One tiny step toward Christmas prep!

 

 Tomorrow is Rudolph Day for September (the 25th), and although my Christmas preparations and planning are lagging sadly this year, I did take one tiny step forward on Monday.

I ordered my Christmas stamps!

The ones pictured at top -- Holiday Delights -- I ordered just one book of.  Because I really fell in love with the design below, called Winter Scenes:

 

Aren't they gorgeous?  I think these are just what my Christmas cards need this year.  So serene and classic looking.  

And also, just because, I couldn't resist ordering the design below, Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor:

 

These would be good for any winter occasion, it seems to me.  I just liked them.

Have you taken any steps toward your Christmas preparations? 

A family board game gift guide from the Turquoise Home

For the last day of Christmas in July, I'm sharing this Family Board Game Gift Guide from Laura at The Turquoise Home.  I happen to think that a board game, card game, or a jigsaw puzzle is one of the nicest family gifts to give or receive.   (Above, you see a game of Cover Your Assets in progress.)

 I know that our married kids and their kids love getting new games.  Oftentimes the kids will put games on their Amazon wish lists, and that is so helpful because I know it is a game they would really like to have.  If I didn't have this guidance, I might be apt to purchase a game they already own.

Laura's list, complete with photos, is incredibly helpful.  I've played several of these games with family members and I can see why they made the list.

Photo from Laura at The Turquoise Home

 You will note that #1 on Laura's list is Telestrations.  Whether played in New Hampshire or in Nevada, Telestrations has been a huge hit with the families we know. 

Sam's very detailed sketch picturing x-ray vision

Belly laughs over Telestrations in Nevada in 2018

 As for jigsaw puzzles, they can be found in many different stores or online sites.  One of the nicest is  White Mountain Puzzles, right here in New Hampshire.  Their puzzles can be found on their site, on Amazon and other retailers, on Etsy -- and, around the holidays, in our local supermarket.  The state puzzle below is a White Mountain Puzzle.

This Coke puzzle also looks like a lot of fun.  Both puzzles are from the collection of my local daughter and her family.

Need a gift for a family this Christmas?  Why not consider a board game or jigsaw puzzle?

File this one away!

Gorgeous winter graphic from (in)courage

Yes, this post by Jessica Turner at (in)courage: 6 Ways to Find Time for You During the Holidays is well worth filing away for December.    Put it somewhere where you'll be able to find it.  In fact,  it would even be worth printing out and adding to your Christmas notebook, and I will plan to do just that. 

Or maybe you have a file on your computer desktop for Christmas helps and ideas, or a Pinterest board for Christmas planning.  Mine is here: Christmas planning and preparation. 

Just put this post where you will find it easily in December.  I think that I am going to post this on my regular blog for December Daily, so that none of my readers will miss out.

Jessica's six basic points are these:

1.  Prioritize.

2.  Include you in your calendar.

3.  Plan for times of waiting.

4.  Don't overschedule yourself.

5.  Take care of your body.

6.  Give yourself grace.

But by all means, head on over to her (in)courage post and get the full benefit of Jessica's helpful advice. 

I'm currently working my way through Jessica Turner's book The Fringe Hours, and am finding commonsense advice there as well.

A fun kitchen gift recipe to try -- Peppermint Oreo Bark

Oh, how I enjoy making and giving kitchen gifts!  It's a highlight of every Christmas season.  So I'm always on the lookout for special new recipes to try.

Recently I came upon this older recipe by Jocelyn from Inside Brucrew Life: Peppermint Oreo Bark.  It looks and sounds delicious!  Peppermint is such a festive flavor, don't you think?  I'm not necessarily a huge peppermint fan at other times of the year, but at Christmas I am, especially if there's also chocolate in the recipe.  I enjoy peppermint mocha coffee, peppermint meltaway cookies, White Christmas candy, and more.

This Peppermint Oreo Bark by Jocelyn is pretty as well as being festively flavored.  I think it would be a wonderful candy to pack into tins and give as a kitchen gift this season.

I'll be trying this recipe for sure!

Using household items as Christmas decor

I've shared before how I go back through my old emails (read or unread) for ideas to use in my Christmas in July posts.  For today's, I want to share something I found in just this way.  It's a great 2015 post by Laura at The Turquoise Home concerning using inexpensive household items as Christmas decor.  Laura's post gives lots of wonderful information and ideas for doing just that.

As I was considering what photo of my own I might use to illustrate this post, it struck me that the one above would be just about perfect.  I'm not sure that Laura mentions any of the items I used in the vignette above, but I definitely did use ordinary household items in putting it together.

That's a dish towel underneath it all.  Red and white, though you can't see that in the sepia toned photo. There's a cookbook, an oversized teacup filled with cookie cutters, a milk bottle filled with salt, a mini cutting board, a child's rolling pin, a recipe from a friend.  To me this is so much fun -- just looking around my house to see what I can put together for a vignette.

Some of the household items Laura suggests are: twine, epsom salt, mason jars, chalk, clothespins, wrapping paper, kraft paper, and more.  You'll find many great ideas for using these things in Christmas decor over at  The Turquoise Home,  so head on over and enjoy!

Christmas in July sale over at my Etsy shop!

Just a little public service announcement to let you all know there's a good sale going on now over at my Etsy shop,  A New Hampshire Attic!  All 77 listings in the "Vintage Christmas" category are 20% off, now through July 31.

This includes vintage Christmas cards, both new and used, as well as other assorted vintage Christmas items such as bells, tags, napkins, etc.  If at all possible, I will try and list a few more vintage Christmas items during the sale.  Real life has kicked in with a vengeance for both Mr. T and myself, but if I can carve out some time to list more items, I will.

Hope you'll enjoy looking at the fun vintage Christmas things, even if you are only window shopping.  It's a nice diversion right now!

An untitled Christmas poem

I found this lovely little poem in the 1956 Ideals Christmas magazine:

Snow fell softly through the night,
Covering with unsullied white
Church spire, rooftops, fences, trees,
Making no sound save when the breeze
Whispered against the windowpanes,
Or tiptoed through small country lanes.
The world seemed hushed, as if God's hand
Had laid itself upon the land.
-- Sheila Stinson

Oh, do we need that today -- for God to lay His healing hand upon our land.  May it begin with each of us as we pray for that to happen.

This poem paints such a beautiful picture!