• 23Dec

    I sneaked off to Sweden for two weeks in early December to get a little taste of Sweden at Christmas and do a little shopping.  My neighbors, Ronny, Anna, Maya and Elwira picked me up at the airport and we spent two days in Stockholm!

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    It was late in the afternoon by the time we got there, but we went to Gamla Stan – the old city – and enjoyed the Christmas Market!

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    It was crowded but a great way to get some Christmas spirit.

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    The next day we went to Skansen, the outdoor museum.  Our first stop was the old bakery.

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    It smelled wonderful in there!

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    The breads were beautiful.

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    And the cookies delicious!

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    Instead of gingerbread men, there were goats, pigs and hearts!

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    There were dozens of booths selling items, including this one selling a thin, hard bread.  I brought some home with me!

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    It was so fun checking out all of the wonderful offerings.

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    I would have liked to have it all!

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    When I got to our house in Nås, I discovered Anna had a surprise for me.

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    She had decorated my front porch!

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    After a few days in Nås, Anna and I went to Borlänge to do a little more retail therapy.

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    I fell in love with the Christmas stars…

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    …and bought one for our dining room window.

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    Here’s some of the other loot that I bought that day!

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    These tomte tidbit plates were just too cute to pass up.

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    Before coming home, I got to go back to Stockholm with Sven-Eric.

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    The windows of the NK Department Store were absolutely charming.

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    They were animated and drew quite a crowd.

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    Inside this giant tree hung from the ceiling.

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    There were rows of tomtar.

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    They were pretty hard to resist.

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    Some of these little guys found their way to our grandchildren this Christmas!

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    It was a great start to the holiday!

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  • 19Dec
    Categories: Everything! Comments: 3

    Gingerbread Wall Hanging

    My sister decided to do a Gingerbread Theme for Christmas this year.

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    I thought she should have a new wall hanging to fit the new theme.

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    I searched for a pattern…

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    …without much luck.

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    Then I saw a block designed by Amy Bradley.

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    It was just the inspiration I needed!

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    I thought there should be girls, too!

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    It was lots of fun to pick the fabrics — and the jewelry for the girls!

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    It was fun to sit in the evenings and do the buttonhole stitching.

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    I put them together in a simple setting.

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    How handy that Sally has a December birthday!

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    Happy Birthday, Sally!