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!

When your Christmas season looks a little different ...

Image from incourage.me

Everything has looked a little different -- make that a LOT different -- in 2020.  Everyday life as we knew it pretty much turned upside down in March.  Holiday celebrations and special events either didn't happen or looked incredibly different.  Easter is surely a case in point.  Our Easter Sunday usually goes like this: an early, often outdoor, church service; a bountiful potluck breakfast after church; a meaningful Easter worship service focusing on Christ's resurrection; a family dinner in the afternoon.  We wanted to make our Easter Sunday special in spite of the coronavirus, so here's what we did: hosted a small outdoor sunrise service on our back deck for a few friends (7 people counting us), followed by a potluck breakfast; after everyone left, watched a live-streamed Easter service; later, enjoyed Easter dinner with our daughter and family (8 people counting us).  It was still lovely and still very celebratory -- but it just wasn't the same.

We probably need to face the fact that Christmas may look a little different in 2020.  Which is why I think it's providential that I came across this article from 2015 as I pondered what more to share for Christmas in July.  It's titled When Your Holidays Need Another Look and is written by Mary Carver.  The author begins with a story about when she got corrective lenses for the first time and realized that the way she'd been seeing the world was not the way it really looked.  She says, "If you begin feeling anxious or sad or bitter when you see the holidays coming, I’d like to encourage you this year to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and then take another look."

I'm not going to quote the entire article here, because I want you to read it.  But Carver gives us some things to look for:

* Look for a reality check
* Look for someone to help
* Look for the blessings
* Look for a new tradition

All of these are so helpful!  Please do go on over and read the article in its entirety.  Pin it or save it in some other fashion to reread as the holiday draws closer.  I will leave you with just one more quote:

"If the holidays are hard for you this year, look for the blessings. Start with the small things and count them. Even if it feels insincere, thank God for another day, for breath in your lungs, for a promise He’s made that you’re still holding onto, for that one person who cares, for the lights or song that makes you smile, just a little bit, even if through tears. Look for the blessings that are still there, even when the holidays are hard."

I hope this is a blessing to someone today or during this 2020 Christmas season!

A great pizza recipe for Christmas Eve!

Does your family enjoy a traditional meal on Christmas Eve?  Some like to have a meatless meal; others favor seafood; some like specific ethnic flavors,  and so on.  For many years at our house, our meal is traditionally Christmas Eve Soup, served very simply with corn muffins, biscuits or rolls (or sometimes with cheese pizza), with ice cream and Christmas cookies for dessert.

In recent years, we've been enjoying pizza with our Christmas Eve Soup.  Often it's just cheese or pepperoni pizza.  But this Spinach Artichoke White Cheese Pizza from Sally's Baking Addiction sounds like a perfect pizza for Christmas Eve!

Photo from Sally's Baking Addiction

Doesn't it look scrumptious?

If we get a cool day this month and I feel it's conductive to baking, I'll be giving this one a try!

For the cookie party: White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Bars

I'm always on the lookout for potential Christmas cookie recipes.   We give away many dozens of cookies each Christmas, and I keep tins of them in the freezer for gifting, taking to holiday parties or events, or serving to family or guests.  So when I see a recipe that looks good, I'm apt to either give it a try right away or file for later use.  In fact, I have an entire Pinterest board titled  Christmas Cookie Exchange,  where I've pinned many want-to try recipes.  You might enjoy visiting this fun board for your own cookie ideas.

Recently, I found and pinned this recipe for  White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Bars from Karly at Buns in My Oven.  White chocolate and cranberries are both such festive flavors, don't you think?  And I really like the idea of baking them into moist, chewy bars rather than a crunchy, crispy cookie.  Karly promises that these bars are "soft, chewy, and completely addictive". 

Photo by Karly at Buns in My Oven

Hope you'll try this recipe on the next cool rainy day!

A fun Christmas baking idea to file away

Earlier I mentioned the December 1962 issue of Woman's Day magazine, where I found a lovely poem.  Today I'm back with a smaller snippet from that magazine.  It's a helpful hint having to do with family baking at Christmas time.

I've mentioned before how my local daughter Carrie has a cookie-baking day with all four of her kids at some point during each Christmas season.  This is a tradition that I love so much, and I know that the kids do also.  The photo at top, though it's a few years old now, seemed to me the perfect illustration for this post with its simple idea.  (I loved this photo so much, in fact, that I had a Shutterfly ornament made from it and gifted the ornament to my daughter and hubby.)

One of my very favorite parts of Woman's Day magazine was always their Neighbors feature, where readers sent in ideas, hints, tips, etc. to share with others.  I've found many an inspiring idea there over the years.  This idea from December 1962 was so much fun I just wanted to share it.

