Happy New Year! 
Tonight, I have book club. Twice a year, 8 of us meet for dinner and then walk over to the bookstore to select our books for the next 6 months. It is very democratic. We all scour the store for books that were recommended to us, that we have read and loved or ones that we want to read. Then we sit down together and each member gives a little summary of her books, passes them around and adds them to the master list. After each person has pitched her books, we vote, choosing 6 books each. The books with the most votes become our reading roster. It works like a charm. We get a broad selection and it keeps us from getting stuck in one genre. The trick for me will be staying on task and out of the cookbook section! 
I loved Princess Diana.
When we put colored Christmas lights in our bushes, I knew that it would give a festive glow to the house. What I didn't expect was the 10 inches of snow we got in a blizzard the week before Christmas! It's been like "living in a snow globe." The colored lights glowing from beneath the snow looked like a scene from a Christmas card - simply magical.
I wanted to show you the jelly bean fireplace that I am so proud of...tah dah. This year the snow-covered lawn is made of tapioca pearls.
This would make a great puzzle! Can you find "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer" near the bottom of the picture? And next to him is a "House full of love" (covered with red hearts) - look closely and see that the roof is strung with colored Christmas lights. Can you find the "Elephant with the purple blanket?" An important cookie in my family - I wrote about the tradition of it here. Now that says it all, doesn't it?
Every year, my husband and I spend a day in December baking and decorating my grandmother's sugar cookies with our 7 nieces and nephews. The kids (ages 17, 17, 15, 15, 13, 13 and 10) have been building this tradition with us since the oldest was only 4 years old and it really defines the holidays for me. There is Christmas music playing, "chocolate tea" (hot cocoa) on the break between baking and decorating and a general sense of ease. Rolling, cutting, baking and frosting is a long process, so the kids just relax and take their time.
I have always referred to my decorating style as "Swedish Beach house" (paying no mind to the fact that we live neither in Sweden nor by the sea). 
I am in the middle of a blizzard and I can't stop thinking about Laura Ingalls Wilder's book, Little House in the Big Woods. Can you see the little house on my table runner? So sweet!
I think that anticipation is an underrated concept for grown-ups. When I put presents under the tree, I want everyone to: 
When I am traveling, I'm always on the lookout for things that bring delight. My sisters-in-law in Texas are "on board" with this concept and consider it their mission to take me places that we don't have in Michigan.
I wanted to show you a wreath that I made from "paper scrap." If you like the idea of a wreath, but want to highlight non-traditional images (I hang this in my office year round), this is a neat way to go. 
If you have been searching for Hansel and Gretel, look no further. I have found their gingerbread cottage in the lobby of the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester, Michigan. My lovely neighbor and her Garden Club girls (age 9 & 11) invited me on a "field trip" to see this giant masterpiece in person. The gingerbread boy nearby boasts the recipe: 220 pounds of sugar, 300 pounds of gingerbread mix, 90 gallons of water, 240 eggs...wow.
Some days I simply have to give up on my "to do" list and make something. My "jewelry box" is calling - beads, buttons and baubles all waiting to evolve into something wonderful. So the moment I return from a Christmas lunch with the Garden Club girls, I will begin. I am imagining pretty little boxes of jewelry under the Christmas tree for all the girls on my list!
To me, making a gingerbread house is a lot like designing jewelry. There are an infinite number of combinations and the building materials are gorgeous!
I was having people over for the holidays and decided to serve my ginger cakes as a sweet treat. The last time I baked them, a friend pulled me aside in the kitchen and confessed that she'd eaten four! That was all I needed to hear.She thought about it, hesitated, then walked over to a cluttered shelf. "Well...we have these," she said as if there was no way that they had what I wanted. It was the exact reindeer from the magazine and was the best $2 I've ever spent. They took my box mix cupcakes to a whole new level, and became an unexpected party favor - no one wanted to leave without their reindeer! I tell you, delight is everywhere.
A floral arrangement in antique white can look so lovely this time of year. I was lucky to find a bunch of hypericum berries in peach and paired them with cream roses in an old-fashioned sugar bowl. So pretty! And this photograph captures it forever. 
I believe that little touches are the secret to making a big impression. An understated couch with one fabulous pillow. A classic watch with a velvet ribbon band. Or in this case, store-bought cookies (Ikea) embellished with Wilton white frosting. Don't they look like they are from a little Swedish bakery? I was inspired by the beautiful baking at the Swedish Christmas fair and this is the result. I am starting off the week with a cup of coffee and a ginger cookie. Join me?
