Good Bye 2011! Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's already the end of another year!  Where did all the time go?  Do you have any New Year's plans tonight?  We are going to the city celebration where they are having a kids carnival and bingo.  We went last year and it was hilariously awesome.  Maybe we'll win the big prize this year?

In typical Megan fashion, I'm ready to throw out everything in my home.  Every year, I stop myself and ask myself to be a little bit logical about it.  This year, I think it reeeeaaallly needs to go.  2012 will bring me trying to  sell a bit, give way a bit, donating a lot and filling up the garbage bins repeatedly.  Awesomeness.  I've even started a rather large project today that I didn't really have any direction for.  In otherwords, I've made a HUGE mess!  Wish me luck.

Wishing everyone a safe and fun New Year's Eve! 

"Behold Him" and "Let It Snow" kits available

**UPDATE AUGUST 2013**
Limited number of original kits available as of August 2013.  Please go to this post here for more information or use the Paypal link on the left side of blog to order your kit.  Thanks! 

There has been a lot of interest in my "Behold Him" Nativity blocks and "Let It Snow" blocks.  I am able to reproduce a limited number of kits and am currently taking a list of people interested.

Kits must be pre-payed and will be shipped unless other arrangements are made for local people only.  Please click on this link here to find further information about these kits or feel free to email me at megitys(at)gmail(dot)com.  Thank you for your support!  Big hugs!  Megan

**Behold Him kits available for pre-order now! Please click here for details about kits. Paypal links are located on my left sidebar.**

Martha Stewart Paint FYI

Did you guys know that Martha's paint is being discontinued at Home Depot?  I stopped in there a few weeks ago and discovered that.  I quickly picked up another paint swatch since they said that they will still have the codes to make the colors.  This week, I stopped in quickly and found that the pre-made samples of paint that was in the display case for just 50 cents each.  These samples have a built in paint brush and are great colors which will be great crafting paint.  Hurry on over and see what you can get too! 

"Let It Snow" Blocks

**KITS NOW AVAILABLE!  For more info, CLICK HERE. **

For gifts this year, I made some "Let It Snow" blocks for some of my sisters.  I think they turned out pretty cute!  Two of my sisters don't really care for the vintage images that I usually do, so I custom made them a little snowman for the last block.  I hope to make a set for me too, but will include a vintage snowman image to complete my set.

 These pictures aren't the best since I hurriedly snapped a picture before quickly wrapping them to be delivered.  I do like the way the snowmen turned out.  This year, I'm planning on doing a little Winter decorating.  It's fun to have something crafty to think and work on while I wait for Valentines.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas! 

Christmas Eve

Wow!  It's amazing to me that it's already Christmas Eve!  I hope I'm all prepared.  I keep thinking and re-thinking what I have done to make sure.  I'm sure you are doing that too!

I got some last minute wrapping done.  Very simple with a beautiful red satin ribbon.  I think the packages turned out beautiful!

I added pom-poms to my banner.  (Hello neighbor washing your car.  Would you like to wash mine too?)

We got a darling package from my sister that included this little handmade pine cone elf and a delicious treat! It was a fun surprise!

The house is clean and I've got cookie dough thawing and dinner started.  I'm sure I'm missing something but I'm enjoying these few free minutes I have.

Wishing you and your family a very, Merry Christmas indeed! 

xoxo, 

Megan

Christmas Eve Eve

Today it's Christmas Eve Eve!  We are planning a sleepover in the front room under the glow of the Christmas tree with Christmas movies and treats.  It's our first year and I'm hoping to make it a tradition.  Let's see if I can handle the crazies.  They are extremely excited for it!  All except for my oldest who got sick yesterday and is really whiney sad about it.  It sounds like strep throat so we are headed to the doctor today.  It's strep throat again, oh my!  It wouldn't be Christmas if somebody wasn't sick.  It's a tradition that I don't enjoy.

I'm in the mode trying to remember who I'm forgetting and getting the last bits done.  I may be guilty of adding a little more here and a little more there.  It's hard for me to let some things be.

I never did share my Christmas banner with you.  It's been up for weeks!   I'm blessed to have a friend who gives me fabric and she chose a festive red and green color scheme.  I think it turned out cute!  I never added the pompoms to it.  Maybe I'll put them on today? (*Update:  Banner got pom-poms! )

Love the carolers...

And the flower is so fun and unexpected that I think it's probably my favorite.  Well, next to the poinsettia, and the carolers and the holly toile.

