Classic Christmas cartoon (I think 1936 definitely qualifies as a classic) from Max and Dave Fleischer. If you remember Betty Boop (or if you even know who Betty Boop was), the character Grampy was a part of the Betty Boop cartoons. It is a pretty ancient reference, but enjoyable nonetheless.
And there is something about the vintage and antiquities that makes Christmas time so memorable for me. And part of those vintage and antiquities is the motion picture and animation industry, particularly as we get more advanced in our animation and motion picture industries. So, as a result, enjoy this Christmas blast from the very past.
This just cracks me up! I used to look for a fireplace in all my apartments. Then I got married and the Mister and I bought a house.
And we bought a house in the deep South where (while some people do have fireplaces) most of us get stuck with gas fireplaces and electric fireplaces. I guess developers steered clear of putting in actual places of burning fire in their houses because it is so danged hot around here, the thought of adding more heat to an already depressingly hot season just seemed impossible.
That leaves us forlorn without the snap, crackle and pop of a real fire come the cold winter nights when you want to gather around the Christmas tree and look at the twinkling of the lights on the tree and watch the magic of the lights in the fireplace.
I miss those things.
And since I missed them …. I went to go find them.
God bless Al Gore and his invention, the internet (yes, my tongue is planted firmly in cheek, peoples). For without Al Gore and his internetual invention, I never could have found this:
The Christmas gathering for one side of the family is this Sunday. That means that by noon on this Sunday, I have some twelve (is it twelve? I have to count now…nope, it is thirteen) handmade gifts done and ready.
Amazingly, as of tonight, I think I am about ready. This is an extraordinary year. This year, I made my choice that I was going to make everything. And I pushed my envelope with a number of items. I worked into the jewelry arena in areas I had not explored previously and I am honestly just thrilled how they turned out.
Come Monday, I will post the photos of what I did and the final result, since by that time the gifts will have already been gifted. At that point, I have to work on my other mother in law (very important to make her a wonderful piece of jewelry as she has been through a lot and I want her to have something very nice) and I get to work on gifts for my sister and my husband. Those are always my favorite gifts to work on, as they can be as outlandish as we want. The two of them are always wonderful sports and are willing to put up with wild craziness all in the name of creativity.
Oh, I love Christmas! I love getting to be creative and getting to share that creativity with others! I cannot wait to post photos of the gifts I made on Monday. I want to share what I have done and hopefully inspire some of you to do the same.
Best wishes. I am off to finish some of the detail work on a few of the gifts. Lots of detail work yet to go, so busy busy work tonight!
Baby Sister, this one is just for you. Now we wait and see how long before Google determines that there is a movie with value uploaded to their site and panics, thereby taking it down and destroying an absolutely incredibly Christmas classic in the process.
Either way, I have already watched this eleventy times between last night and today. No wonder nothing is getting done. Sheesh.
But … it is A Christmas Story! Good grief I love this movie!
Oh my, I absolutely love white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. They are just divine. I was actually glad when it turned out that migraines drove me away from chocolate because these could actually cause me damage. Long term damage. Oh goodness they are gooood. If you are stuck on which mix in a jar to make up, I really encourage you to try this one. It is really a treat. You will absolutely love it!
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
3 ounces coarsely chopped white chocolate
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Layer ingredients and store in airtight container.
Attach a tag with the following instructions:
White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie Mix
Combine the following until well blended:
1 package mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
Shape into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart on sprayed cookie sheets.
Bake at 375F degrees for 12 to 14 minutes until tops are very lightly browned.
In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs on high speed of electric hand-held mixer until light and fluffy. Add sugar; beat at high speed for 15 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in anise extract. Gradually beat in flour and baking soda, beating until well mixed.
Chill dough for 1 to 2 hours. On a well-floured surface, roll out dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
Roll springerle rolling pin over dough or press with springerle mold. Cut dough around the pattern with a sharp knife.
Place on greased cookie sheets. Roll out scraps and repeat.
Let cookies stand overnight to dry.
Preheat oven to 375°. Place cookie sheets in the preheated oven; reduce heat to 300°.
Bake springerle for 25 to 30 minutes, until slightly golden on bottoms, but white on top. Let cookies cool on wire racks. Store in a tightly covered container for 2 to 3 weeks. Do not freeze.
I love Rankin Bass cartoons. Love them love them. Those are the original Christmas shows to me. In fact, every Christmas my little sister and I have this good natured argument as to what makes the quintessential Christmas movie. I claim it is the original Rankin Bass claymation cartoons. She holds that it is along the lines of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story. As a result, they all get watched with regularity over our Christmas holiday together.
However, as odd as it seems, Rankin Bass’s Frosty was not the original Frosty. Instead, this is a much more likely claim to fame. Interesting to watch and honestly a little disconcerting because it is not my familiar claymation. Still, a good cartoon to amuse yourself (or the kids) nonetheless.
This is a great way to enjoy the anticipation and buildup to Christmas (particularly if you do not already have an advent calendar).
Easy to make, this is just a nicely decorated word document printed out and then hand decorated with tinsel and glitter and ribbon. Then each day, the appropriate card is hung on the bedroom or front door knob so that the kids know how many days are actually left before Santa actually pays them a visit.
Like I said, many homes already have an advent calendar in play, but I guess I am of the old school that says that you can never have too many countdowns for the moment when Santa comes to visit.
And besides, this gives the kids something fun that they can keep track of on their bedroom door. You can even have them help decorate the cards so they know what to expect.
If you are looking for a fantastic (and free) way to decorate your home for Christmas (or for the winter season) I saw these at some online store (I think it was Target, but I cannot remember now). I remember being absolutely captivated by the idea! These are hand drawn snowflakes. What an amazing idea! And more importantly for my purposes, what an easily reproduceable idea. This is definitely something that I could do to decorate my house.
Remember learning as a child how each snowflake is unique? Well here, the artist took the time to draw individual snowflakes and pop them into a frame to really make them stand out.
That is something that we can do to dress up the house ourselves (if you have the smallest amount of artistic talent). If you do not have any artistic talent, do what I do. Find the nearest three year old and ask them for their interpretation of the drawing. For some reason, no matter what drawing I am looking for, when a three year old does it - it always ends up looking absolutely perfect.
Have you seen all the empty glass ball ornaments available absolutely everywhere? Every time I look at them, I actually freeze up and get stuck for ideas with which to fill them.
BHG had a nice series of how to use up old and tired ornaments and this idea was included in there. I love the idea of using the focus of snow quite literally, from the fake snow filling the ornament to the silvery snowflake adorning the sides of the ornament. Oh, such a beautiful idea!
And again, as I have said in the past, do not forget that there are still a number of Secret Santa opportunities and hostess gift and small thank you gifts ahead of us this season yet. This would be a fantastic way to fill that need.
