Book Blogger Hop ~ 12/18/2020

Q.  Do you have any bookish ornaments on your Christmas tree? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

A.  I don't have any bookish ornaments but my daughter does.  Each year we get our girls an ornament that represents something about their year.  One year, we bought Kaylee a notebook ornament off of a shop on Etsy.  (She is always writing stories.)  It actually has notebook paper inside that she can write memories in.  So cute!

Do you have any bookish ornaments on your Christmas tree?

Bookishly Yours,

Colletta

P.S. I hope you can stop by MY SHOP and give it some love!

Cover Crush ~ A Carol for Christmas ~ 12/15/12

Cover Crush is a new meme over at On The Shelf where beautiful and eye-catching covers are spotlighted! Any cover can be showcased whether it be old or new, read or still sitting in your TBR stack.

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My Cover Crush this week is:

Never underestimate the true spirit of Christmas ...Carol Burke was born to sing. It was the life she had always dreamed of. There was only one thing she loved more, one person for whom she would willingly sacrifice her dreams: Jonathan Burke. Married against their parents' wishes, both are determined to make a life together despite the hardships. Jonathan works hard at his father's department store, leaving Carol alone in their tiny apartment. But long hours turn into late nights, thanks to Jonathan's insatiable desire to prove himself to his father ... even at the expense of the one he loves best.Into the midst of an increasingly empty marriage comes an unexpected chance for Carol to sing again. Is this the opportunity of a lifetime, or a time for her to let go and trust her future to God? Carol knows one thing: she longs most of all to share her first Christmas with Jonathan, creating their own memories and traditions and breathing new life into their marriage.Then a broken promise leaves her wondering. Can anything, anyone--even God--heal her crumbling hopes? The answer comes when Carol finds herself face-to-face with the true spirit of Christmas ...

What I Love About It:

The colors on this cover are gorgeous!  We're going to be decorating our Christmas tree today, and this definitely put me in the spirit.  I can't wait to look at each one of our ornaments and think of all the memories they bring to mind.

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What are your thoughts on the cover of this book?

I Remember Christmas ~ Christmas Tree Ornaments ~ 12/3/12

December 3 ~ Christmas Tree Ornaments

Did your family have heirloom or cherished ornaments?  Did you ever string popcorn and cranberries?  Did you family make Christmas ornaments?

The only cherished ornaments my parents had when we were growing up were the ornaments that my brother and I made each year in school.

Now my Mom has a few ornaments that will become heirlooms.  She has a large nail ornament to represent Jesus being nailed to the cross.  It really means a lot to her.

In my house, we use the extra little silver bells from our Wedding Day to decorate the tree.  Instead of rice or seeds, we had our guests ring a little silver bells that had our names and date on it as we walked out of the Church.  The ones that were left over are very special to us and I enjoy seeing them each year as we hang them on our tree.

We started a tradition of getting our daughters a special ornament each year to commemorate something that is special to them at that point in their lives.  The idea is that when they move out and have their own tree, they will have their ornaments to decorate it, but I don't know if I'll be able to part with them!

Each year as we decorate our tree, we look at each ornament and talk about how old each girl was that year and why it was special.  Last year, we got my oldest daughter the prettiest silver flute ornament and my youngest a Hello Kitty.  Some of the other ornaments are basketball, kindergarten, first Christmas, horses, butterflies, soccer, a stuffed bear, ballet slippers etc.

We always surprise them each year with their ornament but they don't read my blog so I can tell you about them :)

This year my oldest is getting the neatest "Journal" ornament.  She loves to write stories and draw and her favorite things in the world are composition books, tablets and journals.  I was so excited to find this customized ornament on Etsy.  The artist added "Kaylee" to the front and glitter.  She's going to LOVE it!

Our youngest started Kindergarten this year so we got her a little snowman sitting at a desk from Hallmark.  It is as cute as a button!

As for stringing popcorn and cranberries, that is something we didn't do.  We did, however, make paper chains out of green and red construction paper.  That was always fun.  I've also done it with my girls for decorations.

I am so glad we're going to get our tree this weekend because now I'm excited to get all our ornaments out and reminisce!