Match Boxes 11-15, I'm a lucky, lucky Christmas Girl!!

Um...I've never had so many problems trying to blog post in my life, which is why this is being posted today instead of yesterday. Has that ever happened to you...yesterday I had my post nearly done, which was no small feat considering how many pics I'm including in this one, and boom! Post disappeared! What!?
Ooooh, lucky it"s Christmas and merry and I'm surrounded by Mr. Holiday! And then this morning my pics are disappearing... is this a test for how many times I can upload?
LOL. In any case, the match box days will be out of order because I just don't have the heart to fight pic day #ll down below #12. Maybe it's because I'm just still a little under the weather and everything that can go wrong is because I probably need to be in bed but I don't want to miss out on all the merry making. Mr. Holiday has fixed me up a nice little nest on the couch so I can watch everything that's happening at my crazy frenzied holiday house...which is sweet, but still...you know what I mean. Ok...I'll stop my grumby fumby, there's no place for it right now. Besides, I know I'm still a lucky Christmas girl in spite of everything....So on with the show!!

Match Box Day #11
The match box below came to me from Marie Entwistle. What can I say? Adorable, magnificent, excellent craftsmanship, just all together so awesome? Yes, all those things and so much more....
My pics just don't do justice! And you know what? If you visit Marie @ http://spunbyme.blogspot.com/ you'll get to see Marie's pics of 'real' little elves!!! It's true, and I would be jealous if I hadn't been so happy just looking at their shiny little faces! Thanks a million Marie! And if that's not enough enticement to visit her I'm telling you should 'RUN' don't walk on over there because she's having a give away of the most beautiful kind!! Seriously, the one who wins her giveaway is going to be a lucky, lucky duck!!!


Match Box Day #15

The below wonderful matchbox came to me from Amy Duff @ http://papertrailsleaver.blogspot.com/ You can not even imagine how excited I was to see the wonderful little gift inside this box! Complete with my favorite word! Thanks a bunch Amy! You should also know Amy has a wonderful blog with a wonderful giveaway going right now! Tis' the season, better to give than receive, more the merrier? Yep!

Match Box Day #14
This cleaver little box below came to me from Linda Gates, winner of my give away. Remember I mentioned one of my biggest challenges with this swap was how and where to put the tag so it didn't look all junked up? Uh.....why couldn't I have been as clever as Linda and put a cute little hangy tag on mine? But you know what...it's ok, I'll know better the next time, and the best thing about swaps and new blog buddies is that inspiration abounds everywhere! Please go look for Linda @ http://countrypickins.blogspot.com/ Thanks bunches Linda! Match Box Day 13
Ok, get ready, I'm on a good roll! The cute little minimalist styled,(one of my favorite themes) matchbox below came to me from Jan Roberts and I can not tell you how thrilled I was to see the little gift inside the box!! Is that the most adorable puzzle charm you ever saw? Which is so very clever again!! Jan met my #2 biggest challenge of trying to find a cute little something, something to put in the box without breaking a sweat!!! Again, why couldn't I have thought of that?? Doesn't matter...lucky,lucky me!

And you know whats so silly about my artist block on this challenge? "I LOVE Miniatures!" This should have been no sweat...again, next time, because since we started opening boxes I've thought of a thousand ideas, and none of them are the same as the ones I got, I just found so much inspiration after opening all of these...it's like my artist block flew out the window and I've had a hundred ah-ha moments.... You can find Jan @ http://www.artfriendzy.blogspot.com/ And yet another blog that's so fun to visit, you'll even have a cute little owl on your pointer if you stop by for a visit....Match Box Day #12

The below match box came to me from Arizona from Pam Snow. It's so wonderful finding out the distance your swap gifts travel as well as being able to find so many new blog buddies! Pam's cute little retro box is covered in sheet music and filled with little red heart buttons...awe.... thanks Pam! You can find Pam at ...

http://treasures-n-textures.blogspot.com/

Have you been wondering where Mr. Holiday is? He's still in the kitchen, and yes he's up to his usual merry shananagans....

My baby girl caught him doing this...and in typical 'Christmas Ham' style, when he discovered her, he did this....

He's patting his sugar cut out cookie dough into rounds so he can chill them in the fridge...I'll have to share more with you later... It's time for me to rest now...I hope all of you are having a blessed Christmas season!!

Thanks for stopping by....

XOXO

Keke

We have a winner!!! Match Boxes and Just a Little Under the Weather

Without further anticipation...

The winner of the Gingerbread Apron and goodies was Linda from Country Picken's. Whoo Hoo!

Congratulations Linda, and thanks to all of you who played along and made my first ever give away so much fun! You can find Linda @ http://countrypickins.blogspot.com/

Ok, I was only going to post one picture of Mr. Holiday pulling the name out of his Santa hat...

but when I started to look at the pics, the look on his face was priceless!

