Thinking ahead to Christmas in July ...

What am I thinking?  Am I even thinking?  Well, yes, I am.  Once again, I am hoping to celebrate Christmas in July here in my Christmas kitchen.  Life is pretty busy for me right now, but Christmas in July feels as if it could be a nice mental health break.  I may not get here every single day (though I certainly hope to) but I will plan to be here as often as I can with ideas, links, recipes, cards, and so on.  Stay tuned!

A new-to-me mailbox card!

If you've read my Christmas blog for long, you know how very much I enjoy Christmas card scenes depicting mailboxes.  Today I was emptying out a cardboard box I found in a closet and came upon this beauty from the mid-1980s.  It's funny ... sometimes cards don't look like much when you first look at them, but once you scan them and get them on the computer you see all sorts of details.

I think the artist used some real artistic license with this scene, because, while the lights are on in the house and the shadows on the snow have the blue look they get at twilight, the flag is up on the mailbox, indicating the mail in the box is outgoing mail.  No true country person would ever put the outgoing mail in the box at night and leave the mailbox door open.  What if it snowed overnight?

So the picture isn't very accurate, but it is surely a pretty scene.  I love the log post the mailbox sits on, the cardinal perched on a snowy branch, and the smoke wafting up from the chimney.  There's even a lighted lamppost at the end of the driveway.  Charming!  This is a lovely addition to my collection of mailbox cards.

Win an adorable doll for Christmas gifting!

Photo from Pixie Faire.

If you have young daughters or granddaughters on your Christmas gift list, you will want to check out this fabulous giveaway I just entered.  It's a giveaway for a sweet new doll from the American Girl® line.  The Wellie Wishers dolls are 14.5 inches tall, rather than 18" like the American Girls®.  The Wellie Wishers all wear "wellies" -- rubber boots.  Several of my grandkids practically live in their rubber boots, so I know my granddaughter would enjoy these dolls.  There are five different ones -- Willa, Ashlyn, Camille, Emerson, and Kendall.  You can read about them here: Wellie Wishers.  They are completely adorable, and Liberty Jane is adapting patterns to fit them.  Some of the patterns offered by Pixie Faire for 14" dolls like the Hearts for Hearts dolls will also fit these Wellie Wisher girls.

This giveaway is sponsored by Pixie Faire and
Liberty Jane -- and it seems as if this is only the first of five giveaways for these adorable dolls.

You can enter this week's giveaway here: Willa Doll Giveaway.  I hope that one of my readers wins!

And, if you enjoy sewing for dolls, take notice -- Pixie Faire has Freebie Friday every week in which they offer one pattern for a free download.  A fantastic way to build your pattern library!  Their site also offers wonderful free tutorials for doll accessories and sewing techniques.  Have fun!