I got this gold wreath, that I love, from Home Goods.  I realized how nerdy I am when I tried to take a picture of it.  My son, however, is a little bit nerdier then me being that he kept opening the door and laughing at me.  My poor kid has strep throat and is pale with dark under eye circles, but he just can't stay down.  He may or may not be shooting me with darts right now.

We are super excited for Christmas to come!  We are all ready and I'm thrilled to give the kids their presents this year!  We will have a little time before church to enjoy them which I'm so happy about.  We usually go to Gram's house right after our Christmas morning for breakfast and a BIG present opening fest for the kids that makes them forget all about what they got from us.  Gram likes to spoil which is perfectly fine to do.  I'm sure I'll be the same way when I get grandchildren!

So, are you ready for Christmas?

Behold Him

**Update August 2013!**
Limited number of original kits available as of August 2013.  Please refer to this blog post here for more information or use the Paypal link located on left side bar to order your kit.  Thanks! 

This year, I have had a great time designing and teaching my craft classes.  After my last class, I decided to not continue on due to the store closing that I was teaching at.  My darling niece called me up one day and begged me to make her a set of blocks for her shelf for Christmas.  I'd been asked before by others and had come up with a few ideas, but nothing that I was too excited to finish since I wasn't holding the classes anymore.  But Kaylin had the best idea and I couldn't say no.  She requested a nativity scene and we settled on the words "Behold Him".  I think that it turned out elegant and beautiful and I'm thankful for the opportunity to design it.

The blocks look great without any decoration, but I wanted to add a little something.  The simple green poinsettia was my choice.  I love the way it turned out.

Happy 5th Birthday!

I can not believe that my baby is five!  FIVE! How time has flown by.  He, however, thinks it is fantastic. Birthdays are for spoiling and yes, he was spoiled.  This year, I didn't throw him a friend party.  He didn't understand why we were sending out the envelopes to his friends.  Thankfully, we were able to snag a few friends for an afternoon movie and some playtime.  I couldn't hardly catch these boys for a picture.  They were too excited to play with the present they brought.

It's tradition to help make your birthday cake.  This year, he picked homemade chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. Mmmm!   He wanted it to look like a muddy battlefield so we sanitized some army men and let him have at it.  Love his chocolate face!

See what I mean about being spoiled?  That heap of presents is mostly from Gram.  She just can't seem to help herself!

A few highlights about him:

• You love Curious George and monkeys (notice the shirt and the wrapping papers?)
• You ask to make cakes often because you just can't resist the licking the beaters and the bowl
• You really love preschool! 
• You're best friends are Eli and Abe.  You would play with them everyday, all day long if you could.
• You love Mexican food especially enchiladas. 
• You still have cute round cheeks that I can't resist kissing. 
• You love to wear that old bomber jacket of your uncles and black wellies every single day.
• You can't wait for your Dad to take you duck hunting.  
• You often ask for a Grandma Sharon day and if she is busy, you always ask for a Uncle Matt day.

Happy Birthday my little man!  I love you so much and you are such a joy to have in our home!

Addict

A week ago, my computer got a virus that completely seized it up.  Fortunately, we could get it fixed and I'm grateful to have my computer back!  Sadly, I realized how much time I waste on this thing.  Blogs, Pinterest, Facebook, emails, bills, etc.  It's obviously time to stage an intervention and find a happy medium.  How does one do it though?  How to not get sucked into this abyss while enjoying the benefits of the world wide interwebs?  Any suggestions?

Christmas Cheer

This year, I played four Christmas concerts with my flute choir group, Flautissimo; one concert with the Davis Arts Council (which I played just ten measures but the concert was so amazing!) and one 3rd grade Christmas program.  Phew.

I'm so happy that I got the opportunity to do it.  Listening to Christmas music is festive, but playing Christmas music and enjoying live Christmas concerts brings a warm, happy holiday cheer to me.

In the famous words of Buddy the Elf:

"The best way to bring Christmas Cheer, is singing  loud for all to hear."

I think it's true.  Watching your child sing Christmas songs wearing a silly little collar is one the best ways to bring Christmas cheer.  Laughing at how much she would not show any emotion while she sang.  Enjoying my husband at her concert because miracle of miracles, he was off early that night!  (Seriously a miracle!)

Have you been enjoying Christmas concerts this year?  