One year I received a Christmas card depicting a horse-drawn sleigh carrying a young couple home with a fresh Christmas tree. I loved the image and wanted to preserve it some how. So I thought, why not make it a Christmas ornament?
Are you looking for a pretty centerpiece? From my perspective, nothing beats a little paper village after a marshmallow snowstorm. And it smells as sweet as it looks! Keep your eye out for vintage-style buildings in discount stores and antique shops and as you build your collection, just make sure that the houses and churches you choose are all the same scale. I love how my little Winter village looks, I hope you do too.
There is something so magical about department store windows at Christmastime. I took this sugarplum fairy vignette last year at the Macy's on State Street in Chicago. The figures moved back and forth into graceful poses - it was lovely.
This is my maternal grandmother as a little girl. Oh, to wear big hair bows! In those days a photograph was so precious - she must have been thrilled to have hers taken.
My mantra for holiday preparations has always been Visual. Edible. Givable. In that order. 
Today the world wide web is a-buzz with holiday shoppers. Traditionally, the Monday after Thanksgiving is so big for online sales that it has been dubbed "Cyber Monday."
With only a few days until December 1st, I thought I would talk about advent calendars. Each morning you open a numbered flap on the advent calendar to reveal a Christmas image. There are so many sweet designs to choose from in retail stores, but I also want you to see a few unique examples at Blumchen, an online resource for Old World holiday papers and ornaments. 
What am I planning for January? Tiny blossoms in a vintage teacup! The man at the garden center told me that these Muscari "Valerie Finnis" bulbs need 6 weeks of cold sleep and then can be brought out into a warm room to grow. I have planted them in this vintage teacup (look at the unusual cup shape!) and it is now tucked away in the refrigerator. Just after New Years, I'll bring it out and let the warm sunshine in my family room work its magic. 
Aren't these sweet? I found little royal icing sugar decorations at our local cake supply store (featured last year as Sugar Secrets) and "glued" them to sugar cubes with Wilton white cookie icing. I am bringing them to my sister-in-law's house for Thanksgiving. Who wouldn't love to drop one of these in their coffee? 
Today is my favorite day to go grocery shopping. Seriously. There is a real sense of community in a bustling store the day before Thanksgiving. It is the only day that everyone has generally the same items in their cart: canned cranberry - check. pumpkin pie filling - check. french fried onions - check. The similarity makes me smile. 
You know the old adage that if you hold a seashell to your ear you can hear the ocean? It is a wonderful metaphor for the power of listening. As you head out into the hustle bustle of travel, turkeys and timelines, remember to treasure what you hear from family and friends. The jokes, stories and trials of life have "time to be told" over a long dinner. Although it may seem like everyday conversation, stories told in person are treasures. Listen carefully.
I wanted to show you that even teeny-tiny leaves can change color for the season. Can you believe how small these leaves are? I placed them next to my covered matchboxes to show some scale (Brooklyn postmark is the size of a quarter!). 
I was so lucky to be able to go to a Swedish Christmas Fair! I happened to notice a sign for it last night and by 10AM today I was drinking glogg and buying a pale wooden tray (featuring a tangle of blueberries & branches) from a woman dressed head-to-toe in traditional Swedish garb.
Mmmm...Ginger Cakes with Cream Cheese frosting. I make these super-delicious cakes with Betty Crocker gingerbread cake and cookie mix. When I got married, my everything-from-scratch grandmother told me that she always used this mix to make her gingerbread cookies. She said that this cookie dough (follow the roll & cut instructions on the side) could not be beat. So naturally, this is the mix that I use every year to make my scores of gingerbread men. Until the year the stores ran low. Seriously, I had to scour the local markets looking for (what felt like) the last 6 boxes of Betty Crocker gingerbread mix. So now I buy them when I see them and always have a few on hand. If you go to the Betty Crocker website, this mix is strangely absent. Is it limited edition? Seasonal? Top secret? All I know is that in addition to gingerbread men, it makes wonderful ginger cakes. Follow the cake instructions, bake in a mini-cupcake tin at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, frost with a swirl of cream cheese frosting (also compliments of Betty) and then sprinkle a few Australian Ginger People candied ginger chips on top. It is a dessert they won't forget.
How many people really love their laundry room? I do! It is a tiny room right off the family room (which means it is in plain sight of any company when the door is ajar) so I did I few extra things to make it cute. I covered the walls with Laura Ashley check wallpaper and hung a Ballard Designs shelf over the washer & dryer. Can you see how the lidded dish matches the wallpaper? I was invited to a team-building event at a paint-your-own-pottery place one year. I thought to myself, if I'm going to have this chance to make custom pottery, I'd better make it good! So I modeled the color and spacing off a scrap of my wallpaper and it has been enhancing "laundry day" ever since.
