PURGING FOR CHRISTMAS---SANTAS & SANTAS & SANTAS-OH MY!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

I KNOW!

Thanksgiving isn't over yet

and here I am posting

a picture of Santa!

Why?

Well, I have been sorting.

I have been sorting through 40

years of 

COLLECTING CHRISTMAS

Whew!

I've been purging.

and giving

some things away

to my kids/grandkids.

It is time.

Here is one counter in our

media room that is full

of my Santa collection.

(I won't tell you that I kept

about 10 of them in another room)

But these were up for 

ADOPTION.

There's more!

And yet more...

These candles belonged

to Gramma Betty in

the 1950's.

And these?

Salt & Pepper shakers

from my childhood.

Is there more?

You bet'cha!

Lots More!

Did you notice I didn't

watermark the picture below?

I hope if it ever gets

"out there"

no one will know it belongs to me.

So....they can have my 

SANTAS

and the ornaments on the

other table that you don't see here..

BUT

they can't have my

Lang Ornament Storage Box-

THAT BELONGS TO ME!

All these Santas found 
NEW HOMES
with my four kids' families.

They are to the point where they 
are saying...
NO MORE, MOM!!!!

Sigh---Etsy--here I come---
I will have
Christmas in my Etsy shop
A Cottage On The Cove
VERY SOON!

And, I am happy to say I 
finally figured out how to put a header on 
My Shop!

Not bad for an old broad, huh?

Happy Thursday!!

Santas Santas Everywhere And Not A One To Spare & Oh! That Elf

Yes- I do have a few Santas left

after I gave away my collection last year.

My four adult children snatched politely picked 

out their favorites before 

their siblings could take one

they wanted.

There were no arms broken in the process.

However, I kept a few of my favorites.

Here is one I got from a co-worker many years ago.

Isn't he pretty?  The little wooden box is a miniature cedar chest

that belonged to my Mother.

The little basket in front was sent to me by a dear blogging friend.

I also love this Santa.

He sits on the little Paris table I painted last year.

He is more folk-artsy.

Here is what keeps him company.

A bird's nest in a cloche and the mix sign 

from the old stockyard my Dad took me to when I was a child.

There is a sweet bird painting by my friend, Laurie.

Yes- I know you can see the "wires" -

That's a No-No I am told.

Close your eyes and ignore them , okay?

Forgive the lighting. 

I am using a different camera and 

can't figure out what I am doing.

No- It has nothing to do with being blond!

Here are a couple more Santas that I 

painted on slates back in the late 80's.

I think I saw these images on Christmas cards

and copied them as best I could.

One more

Again-sorry about the lighting.

I will never get the hang of it.

AND-Just so you know,

just when I thought things were calming down in

ELF LAND.

There seems to be a new development here, folks.

Isn't there an old song called

Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places?

Whoa!

He's a fast mover!

Pop in tomorrow for the continuing  soap opera saga of

As The Elf Turns Bad

I will be sewing today!

A Santa I Painted And Elf Turns Peeping Tom

I have 500 things to show you.

Okay- I lied- I might have 100 things to show you

but I am running out of time here, folks.

So-

Today will be short and sweet 

because I am off and running for the day.

I have this little Santa crock that I painted back 

in the 1980's.

It sits in our first floor powder room.

I copied the idea from somewhere I am sure.

The chair is one my kids sat on when they were little.

As you can see,

the chair and the crock got a bit banged up

over the years.

Now as I was sitting having my coffee 

and minding my own business-

the Elf on the Shelf jumped down

from the tree.

I followed him blindly like 

any other dumb blond

would do.

Where is he headed?

 OH MY GOODNESS!

Say it isn't so!

Why did I get the NAUGHTY elf?

Can you believe this?

He's a shower peeper!

MyHero is NOT gonna be happy about 

THESE PICTURES!

No sirree bob!

That elf is gonna be in BIG trouble now!

You should have seen the one he 

WANTED TO POST"!!!

X-Rated!

Seriously!

Elfie better hide REALLY good 

when MyHero gets home from work...

and that's all I'm gonna say about that!

Have a great day.

I am trying to get around to visit

as I can.

SweetCheeks Favorite Door

Is this her favorite door?

Is THIS the door to her heart?

Kind of -This is the front 

door to her house.  

BUT-it is NOT her favorite door.

I took the picture yesterday 

in the snow.

And look at the maple tree 

just in front of her house.

It looks magical, doesn't it?

Is THIS the door to her heart?

Nope that is the door to the playhouse.

She does love it- 'specially because

it is a pink door.

And, as some of you know, 

we have a little bitty door

built above our family room.

It is crawl access to the old

roof-we built out over part of

the old one and code demanded access.

They were going to stick it in a closet.

I said- Let's make this fun.

They thought I was funny alright

funny-nutso

THIS is SweetCheeks 

FAVORITE DOOR.

There are gnomes that live behind

the door.  

One of my very first posts

was all about the gnomes

and SweetCheeks 

first interactions with them. 

You can read it here

But come Christmas 

Santa takes over....

This is several feet off the ground and is

built back and over top of the dining room...

hard to explain.

As you can see, Santa has his list

and is checking it twice....

gonna find out who's naughty

and nice...

which means....

I am probably not gonna get anything

AGAIN this year!

Isn't that a great, magical

little door?

Have a wonderful Saturday!

ps.  I am SO glad the world

didn't end yesterday.  

I still have laundry to do!

I Love Santa! Yes I Do!

I do know that 

Jesus is the Reason

for the Season...so

don't be hate mailing me

that I also love Santa.

I believed in Santa until

I was 12.  Actually, I 

STILL  BELIEVE  IN SANTA.

I have collected them

for about 40 years.

This year I gave a large 

portion of my Santa collection

to my kids.

However, I kept a few of

my favorites.

This is one of my

VERY FAVORITES.

A sugared Santa..

that hangs at the bottom

of my plate display piece

by my kitchen sink.

Yeah- Yeah-Yeah-

I know- poor lighting...sorry...

Is he cute, or what?

Then, I have this Santa..

a Fitz & Floyd set

with reindeer candle holder.

You can see the children's 

The Christmas story propped up

waiting for little CJK.

I got one for each family.

My daughter, Mimi, cross-stitched

this for me when she was in college.

When my kids were little

screaming monsters

I used to do some folk art painting

to "escape".  

I sold a ton of these at craft fairs

over the years.

These were done on SLATES!

I take my big chalk board down

and replace it with these

on one of our kitchen walls.

I have actually been thinking

about taking up painting again....

I think I would like to use

a live model this time.

Oh-Sorry- Must go-

My doorbell is 

ringing and my Santa model

is here.

Hope YOU have a happy day, too!