NORAD Tracks Santa Claus

NORAD , the North American Aerospace Defense Command, has been tracking Santa Claus for over 50 years, all because of a misprinted ad in the newspaper. Apparently, in 1955 Sears-Roebuck printed Santa Clause's phone number in the Colorado Springs newspaper, but the number was printed wrong, and instead calling Santa at the department store, calls instead went to The Colorado Springs Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center. Colonel Shoup, who was on duty that night instructed his staff to give all of the children that called in Santa's "current location." A tradition began and continued when NORAD replaced CONAD in 1958, this tradition lives on today thanks to a huge network of volunteers.

via Wikipedia

NORAD volunteers receive more than 70,000 phone calls,  from over 200 countries, in addition to the over 12,000 emails and 9 MILLION visitors to the track Santa website.

Believers can follow Santa on most of the social media sites, to include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TroopTube, Flicker, by email, by phone and on the website.

For information visit http://www.noradsanta.org/ or click HERE.

This is such a cool idea and a web site for your kids or even yourself to track the progress of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.


I hope you have a fabulous day and enjoy the spirit of Christmas! I know that I will. This is my favorite time of the year and I love it all!

NOTE: You can log on December 1, 2011, I do know that if you go on there now there is a note that says Santa has ended his journey for 2010 and to come back this year.


Linking to:
Jennifer Rizzo
A Stroll Thru Life
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Savy Southern Style
DIY by Design
The Christmas Spirit Alive 365
French Cupboard , The Shabby Creek Cottage 
 No Minimalist Here
Elna-Sudden
The Shabby Creek Cottage
The Charm of the Home

Linking to these great blogs:

2805

Common Ground

French Country Living

Stuff and Nonsense

Laurie Annas

My Romantic Home

Jennifer Rizzo

A Stroll Thru Life

House in Roses

Between Naps on the Porch

My uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Unskinny Boppy

 French Cupboard , The Shabby Creek Cottage 

 No Minimalist Here

Thrifty Chick Decor

The Charm of Home

Inspiration Friday

Vintage Inspiration Friday

 Feathered Nest

FridayFridays Unfolded 

Potpourri Friday
Farmhouse Friday

 Show and Tell Friday

 Open House Party

Holiday Decorating with Pine Cones



Image Better Homes and Gardens

Pine cones are everywhere at this time of year and the great part about using them for decorating, is that they are free. 

Image Better Homes and Gardens

They come in all sizes and shapes, there are big ones, and little ones and even ones two feet tall! The simple beauty of pine cones allows you to use them from September to March, not just for Christmas.

Image BHG

You can use them for garland on the front door, for wreaths, for wrapping gifts and in a bowl filled with lights.

Image BHG

 Of course with a blog name like Pine Cones and Acorns I could not pass up the opportunity to show you a few of the decorating ideas from the December magazines and a few blogs.

 

Image Better Homes and Gardens

I love the simple beauty of a pine cone wreath.

  

Image BHG

Image BHG

Image BHG

Image BHG

Go outside and get a branch and then hot glue some pine cones on the branch, and then insert into a glass vase. What could be more simple?

Image BHG

What do you think? Do you use natural elements to decorate? Do you use a few pine cones to spruce up your decorations? Do you have any great ideas for using pine cones or other natural elements? I would love to hear about them.

Barista Style Coffee Gifts for Christmas

Good Morning! I hope that you are having a great week and getting all of your Christmas preparations underway. If you are still having a hard time finding the perfect gift for that special someone then perhaps it is time to turn to what some people deem the perfect  morning beverage, others like myself would call that drinking chocolate, and many more would say the perfect cuppa tea.

I know there are a lot of coffee drinkers out there, I have many in my own family and am always on the lookout for great coffee sources or gifts.

My husband in addition to looking for the perfect cup of coffee is  always on the search for the perfect coffee maker. We have gone from a small coffee maker, to a French Press, then this fabulous Gaggia machine from Italy.

If you love coffee, and want to feel like a barista in Rome, than this is the coffee machine for you. The machine does everything, it makes espresso, cafe creme, cafe au lait, cappuccino, and will steam your milk to make other drinks too.

If you are the sole coffee drinker in your house and like to experiment than perhaps this would be a better fit? Keurig makes all sorts of one cup makers and also offers K-cups from every coffee roaster in the country, Dunkin Donuts, Emeril's, Donut Shoppe, and too many more to write here, in addition to tea and hot cocoa.