Can you see the concentration and holiday anticipation on his face?

The one below is my favorite as he's looking off into the atmosphere determined to make it a blind drawing! LOL... Mr. Holiday takes the festivities very seriously! LOL

By the way...Mr. Holiday is feeling better thank goodness...baby girl said the other day that it was starting to feel like 'A Year Without a Santa Claus'...awe...it was so sad... But now he's feeling better and guess what? I think he's passed it on to me!! Which is why the drawing didn't happen yesterday! :(( So sorry.

But still...there is inspiration everywhere, and merriment and hearts of good cheer, even if my dystonic tremors are off the charts and I have the sniffles. Above is a cute little Candy Land swag I put together a couple of weeks ago... I Love the Candy Land decorations...reminds me a little of 'Babes in Toyland' which Mr. Holiday and I just watched the other night. Did I ever tell you about our Christmas movie collection? There's not enough page to list them all...but you can imagine.

The above is a close up of the Candy Land swag...Can you I spy the Gingerbread Snowman Mr. Holiday had baked when he was making his Gingerbread house? Oooh and look closely, attached is this chain of plastic retro candy that I bought a million years ago, and as cheeky as it is, I just love it...every year it seems to get a new life.... Do you want to do something fun? I think it would be really fun if we all posted a picture of our oldest or cheekiest holiday decoration to share with everyone.

And before I forget to show you...Look what I found for Mr. Holiday. Mr. Holiday was very upset at Thanksgiving time to not have a proper carving fork. I was so happy to find this one! Gotta love Paula Deen! Not only does she have yummy recipes, I have to say her cookware line is pretty nice too! Do you know how hard of time I had finding a nice one to Mr. Holiday's specifications? Shhh..Don't tell. I think Santa is putting it in Mr.Holidays stocking.

So with Mr. and Mrs. Holiday both under the weather....baby girl came to fill in the Holiday gap. Yesterday when I woke from my nap I found her sitting on the patio making snow on the sliding glass door.... Baby girl loves snow... and lucky for her Aunt Mitzi keeps her in good supply.

And look what else she's been up to.... How cute is this large 'Reindeer Food' matchbox. She's planning on filling it with Reindeer Food too! Do you want the recipe?

Look at the other boxes, I just love the one with the snow globe on it...

And, do you know how clever she is...the snow globe is actually a gift tag that she altered just to use the snow globe. It is just so darn cute and when you shake the box it actually has snow inside the the globe.... her use of these tags not only made them ubber cute, it made them really quick to put together....

And I wanted to show you the one I made for her... For those of you that are new to the Cherry Kingdom...you maybe starting to notice I have an obsession with decorating match boxes. What can I say...it's very economical, you can do a million things creatively with them...I especially like making them 3D.

And...they make great gift boxes...it's like two presents in one! So large or little, you just really can't go wrong when creating with match boxes! The large ones are easier to work with and to fit things into, but the little ones are like creating little treasures. This one is sitting under the tree waiting for baby girl to open on Christmas morning...what's inside? That's a secret...wink, wink....I'll have to show you later, just in case she sees this post.

Speaking of match boxes, I need to post #11,12,13 and tomorrow with the best intentions #14....

Until then, I hope your holiday hearts are warm and merry and abundant blessings are surrounding you!!

Warm wishes and holiday kisses,

Keke

Match Box Day #10 and Gingerbread Give Away

Match Box #10

The cute little matchbox below with all it's snowman goodness came to me from Sherry Wescott.
Inside was my favorite word of the year, 'JOY', transformed into a cute little yo yo ornament. Thanks bunches Sherry! You can find Sherry at.... http://ificouldsetmysoulfree.blogspot.com/

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Updates:

Unfortunately Mr. Holiday had to take a break from his 'merry making' to help our son with a home improvement project yesterday and to celebrate our daughter-in-laws birthday. I'm sure he'll be right back at his capers today though....

Please don't forget to sign on for the Gingerbread Give Away....Please see post below for details. You have until midnight Saturday to sign up.... Then Mr. Holiday will be pulling a name out of his Santa hat!

I hope you are all abundantly blessed today!

XO

Keke

Matchbox Day #8 and #9, Mr.Holiday Presents and My First Ever Give Away...

Ok...first things first, we have to get business out of the way before we move on to silly nonsense and yummies, oh....and the giveaway!! Who Hoo! It's posted, it's finally posted!

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MatchBox #8

The sparkly snowflake matchbox above came to me from Shannon Linde. Thanks a bunch Shannon! Inside was a cute little bookmark with a jingle bell and a love charm. You can find Shannon @ http://quiltinginpinksbulldogsatmyside.blogspot.com/


MatchBox #9

The matchbox above came to me all the way from London from Sherry Edwards. Darn, darn, darn I wish my camera took better pictures....This cute little matchbox with postal stamps had a lovely domino ornament on the inside. Thanks for sending me such a lovely box Sherry! You can find Sherry @ http://sherrysimpleblog.blogspot.com/

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Holiday Capers and Mr. Holiday's Great Reveal!

