Cardinals & Candy Canes

We are already on week 6 -one third of the way through the preparations!  As I have been ill this past week, most of the Holiday planning has been just that -planning.  I have chosen one craft project and have all the supplies ready to go, just need to start doing it. 

I found some great decorative papers to hand make gift tags for this year.  One of the papers has inspired me to choose a decorating theme this year -cardinals!  I'm leaning toward red as the main accent color, and since we have been leaning toward bird ornaments the last couple of years, the cardinal seemed like a natural choice.  I chose candy canes because they are also red & white.  Love to look at them, just not terribly fond of eating them (hee hee).  I have a holiday decorating trick up my sleeve, but until the project is finished I'm going to keep it under wraps.  That way if I don't finish it, no one will be disappointed!  LOL

I have been very productive so far today - I finally got into DD's closet and finished decluttering!  3 large bags of clothes & toys are ready to be dropped off at Goodwill.  All toys have been organized into baskets so EVERYTHING now has a place to be.  Books & stuffed animals will be rotated (out of the closet) to make it easier for DD to put things away.  She's already spent a considerable amount of time playing with that had been packed away in the closet!  There are still some toys in the basement to organize & we may need a few more baskets -preferably solid under-the-bed kind so they can be stored out of sight when not in use.  At least DD is now ready to make space for new things to come into our home for the holidays.

I haven't started baking yet!  I still need to "declutter" the chest freezer otherwise there will be no space for any made-in-advance goodies :)  Mincemeat is on my grocery list this week, as is Drambuie - both necessary ingredients in DianeDenmark's Christmas Cake recipe and the only ones I don't currently have on hand.  Will you be joining us for the bake off?

Check out the Holiday Planning activities at:
DianeDenmark
A Mothers Ramblings
Typical Ramblings, Atypical Nonsense

Drop me a line if you would like to be added to the list!