If you are looking for a great coffee source, then check out, Whole Latte Love, they sell Illy, LAvazza, Gaggia, and about twenty five other brands, in addition to Espresso Machines, coffee makers, syrups, and many other coffee accoutrement's.

What about the perfect coffee cup? These are some fabulous cups designed for Illy, and Ritzenhoff but you can also find many more on Whole Latte Love, as well as Macy's, Home Goods, and lots of other places.

Illy

ILLY

ILLY

Do you have any favorite coffee sources? Coffee machines? Makers? Cups? Or ways to prepare? Or do you have another preferred beverage for your morning pick me up?

Tis the Month Before Christmas

Love Mercury glass

Tis the Month Before Christmas

Tis the month before Christmas, were all going nuts:
With so much to do, there’s no ifs, ands or buts.
Buy presents, hang tree lights, pop cards in the mail.
Send gift packs, thread popcorn, finds turkeys on sale.
Decorations need stringing up all through the house.
And you haven’t a clue what to buy for your spouse.
School concerts, receptions, open house with friends,
Long lineups, short tempers, tying up the loose ends.
With all our mad dashing, we’re reeling from shock:
Lets stop for a minute and really take stock.
Its crassly commercial, the cynical say;
If that’s true, that’s our fault and not they.
Take time for yourself-though hard as it seems.
Enjoy your kids laughter, excitement and dreams.
Take a moment out now, don’t get overly riled.
Instead make an angel in snow with your child.
The shortbread can wait; and so can the tree;
What’s important to feel is a child’s sense of glee.
The holidays aren’t; about push, rush and shove;
They’re for friendship and sharing and family love.
Hear the bells, feel the warmth, light up with the glow
Of a message first sent to us so long ago:
Peace, love and goodwill, and hope burning bright.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

I found this little poem and I laughed out loud because I am so guilty of running around like a chicken with no head to get all of the things I think need to be done, and frankly at the end of the day, it is all about family and friends, love and friendship and of course the birth of Christ. Take time to enjoy your family, friends, life and yourself! Life is too short to be stressed about burnt cookies, needles falling off the tree unwrapped gifts and the dog eating the baked brie.

"Oh the humiliation...what will my friends say?"



6 weeks of no walking and no jumping. Good luck!

These photos were taken at Christmas 3 years ago. People always give Munchen Christmas outfits and I make her put them on for a photo shoot. I thought these may bring some levity to your day!

Christmas Decorating Around my House

Family Room

I love Christmas and I love decorating for Christmas! I love the lights, the ornaments, the greens, the smells, the sights and sounds of the holidays. What is not to love?

Love Christmas lights.

I have been collecting Christmas decorations and ornaments for over thirty years, I love taking each special piece out of the boxes and remembering where I got it, or who gave them to me. This year however I decided to change things up a bit.

A little bit of silver for the family room

Pine cones of course!

The fireplace is double sided, the other side is in the keeping room next to the kitchen. I wanted to keep the three pears that I usually have on the fireplace so this year instead of moving them I decided to decorate around them. I am trying a "natural" theme in this room; with birds, "berries" and pine cones.

Keeping room fireplace. These red balls remind me of the berries on the holly bushes all over the yard.

 I enjoy watching the birds come to visit every morning. So after visiting the antique store I came up with these little wooden birds and signs that all reference birds. Paired with a tree, lights and an antique well bucket, I think it turned out great.

Keeping Room Tree

More birds

Bird theme tree, complete with birds, bird signs, pine cones and of course acorns.

Tree in antique well bucket.

This is just the start, I do not want to overload you with all of the decorations. More tomorrow!

When do you decorate at your house? How do you decorate? Do you have a theme? Do you decorate the same every year? What are your favorite ornaments or decorations?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, relax, and enjoy your time with family and friends.

