Christmas | kimberly ah

Dec 23 2014

Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, Oh Tannenbaum

Oh Tannenbaum 7: The Christmas Pickle

Do you know about the Christmas pickle? A German tradition, a pickle ornament is the last ornament hung on the tree, disguised among the green branches and hidden by the other colorful ornaments. On Christmas morning when children wake up, they search for the pickle. The keen-eyed child who finds the pickle gets an extra gift from St. Nicholas. Isn’t that a fun tradition.

Once I learned about the pickle, I was obsessed with finding one for my own tree. Back then, they were hard to find…now I see pickle ornaments everywhere. Somehow, the search for the pickle led us to an Ace Hardware store where they sold Inge-Glas ornaments*. I walked into the store and found huge glass jars filled to the brim with these delicate ornaments–handmade blown-glass ornaments, many embellished with a dusting of glitter, all topped with a signature star. They were all so beautiful and so different than any of the ornaments I had ever seen. They were also expensive…for a college student anyway… But I had to have the pickle. So I bought it and I’ve treasured it ever since. And every year after that, I visited Ace Hardware on Black Friday to add to my collection. My parents added to my collection, too. Soon after, though, the Ace stopped selling the ornaments, so I only ended up with seven ornaments. (But I’ve recently found them on Amazon and here, so look out bank account!)

Since we got Presley, I’ve kept the ornaments off of the tree. Instead, I chose to display them in my china cabinet. But they always got forgotten. This year, I couldn’t resist…I hung all of them, except the pickle, on my tree. I have a lot of ornaments, and all of them are well-loved, but the Inge-Glas ornaments really stand out. They belong on the boughs, glittering among the lights. This week, I’ll share a bit about the others, too.

To see the other ornament stories from previous years, go here.

*When I bought my ornaments, they were known as Old World Christmas Ornaments. But Old World ornaments are now made in China. They are sold at a much lower price point, but what I found so compelling about my ornaments is the fact that they were still handmade in Germany, some using original molds from years ago. Inge-Glas ornaments are the ones to look for now, along with the star on top. (This article explains more, if you’re interested.)

Tagged Christmas, decorating, holidays, memories

Dec 17 2014

8 Comments

Christmas, snail mail

Mail From the North Pole

My first holiday card of the year came from the North Pole!!

My pen pal Ryan must be the most organized holiday card sender ever because not only was his card the first card to arrive in my mailbox, but he sent his to North Pole, Alaska for the special North Pole postmark. As I sit with my holiday cards spread out on the floor, still stuck in the M’s of my address book, I am envious of Ryan’s accomplishment. But extremely happy to be on the receiving end of such a fun mail surprise!

How are your holiday cards coming along?

Update: Here’s an older Letter Writers Alliance blog post with all of the holiday postmark cities. If you are interested in doing this (next year? or as belated wishes this year?) I would contact the PO of interest to make sure it is something they are still doing. And…if you want to get a head start for Valentine’s Day, the LWA has another list for that.

Tagged Christmas, holidays, mail art, snail mail

Dec 13 2014

4 Comments

Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, Oh Tannenbaum

Oh Christmas Tree 2014

I think this year’s tree takes the cake…I love its little shape better than the fuller trees of the past two years (2012 & 2013). I’m not a perfectionist when it comes to hanging ornaments, so I’ve found places where there are little ornament clusters and spaces that are kind of bare, but I guess that just adds to the fun. The saddest part of my tree this year is that my favorite vintage tree topper would not light up, so I had to use a colorful replacement. (It’s hard to see in the pictures, but it has multi-colored lights.) I included pretty much every single ornament that I own on the tree this year. Our full trees of the past two years meant that some of the larger and heavier ornaments had to be left off, but this year, the strong Fraser Fir branches could handle them all. I also have not hung some of my most loved ornaments since having Presley. This year, I put most of them on the tree. (They will get their own ornament story post next week.) I just feel like I haven’t enjoyed them in ages and they are just too beautiful not to hang. Here’s hoping this little devil behaves herself. (Knocking on wood, crossing my fingers, rubbing a horseshoe…)

Tagged Christmas, decorating, holidays, home

Dec 11 2014

6 Comments

Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, Oh Tannenbaum

Thoughts on Christmas Trees

When I was growing up, we always got a real tree for Christmas. I remember always being cold and annoyed at the tree farm while my parents picked out a tree. I remember being bummed that we couldn’t get our tree right after Thanksgiving. (“It will dry out!”) I was jealous of the families who dragged their fake trees out of the basement and got to decorate for Christmas right away.

