My New Year's Wish for You

Dear Friends and Family,

I wish for you to find your creative side

I wish for you to hear the music

I wish for you to spend time with friends and family

I wish for you to find simple joys

I wish for you be prosperous in countless ways 

I wish for you make connections to something or someone you care about

Happy New Year!  

May 2012 be a year to remember!

Oh.....and I wish that you will come back and visit me this next year too.  ;)

Some Christmas Gifts from Some Dear Bees!

The other day I shared with you what I made for the Singing Bee and the More Creative Bee.  Now let me show you a couple of treasures they gave me for Christmas.

Now the More Creative Bee certainly deserves her name.  Wait till you see this......

She found these in a thrift store and

 handpainted them - all of them!  

Aren't they adorable???

Where she found ice skates is beyond me.  We're not exactly a hotbed of figure skating here in Central California.  

She painted snowmen all over these skates for the Singing Bee.  We BOTH loved them.  

Now you know why her name is so well-deserved!

Now the Singing Bee noticed how much I loved these little placards when we spent the day shopping together.  I almost bought them for myself, but I didn't and she went back and got these for me.

The window was cleaned earlier this year - honestly! With so little rain, how did it get so dirty???

Aren't they cute?

I can use them for placecards or I can use them on a buffet or I can just write a message for you.

Thank you so much More Creative Bee and Singing Bee!

You are both MAHVELOUS DARLINGS!

And thank you so much for buzzing in!

Want to know what I'm making for dinner tonight?

Found this great magazine....

and we're trying Barbecue Chili.  Beans, ground beef, and a homemade barbecue sauce all in the crockpot.  Oh yes - a bacon garnish - what's not to love?

What to Give Dear Bee Friends

The More Creative Bee and the Singing Bee have been dear friends of mine for many years.  We all met in college and don't live too far from each other, but we don't get to see each other as much as I would like.  Then again, that makes those times more special.  I certainly don't want to take either of them for granted and have so much fun when we get together.

Well, with late summer/early fall birthdays for all three of us and the Christmas holidays, we always get wonderful holiday (Christmas,Halloween, Thanksgiving) or seasonal gifts for each other.  But this year, I wanted to go in a different direction.

Let me show what I found at Hobby Lobby to inspire me.

They had a whole section of Christmas decorations that were Americana.

Which inspired this.....

I made 4th of July decorations for them!

 These are paper mache houses I also bought at Hobby Lobby.

 I handpainted each house (definitly handpainted - check out those stripes)

 and hand glittered them too.  (Also something I need to practice a little more.)

 I made a little banner for each house with vintage images I printed and glued to a tinsel pipe cleaner.

 My paint dripped onto the floor so I made a floor out of some scrapbook paper I had on hand.

I added a flameless candle to light it up at night.

 I also made these tealight holders too.

These are canning jars I hand painted USA on and added some more flameless tealights to.  

They aren't exactly what I thought when I planned them.  I originally cut out stencils from my cricut but the glass paint kept running under the stencil so I made stamps out of sponges instead.  

 And, sadly, I ran out of time to finish my last project, but I gave them an I.O.U.  

 I found this tutorial on pinterest and I will be making this for them on my cricut with the lace cartridge.

 I have to tell you I had so much fun making these for my Bee friends.  

Now I just wish I made one for myself too!  

Thanks for buzzing by!

Hope your Christmas was merry and bright!

Linking to:
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
C.R.A.F.T.
Sugar Bee Crafts
Ruby Jean - Sew Crafty Tuesday

The Night Before Christmas at Sweet Bee Cottage

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the cottage,

All the candy canes were lit up with no power outage.

The presents were wrapped with very great care,

In the hopes that the St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Baby Bee was snuggled all sweet in her bed,

With visions of all the family fun ahead.

While Worker Bee and Sweet Bee worked on

The last of the Christmas tasks before dawn.

But the whole Sweet Bee Family wanted to wish you

A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's too.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Another Christmas Tradition

For the past few years, my mom has taken us out for Christmas tea.  And by us, I mean me, my daughter, my two young nieces, and herself.  Unfortunately Counting Bee can't come at this busy time of year for her.  (But don't worry, we make it up to her in the spring by going again!)

That's right girls, go on in to Victoria Rose Cottage. They're expecting us. 

It is very Victorian on the inside with lovely velvet drapes, tin ceilings, and dark and cozy wallpaper.

 I love how they eclectically set the table.  No cups are matching, no plates are matching, but it all works together.

This was my favorite cup, but Cutter Bee and Sewing Bee each got to use one of them.

 Reader Bee, Sewing Bee, and myself ordered the Cottage Tea which came with a green salad, tea sandwiches, and a scone.  I do love Devonshire cream with a bit of lemon curd on my scones.  YUM!

Cutter Bee and Baby Bee had the Young Royal Tea which comes with mini Pigs in a Blanket, peanut butter and jelly tea sandwiches, and whip cream covered scones.  

And if that wasn't enough, we even shared dessert.

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Blueberries

Creme Brulee which is a favorite for all of us.

I just love Christmas traditions, don't you?