Christmas Tree trivia

Here are three questions about Christmas tree history.
Which American President began the ceremony of adding electric lights to the outdoor White House Christmas tree and having a ceremony when lighting the tree?
Herbert Hoover?
Calvin Coolidge?
Theodore Roosevelt?
The answer is President Coolidge in 1923.

When and where was tinsel invented?
Tinsel was invented in Germany around 1610 and was originally made from silver by machines which stretched the silver into paper thin strips.

It is fun to visit Christmas tree farms. How many states in the United States have these farms?
40?
50?
48?
The answer is 50 since there are Christmas tree farms in all 50 states.

Sour Cream Cheesecake

Sour cream cheesecake is delicious, I promise. To save time you can buy a graham cracker crust, preferably a nine inch crust that is two inches deep, or any size crust.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
With an electric beater mix 2 eggs, 12 ounces cream cheese, one half cup sugar, one tsp. lemon juice and one half tsp. salt
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cinnamon and let it cool to room temperature.
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix one and one half cups sour cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, one half teaspoon vanilla and a pinch of salt. Pour this over the first layer and bake for 5 minutes, then refrigerate it for 6 or more hours before serving.
The layers with different tastes make it very tasty.
What is your family's favorite dessert at holiday time?

A Christmas Story, our family's favorite movie

Oh my, this is a funny and touching movie, with many scenes in it that are seared into my memory. Some years it is on tv constantly, and we bought a copy for backup. The setting is a town in Indiana in the 1940s, during the Christmas season. This is a story from the point of view of Ralphie, a nine year boy.

You may have your favorite movie moments from A Christmas Story. The scene of the boy whose tongue freezes to the flagpole, and Ralphie with the bar of soap in his mouth are not possible to forget. For funny scenes the younger brother was so swaddled in his snowsuit that when he falls down he can not get up on his own. To keep him warm his mom put so many layers of clothes on him that he cannot put his arms down at his side.

Amazing scenes, and add to this Ralphie's desperate craving, nay need, to own a Red Ryder carbine action BB gun, and Ralphie hearing "you'll shoot your eye out" so often from every responsible adult. He poured out his heart in an essay he wrote for school about how he should have the rifle, hoping his teacher will concur.

The dad is called The Old Man and he has a whacky pride in the bizarre lamp that he won. I have seen replicas of the lamp for sale in catalogs.

Sit back and enjoy.

Children's book Cup of Christmas Tea

This week we are chatting here about favorite children's Christmas books.
One of my favorites is "A Cup of Christmas Tea", written by Tom Hegg and illustrated by Warren Hanson.
This charming story written as a poem covers the visit of a young man to his ailing great aunt, and how his reluctant arrival turns into a joyful time together.
One verse goes "A week before, I got a letter from my old Great Aunt. It read: Of course, I'll understand completely if you can't ... But if you have some time, how wonderful if we ... could have a little chat and a cup of Christmas tea."

I bought a hardcover copy for a very reasonable price of ten dollars and this book is providing my family with many years of reading around the Christmas tree. There are audio versions available too.

Cats and Christmas

This week we are chatting about pets and the holidays here. Our family has always had cats, or maybe the cats have us and allow us to pamper them.
For Christmas all that our cats request is tuna. Tuna that people eat, like Bumble Bee or Chicken of the Sea, no canned catfood for them.
Of course I created a Christmas stocking for them, by buying a plain red felt stocking with wide white trim at the top, in the same size as the rest of our family stockings.
At the top in the white area, I wrote "CATS" in Elmer's white glue and then sprinkled on lots of glitter. This stocking hangs from our fireplace mantle with the "people" stockings.
The Cats stocking looks pretty and sparkly and our kitties are happy with it.

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly

Each Christmas I bring out 2 nativity sets, my 15 wooden nutcrackers, set up our big sparkly freshly cut tree, and set out Christmas theme towels. What next? I love holly. If you have a few holly bushes, or a friend does, you can make a gorgeous bouquet with holly branches, and sometimes plant stores sell the branches.
Last year I learned a new use for holly, to make a mistletoe holder.
Wrap wire around a large potato, and leave wire on the top for hanging it, and at the bottom where you can tie mistletoe. Cut many holly tips, poke holes in the potato with something sharp like an ice pick, and press in the holly twigs to cover the potato with holly tips. Tie on the mistletoe, hang it up, and people will be sure to kiss under it.
Holly are handsome shrubs, and are one of the few plants that grow in all 50 states. If you do some searching, you will find a holly suited to a garden in Maine, or Alabama or any other climate conditions. Since the berries are their glory, you will want to plant a female holly which has the berries, and it is best to plant a male holly nearby. While most hollies have red berries, some holly species have yellow berries, so check first on the berry color before you buy bushes to plant.

Chocolate Gift Basket

Now is a great time of year to keep alert to sales of potential Christmas gifts. We all love to find bargains and they exist all around us.