Linking to these great blogs:

2805

Common Ground

French Country Living

Stuff and Nonsense

Laurie Annas

My Romantic Home

Jennifer Rizzo

A Stroll Thru Life

House in Roses

Between Naps on the Porch

My uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Unskinny Boppy

 French Cupboard , The Shabby Creek Cottage 

 No Minimalist Here

Thrifty Chick Decor

The Charm of Home

Inspiration Friday

Vintage Inspiration Friday

 Feathered Nest

FridayFridays Unfolded 

Potpourri Friday
Farmhouse Friday

 Show and Tell Friday Open House Party
Savvy Southern Style



Fabulous On-Line Shopping for Christmas

image here

Christmas shopping for some people is torture, for others it is pure bliss. As for me, I love to shop with my mother and my sisters. We like to get up early, get our beverage of choice at one of the many great coffee houses in Milwaukee or Chicago, then shop a little, maybe get a tasty treat at one of our favorite bakeries, shop some more, then go for lunch, shop some more and then drive home the long way looking at the Christmas lights. Believe it or not, even though it seems as if we do a lot of stopping to eat and drink we do manage to get some shopping done.

 Unfortunately, I do not always get to shop with them, as I live on the East Coast and they are in the Mid-west. When that happens I like to shop online, I love to browse Amazon, Barnes and Noble, J.Crew, Williams Sonoma, Dean and Deluca, Boden, and many more places. In the last year I discovered some great online shopping, at such places as the Gilt Group, One Kings Lane, Rue La La, Joss & Main and I am sure there are many more.

Image BHG

These online stores are great because they offer high end merchandise at a discount, you can buy jewelry, stationary, candles, cashmere, furniture, designer clothing, interior designers curated collections and many more things. I personally have purchased from all of these sites listed below.

Rue La La; last year I gave many gifts from Fauchon, which I brought back from Paris, imagine my surprise when I received an email from Rue La La saying they were having a sale on Fauchon chocolates, teas, and condiments. I will be honest here, I did buy many things at the Fauchon sale, it was less expensive than Paris!

Image BHG

One Kings Lane is one of my favorites, I love getting alerts from them, in the past I have purchased letter press stationary, books, cashmere blankets, kitchen items and too many other things to write about.

And last, but not least the Gilt Groupe, yes, I have purchased from here, for gifts, for birthdays and the holidays. They all have excellent customer service and great deals.

Image BHG

ALSO, buyer be ware, sometimes if the items are vintage you can find them elsewhere for less. Also, sometimes the items for sale are last seasons designs, that really doe not matter to me as I do not live where apparently that matters.

Make sure that if you buy something you do your homework, check the cost of shipping, and if you can return it (sometimes you cannot) if you do not like it.

Image BHG

WARNING: These sites are addicting, you also have to join at no cost to you, in order to purchase items. When you join you can invite people to join also and then if they buy you get a credit to your account, usually $10.00-25.00.

Also, remember if you are making delicious handmade gifts, and crafts, there are many tutorials out there. I posted on a few of them HERE. In addition, Anita at Castles, Crowns and Cottages posted a beautiful list of hand crafted gifts from various artists, both on Etsy and elsewhere as well as, antiques and unique finds from other shop owners. And Jeanne from Collage of Life has begun a series of gift ideas of her own, as well as, from other bloggers.

If you are out on Black Friday I hope you are having fun and getting everything that you went for. I am home sitting by my fireplace, reading and drinking cocoa. Lucky for me I am finished shopping and wrapping and shipping the gifts to their respective recipients. The only thing I have left is my baking! I cannot wait.

Twas the Night of Thanksgiving!

Enjoy!

'TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING


Twas the night of Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't sleep.
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep.
The leftovers beckoned--the dark meat and white,
but I fought the temptation with all of my might.

Tossing and turning with anticipation,
the thought of a snack became infatuation.
So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
and gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore.

I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.

I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky
With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie.
But, I managed to yell as I soared past the trees.......
happy eating to all---pass the cranberries, please!

~~Author Unknown.~~


I hope you had a wonderful day with family and friends, good food, laughs and of course pumpkin pie!

Have a great night!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy your day with family and friends!

Photo take by Pine Cones and Acorns

Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Hand made and Homemade Christmas Ideas from Etsy, Blogs and friends

Christmas is a time of great joy for many people and a time of great sadness for others, lets face it these are tough economic times, and there are some who are really going to struggle to have a happy Christmas without a home or a job. Then there are the people who are just plain tired of the commercialism of Christmas, and finally there are people that are just really crafty and enjoy making and giving of their talent and wonderful gifts! And guess what, you do not even need to go out to the Black Friday sales to do all of these great things!