Drum roll please.....

Here's Mr.Holiday standing in front of his giant Gingerbread house. All said and done, the house measured out at 19"x 19" and weighs 25lbs (I'm sure most of that was royal icing weight, Mr. Holiday really liked the royal icing) It took 8 lbs of candy to cover, but I'm not sure how much of that got ate or went on the house! LOL

Here's a picture of Mr. Holidays house next to my little one...



A close up of my little house of joy!


Now do you want to see what Mr.Holiday has been up to lately?


Well the above picture is of him pretending to be an elf.
(Note his ears sticking out. He pointed out to me that is a very important elf factor.)


And then there was the afternoon he made gingerbear cookies...I think it was the day before yesterday...honestly, he's got so many holiday capers going I can't keep track...


Mr. Holiday using his cookie scoop to make an assortment of peanut butter cookies...
(He made the recipe X's FOUR!)
Ok...things are getting just a little out of control around here...what in the world are we going to do with all these cookies?He made peanut butter and jelly cookies.
And cookies with Brach's chocolate stars in the middle, citing that they taste way better than Hershey kisses and they look better too.

Here's his trail of cookies.... I told him tonight that I will take no responsibility for any holiday pounds added this year!!! LOL My house looks and smells like the North Pole! What's a girl to do besides eat a cookie???

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And now for my first ever give away in honor of Mr. Holiday and 20 years of making Gingerbread.

Ta Da!! I hate to keep whining about my camera, butttt...

The above pic is of the most adorable chef style gingerbread apron you ever wanted to see!
And some lucky follower is going to have this (and a couple of other gingerbread goodies) mailed out to them this weekend just in time for Christmas!



Above is a close up of the print on the bottom of the apron. I chose to make a 'chef style' apron specifically because of the print... I didn't want to take away from the detail of the print with too much ruffle and foo foo. Oh, and what I mean by 'chef style', just in case is.... have you ever been to one of those $50.00 a plate, foo foo restaurants where the waiters come out with their long aprons on with the long ties that wrap around their back and tie in front? Just straight, clean lined simplicity.... It may be my new favorite apron to make, (actually they're really nice to wear too!) and if any of you have some last minute Christmas gift need, I highly recommend making this style of apron, it really is quick, easy, elegant and so stylish!

Ok...do you remember the give away rules?

1. Leave a comment letting us know what you think of Mr. Holidays Gingerbread House and let us know you would like your name in the drawing.

2. Become a Follower

3. Post on your blog about Mr. Holiday's Ginger bread House and Holiday Capers and link back to here.

That's it! Easy Peasy!

Entries must be posted no later than midnight on Saturday, December 11th.

Winner will be drawn and posted on Sunday, December 12th.

I do hope you'll all play along...Mr. Holiday is having a blast being the subject of my holiday blog post...but then again, I did tell you he was a Christmas Ham!!

I hope you are all abundantly blessed and enjoying your holiday season!!!

XOXO

Keke

Matchbox Day #5, #6, #7, St Nicolas Day, Monsters and More Holiday Capers

I hope every one is following along...Cherry Kingdom's first ever giveaway is getting very close....

Matchbox Day #5


I want to apologize for being MIA the last two days...too much going on with doctors appts. and sick kids... ugh. I also want to apologize ahead of time to my swap buddies for my inadaquate camera. The pic to the left is matchbox #5. I can not express how adorable this matchbox is....I'm in love...I want to make a whole village of these and the little tattered joyeux banner that was tucked inside was just delicious!! Gratitude and love go's out to Marcia Chunn for all of the time we all know she dediated to this yummy! You can find Marcia @ http://vintagefrenchhen.blogspot.com/ It's a lovely blog, you really should take a look...

Matchbox Day #6

Next is matchbox day # 6. It's simplicity is soft and charming. Tucked inside was a little paper tree stamped tag. Thank you Sarah Sommerville for this cute little matchbox. You can find Sarah at
http://ourpumpkinandsweetpea.blogspot.com/




Matchbox Day #7





Matchbox day #7, which is technically today, just very early today...(12:51 a.m) ugh!... None the less the early hour does not deminish my excitement for this matchbox made by Michelle and Ashley Cox.
Thank you ladies! Tucked inside was a cute little beaded snowman ornament. I'm so sorry you can't see it better it really is cute. You can find these ladies @ http://thetatteredquiltcottage.blogspot.com/

St. Nicolas Day


Did everyone know December 6th was St. Nicolas Day and that St. Nicolas is the patron saint of children? Children all over Europe was waking up to their tiny little boots and shoes filled by St. Nicolas....
St. Nicolas came to my house and filled a beautiful little red shoe filled with candy and toys for baby girl...