I like to package gifts in baskets and woven boxes, which are part of the gift. I often find baskets and other containers in thrift stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army with the original price tags still on.

Buy them early when you find them so you will have them when you need them. Kitchen tools are appreciated by your favorite chef. Last year at World Market I found a set of 5 nice black spatulas on sale for $3 and created a “Kitchen Gift Basket”. I also found some tiny white bowls for 99 cents each and 2 pretty red Christmas theme cloth napkins for the basket. There is no limit to what you can add, from a box of bread sticks to a small bottle of olive oil.

In December I find chocolate bars on sale and buy an assortment, put them in a basket and give the “Chocolate Gift Basket” to chocolate loving friends. I line the baskets with Christmas theme cloth napkins.

What tips do you have for frugal gift giving?

Christmas in July and Camping with Anhingas

Hi and welcome to our new Christmas in July posts, where we authors of Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts post tips and traditions here that celebrate Christmas. We post on everything from recipes to money saving tips to making the holidays meaningful.

For a fun July post, I share here a photo from a unique Christmas I spent camping with my mom, dad and sister in the Florida Everglades. Here in this photo you can see my mom, me and my sister in civilization visiting the beautiful gardens of the Vizcaya Estate, outside of Miami. This was a huge adventure for us, starting with driving from Wisconsin to Florida at Christmas, in a car packed with our tent and other gear. In the wild Everglades we encountered anhingas, crocodiles, roseate spoonbills, flamingos, egrets, a rattlesnake, gathered seashells on Sanibel Island and so much more.  This was a very different and memory making Christmas for us.
Has your family had a specially memorable Christmas you can share with us here?

More Joy and Less Stress

Christmas celebrations and selecting gifts can be stressful, so I offer a few things to create a bit of joy in your home.
Cook ahead for the Christmas feast, by preparing side dishes the day before.
I feed the song birds in our yard with extra seeds during this cold season and they come a flyin' in.
Play your family's favorite holiday movie while company is here, not so they sit and watch it, but just as a fun background entertainment. The idea is that people will pause as they walk around and laugh at a funny scene that they've viewed many times before. For us, the movie is A Christmas Story.
Write plenty of Christmas cards, even to folks who don't send you one. Sometimes your card could be a spark of joy for the recipient.
Can you find the time to visit a homebound person? I aim to visit my two older buddies who no longer drive. They don't want or expect gifts, just some friendly conversation.
I am sure many of you readers have super ways to add joy and subtract stress from the holidays and I will read your comments with anticipation, and remember:
!!!!!   Leave a comment here for chance to win a copy of our Christmas book   !!!!!

Did you find a gift at a yard sale this year?

Hi friends.
Did you find a gift at a yard sale this year? There is still time to browse the sales.
A church in my area had a big group yard sale in their parking lot last week, and I was thrilled to buy 2 adorable picture frames that completely look brand new, with the original store price tags on the back.
Each one is decorated with blue flowers, one is white ceramic and made for a 3" x 3" photo size and one is faux distressed wood, for a 4" x 5" photo.
Someone I know is going to love receiving these, I hope, I hope.
The grand total price was $1 each.
Don't you just love a bargain?

Freshen up our kitchens

I have some ideas for freshening up your kitchen before guests arrive, or any time.
Look in your yard for anything that can make a seasonal bouquet. A few small branches from a holly bush, pussy willows in season, whatever you find that has attractive branches or leaves will look festive in a vase.
Or splurge and purchase some flowers for a bright bouquet.
In the temperate climate where I live, camellias bloom in fall and winter, and the camellia flowers look very elegant floating in a bowl in some water.
A clear glass or Pyrex bowl can be filled with fruit for a pretty display. Pomegranates and persimmons are gorgeous red, orange and yellow in November and December and look nice in a bowl on the kitchen table.

I like to have big festive bowls of nuts in the shell, with the nutcracker in the bowl, on the kitchen table. Here at Whole Foods they sell fresh nuts in the shell and I buy pecans, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts or filberts all year round. These are perfect healthy snacks and very welcoming in the kitchen.

Gifts Under $20 Coloring Books

Many kids love coloring books and these make fun gifts. Today in the store I saw packs of crayons, 64 gorgeous colors for under $6.00, and on sale for $3.00. You may find them on sale too; if you do, leave a comment here, please, to inspire other bargain hunters.
Coloring books cost from one dollar to five dollars, and you can find many subjects including trucks, cars, dinosaurs, fairies, Bible stories, famous people, Disney characters, and the all important horses subject. The horse and pony topic was very beloved by me as I rode horses at age 10 at the local riding stable. Hello dear Frosty and Sunset, my favorite horses from the stable.
To save lots of money and use your creativity do an online search of  "make coloring books" and a whole world opens up.
National Geographic has a page of outlines you can print of all kinds of wild animals and other sites offer topics ranging from bugs to farms to Christmas and holidays.
The crayola.com website offers lots of page for you to print, which you can assemble into unique coloring books tailored to your favorite kids and their interests.
I look forward to reading your comments here, on coloring books, crayons and inexpensive gift ideas.