Marshmallow Bits and Peppermint Hot Chocolate

It's snowing today.  When it snows, it means it's time for hot chocolate.  The kids and I found these Mallow Bits this week and we are in heaven!  Little mini marshmallows just like the ones in the hot cocoa packets but even better because you can put as many as you want in your delicious peppermint hot chocolate.  We bought vanilla Mallow Bits but there are also peppermint Mallow Bits.  Why didn't I just get both?

Hot cocoa + Christmas tree lights + snow = cozy.  

It's these little things that I am really enjoying this Holiday season.  

Pretty Tiny Initials

I found these tiny initial rings on Etsy and fell in love with them.  I would love to have a stack of them with my childrens' initials. 

I think it would be the something personal without being as obvious as an initial necklace or the dreaded vinyl family decals you put on your van.  You know, these stickers.  (Sorry if that's your cup of tea.)

Our Christmas Tree

This year, I really, really, reeeeallly wanted to love my Christmas tree.  My trees have always looked nice, but nothing special.  One year, I bought a bunch of brown ornaments.  Fail.  Do not use brown ornaments unless you have a white flocked tree to show them off.  Instead, use brightly colored ornaments like chartreuse and hot pink and turquoise!  That will ensure some happiness in there.

I scored the pink vintage pink ornaments for 75 cents at the thrift store!

Add lots and lots of glittery things! Even those doily snowflakes sparkle.  Those silhouette ornaments are my favorite!  I would love to buy some more this year, but it's just not in the budget right now.  I will be sure to get some more when I can!  

Our book advent is under the tree in that basket.  The kids are loving the book advent.  They are so excited to read them with me and are being really good about taking turns.  Even my nearly 12 year old loves it!  He loves Christmas.  He still believes very strongly in the magic of it all.  Looks like it's time to wrap some presents up.  My kids have been enjoying wrapping up their old things to give to each other.  Funny babies!

So this is our tree this year.  I'm wonder what it will be like next year?  Are you enjoying your tree now too?

Star Wars Wallpaper

Are you kidding me?  Star Wars wallpaper.  My boys would die over this! 

Windy

So, after (nearly) 30 days of blogging, I suddenly quit?  Not by choice.  The last two days feels like it's been two weeks.  Our city was hit by a very strong east wind Thursday, knocking over trees, siding, roofs, fences and power.  It was crazy!  We've been very fortunate as there does not appear to be any damage to our house.  Just a lot of debris and branches.  Our neighbors did not fair so well.  Many huge pine trees just could not withstand the 90-105 mph winds.  This was the common site just in our neighborhood.

downed fences and ripped off shingles are everywhere

huge tree in the park - the roots were at least six feet tall

trees lining main street

This tree was huge!  Taller on its side the both of the house.  Looks like a blessing landing right in the middle but unfortunately, it bounced off both houses before coming to its resting place.

Crazy right?  It's not common weather for our city  We are grateful that we fared well as far as damage goes, but we were without power for almost two days.  It was coldy, coldy, coldy in our house.  We opted to spend the night at home that night, sleeping together in one room like a little ol' pioneer family.  It was quite cozy actually.  I was surprised at how well the kids slept and how early they went to bed.  I think that we might need a "power outage" every night!  Ha! A mom can dream.  

Now, we are back with power (can I get a hallelujah?) and feeling like we are far behind when really, we are just starting the holiday season.  I've got my tree all decorated and Christmas banners are in full production.  I   didn't put out any holiday decor other then the tree.  This year, I just feel like making something new.  Something holiday inspired instead of holiday obvious.  Does that make any sense?  

Hope all is good in your neck of the woods and you are all cozy, warm and toasty! 

(Nearly) 30 Days of Blogging

I did it!!  It's the last day of my little self imposed thanksfest.  I'm glad that I did it because I need to remember to be thankful for all that I have.  Sometimes, I find myself so frustrated over the simplest and I know that it's a tiny bit overly ridiculous when I forget about my many blessings.

Curious to remember all that I thought was important to blog about, I thought that I would recap what I'm thankful for.  

I've been thankful for...

• twice for music 
• two uplifting sayings 
• eight crafting/inspirations 
• remembering my blessings twice 
• friends three times
• easy dinners 
• warm car
• yoga
• bedtime
• thrifting
• hulu
• cheap chocolate advents
• and not surprisingly, my family 19 times  (funny because right now, they are fighting like mad and tattle-telling on each other.  They'll get over it, right?

