Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year! And a Thank You




As we say goodbye to 2012...
we look forward to a great 2013.
 
Thank you to everyone who
reads my blog, leaves comments,
or who supports my vintage shop.
 
You keep me going each and
everyday! What a blessing to
be able to stay home and work
while I have my little Bebe here.
 
May you be
equally blessed!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

A Christmas Cliche

 
Enjoying time with family,
watching Bebe's eyes
light up with joy,
and counting our blessings.
 
My wish is that you
were able to do
something similar today.
 
A Merry Christmas to all!
 

And to ALL a goodnight!

Monday, December 24, 2012

The One and Only Gift



Last week our choir sung
a beautiful song "Born in Bethlehem."
 
These are the words from
the song that keep sticking
with me:
 
"Baby Jesus, do you know?
You'll die for all our sins?"
 
 
 
It was not any
ordinary birth.
 
He was born
to be our Saviour.

His SOUL purpose!
 
The only gift we'll
ever need on this earth.
 
Merry Christmas.

 

Thursday, December 20, 2012

I Can See A Rainbow

The recent tragedy in
Connecticutt has most
Mother's of little
ones feeling emotional.
 

As I was pulling away
from Bebe's preschool
the other day...
 
This magnificent,
beautiful, and very
large rainbow stopped
me in my tracks.


I pulled over so we could look at
it for awhile.
 
It brought me to tears.
 
The pictures do not do it justice.
 
A simple reminder that God
is there. He is faithful, He is true.
 
Thank you.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

High Tea Time: A Christmas Party

 
My MOPS group
(Mother's of PreSchoolers)
had a "High Tea" as
our Christmas party
for all of us who
are leading the group
 this year.
 
 

What is a "high tea" exactly?
I did find a little info here.
 
One of our Mom's serves these
types of teas with her Mother.
 
There were five courses.
 


The tables were set with
gorgeous centerpieces,
china and teacups.

What to choose?
What to choose?
 
They had made one of
each kind of EVERYTHING.
Just so we could
 sample it all. 
 
I've attended "teas" before...
but I'm not sure I've ever
eaten this much food
in one sitting!
 

We were all having
a great time though!


And I was able to share with
the other Mom's about
what I do when I'm
not trying to keep up
with Dear Bebe.
 
I also heard about
their china, teacup
collections and other
fun facts that we normally
do not have time to talk
about.
 
A nice relaxing evening,
shared with other Mom's!
 
What a blessing!


Monday, December 17, 2012

Cookie Baking and Vintage Traditions

Recently a friend and I got together
for a Christmas cookie baking day.
 
An EXTRAVAGANZA.
 
Let me explain.
 
When she said we could
make cookies I thought,
well, that would probably
be about two hours
and then we'd be done.
 
She informed me it
was an all day affair.
 
"All day?" I thought.

You see, I do not come
from a long line
of cookie makers.
 
 
My cooking skills far outshine
my baking efforts.
 
But, living in central Pennsylvania
has an effect on you.
 
Everyone here bakes.
 
If you don't,
 you are left out
in the cooooolllldd
shiver-i-ness
of store bought
or package mix
cookies.
 
OOOOOOhhhhh.
The horrors.
 
It will make your friends
shudder at the thought.
 
 
So, when a friend suggested we make
cookies for fun, I took her up on it.
 
Why not? I only had more to gain.
Plus, a few dozen cookies to boot.
 


She brought over half
of her kitchen,
probably fearing the
worst.
 
That I would
have nothing to
bake with!

 Who could blame her?

 

She had cookie recipes she
brought along, too.
 
A version from her husband's
family and some recipes
 from when she was a little girl.

 
What I discovered about cookie baking
day was...
It was about TRADITIONS.
 
Handing down family
recipes, stories
and memories.
 
I even used my
Grandmother's old
Pyrex mixing bowl which
made it all come full
 circle for me,
even though I didn't have
a cookie tradition myself.
 
I did manage to whip up a
tasty batch of SPRITZ
cookies, which were from
my Dear Hubs' family.
 
What a great day!
 
And now that we've started
teaching Bebe, it is
something we can
look forward to every year.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Decking the Halls... And Everything Else

Yes, we've decked the halls...
and just about everything else!
 
We are set!
 

This tree has all of the
vintage pink ornaments,
which I wrote about here.


We had one of these cutie old
Santa's when I was a kid.
I'm sure it is older than I am.
 
Which is getting pretty old!
Ha!
He's either faded red
or was originally pink!
 


This tree we found on clearance at Lowe's
last year.
A Martha Stewart, pre lit tree.
35.00!
 
We pulled it out of the box
assembled it in a few pieces
and VIOLA! Instant Tree.
 
We decided to only use gold, silver,
 & white ornaments since the
branches are flocked in gold glitter.


I kind of like it!
Last year we had a
real tree in it's place.
 

 Speaking of real...
I got out the clippers
and used some natural
green again.

Why not use what you have outdoors?

 So, I snipped off a few branches
here, and few branches there....

  And made this...

 And a couple of these....


While hubby hung some wreaths on the
windows....this one was in the
"before flufffing" stage!

This mantel has been a sore spot
in my home...I've written about it
 before.