When I graduated from college, I bought a cheap fake tree at Kmart. It was fine, but it really did lack pizazz. I had it for years but once Naoto and I got married, I convinced him that we should try a real tree. (If we could turn back time, I bet he would veto that decision.) So, we bought a $9 tree stand (which still serves us very well) and found a tree at Menards. I know it’s less than picturesque to buy a Christmas tree in a home improvement store parking lot, but it works for us. Their trees always go on sale the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the price is right and, at this point in my life, I don’t need to visit a tree farm with an ax to make my Christmas complete.

Now, I can’t imagine going back to a fake tree*…even though it can be a lot of work to do the real tree thing, I love that our tree has a different personality every year. I love that fresh pine smell that fills our living room. I love tossing it off the balcony every January and not having to store it in our closet all year. (Our village collects the trees and recycles them as mulch.)

Growing up, I think we always got a Scotch pine. They are very traditional looking Christmas trees, very full, very green. Scotch pine needles are medium length and their branches are really strong, good for heavy ornaments. My issue with Scotch pines–the needles are verrrrry pokey. I guess my dad never minded getting stabbed with thousands of pine needles when he was manhandling the tree into the stand? Naoto and I always alternate between White Pines and Firs, either Balsam or Fraser.

White Pines are one of the least expensive trees ($14.95 on sale at Menards for a 6-7 foot tree, the same price as Scotch pines) and they are really full and lovely with their long, soft, deep-green needles. They also, in my experience, last a really long time, staying green and fresh past the New Year. The big downside to the White Pine is that sometimes the branches are floppy and they don’t support the weight of ornaments as well. And they are so full and the needles are so long that tiny ornaments tend to get lost in the tree. But, the trees are so pretty and traditional looking that I don’t always mind leaving some of my ornaments off for a year.

Balsam Firs and Fraser Firs are my favorites, but maybe that’s because we have a Fraser Fir this year. (Every year’s tree is my favorite.) They are more expensive ($24.95 on sale at Menards for a 6-7 foot tree) but it’s totally worth it. Both are skinnier trees with short needles. Balsams have more olive green needles and Frasers have blue-green needles. The shorter needles allow tiny ornaments to shine. Both trees’ branches are sturdier, so they can handle heavy ornaments. And the branches are more spread out, leaving room for larger ornaments to dangle. Supposedly both retain their needles well, but in my experience, they do dry out a bit faster than the pines…this could just be my luck with trees though. Both Balsam and Fraser Firs have incredible scents…our tree has been around for more than a week and it still smells divine in here.

I’ll share more pictures of our actual finished tree tomorrow. It’s all decorated and my ornaments really pop on its skinny branches. Now, I just need to keep Presley from nibbling the lower branches…

P.S. This post is not sponsored by Menards–we just like their trees. For further reading on Christmas trees, I found this interesting, educational website. I feel like someday I need to expand our tree search and try a spruce or a cypress!

*Sometimes when I’m struggling to string the lights (or swearing as I remove the tangled lights from the tree in January) I remember an old friend whose family kept their fake tree in the basement, fully assembled and decorated. Every year, they would just carry it up to the living room and plug it in. Instant Christmas! But honestly…I’d miss bringing out each ornament and remembering its history as I hung it on the tree…

Tagged Christmas, decorating, gardening, holidays

Dec 04 2014

4 Comments

celebrations, Christmas, Merry & Bright

Oh Christmas Tree Trauma

This was the scene on Sunday night when Naoto and I went to buy the tree. We decided to branch out (hehe) and try other tree variety this year. We’ve had a White Pine for the past two years (2012 and 2013) and this year I wanted to change things up with a Balsam Fir.

So, it was after 6:30 and dark, but we thought there was enough light in the parking lot to choose a tree. After checking out a few, we chose a lovely Balsam, had it wrapped up and drove it home (using our back-seat method as shown above.) We got it into our apartment and cut it open and…I noticed a patch of brown. Not like a tiny bit of brown needles that were falling off, but a chunk of brown needles that faded into green, like the tree had been damaged by the weather or something. I shrugged it off thinking we could put that part towards the window and no one would ever know. But then I noticed that brown spots were occurring all over the tree. The tree could only be described as mottled at that point.

Now, I am not a perfectionist when it comes to the holidays. We’ve had holey trees, crooked trees, dry trees…pretty much every year we buy an imperfectly lovely tree. But, brown? I couldn’t do it. So I said the words my poor husband was dreading, “We have to take it back.” We loaded the tree back into the car and drove back to Menards, which was closing in the next ten minutes.