All day I thought it was December 1st.  Obviously, it's not.  I've been working on my Christmas tree with the help of my (long distance) sister.  Why is she not my neighbor again?  With decorating, working on a billion Christmas banners and such, it feels like it should be way into December by now.  Before I know it, Christmas will be here and we will be surprised at how fast it flew by.  Here's to a fun and festive December! Hear! Hear! 

Ingrid Michaelson

Today, I'm simply just grateful for some good music.  I've had this song stuck in my head since an email to my sister last night.  She mentioned that she was longing for triplets which she would name Ruby, Violet and Hazel.  It reminds me of that song in which she has three girls, with strawberry curls, name Ella, Nelly and Faye.  I love my sister with all my heart.

Ingrid - source 

I like Ingrid and her little tunes. Which reminds me that I would really like to get myself something decent to listen to in my car and upstairs.  Any suggestions for some good tunes?  They would need to be acceptable for children to hear too.

Always, Always, Always

source

This saying pretty much summed up my month.  I'm thankful I did it and pray that I can continue to realize my blessings! Just a few more days left...
We've been putting up the Christmas tree this weekend.  I'm having a really fun time thinking about making a new look for the tree on a small, little, tiny budget.  I'm hoping to have something fun this year! 

Christmas Pillow Inspiration

So far, I've made a Halloween pillow (not blogged about) and a Thanksgiving pillow  so I'm feeling crazy consistent and think I'll make myself a Christmas pillow too.  I found this free graphic the other day on The Graphic's Fairy website.  I'm thinkin' that it will look great for my Christmas pillow.

source

The site even gives the graphic in reverse which is fantastic.  Especially since I have yet to figure out how to reverse my images.  I'm sure if I sat and actually tried to find how to flip them, I could do it, but so far, my images haven't really needed it.  Yes folks, I'm all about the doing the bare minimum.  I'm thankful for Graphic Fairy and her free images.  Now off to decide my fabrics!

Christmas Planning

Organizing is not my forte, but, I like to pretend that I'm a little bit organized.  Knowing what I to get my family for Christmas ahead of time always helps.  (As does buying it ahead of time.  Sometimes it happens (and it's delightful when it does) but often it doesn't.)

As I mentioned yesterday, I did some Black Friday shopping.  I was able to find most of what was on my shopping list.  My shopping list was just a quick jotting down of my thoughts and my thoughts can be pretty unorganized.  When I got home, I physically wrote out what I got, for whom and who it's from.  (Whom is such a funny looking word.)  I like using a Christmas planner to make it more official.  Of course, I have to put that planner under lock and key, buried in the backyard so the kids can't see it.  This year, I used this free printable Christmas planner.  I've also used in years past Flyladys' Christmas Control Journal.  Both work just great.

source

I'm thankful for free Christmas planners.  Are you?  Do you write down everything down or remember it all in ye' ol' noggin?  If I did that, Christmas might be pretty interesting! I've already got some readjusting and returns to make.  That is if I can bring myself to return them and not just buy something else to even it back out.  :)

*Tonight is our first Christmas performance for Flautissimo!  Tis the season!

It's Black Friday, Have You Been Shopping All Night?

Did everyone have a great Thanksgiving?  We did.  It's always a small get together on the in-laws side since most of the family lives a few hours away.  Since we have the only grandkids, we get to be spoiled and have Gram, Gramps, Aunt Dee!Dee! and Uncle Matt all to ourselves.  We played games and ate good food and enjoyed ourselves very much.

free printable found here

Are you a big Black Friday shopper?  I'm not really a fight the crowds kind of a gal but I sure like a good deal.  I left this morning at 7am and was able to get everything but one thing on my list without any lines.  (In fact, the longest line was for Krispy Kreme doughnuts as payment for my oldest to watch the kids this morning.  It was crazy busy and if I hadn't of promised it, I would not of waited 30 minutes for them!)  And even though that one thing is out of stock everywhere, they are still easily orderable (makin' up words here) for just a few more dollars.  Win, win on my list!  I truly enjoy Christmas shopping, just wish I had a much bigger budget!  But honestly, don't we all?

My kids have written out their Christmas lists a few days ago.  They constantly remind me about their list.  There are quite a few things that I won't be able to do, like laptops and a real pet monkey.  But others on the list,  I found for a great deal and I know they will love them!