A Woman's Day reader named Agnes Listinsky, the mother of seven children ages 2 through 13, wrote about their family baking traditions:

"Before Christmas last year, all the children helped make the cookies, 160 dozen, 18 varieties.  Though I mixed and rolled, the kids cut, trimmed, put them on and took them off the tins, licked and taste-tested.  Ours may not have been the most beautiful cookies, but none were given as gifts or passed to guests with more pride.

"The fruitcake is a special family project.  Even Daddy gets in on it ... We make the no-bake kind of cake.  Around the table we set out the proper equipment for each different task: rolling graham crackers, cutting dates and marshmallows, grinding nuts, etc.  Each child selects a job and the oldest selects a song.  On completion of the song, they all shift to the left and another song is begun, and so on.  This way, we have fun, and Mother gets her baking accomplished with a minimum of effort!"

Sounds like a really nifty idea for those who like to bake any kitchen gifts that require a number of different steps or tasks in the preparation.  I might have thought of singing Christmas songs while the kids work, but I would not have thought of rotating the tasks with each song.  File this one away for use with kids or grands in December!

A festive gift to sew

I always love finding ideas for easy gifts to sew.  One of my favorite ways to find ideas for my Christmas blog is to go back over unread or previously read emails from years ago.  (I subscribe to many blogs by email.)  Often I find some great Christmas blog fodder this way.

This pretty flannel scarf is no exception.  It's by Jeran at Oleander + Palm: Plaid Cowl Neck Scarf.

Photo from Jeran at Oleander + Palm

I originally saw this idea in a blog post by Kim at Everything Etsy: 21 Plaid Inspired DIY Gifts.  This sweet scarf was only one of them, but it surely took my eye.  You might like to check out the entire post for other wonderful ideas.

I'm definitely going to try making some of these.  I think I'll start by making one in a lighter weight material to use in summer or fall, then use up some of my flannel stash in making more for gifts.  I think several of my granddaughters might enjoy these.  Two adult scarves can be made from just one yard of fabric, and Jeran also gives measurements for making scarves for kids and toddlers.

Have fun with this idea ... I plan to!

Lovely vintage style ornament

Photo from The How To Home

Vintage style ornaments made from repurposed bits and pieces can be so much fun!  This one from Mary Beth at The How To Home is no exception.  I was intrigued to see how it was put together, and to think about what I might have to use in making one.  

Mary Beth used a lid from a jar candle as the base for her ornament.  I hadn't seen that done before, but I'm tickled to have a potential use for these lids.  I usually throw them away because I can seldom think of anything to do with them.

The green wreath and "Merry Christmas" is a paper design that Mary Beth designed and then cut from paper.  I think an appropriate sized cut-out from a repurposed Christmas card might be even more fun and so I'm going to try that.

The Santa at the left of the ornament is from a 3-D gift tag. When I see these tags, I often think there must  be a creative way to re-use them. This is it!

And the bottle brush tree was just a little inexpensive generic one until Mary Beth sprinkled it with sparkly star sequins.  What a difference just a little sparkle makes!

Mary Beth's post on how to make a vintage style ornament has really inspired me.  Why not go take a look and see what you might create on this summer day?  I've noticed that working on a Christmas craft can sometimes make me feel a little bit cooler!

Beautiful poem from December 1962 Woman's Day

In my stash of vintage Christmas magazines is the December 1962 issue of Woman's Day magazine.  The cover of this magazine is a photograph by Burt Owen, but to me it looks just like a Norman Rockwell painting!  Don't you agree?  So much fun.

The magazine cover alludes to "a beautiful, unforgettable poem At Christmas Time" -- and the full-page poem, by Camilla R. Bittle, is just that.  I am going to share the poem in its entirety here even though it is much longer than poems I usually share.  Reading the poem made me very interested to see if I could learn more about its author.  Camilla Bittle wrote magazine stories and articles as well as poems and a number of novels.  I so enjoyed reading about her life here: Babson Profiles, and I hope you will find it as fascinating as I did.  You will need to scroll down to get to her profile.  I think hers is the fourth profile listed. 

On to the poem:

At Christmas Time

At Christmas time, when I was small,
We placed the figures in the stall
(Mary, Blessed Babe, and all),
Hung mistletoe high in the hall, 
Made calendars for kitchen walls, 
And decked our tree with shiny balls.

On Christmas Eve beside the fire, 
We gathered round the wicker chair
To hear our mother's mother read
Of sugarplums that danced in air,
Of moonlight on new fallen snow,
And this we knew -- as children know --
Was evidence of love below
The great high arc of heaven's dome,
Of Christmases secured by home.

The cold -- a stabbing, piercing knife.
The stars -- small, dazzling flecks of light.
Our breath rose up in columns white,
And, oh, the still of Christmas night!

Each year we did the very same,
Wrote cards, made lists, our cousins came.
On Christmas Eve out caroling,
Our cheeks bared to the icy sting
Of snowy wind, grew tingling.
We sang as loud as we could sing.