We returned the tree, and in spite of the “tree guy” offering to open the lot back up and let us choose our replacement, we decided to wait until daylight to choose another one. (Even with the flashlight on my phone, it was hard to see the brown spots on the tree. We didn’t want to risk having to return another one.) I went back alone on Tuesday afternoon to choose another tree. Several of the Balsams we opened had the same brown damage as our first tree. So, I moved onto the Fraser Firs, which look similar to the Balsam but have a silvery tone to the underside of the needles. Between the tree guy, another customer and I, we found a good one…straight and tall with no noticeable browning. (It’s pictured on the trunk trimming table above.) The tree guy–after much skepticism–loaded it into my backseat and I drove it home (after taking pictures in the parking lot!) The tree stayed in the backseat of the car in the garage until Naoto got home that night (after midnight!) I could have carried it up by myself, but I could never have put it in the tree stand alone, so I figured leaving it in the car was better for the tree as opposed to leaning it in our entryway all day. (Also there were a bunch of judgey ladies in the laundry room and I didn’t want to have to deal with explaining how I would of course come back down to sweep up my pine needles…sigh, the costs of living in a condo.) Here it is all watered and ready. I (unevenly) added lights last night and I’m hanging the ornaments today. And then, our apartment is officially ready for Christmas!

Tagged celebrations, Christmas, decorating, holidays, home

Dec 02 2014

3 Comments

Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright

Stuffing the Stockings

When I was little, Santa put a clementine and a toothbrush in our stockings every Christmas. I know we got other things but the clementine and the toothbrush are the things I remember. Isn’t it weird that Santa probably stressed about getting me a few nice things for my stocking and all I remember now are the clementine and the toothbrush?

Now, Naoto and I fill each other’s stockings. As we shop, we just drop our items into the stockings with promises not to peek until Christmas morning. The stockings are the first things we open on Christmas, before unwrapping gifts.

I already have a few things in Naoto’s stocking (left side). He’s very hard to shop for since he never wants anything. (It’s a blessing and a curse!) I always try to think of a mix of fun and practical things, with a heavy emphasis on food.

For my stocking (right side), I usually ask for chapstick and other consumables. Some of my favorite stocking stuffers have included Luxardo cherries, rubber stamps and zines. This year I added a few new zines and a postcard set to my wish list.

As for Presley’s stocking (middle)…we usually get her a catnip toy. So far, she’s gotten two branches from Mew Cat Toys Etsy shop. And she has three Yeowww! catnip toys (the banana, the cigar and the dynamite) that we bought at a local shop, Scratch N Sniff. She really digs all of them. It’s hard to put her gift in early though, because she tends to help herself to it before Christmas.

What are your family’s stocking traditions? Any good ideas for Naoto’s stocking? I need all the help I can get!

P.S. Our stockings are from the now closed Mahar Drygoods. Presley’s is from a big box store.

Tagged Christmas, decorating, holidays, home, memories

Jan 17 2014

2 Comments

Christmas, snail mail, vintage

January Paper Parcel

My first installment of Paper Parcels arrived in the mail on Wednesday. It had been the cause of much stress for over a week because apparently the Polar Vortex was holding it hostage for awhile. When I saw it lounging in my mailbox, I squealed with delight and opened it right away. The picture above shows it right out of the package…adorable, right? I didn’t unwrap the package for two days because I was savoring it. Today I finally opened it and pored through the fifty pieces of old paper, playing cards, labels, stamps and other vintage bits. All of the pink and red goodness is getting me excited for Valentine’s Day…I love Valentine’s Day (as mentioned here) and now I’m feeling the urge to start working on some Valentine mail. (Too soon?)It was hard to pick out my favorite vintage bits from the pack, but the things above caught my heart. I’m especially smitten with the Mohr Beverages label, the playing cards (the medallion, the horse, the girl and the hugging cat & dog), the vintage Valentine (she’s TYPING!) and Dennison labels, saver stamps and old BINGO cards are always enjoyed around here. And this little card–from a 1970s penny arcade game–made me laugh. In case the type is too small, it says:

Modern Miss:

The pace you set is too speedy for me. You travel on five wheels with no brakes, and have lost all control. I like the shy, old-fashioned miss who hasn’t forgotten how to blush. With women I am just a babe in the wood, so you are too dangerous for me. Bye Bye baby–get a hip flask daddy.

Your old fashioned,

Ralph

Ralph sounds fun, right?