I liked the shoe filled so much that after she took her candy and presents from St. Nicolas out to take home with her, I refilled the shoe and put it under the Christmas trees in Christmas corner...I will have to tell you about Christmas corner later....

Making Merry

I'm so lucky that AH is Mr. Holiday...even on my days when I don't feel so well and spend the day in bed, he continues.... My Christmas wish is that everyone who may not be feeling well this month would have a holiday person in their life to surround them with the magic of this season. Some how, some way, it just makes you feel better , at least a little.... To the left is a platter of gingerbread ornaments waiting for the ribbon so they could be hung on the tree...AH put the ribbon in them last night and they look awesome on the trees in Christmas corner.

Popcorn and Cranberry Strings and Monster Cookies

AH decided to sting popcorn and cranberry's Saturday night while he was watching holiday movies....sadly, he threw them out today because the cranberries molded????? I don't remember that happening when we made garland as children??? Does anyone have a helpful hint on this?

So sad for all the work he did....at least he had fun doing it!

Mr. Holiday also made Monster cookies Saturday night! Danger...danger...abort!!!! I've gained 5lbs of monster wieght since Saturday night...they are incredible, and that says alot because as wierd as it may sound, I've never been a fan of Monster cookies...but these were not ordinary monsters. Instead of the normal m&m's and choc. chips he threw in a whole list of items. White choc. chips, Heath bar toffee bits, almonds, pecans, red & green mini choc. chips and m&m's. I'm sure I probably left something out!

I just had to take a pic of him doing this...and being the Christmas ham that he is...he just had to give the Vanna pose!

Gingerbread Capers Continues and the Giveaway is getting Close

AH left no candy pebble unturned...he covered it from top to bottom and all four sides!

AH is getting so excited for the big reveal and the giveaway....he just had to put his bumble teeth in for this picture!

Sleep Sweet Dear Ones.... I hope your holiday season is blessing you abundantly!

XOXO Keke

Match Box Day #4 and More Gingerbread Capers

Matchbox Swap Day #4 came from Valerie Williams @ http://itsanalienlife.blogspot.com
aka 'Mrs A' made the adorable little box below with a cute little pin for the surprise inside.

Thanks Mrs. A and Happy Holidays to you and yours!




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The Gingerbread Capers continues.....

Mr. Holiday became obsessed with the embellishment process last night and worked on his house until 4 a.m this morning.....ugh! He kind of looks like he's scowling but it's actually the look of extreme concentration... I'm thinking he's fallen in love with the 'pastry bag', which of course really is a wonderful thing....but I watched him use it for everything even things he perhaps could have used a spoon or spatula, which was no big deal except watching him struggle every two minutes to refill his pastry bag was slightly painful...LOL. Then it occurred to me that of course...a pastry bag is a 'tool'...and men need tools to get the job done! ;) wink wink....

He's getting close to being finished... which means it's getting close to posting for the give away...

I'm so excited, I can't wait for you to see!!!

Happy Saturday, Happy Holidays... I hope your day is blessed!

XOXO

Keke

Match Box Swap Day #3, Gingerbread Capers and My very first ever Giveaway!

Below is my Matchbox #3 which came to me from Cami @ http://creatingmyselfcreatively.blogspot.com/.

Thanks Cami!

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And guess what? Just by happenstance she recieved one from me for day #3.... posted below.

Every day's a new surprise and this swap as is always with 'Swap for All Seasons' has been stellar. I really don't know how Linda manages, but as I said before...she has to be the best swap hostess on the planet. I don't know what she has planned for the next one but you can be sure it will be top notch as always, so if you want to have a little fun you should go visit her site....You can find her link in my sidebar.

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Gingerbread Capers:

Guess what Mr. Holiday is up to now....

I loaded these pics backwards...ugh! I'm just a little disheveled lately....but, in honor of this being our 20th holiday season of making ginger bread houses, Mr. Holiday has decided to make the gingerbread house of all gingerbread houses! And I have decided to have my very first ever Give Away! Whoo Hoo!! It's about time!! My how time flys!! I can't believe it's been 20 years, and it was a blink.... I wish I had pictures of the past years...I might have a few somewhere...but when we started technology wasn't exactly what is is today.

All you have to do to win is:

1. Watch for me to post Mr. Holidays finished gingerbread house and leave a comment on how you think Mr. Holiday did. This will be Mr. Holidays first gingerbread house that he made all by himself from start to finish.


2. Become a follower

3. Mention Mr. Holidays finished house in your post once the picture is posted in Cherry Kingdom with a link back to here.


I hate to keep you guessing....because I love you all so much...but keep checking in. I will post both the prize and the finished house within the next 7 days! :)

XOXO Be blessed and well!! Keke

This is how it began.....