The Fifth Day of Christmas...

Good Evening, Everyone!

 

It really is just the 5th Day of Christmas....(Five Golden Riiiiiinngs!)

 

You know, I had never really given it much thought until recently...

 

If pressed, I would have said that Christmas Day would have been the day

 

that all those lords-a-leaping and and geese-a-laying were leading up to,

 

but I would have had it backwards...

 

December 25th is actually the "First Day of Christmas",

 

and we go from there ~

 

all the way to January 5th ~ the 12th Day of Christmas...

 

Then, January 6th is The Feast of the Magi.

 

I actually did know that (about the Magi),

 

and have used it as an excuse for many years now

 

to leave the Christmas decorations up a little longer...;^)

 

(My family would jump in here and say that the tree has been

 

left up a lot longer than that, but that's another story...)

 

♥

Anyway, I am taking full advantage of it this year for sure,

 

so I can show you a few more Christmas things...

 

the ones I was going to show in all those posts (that didn't happen)

 

before Christmas...

  

Like...

 

Pink Christmas!

 

One of these days I am going to have a girly, all-pink Christmas...

 

in one room, anyway!

 

For now, this will do.

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What could be better on a snowy winter evening



 than playing with the camera (with kitty-helpers) and



having a cup of Christmas
tea, with wine and cookies?



I couldn't think of anything, either!

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I got the sweet pink Christmas plates (Williams-Sonoma) last year at Goodwill...



(Don't you love Goodwill?)



They are the exact shade of pink as my Spode Camilla dishes,



and I thought they looked so pretty layered ~



Do you like my little frosty forest?



They're a Pinterest idea that I actually did!



More on those in a minute...



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My celluloid Reindeer watches over the cookies with his ruby-glass eyes...



He is so old, and fragile (from the 30's I think) ~



he weighs practically nothing...



Those pretty shortbread and marshmallow cookies were in the



Mexican food section at the grocery store...I couldn't resist!



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I had a lot of help from Miss Tallulah!

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Okay, this was my Pinterest project.



It said that you could easily bleach the little green bottle-brush trees,



and turn them into that trendy cream color.



I didn't really think it would work without them



 coming apart and making a real mess...



But I tried it anyway ~



 I had a bunch left from a long-ago project, still in storage.



The Pinterest pin gave an exact amount of bleach to use per gallon,



but my mind doesn't work that way.



I was using my 4-cup measuring cup to begin with,



and just added a good shlosh of bleach to the water in the cup.



Then I dunked several trees in. (These are the little 2" ones.)



And lo and behold, it worked!



They began to lighten almost immediately,



and within about 15 minutes they were totally cream-colored!



So, I decided I would try it with a larger tree....



one of the pricier Dept. 56 ones I had.



Don't.



Evidently, the more expensive the tree,



 the more color-fast dye they use, I guess...



My big tree lost just enough green to look dirty.



I even went back and did it exactly like the pin said...



(Which is here, at The Creative Patch.)



But it didn't matter...



So, I may try a stronger bleach solution, or I may just write this one



off as a lesson learned...only bleach cheap trees.



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Here is my little creamy forest, drying.



(They also lightened as they dried.)



I rinsed them really well, but the original directions said to give them



a vinegar bath to get rid of all traces of bleach ~ I forgot that part.



I think it's okay without it.



Then I took the whole bunch of them out on my front porch,



along with some Elmer's spray adhesive



and a gallon zip-lock bag of mica flakes.



It was about 10 p.m. and snowing (the novelty of snow has worn off now, BTW)



and the wind was blowing and I was in my nightgown, but it didn't matter.



Things like this can't wait until morning...



I had to see what they would look like.



I just hoped those kids on the four-wheeler didn't come back by ~ (they didn't).



I sprayed them one-by-one and immediately stuck them in the bag of mica



and shook it, coating them ~ Shake 'n' Bake-style.



I took them out of the bag as soon as I got back inside,



and lined them up on the counter ~ good thing I didn't wait



too long, or I would have had a mica-covered blob of trees...



I hadn't thought about them sticking to each other...



But it worked out okay; they came apart fine.



I think they look really nice with the vintage reindeer!



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And, last but not least, look at what my dear friend Elaine made me...

 

A little cotton-batting hula girl; we're calling her "Miss Mele"~ ♥

 

(I told Elaine when I called to thank her that I had considered

 

just breaking into a rousing chorus of "Mele Kalikimaka" when she answered,

 

but I was afraid she would hang up...;^)

 

That's all for now!

 

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!

 

♥