I ask myself -- what did it mean,
The stockings, tinsel, branches green,
The smell of oranges and pie,
The wreaths, the bells, the winter sky
Where once a star shone for The Child,
Whose birth we hailed with praises mild,
While overhead the Milky Way
Was passage for Old Santa's sleigh.

We still hang up the mistletoe.
My children's faces rosy grow,
Their boots squeak on the hard-packed snow.
Their eyes with eagerness will glow,
And I'm the only one who'll know
That it was different long ago.

The tree still flaunts its branches.
The sky is jet, the stars wink light.
There is a hush to Christmas night,
The songs are still sung out with might
And Santa's toys, a dazzling sight.

The only thing that's changed is me.
It's not a fir with lights I see,
For only God can make a tree --
This is what I see.
And children's eyes can only be
Small windows on eternity.

And so with gifts, and cousins small,
And so with garlands in the hall,
And firelight's shadows on the wall --
God's handiwork, that's all.

Yet in this season of our joy
There are still those who feel a toy
is all that matters -- not The Boy,
Whose praises we should all employ,
Lest man all brotherhood destroy.

Come, take your stand -- decry the whim
That turkeys, gifts, and greetings slim
Define the core -- they are the rim
And but the glossy surface skim
For in our hearts we kneel to Him.

-- Camilla R. Bittle

This beautiful poem speaks to me in so many ways.  The most obvious, of course, is looking at Christmas from the viewpoint of one who has trusted Christ as Savior, who has appropriated the free yet costly gift He came to provide.

But there are so many others -- dear memories of childhood Christmases when we "wrote cards, made lists, our cousins came".  Even the making of "calendars for kitchen walls" reminds me of school projects where we decorated paper plates and glued on tiny calendars as Christmas gifts for our mothers.  I could find a memory in almost every line, I think. 

I hope that this lovely poem -- and reading about its author -- has been a blessing to someone today!

Christmas in July sale from Elizabeth and Jim George!

If you've been reading my regular blog long, you know how much I have been blessed by Elizabeth George's Bible studies.   They have helped me to grow in Christ in a much deeper way over the years.  What I really love about Elizabeth's teaching is that it is just Scripture, just practical, solid Bible teaching, never her own opinion.

So I was delighted to see that Elizabeth and her husband Jim (who writes Bible studies for men and boys) are having a Christmas in July sale. From what I can tell, it seems like this sale goes through the month of July.  Most of the books on sale are written with kids in mind, though there are several for women and a couple books for men included. 

So this would be a wonderful sale to shop for your kids or grandkids, and I think I am likely to be doing just that!

The Georges also have all of their printables on sale for $1.99 each, and there are some good ones there.  Take a look: Scripture printables.  Some of these would be great in children's rooms as well as other places in your home.  This printable sale goes through the month of July.

If you've been wanting to get some great Scripture resources into the hands of your kids or grandkids, now would be the perfect time!

Sweet vintage Christmas card: Norcross "Gingham Girls"

I have tried without success to learn more about these adorable vintage Christmas card designs.  These Norcross cards are from the 1940s, I do know that much.  My mother, as a college girl and then as a young teacher, exchanged many sweet little Christmas cards with her friends and students.  The card above is so sweet, depicting a Gingham Girl reading a Christmas card at her mailbox.

This is the inside of the card at top.

The back of the Gingham Girl cards looked like this.

Here is another Gingham Girl.  This one is wearing a sweet fringed muffler and pulling a sled laden with gifts, a little tree, and jingle bells!

This is the inside of the above card.

Lastly here is a third Gingham Girl.  This one is wearing an adorable white fur jacket.  The December wind has taken her hat away!  The inside of the card, below, shows that she did catch her hat, but had to let go of her holly wreath in the process.

Aren't these the cutest little vintage cards?  These three charmers have found their way into my Etsy shop!

A Christmasy napkin fold to try now!

Continuing to browse my Pinterest boards for Christmas in July inspiration, I again turned to my  Christmas Hospitality board where I spied this pretty napkin fold from Jen Schmidt at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.  Below, you see Jen's pretty fold.  At top, you see my rather miserable attempt and wonky fold.  I didn't really want to link to a project without having at least attempted it myself.  I don't have any solid color cloth napkins so I chose to use this red Pioneer Woman napkin, one of a set gifted me by Vee a few years back.

This fold is called a Pinwheel Napkin Fold and looks a little bit like a poinsettia.

I thought that it could also work for summer parties, since pinwheels in patriotic colors are everywhere.  Some of these pinwheel folded napkins in red, white and blue could look very nice!

A party idea to file away for Christmas

I turned to some of my Pinterest boards to get some ideas for Christmas in July posts.  On my Christmas Hospitality board,  I found this practical and fun idea by Ashley from Under the Sycamore:  Come and go, but bring cookies.

