One of my customers “found” Santa in his house and decided to send my a quick picture of him. A festive red hat with some white fur lining can make one of my ceramic masks look jollier than ever! Thank you George for sharing your holiday spirit with me!

So this afternoon, my next door neighbor told me that I had “a plant or flowers or something” down by the front door. So I scurried down to see what was there… and I found a wonderfully cheery holiday floral arrangement. I unwrapped it and found that it had been sent by my cousin & his family in Ohio. I guess if they can’t be here in person, at least a “surprise holiday gift” makes the distance seem a bit closer!

Happy Festivus for the rest of us!
With the ever-hysterical Airing of Grievances, Feats of Strength and, let us not forget, an aluminum pole!

Click here for the video history of Festivus.

It was a “practically perfect” evening with Mary Poppins and my friend Pam last night.

Followed by a very sweet treat… which I now want s’more of!!!

Deck the halls, walls, trees… and custom tiled fireplaces! If you look closely, behind the “festivities” is a textured tile fireplace I did a few years back for my friend Chris. Sure, I bet they all want their stockings right up front for Santa to see… but I’d like for him to see more of the fireplace!!!

And a quick peek at the fireplace when we first finished it without all of the “festivities” in place!

So a couple was here last Saturday for the Second Holiday Home Show.
They bought pottery and a few ornaments for gifts. Recently, the husband was getting ready
to give one ornament to a female co-worker. His wife caught him just in time…
and said he may want to re-think that!

So their son just stopped by to purchase two more ornaments
for a little more “appropriate” co-worker gift!!!

This is kind of amazing…
in an oddly simple, old-school, and yet I’m sure not-so-easy-to-do kind of way!
Pretty impressive. Makes me want to start “spinning” more bowls to see what shows up!!!
Click here for the video!

oops… guess I should have opened my mail sooner today?…
and the most recent addition to my ornament collection that came in the mail today
from one of my Facebook Fans in Massachusetts. She got a mug in my first online sale…
and I just received a beautiful, stamped ornament. Thank you Pam!!!
What a great holiday surprise.

Many of you may have seen my extensive Christmas ornament collection when you came to the “My Home For The Holidays” Home Shows over the years. And then after this year’s Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge, I now have even more! I’ve always loved handmade ornaments. I guess because I’ve always like to “make things” as a kid. So it’s only fitting that I continue to collect handmade ornaments. And it’s even more fun now that I have so many “Talented Friends” who make so many cool things!

Growing up as a kid, every Christmas we would get a new ornament for our collection from our Grandma Mills (my Mom’s mom). She was quite crafty and worked through the year making ornaments. Many of them are still cherished keepsakes.

And then my Mom took up the tradition and started making us a new handmade ornament every year. As you can see, my Mom works more in the sewing & needlepoint world with tiny little details and a lot of counted-cross-stitch. These have merged nicely into the collection, and grace my tree every season.

Meanwhile, I’ve made a lot of friends who also like to “make things.” So many “Talented Friends” who make cool things… including cool ornaments. And so I continue to expand my Christmas ornament collection. These are just a few from my ornament collection… there are SO many more… far too many to share every one!!!

Cory McCrory                                               Roberta Polfus

Terry Hogan (front?)                                   Terry Hogan (back?)

Cory McCrory                                               Emily Murphy

Roberta Polfus                                             Cory McCrory

Marian Castro-Palanyk                              Zack Medler

Anna Leong                                                  Roberta Polfus

Emily Murphy                                              Lisa Harris

Nancy Jana-Kent                                         Emily Murphy

Terry Hogan (front?)                                  Terry Hogan (back?)

Nancy Jana-Kent                                        Marian Castro-Palanyk

Emily Murphy                                              Amy Higgason

Cory McCrory                                               Rosene Snekhaus… my FIRST art fair friends!

Terry Hogan                                                 Nancy Jana-Kent

Amy Higgason                                             Danny Mansmith

Unknown… but I got it at the “One Of A Kind Show”… and I LOVE IT.
                                                             …and I love grape soda!!! Go figure.

It’s always a relief to see that one of my mugs traveled well & arrived safely!
I really, really don’t like packing & shipping stuff for the fear of breakage.
So it was great to hear from Pam that her mug made it safely to Massachusetts!
In time for the holidays… and ready to warm up a cold, snowy day!

This mug was one of the mugs I offered up for sale during my first online sale.
“Happy December Sale” kicked off on December 1st and sold out quickly.
This was actually the very first mug in the listing… and the first one snatched up!!!