My Christmas Card to my Friends ... Including YOU!

Instead of mailing Christmas cards this year, I decided to email one to those I exchange emails with regularly. I looked at eCards on the internet, but couldn't find one that fit "me". So, I decided to make my own!

After coming up with a couple of different ideas, I finally decided I wanted something expressing the 'Christmas Child' in me. I grew up in Nebraska, so there had to be snow. And, the card had to be 'fun'. I finally gathered all the pictures and audio I wanted, compiled them into a FLASH file, and emailed the following to my friends. Each card was personally addressed via the Christmas tag at the beginning; this one is to all of you: My Friends!

Sorry ... removed it to get ready for 2010!!

More Decorations

Today I tried something I hadn't for two or three years ... airbrushing glass ornaments. And, of course, I ran into trouble. I couldn't get the air pressure set right on the compressor which resulted in my airbrush "spitting". After a couple of hours of swearing at it, the compressor finally gave in.

Then, I pulled my favorite color out of my paint bin ... a pearlized teal ... only to find the paint had thickened over time. I tried thinning the paint with laquer thinner ... isn't that what it's for? Guess it doesn't apply to airbrush paint because it just made the paint grainy. But, I thought I'd try it anyway. BIG MISTAKE! Now, my airbrush was filled with grainy paint that couldn't get past the needle. So, I wash out the paint cup and take the airbrush apart to clean. Another BIG MISTAKE! The trigger fell out and I couldn't remember how it all went back together. Thank God for the internet! A picture I found was my rescurer!

Airbrush is back together. Compressor is set correctly. Red paint isn't too thick to use. TIME TO BEGIN! And then .... Oops! Dropped the paint cup full of red paint on my gray carpet! UGH! Anyone have a method of getting paint out of carpet? Because now I have gray carpet with a pink tint! Gotta laugh about it or else I'd cry! :)

But, I finally got some ornaments painted and I'd like to share a few of them with you:

Red and Silver

Purple and Silver

Green, Blue and Gold

Blue and Silver

Blue and Gold

Other Christmas Decorations

I thought I'd share some of my other Christmas decorations. I haven't included the village, but will be taking video of it sometime this week.

The first video is of my indoor decorations. In it, I've included:

• My Christmas tree: The tree is 7-1/2' tall and prelit. However, I add six strings of the old-fashioned bubble lights because they bring back childhood memories of my maternal Grandmother's Christmas tree. I always found the bubble lights mesmerizing. Most of the ornaments on it were made by my paternal Grandmother; those are about 45 years old. Other ornaments include both my son's and daughter's "First Christmas" ornaments; they are 25 and 24 years old respectively. What left ... less than a dozen ... were either made by my friends or myself in the past ten years. This year, I've added a couple strings of blinking LED lights wound around the center of the tree to add some "bling". I also found a wonderful lady on eBay who is parting with a family member's Hallmark heirloom ornaments. Check her out if you're at all interested in Hallmark keepsakes; the ornaments are priced VERY reasonable: bmgcassandra
  
  
• Santa and Friends: Santa sits in his chair beside the Christmas tree surrounded by his friends. They are listening to Santa read his favorite Christmas story: Twas the Night Before Christmas. His friends include Frosty the Snowman; Bud and Doug Moose; Penny Penguin; and the Elves: Alabaster Snowball (Administrator of the Naughty or Nice list) and Wunorse Openslae (Designer of the sleigh and responsible for its maintenance).



• 'Chucky' the Elf & Rudolph: Chucky left the North Pole several years ago because his height (about 4') made him self-conscious. He was named Chucky because of two things: (1) the way he moves his head; and (2) he has had a lobotomy (electrical wires were cut); however that doesn't stop him from moving his head at the strangest times when no one is near him! Rudolph stops in for a visit every year about this time as he, also, is different from all the other reindeer. They share their stories over cups of hot chocolate spiked with a bit of peppermint schnapps.

(The houses shown in the title portion of this video and the next one
ARE NOT MINE! They are from the
Tacky Light Tour in Richmond, VA.
... And people think I'M crazy!)

This next video is of my outdoor lights with my Snowman, the Snow Maker. I had him outside for the first time two nights ago. After an hour, the area around and to the front of him was completely white (an unusual sight for the desert). It was so cold that night that the snow remained there until the next morning!

As I said, I hope to get video of my village up this week. Until then, I hope everyone is enjoying their own brand of holiday preparations ... whatever they are!