to have a houseful for the whole week, instead of just seeing them for the dinner and present times.

This year, between Sugarwings being sick, and me travelling, I was behind on gift buying.  I did a whirlwind shopping trip, throwing things into the cart as I buzzed down the aisles.  By the time I got home, I wasn't even sure what I had for who, I just hoped it was done.  And for some reason, I bought wrapping paper, not bags…. silly mistake!  If you wait till the last minute to buy gifts, there is no time for wrapping, those late gifts need to be slipped into bags.

That was NOT the highlight of my week.

But watching these little fairies tear through that paper was.

Dewdrop was very fond of her new toys.  She was busy giving all the dollies lots of kisses and hugs.

She wasn't quite sure what to think  about the dress up wig that her big sister got though.

I think it added a lot to the festivities, as she wore it to pass out the gifts.

We had two celebrations, all gifts to each other on Christmas Eve, and Santa's presents on Christmas Day.  My husband's family has always done it that way, and it has become our tradition too.

  I grew up with being able to open one gift the night before, saving the rest for the main event. I was always disappointed that the one preview gift was PJs every single time. I thought it was just plain old bad luck that I always picked the one gift that was not fun at all, when there was a sparkling pile of things waiting under the tree for me. 

Of course, now I know that Mom planned it that way, so that I'd have new jammies on for Christmas morning when I woke her up at the crack of dawn.  But at the time, I was crushed that once again, I got pajamas,  not a Barbie on Christmas Eve.

Now, I am pulling my own version of the jammie trick, and let the girls each have one gift to open after dinner, before bath time and the rest of the gifts.  Yep, they each had a new pair of matching PJ's as their sneak peek gift just like I did when I was a kid.

We had a third holiday bash on the day after Christmas, with the rest of the family (at least the ones in this part of the world) over for dinner, and all 26 of us fit into the new kitchen. 

The house seems really quiet now with everyone gone.  I've kind of gone into hibernation, with a good book and a box of kleenex (I caught Sugarwing's cold). I've not even checked out the post holiday sales yet, and don't know if I will.  Although I keep thinking about all that clearance price Russell Stover chocolate…. out there, just waiting for me, all marshmallowey on the inside and shaped like chocolate Christmas trees. 

But I'm kind of enjoying being snuggled up with a book and staying home in my jammies.  I think I'll pass on the sales and go have another slice of that white chocolate peppermint cheesecake that I made instead. By the time I leave the house, the only thing that will fit me will be my elastic waist jammies.

If you are into holiday sale prices and don't want to leave your comfy home either, I have a sale in my Boutique and now on Etsy too.  And yes, it covers tutorials, millinery, charlottes, and all of the other vintage goodness in my shops.

 Everything is 30% off in the Boutique if you use  THIS LINK.

And the small print says: The only catch is, that I won't be doing any mailing for a few days.  You might not recieve your box till after New Years.

And if you click on the website directly, you can't get the sale price, its only available from THIS LINK

When you fill your shopping cart, you need to type in the words-  happyholidays   – then hit "recalculate" to get the special price. Its simple to do.

For Etsy, use the same code word- happyholidays  -to get 30% off there too.

And by the way, a Very Happy Holidays to you all!