Souvenirs:
Holiday

another year with my beautiful daughter serving us the traditional Santa Lucia buns she made herself...
my little saint

we all were told to get back into bed... we used the bed in the sunroom... and she served us in bed with fresh coffee... homemade apple jelly, butter, and the biggest heart...

she has the kindest heart to anyone I have ever met... I love her so very much words cannot describe the joy I feel when I am with her... like an angel on earth...
she always takes care of others, and this tradition on this feast day of Saint Lucy (santa lucia)
is a blessed way for any daughter to express their love towards their family

Whatever the fact to the legends surrounding Lucy, the truth is that her courage to stand up and be counted a Christian in spite of torture and death is the light that should lead us on our own journeys through life.

whether you believe in His Saints or not, one thing is for certain, we could all learn a valuable lesson from Santa Lucia:
bear light against the darkness, as Lucia did
find the strength within you this Advent Season to become the very best person you can possibly become
peace and blessings,

if you are interested in seeing last year's Santa Lucia Day here at the farm, you can go HERE there's a paper doll you can print out for your little ones

THANK YOU FOR YOUR IQUIRIES: NO, I did't purchase the dress, but I made it for her a few years ago... but thank you for those who inquiried if it's a "Santa Lucia Dress"... you are all so nice... but it will be passed down to her little sister, who is anxiously waiting to wear it

For the May 2010 Sale at the farm here, I sold bundles of 'raw books'... old books that my daughter and I removed the binding from (this was hard to do to books I must say)
What was left, was these beautiful old binders, and being that they were red, they inspired me to use them for the "Farm Menu" for our recent dinner party (see here)

Everything was made from scratch... the food and the decorations
the best advice I can give anyone attempting a dinner party "from scratch" is to plan, organize, and make ahead some of the food!

Here's what you'll need: ~ old book covers (front, back, and binding still in tack) ~ a glue stick ~ old sheet music ~ and some bits of old lace and feathers (if desired) ~ some hemp twine for the tie ~ an awl and hammer ~ and of course, the printed image for your cover
First off, take the awl and hammer and make holes in your (now) menu covers

This is the image I used courtesy of The Graphics Fairy (feel free to use any of these print outs for your own use)

for the cover, I just added text and sized it to a 5"x7" to fit my book cover

then took it into my little computer arts program and just erased the deer to get this:

then flipped it, added text and came up with this: (this is the finished inside of the Menu)

With that same scroll design, I flipped it once again, and added text to the inside top:

Paste the papers (cut to fit for the inside so as not to be in front of the hole)

to cover the rather ugly inside of the binding, I adhered old lace with glue
and on the outside of the Menu, a sprig of rosemary and a small pheasant feather (which was also used in the buffet decorations) tied with another piece of vintage black lace

I cut some small strips of old sheet music (a whole page of music also took the place of a "placemat" on the table) under and above the front of the Menu with the glue stick

Of course, now looking at them, I probably wouldn't have used the black lace, but rather the vintage ticking, but the great thing about these, is that you can reuse them time and time again!!

Here's to enjoying your holiday season!
~Have a fantastic weekend~
xo+blessings,