Give-away Winner and Gingerbread Houses~

Hello everyone,
Today is the day to annouce the winner of my teapot give-away and the winner is... Jil at Say It With Roses!!  Congratulations, Jil!  Thank you to everyone who visited and participated! Each of you made my first give-away a very fun experience for me!

Yesterday, I visited Kingwood Center in Mansfield, Ohio. For those who don't know, Kingwood Center is a 47-acre public estate/garden that was a private residence, at one time. It was decorated for Christmas and my first time visiting during the holidays. It was gorgeous!! I took lots of photos and will be doing a full post about it later, but today I'm sharing photos of a couple of the wonderful creations that were on display for the Gingerbread House contest.  Enjoy!

Until next time,

Cindy

"And Heaven and Nature Sing!"

Hello everyone ~ I'm sharing the second painting in my "Christmas Carols" series. This one is called "And Heaven and Nature Sing!"

"Joy to the World, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing!'

Painted with acrylics on a 5 x 7 canvas board. I'll be painting one each week for my Christmas Carols series until the end of the year. If you missed the first one, you can see it by clicking HERE.

 

Until next time,

Cindy

Linking to:

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

White Wednesday at Faded Charm

Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Potpourri Friday at 2805
Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound
Homemaking Link-Up Weekend at Hope in Every Season

Girls-Only Christmas Party ~

Today was my family's annual "girls only" Christmas party. No men allowed at this get-together! (Well, except for the baby boys - they're allowed!)  I have 3 sisters and many nieces and grandnieces, so it's a fairly large group. In the past, we've done a cookie exchange, but this year we exchanged ornaments. Here's the ornament I received ~ isn't it cute?!

My eldest niece hosted the party. On the menu: three different types of lasagna, pizza for the children, salad, homemade Challah bread (baked by my eldest sister) and a red-velvet peppermint cake! Her home was decorated in blue & white for the holidays, and everything looked sooo pretty, I had to share pictures with you, of course!

The entry and stairway

On the stairway landing, she had a snowman gourd I painted for her more than 10 years ago. I was touched to see she still has it!

Her beautiful tree

Some of the other blue & white decorations around her house.

Even a jar of blue and white candy canes!

We had a great time, and even the weather cooperated ~ cold, but with bright sunshine.

If you haven't yet entered my give-away, you still have 3 days (click the button on my sidebar!)

Until next time,

Cindy

Linking to Seasonal Sundays on The Tablescaper

                 Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

Christmas in England ~

No ~ I'm not traveling abroad for the holiday, although seeing these photos makes me wish I were! I stumbled upon this website called "Pictures of England," a while ago, and for an Anglophile like me, it was like finding a gold mine!  There are thousands of photos on it, of every part of England, with categories such as "Picturesque Villages," "Castles," "Village Scenes," "Pubs" and much, much more. You can visit the website by clicking HERE.  The one of the carolers makes me feel like I've stepped back in time.  Enjoy!

Be sure to check out my giveaway, by clicking on the blog button below! Winner to be announced on December 14th!

Until next time,
Cindy