I have always loved fine china. Covered vegetables, soup tureens, cake plates and formal tea services are so pretty on display. Every year I tell myself that I will entertain more with the dishes that I love so much.
This morning, my Dad & I went to a "meeting" of a radio-controlled flying club. My uncle is a model plane enthusiast who has been making and flying for years, so we went to see his club "take off." At least fifty men were on the sidelines and in the stands watching ten or more radio-controlled airplanes fly over an enormous indoor soccer field. It was fascinating. Time stood still for these men as they discussed engines, rudders, props and wings while tiny planes whizzed by. It was easy to imagine them as eight-year-old boys discovering model airplanes for the first time. They were happy then, and have enjoyed it every day since. Delight is everywhere.
Isn't this amazing? A bright Nevada sky reflected in the windows of The Venetian in Las Vegas. I took this picture last Spring when I tagged along on my husband's business trip.
I was drooling over this creme brulee photo (from a luncheon I attended) and realized that I hadn't mentioned my secret source for making beautiful creme brulee at home. +of+IMG_1198.JPG)
Can you imagine serving this at your next party? What a grand presentation. Perfect slices of fruit & meat artfully arranged in tiers. I took this photo at Fauchon on the Place de la Madeleine in Paris. This particular day we went inside and bought fancy boxed lunches (mine had a hard-boiled quail egg sliced atop the sandwich) and had a picnic outside. After lunch, we strolled the flower stalls and I took this photo. What a day!
Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away and things are slowing changing from pumpkins to pilgrims. It's time to hang a bay leaf wreath in your kitchen. Have you seen one? It is a beautiful way to add a "holiday meals are coming" feel to the kitchen. 
Viva la Girl Scouts! I had so much fun teaching the "jewelry making" badge to my neighbor's Girl Scout troop. I designed a charm necklace that incorporates the symbols and traditions of the Girl Scout organization. Plus we used buttons, ribbons and beads to tell a "story." A pearl for leadership, a bead for each brother or sister, a "bee" for their years in the Brownies. The charms could symbolize whatever the girls wanted. I overheard someone ask, "What did we say the button stands for?" Her friend replied, "Buttons stand for friendship, because a circle never ends."Is that cute, or what?
I had imagined the project, the tools, the parent participation (even my Mom came!), but I had not thought through to the end. When 21 girls stood for a picture all wearing their new Girl Scout charm necklaces. Priceless!
I have loved Country Living magazine for almost 20 years, so it was an enormous thrill to be selected as one of their 2007 Women Entrepreneurs after pitching my business to their editors. Want to see something cool? My profile is part of Country Living's web page! Click this link to see (or type Anne Reeves into their search box - so cool!).
The Garden Club Girls asked me to teach a badge at their Girl Scout meeting this month! What fun. I have been pouring through my baubles and have come up with the perfect project for 12-year-old girls. A charm necklace! I am going to submit the design for publication and when it gets published I will link you to it. I think the girls will love it. As I was shopping for the supplies, the ladies at Micheals saw what I was up to and were all a-buzz. That's my specialty, you know, making accessories that "drive girls crazy."
I love how this looks. The placemat is made of laser cut wool felt, which has been the rage in Europe for a while now. I bought just one placemat to use as a "stage" for flower arrangements and little vignettes. You can shop for similar placemats here. 
After such a big election, I wanted to encourage you to have a patriotic dinner. Maybe you could even make the United States of Jello. Seriously. My Mom has a mold of the continental United States that she makes every year for the 4th of July. It is the size of a 13 x 9 pan and has indentations that show the borders of each state. The kids crack themselves up by eating "the Midwest" or by trying to take a serving of just Colorado. Anyhoo, it doesn't look like the Jello website has that mold anymore (it looks like this), but you could order an American Flag. 
Meet my new living room pillow. 
Is your armoire overflowing? As I sort and organize for the holidays (I really turn the house upside-down with my Christmas decorating), I have started to accumulate a pile for donation. There are many ways to put resources back to the community and thought you might be interested in what I have found in the magazines. Domino magazine spotlights these organizations for shoes, clothing and media donations. Real Simple magazine has a long list of charities that could use old shoes, eyeglasses, even business suits. This week I am sorting and sharing.
What's my Halloween tradition? Baking a "Trick or Pie" with the Garden Club girls.