Via Southern Living

If you are looking for interesting ideas to make gifts for Christmas or would like ideas for crafts and activities your children could make there are ideas a plenty on Pinterest, blogs and the web for making homemade and hand made gifts for Christmas.



via Beautifulism

 I personally love to bake and give lots of cookies, cakes, breads, brownies, homemade fudge and caramel toppings and chutneys to relatives, and friends who either do not bake themselves or who really do not need anything or want any more material goods.

Cranberry Chocolate Rugalach

I will be baking up a storm in the next couple of weeks but for now I thought I would share the great sites I have found online.

Made 8 batches of these for parties already.

As I said, blog land is ripe for the plucking with ideas. The blogs listed below both have great and inexpensive ideas.

This is a great place to start, DM Designs Ultimate DIY Gift Guide. There are 101 ideas that range lip balm, to making your own vanilla, wreaths, pies in a jar, plates purses, and more.

Another place is Everything Etsy 101 simple handmade gift tutorials, there are tutorials, for bath bombs, hand made soap, lip balm, magnets, mugs, and so many more.

I also follow a blog called A Trifle Rushed, it is written by Jude who has a home both in England and Brittany, France. Currently she has been cooking and baking up a storm of traditional English recipes, mince pies, Plum pudding and many interesting liquors. Although I have eaten these delectable treats in England before I have never made any and I think that this year I am going to start. If you would like to branch out this year and try some different ideas for gifts then check out Jude.

And lets not forget the beautiful art, antiques and hand made items on Etsy. A few blog friends have fabulous sites on Etsy and they sell fabulous items, Meg from Pigtown Designs, for antique treasures,  Diane from Yonks, fabulous and unique antique finds from all over Great Britain and beyond(many of which I have purchased myself), and  Anita at Castles, Crowns and Cottages, wonderful, hand painted art, cards and many more images from her imagination and of course of the iconic Audrey Hepburn.

Pinterest also has tutorials everywhere! Do you know of any great homemade or hand made sites we should look at? Or do you have a favorite thing that you make to give as gifts? Let us know in the comment section, I would love to hear what everyone is up too!

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie, a Twist on Tradition

This recipe contains two of my favorite ingredients, chocolate and pumpkin. I confess was a little skeptical of trying this recipe because I LOVE, LOVE. LOVE, pumpkin pie! I thought why mess with perfection, or at least perfection to me.

The recipe was featured on the new talk show with Mario Batali and Daphne Oz, Michael Symons, Carla Hall, and Clinton Kelly, The Chew. Each of the hosts were featuring their favorite Thanksgiving recipes and this one one of them. So I tried it...and it is very good. The chocolate is a delicious addition to the spices of the pumpkin pie, and it is a wonderful twist on tradition! So if you are looking for something new and different to spice up your Thanksgiving meal and to add chocolate to your day this is the recipe for you.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
Directions and Ingredients:
Recipe Adapted from The Chew TV Show

Crust:

1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
1/2 cup Unsalted butter (very cold and cut into small pieces)
2-3 tablespoons Ice Cold Water

 Combine the flour, salt, sugar and butter in a food processor and pulse until coarse, with small marbles of butter remaining. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the ice water and pulse until crumbly, and dough holds when squeezed together. Add another sprinkle of water if too dry, but do not over mix. Transfer dough to a plastic bag, press into a disk, and refrigerate for one hour. Preheat oven to 425F. 

 Roll out dough on floured surface. Press into pie plate, trim to leave 1-inch excess around edges, fold under and flute edges. Cut a piece of parchment or nonstick foil to the size of the pie, and use to line pie crust. Fill with pie weights, and bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

Chocolate:

 3 oz Bittersweet Chocolate (very finely chopped)
6 oz Semisweet Chocolate (chopped)
4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (cut into small pieces)

 In a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter, stirring frequently until smooth, and remove from heat.

Pumpkin Filling

1 14 oz Can Pumpkin
1 12 oz Can Evaporated Milk
3/4 cup Packed Light-Brown Sugar
3 Large Eggs
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
3/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
Pinch of Ground Cloves

 In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, evaporated milk, light brown sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Fold in the chocolate mixture, and pour into pie crust. Place pie pan on a baking sheet.  Bake at 325F until center of pie has set, about an hour. Refrigerate until cooled completely to serve.

NOTE: I was lazy and used a purchased crust. You can do the same or use your own crust recipe, I know that many people have a favorite family recipe, as do I.

Let me know if you try this and what you think!

Linking to :

DIY by Design
Foodie Friday!