I’m super excited for the next five months of my subscription. I love a good themed package and Xenia has a true talent for vintage paper pack curating. Thanks, Naoto, for such a fun gift (and for taking the hint from my Pinterest boards!)

For more detailed pictures of the Paper Parcel, see the Saturday Morning Vintage blog.

Tagged Christmas, crafts, mail art, snail mail, vintage

Jan 16 2014

2 Comments

Christmas, crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail

More Mail Fun with the Cat Note Template

One of my favorite Christmas gifts was this ingenious Cat Note Template from Paper Pastries. It was a gift from Mollie, who knows me well enough to know that cats + letter writing = perfect gifts. I decided to use it for my long-overdue thank you note to Mollie.

Basically, you just trace the template onto any paper of your choice, cut it out, fold it up and it it’s ready to tuck into a 4-bar sized envelope. (Which, at 3 5/8 x 5 1/8, is almost the smallest mailable envelope size.)

You can use the cat template on plain paper and write your letter directly onto it, but I decided to use the template to make an “inner envelope”. I used an old USA Philatelic magazine as my template paper and then I wrote my note on a 4-bar flat card (from Paper Source). I used my bone folder (more on this tool, soon!) to help crease the edges as I folded the template up with the card inside and I used a piece of washi tape to hold it together. The template comes with marks to make slits so you can tuck the folds into the slits to hold without the help of washi tape, but I like using up some of my washi stash, inch by inch. (You can see the “slit indicators” on the right and bottom sides of the template.)I tucked the kitty in a fuchsia envelope, used my new Vintage Email stamp (clearer picture below…gold is hard to photograph!) and called it done. (Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of my corresponding cherry blossom postage stamp before I dropped the thank you in the mailbox.)I’m looking forward to creating more cat-themed mail soon!

Tagged Christmas, crafts, diy, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Dec 30 2013

5 Comments

Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, snail mail, vintage

Our 2013 Holiday Cards

Our 2013 Christmas cards were sent, and hopefully they’ve arrived at their destinations near and far. As I mentioned in this post, I decided to stop putting all the pressure on myself to make our cards. Instead, I bought them. I picked up the Winter Greetings card a few years ago on clearance. I loved the little chubby bird! I purchased the Andy Warhol Christmas tree card this year at Paper Source. I loved its vintage look and tiny size. (I’m a sucker for tiny greeting cards.) And the vintage Season’s Greetings card was a gift from Jennie Hinchcliff who offered them up one day on Instagram. I could not resist those vintage beauties. Here’s a closer look at its charming church illustration and inside message:In case it’s unclear it says

To greet you sincerely at Christmas and to wish you Happiness in the New Year.

Sincere Christmas greetings? Absolutely. The card is gorgeously embossed–the church, the bells, the people and the tiny snow details are raised on the page. I had to save just one…the others went to lucky pen pals. I ordered these holiday paper coasters from the Paper Source and added them with some of my cards. In a moment of bad planning, I realized that my Andy Warhol cards were too small to hold the coaster…oops. Naoto and I are using the leftovers for entertaining at home. They feel very festive, especially when cocktails are involved. In spite of having a table full of mail art stuff for the Christmas Card Writing Party, I didn’t go too crazy with mail art. I was having fun playing around with my handwriting and I just used some washi tape, rubber stamps and Stickles to add a tiny bit of pizzazz to the envelopes.

Holiday time is my favorite time of the year for checking my mailbox. People keep saying that no one writes Christmas cards anymore…I’m very lucky that many of my friends and family still value this tradition. A full mailbox is the best Christmas gift.

Tagged Christmas, crafts, holidays, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, vintage, washi tape

Dec 28 2013

4 Comments

celebrations, Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, Peggy's Parties

Book Club Christmas Tea

Last Saturday, we had a Pleasant Home Book Club Christmas Tea at Peggy’s house. There were so many of us that we had to sit at two different and wonderfully decorated tables at Peggy’s.

We enjoyed ham salad (made by me), egg salad, cucumber sandwiches, cherry almond scones, homemade ricotta, homemade lemon curd and homemade Meyer lemon curd (so delicious, I can’t even explain), Christmas cookies, champagne cocktails, tea…my tiny plate above was the first of many. Christmas Tea at Peggy's 3 After we ate, we moved into the sitting room and talked about our book–The Cat by Colette. (By the way, The Cat deserves its own blog post sometime in January.)It happened to be the Winter Solstice, so we got to enjoy Peggy’s beautifully lit sitting room as the sun went down. It seriously is Christmas heaven over there…so many twinkle lights!