I love that everything is so magical for them still.  I hope to keep it that way!  Keeping up a positive attitude is one the most important parts.  That is why I dedicated November to a thanksfest.  To remember to look for my blessings.  I'm so thankful that I did this because now I feel a bit more mindful.  I know that continuing to remember my blessings and doing our daily Christmas scripture read will bring a warm, festive feeling to our household.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I thankful it's Thanksgiving today!!  Looking forward to good food and good family time.  Hope you have a wonderful day! 

Christmas Book Advent

I've been collecting vintage Christmas Golden Books over the past year in hopes of doing a Christmas book advent with my children.  So far, I was able to find nine different books (plus a few duplicates tee-hee ).  The goal was to find 12 different Golden Books but I haven't found any since.  Luckily for me, I have a retired school teacher for a mother-in-law and she gave me a load of books.  Now I have more then enough for the full twenty-five days.  Here's what I've have from her:

• The Biggest, Best Snowman
• Clifford's Christmas 
• Clifford's First Christmas
• If You Take A Mouse To The Movie
• The Night Before Christmas - a lift the flaps pop-up book
• Gingerbread Baby 
• Welcome Comfort 
• Snowmen At Night 

In my Christmas bins, I have a nice book about the Nativity, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Christmas Orange plus a few others I can't quite remember.   I also found Santa Claus Comes to Town book and record in my collection.  I've got more then enough to do the countdown and look forward to trading out with age appropriate, nicer books as the time goes on.  I'm thankful for for mother-in-law today.  She's so generous and fun!  

Gifted

Gifted

Have you seen the new issue of Gifted?  It's a free, online Holiday gift giving guide.  It has so many pretty colors in it!

source

• Hello beautiful pillow!  
• I admit that I love the aqua and red color scheme even though I don't use it.  I love this wrapping paper!  Which made me see this wrapping paper that I also like.  
• These fabric tapes are always fantastic.
• Tan, plum and coral.  Unexpected, pretty holiday color.  I think these feather tags are amazing! 
• Pretty zipper pouch. 

That's just naming a few of my favorites in this beautiful publication.  I'm always thankful for pretty inspiration! 

Yet Another Little Advent

Obviously, I've got advents on the brain.  I also like this little advent that I saw today on OH HAPPY DAY.

Little muslin bags are always super charming.  I'm still working on having a pleasant holiday.  I'm thankful that this week is Thanksgiving.  The kids only have two days of school this week then we off!  Over the hill and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go!  Gram makes the best. turkey. evah.  Seriously.  She has the roaster that is a miracle cooker.  What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Saturday Morning Cartoons

The Saturday morning cartoons have bombarded my kids.  I can home from flute rehearsal and they have a crazy long list for Santa.  They excitedly were trying to explain to me these awesome slippers that when you walk, the eyes open and close.  Luckily, the commercial came on again and they disappoint!

 Stompeez.  Pretty fancy! 

They truly are slippers with personality!  

I'm thankful for the wonder that my children feel towards Christmas.  I remember that feeling.  I tend to feel grinchy and stressed about it since I don't have a budget to work with for Christmas.  This year, I vow to regain that feeling of wonder and awe and excitement again.

Magazine Inspirations

image

I've fallen in love with this dress from jcrew after I saw it in December's Better Homes and Garden.  Can't find an image online, but she was wearing it with a skinny black patent leather belt, long beaded ball necklace, sweater tights and fun heels.  I really loved the pop of bold color for winter (that was not red) that winterized great.

It was on blogger Joslyn Taylor and her Simplicity blog that chronicles that she will end the year with less then she started out with.  The idea is to buy quality, timeless pieces that you love and can wear for at least the next five years.  This outfit came in at nearly $500.  Yee-ouch! Obviously, not in the budget for me but lovely nonetheless.

Thankful for inspiration because now that I know that I like this look, I can try to find budget pieces and use what I have to pull it together.  Looking at her blog, it's obvious that she has some money to work with.  All of her pieces are beautiful yet expensive.  I'd take each and every one of them for my wardrobe.   Does anyone know where I can get myself one of those beautiful vintage Indian dresses?

Although she can have a lot more fun making thoughtful purchases then I can, I still can do the same on a much smaller scale.  Which makes me realize that I have got to do something about that closet of mine.  It's pretty small and neglected.  Not a whole lot in there that is wearable since I did clean it out a month ago.   I need to figure out what I need but more importantly, what look I'm trying to achieve.