Am I glad I pinned this!

Some years ago I saw an idea for just having a cookie and eggnog, or cookie and punch, party, and I liked the simplicity of it.  This idea from Ashley is even nicer.

She planned a simple "come and go" party and asked everyone who came to bring a plate of cookies.  Now I've done open houses, and I've done cookie swaps, but this simple idea seems to top them all.  Come when you can, leave when you must, but just bring a plate of cookies.

Ashley and her kids decorated before folks came

Screenshot from Under the Sycamore

and they provided cocoa, hot cider, lattes, and paper goods.   She shared that paper snack trays worked perfectly for serving the cookies, rather than paper plates. 

Screenshot from Under the Sycamore

Pretty sure I've seen this type of snack tray at the Dollar Tree in the past, especially in summer.  It might be worth a look there to see if they have them right now.

Really, this is just a perfect get-together for the season, isn't it?  Most people are going to bake (or buy) some festive cookies anyway.  How hard is it to arrange some on a plate and take it along to a come-and-go gathering?  It's hard to imagine what Christmas entertaining is going to look like come December.  Much as I wish it will be just as it's always been, I know that could be unrealistic.  A party like this would facilitate getting together but in smaller groups. 

I'm going to be putting a simple party like this on my December calendar, I think.  What about you?

Recipe to try for Christmas breakfast!

Photo from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom

I'm always on the lookout for potential Christmas breakfast or brunch recipes.  This one from Jamie Sanders at  Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom sounds just about perfect.  How could you go wrong with something called Biscuits and Gravy Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole?

Jamie says that her dad prepares this dish for Thanksgiving breakfast, but I think it could be even more perfect for Christmas breakfast.  The recipe looks a lot quicker and easier than I would have thought, and it only includes 6 ingredients!  Buttermilk biscuit dough,  sausage, eggs, cheese, milk, and peppered gravy mix (or 2 cups of homemade). 

An important point for me with breakfast casseroles, especially for special breakfasts like Easter or Christmas or a potluck brunch at church, is whether or not they can be assembled the night before.  This one can!  And it can also be made ahead and frozen.

If we get a cool day (or special guests for brunch!) in July, you can be sure I'll be trying this one out.

A simple and fun paper craft

Book page craft projects take my eye every time.  I've made a number of different book page banners for various seasons, and always have ideas for more.  So when I saw these Book Page Paper Snowflakes from Diane Miller at An Extraordinary Day,  I was instantly drawn to them.   I thought others would be also.

Photo from An Extraordinary Day

Diane shares the how-to's in a very clear, step-by-step fashion.  A hot summer day when it's cooler to be indoors might be just the time to snip out a flurry of snowflakes!

"Time Long Ago" ~ a poem by Ora Pate Stewart

Here's another poem from the Christmas 1957 issue of Ideals.

Time Long Ago

Time long ago, on an Indian Summer night,
When the harvest was put away,
And children were snuggled in feather beds
At close of a busy day --

Then Father would sit at the open hearth
And fashion with knife and scroll
A hobby horse, or a sturdy sled,
Or maybe a wooden doll --
While Mother maneuvered the crochet hook,
Or schemed with the calico ...
And fascinators and pinafores 
Danced polkas in a row.

It isn't that world economy
Has untethered his silver wings ... 
But that, atticked away in a cob-webbed age,
Lies the pleasure of making things.

Ora Pate Stewart

This one really speaks to me because I hate the thought of handmade gifts becoming extinct, so to speak.  I simply love making handcrafted gifts.  Here's one post I've written on the subject: The joy of handcrafting for Christmas.  I think that, sadly, "the pleasure of making things" maybe did disappear from our society for awhile there, but it has returned in that many folks now do enjoy making handmade things and giving them away.  I hope we never lose that again. 

Crocheted goodness to make now for gifts

Smallish crochet projects, like the scarf above, are perfect to make in July and stash away for Christmas gifts.  I don't mind crocheting in summer, even at a picnic table or in a camping chair, as long as the project is not too large or too heavy.  On Kim Layton's Everything Etsy blog, I found this delightful post: DIY Crochet Slipper Patterns.

But this post contains far more than slipper patterns, fun as those are.   (I was really taken with the look of this slipper pattern from 2 Create in Color,

Photo from 2 Create in Color

and could easily have gotten sidetracked by grabbing a hook and yarn to start right in, but noticing it was crocheted in the round and required the use of stitch markers kept me from it.)

Kim's post also includes links to fun scarf patterns, hat patterns, and headband patterns to crochet. Every bit as much fun is a link to her free printable labels for crocheted gifts: Free printable crochet gift labels.  These are adorable and could be used on any small crocheted projects, even dishcloths as shown in the photo.  I love how they look printed on kraft paper!

Photo from Everything Etsy

Have fun with these sweet crochet ideas!