Dear Santa letter

Dear Santa,


I do have everything I need this Christmas, and I’ve been pretty good. No, not perfect, but haven’t committed any major crimes either.

One gift you could leave in my Christmas stocking this year is a big ol’ gift certificate for books, to a local bookstore, or an online store of your choice.

You are Santa so you know best.

If the gift certificate is huge, I can have the fun of selecting children’s books to give away. Does everyone love wandering the children’s books sections as much as I do? The illustrations are so captivating and the poetry so delectable.

With this humongous gift certificate in addition to children's books, I will buy books for me! Plus more for my church’s library, a local homeless shelter and other folks who need and welcome books.

So that is what I would enjoy, and if someone else needs that certificate more, please put it in their Christmas stocking this year, instead of in mine. I always find a way to buy and enjoy books.

Love, Terra

Gift of Amaryllis, Beauty Under $20

AMARYLLIS for a GIFT
You do not need a green thumb to give a gift of a splashy red, ice cool white, lime green, or candy cane striped white and red amaryllis for the holidays. This photo shows my red amaryllis from last year's Christmas, which will bloom again this year.
October or November is an ideal time to buy an amaryllis bulb, and your local plant nurseries will have them now, or very soon.
Bulbs can cost $5 or $10, add a ceramic pot, a tiny bit of potting soil, and your gift is ready to go.
Buy it planning on 8 to 12 weeks before it blooms, so right now is a great time to buy the bulb. Need I say that you too deserve an amaryllis, so you may want to buy more than one bulb.
A hardware store chain in my area is selling these bulbs in a pot for $5 this week, now that is almost unbelievably cheap!
If you buy the bulb separately, plant it in a pot that is only slightly larger than the bulb, with a bit of potting soil to anchor it, and be sure the pot has a hole for drainage and a saucer to set on. Just water once a week and put it in a sunny spot indoors.

Favorite Decorations

I love how my house transforms from ordinary to warm and sparkly as we decorate for Christmas.
I can't choose a favorite decoration since all the tiny parts add up to such a merry vibe.
The colors of red and gold and green pop out in a festive way, beginning with when I put my collection of wooden nutcrackers up on the fireplace mantel.
Red Christmas stockings, the traditional red poinsettias, and red and white amaryllis accent the center piece of our tall Christmas tree.
The wooden reindeer displaying cards from friends and family far and near has a place of honor.
Our two nativity scenes have quiet beauty, and Christmas carols add their own charm.
Who could choose just one element? Not me today. I love it all.

I have no white elephant

Yes, tis true, I have no white elephant story.
Oh, I am a bit green with envy reading here about the fun my co-authors are having with white elephant gift exchanges.
It seems to be most fun with a big group involved, like say 20 people.
As I have mentioned before, at Christmas our celebrating together group is 4 people, my husband and I and our 2 adult sons.
The only white elephant I purchased was at a church "white elephant sale", where I bought a tiny cactus for 25 cents, when I was 8 years old. That cactus is thriving at my parents' house and has flowers several times a year. But it can NOT be moved, it will bite someone, with its spines, so it is not suitable for a gift exchange.
I hope you all get inspired to start this funny gift exchange with your own families.

Hello from Terra Hangen

Hi, I am Terra Hangen, co-author of Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts and it is my turn to introduce myself. I am very happy that we six writers met online in 2004, and undertook our odyssey of writing this Christmas book together.

I was raised in Wisconsin, and now live in California, with my dear husband of 36 years, and our two adult sons living in the same town, I am joyful to report. My cats want to mentioned here. I can't imagine writing, reading or gardening without a cat nearby.

I have a B.A. in Art History and a Masters Degree in Library Science, which helps me research topics and get my facts right! One year of college I spent in Istanbul, Turkey, one of the world's most beautiful cities, and what fabulous recipes I learned there.

I went to Jerusalem at Easter that year, on the Way of the Cross, and also to Baalbek and Petra. The Holy Lands are scarcely describable and left a profound impression on me. In Jerusalem I was blessed to walk the same paths and cobblestones that Jesus walked 2,000 years ago.

I am published regularly in dozens of magazines, including Country Woman, Hobby Farms, Victorian Homes, Lutheran Digest, Vibrant Life, Mature Living, Back Home, San Diego Family, etc., and have a garden column online each month at www.positivelyfeminine.org

Please head on over to my blog at www.terragarden.blogspot.com and say hi; I would love to meet you. I visit the blogs of everyone who leaves a comment on my blog. Main topics on my blog range from gardens, to cats, to my journey as a Christian author, and book reviews and book giveaways. My work in progress is a gardening book that includes Scripture.