Thankful for Preschool

This litte guy loves preschool!  His teacher is wonderful and I hope that we can get a good start on kindergarten because of her.  Every preschool morning, he patiently awaits his ride.  He's always out the door the second he sees her driving down the road.  I love that he is so excited to go!

Today he is wearing his Dad's old bomber jacket that his Mom saved all these years.  Isn't that fun?  It is his coat of choice when his monkey coat is in the wash.

Thankful for Girls Night Out!

Tonight is our GNO and I'm super excited to see my good friends.  Some have moved away.  Some I see everyday.  But nonetheless, I'm super excited to see them all!  We're headed out for an early showing of Breaking Dawn and dinner at Iggy's.  Mmmm, chili water and bread.  They are too good!

Hope you have a great night too! 

*Update:  Honestly, the only way that I can handle Twilight movies is with my friends.  Breaking Dawn was a little laughable, but even better when in good company and fun to have my sister-in-law there too! 

Thankful for Our Neighborhood

Sometimes, I completely forget how fortunate we are to live in such a wonderful neighborhood.  We have friends  for everyone on every street! My kids have oodles of friends to play with! When we sold our first house and  looking for our second home, all I wanted was a family friendly neighborhood.  Our first home I actually liked quite a bit.  It was small but efficient.  It had a great little orchard in the backyard.  But it really, really lacked the family friends we were looking for.  Thankfully, this neighborhood made up for it with an abundance of friends not only for my kids but for us as well.

These boys love hanging out with the girls.

Two little sweeties

Red Neck Swimmin' Pool

My all time favorite picture.  Add twenty years and it could be at her wedding.

I went searching for pictures and I don't have many!  It's a goal now to make sure to take some pictures of these sweet friends.

Thankful for Easy Dinners

Oops!  I missed yesterday.  That's what happens when I get into a new book and can't stop reading then I have to rush and hurry to catch up.  Have you ever read "The Maze Runner"?  It has taken me a bit to get into it, but now I can't quit.  Days like these, I'm thankful for a quick and easy, comfort food dinner.  Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  Yum.

cutest little grilled cheese and tomato soup for sale here

I'm almost done with the first book so maybe I'll have something more to say later!

Thankful for Art

Today, I'm thankful for the watercolor set that Gram gave li'l missy last Christmas.  It kept all three kids happy and getting along for quite a while today.  And now we have some new master pieces to add to the mix!

I'm off to toot my flute again tonight.  The holiday season keeps me busy with that.  Have a good night!

Autumn Letters

I found a post today that I had forgotten about. Since I loved my Summer letters so much, I decided to make myself a set of Autumn letters.

Unlike my September wreath that is full of color, this one lent itself to be more neutral with shades of brown, copper, and cream. Mmm...I love ribbon.

It's a toss up on my favorite paper on this.  Either it's the "M" or the "A and U".  Depends on the day,  but the "M" has had the upper hand for a while now.

I have officially decided to make them for each season but I can't help but itch to make something with richer colors for November.  Monthly words is something that I don't really want to do but somehow, it keeps creeping up in my mind.  Halloween needed "Haunted". (I guess I never shared those either.)  Christmas will want something different, why not November too?

Today, it doesn't feel much like Autumn.  I took the kids to the movie this afternoon and we came out to a huge snow storm.  Now they are enjoying the snow and I'm enjoying the warmth of my house.  That is what I'm thankful for today.

A Tip

Here's a tip for the day:

When thrifting for Christmas books to do for a Christmas countdown, it's a good idea to write a list of all the books that you have, otherwise, you'll end up with a few duplicates.

I know.  I'm giving you gold today.

I thought I would check out my stash of vintage Golden Books to see how many more books I need and that's when I realized that I had a few duplicates.  I do have a great assortment but I have to laugh at all the duplicates I have.  I've collected:

• Jingle Bells
• The Twelve Days of Christmas
• The Littlest Christmas Elf
• The Nutcracker
• Santa's Surprise Book
• Frosty the Snowman
• Santa's Toy Shop (2)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (2)
• Twas the Night Before Christmas (4! Including a really cool book that has golden pages)

I thought I was doing great to get at least the 12 books.  Now it looks like I have a little more hunting to do! Today, I'm thankful for thrift stores that have charming vintage Golden Books for me to hunt through.  Sometimes, it's just so fun to do!

*Oh!  Happy Veteran's Day and Happy 11-11-11!  What a day!