Probably, lamented, 
is a better word! 

It used to be brown.
 
My hubby painted it this past
summer thinking I would be
happier with it ivory.
 
I was not.

I tried to hide it under the
greenery.

Didn't work too well.

Maybe next year's
Christmas post
I can brag about
the NEW mantel
in it's place.
 


And here are a few baubles on
our new wreath,
found during the same
clearance sale last year
as the tree!
 
 
And last but not least,
here is something pink I found
while shopping this week!
 
What won't they
make in pink now?
 
A feminine tool carrying
caddy...except I think
I had a vision for it being
used for crafty stuff!
 
Linking to Pink Saturday!
 
Ho Ho Ho!
 
 

Friday, December 7, 2012

Sweet Treats and the Case of the MIssing Cookbook

This weekend we are finishing up some last minute decorating,
updating our antique booth, and then going to see a Christmas
parade. Bebe is hoping to get a peek at Santa!
 
This past week my Mom's group had a cookie exchange so
here are some of the sweet treats from our get together.
A rare occasion to be without our little ones.
 
We sit around and chit chat and some of the  
Mom's bring their gifts to wrap while others
 work on crafty projects.
 
The life of a stay at home,
work at home Mom.
Finding time to squeeze in
stuff for us.
 
On Tuesday I have a friend coming
to bake cookies with me.
We've never cooked or baked
together before but I think
it could be a great way to bond or
to get to know each other better.
 
The problem is, I bought
a cookie cookbook (I seriously need one)
last year and I saw it right as I was opening
up some of my Christmas decor boxes
but I haven't seen it since.
 
Where did it go?
The cookie cookbook black hole it seems.
How does this stuff happen?
I can't seem to find the time
to really hunt it down either.

It may just have to be the surprise
for next year when I haul it all out again!
 
Leaving you with a shot of Bebe and Daddy working on his antique
train set and Bebe helping with some of the cookies!
 
Linking to Pink Saturday.

To blog shop my blog...all you have to do
is check out my website, BellaRosaAntiques.com

I'm offering 20% off, even sale items to my
email subscribers, and now to my PINKIE friends, too.
You must click on the link above or else the sale
will not appear.  Sale ends Sunday at midnight.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

The Three Wise Men: What Their Gifts Mean


Mostly everyone who has grown up in the United States
knows what a nativity is.

They know it's about a baby in a manger,
Mary and Joseph.

They might even know about the three wise men.

And maybe, they know the three gifts that were brought.

Gold
Frankincense
and Myrrh.

Not exactly exciting gifts for a baby.

The gold maybe. Save it someday for a college tuition, eh?
 

(Nativity scene from 1000bulbs.com)

But here is the real story behind the gifts, from helium.com: I found it enlightening and amazing all at the same time. I hope it inspires you as well:

The gifts demonstrated who Jesus was and what his mission was going to be.

1.) Gold: The gift of gold was often reserved for royalty. The Magi told King Herod that they had come to see the one born King of the Jews. It is clear that they recognized Jesus as being royal but the question is why? The issue is the star of Bethlehem. The Magi had seen the star and they recognized the importance of the star in the sky as a sign of a spectacular birth. The Magi brought gold in some form, whether it was jewelry, coins, or just pieces, we are not told. The importance of the gift was that it represented the fact that Jesus was royal.

2.) Frankincense: The gift of frankincense is somewhat unusual. Frankincense was a highly valued commodity and somewhat rare. The Jewish people had a common use for frankincense that was directly connected to the worship of God. In the Temple, the Jews prayed before the Altar of Incense which was always kept burning. The substance burned on that altar was frankincense. When frankincense is burned it gives off a sweet smelling white smoke. The smoke rising from the altar of incense represented the prayers of the people rising to God in heaven. The only use of frankincense for Jews was at this altar and it was reserved for the worship of God. The Magi presenting this gift to Jesus represents the fact that He was indeed divine.

3.) Myrrh: The gift of myrrh seems the most odd of the gifts. Myrrh was extremely valuable and had a number of uses. The most common use was a perfume. Sometimes myrrh might be used in the homes of the wealthy to create a pleasant fragrance but was normally reserved for special instances. The major use of myrrh was for burials. Myrrh was placed on the cloths used to wrap bodies for burial to help prevent the smell of decay following death. The Magi presented this gift to Jesus as a representation that He would one day die. The gift almost seems to convey the fact that Jesus was born to die.

Though there are still many questions about the Magi that may be left unanswered, we can determine that they brought a fourth gift that is often forgotten by many. After they laid their treasures down before Mary and Joseph, they worshipped Jesus. These wise men from afar came not just to court favor but to proclaim that they believed Him to be the King of kings. The greatest gift that we can offer to Jesus this Christmas is our praise and worship.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

CHRISTMAS SALE 20% Off for Email Subscribers

This week I am offering a special sale to those
who sign up for my weekly email list.
 
(From my own personal collection,
this set is not for sale... But you'll
find other goodies on my site!)
 
Click here to sign up and mention
the word SUBSCRIBE.
It is that easy!
 
Then you'll receive an email with a special
link to the sale.
 
Spend 20.00 or more and receive 20% off!
 
Sale ends Sunday,
December 9th at midnight.