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This Nut Almost Cracked

 
As is my yearly ritual, I begin by going out to the garage and digging into my Christmas decor.  Yes, I dig in right then and there...gotta get to the good stuff   first.   I am already anticipating the festive sparkle of ribbons and twinkle of  lights throughout my home.  I put a touch of Christmas in each room.

I first find my two 4' potted trees, already pre-lit.  These come pre-planted in decorative urns and are made of two pieces that are as easy as it gets to put together.  Ahhh, I have them up and on the tables at either side of the big French armoire & bookcase.  Now to plug them in and let the decorating begin.  Last year I packed all the ornaments, ribbons, garlands and toppers I use on the trees with each box so I'd have everything for these two trees ready to go.


Wait...must have hot chocolate...it goes so well with Christmas decorating.    Turn on some Christmas music.  Now, the scene is set and I am ready to fill my house with Christmas decor, and then I'll sit back with my second cup of cocoa and enjoy what I've just done.


Huh? 
The first tree I plugged in has only the top half of lights working.   
Let me fiddle around with the lower half of the lights.  I wiggle the string, look at the bulbs, take a few out, replace the fuse.  Still I have half a lit tree.   Argh!

 Too frustrated to deal with tree one I move over to tree two. 
Now just to plug this baby in and...
What in the bleepity blankety bleep bleep?
 This tree is only lit on the bottom half!
Now I'm gettin' MAD


I leave the trees and go out to the garage to dig through boxes for something else fun to decorate with.  I pull out a favorite angel.
I then proceed to drop her on the concrete floor.  That was not supposed to happen.
She now looks more demonic than angelic.

 Christmas decorating is really getting on my nerves!  I'm contemplating not even bothering, ok not really, but sometimes I get so frustrated I want to contemplate not doing it!  Half of what I was looking for was up on a shelf I couldn't reach and even if I could reach it,  it was under a bigger box I couldn't lift. 
I go inside ready to hang it up for the night...but I'm too restless to do nothing.  So, back to the garage.  Ahh, the kids nutcracker collection!  These are fun to decorate with and look great atop the bookcase and armoire.  There are lots of nutcrackers in the collection as Grandma Judy usually gives a few to the kids each year and Ashton also collects them.  
Ashton and Jonah help me unpack them.  Um, some are in dire need of surgical repair.  Out comes the glue and on goes a few noses, hats and boots.   Now that most of them are repaired (we're missing a few body parts still)  I arrange them on the armoire with our two half lit trees on either side.  

 
Some of my favorite nutcrackers are the skier and snowboarder.  Shawn, the kids and I loved skiing every weekend the slopes were open when we lived in Colorado.






Ok, it's beginning to come together and I'm not so frustrated any longer.  
Shawn brought in two fresh strands of lights for the trees and I wound the working string of lights onto each tree.  Hooray, lit trees!  NOW I can decorate them.
First comes the toppers.  They are Poinsettias made of Capezio shell which have a bit of transparency so I tucked a light inside to let them shine brightly.  

 I seem to use birds in my decor a lot.  I like these little clip on bird ornaments.

Mission, partially accomplished.  At least this part of my decor is finished! Now I feel all better and I'm ready to tackle some more decorating tomorrow.

Peace out




I'm currently having two giveaways:  Made from Scratch Focaccia Bread HERE & French Pillow Giveaway HERE One ends tomorrow night, so don't forget to enter!

I'm joining in at these parties:


Coastal Charm
Metamorphosis Monday
A Stroll Thru Life
Be Colorful
Red Couch Recipes
Tinsel  & Company
The Girl Creative
Poinsettia Party at Beths
Savvy Southern Style

Comments

  1. Nancy,
    I love reading your dish. I am homesick for your family and your beautiful decorating.
    Miss you all,
    lindy

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  2. LOL Nancy, tis the season to be... frazzled! The nutcracker display looks great and how fun that the new lights actually fit inside the topper and light that up too-enjoy:@)

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  3. the tree looks lovely and i love the nutcracker collection. I have one that is playing a violin. It is from a student a few years ago. I just love it. I hope the rest of your decorations go well. i am done for what little I am doing. I have my tree done and the pianos so that is good.

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  4. Nancy, I can so relate! My decorated mantel fell off and all my mercury glass shattered. I love all the nutcrackers and how you have them displayed. The two small trees are wonderful.
    xo,
    Sherry

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  5. Nancy, what a wonderful nutcracker collection. I think I have five. I love them and love yours displayed. Sorry about the tree problems. Our big tree's bottom branches were out so I put on a string of lights. Ugh.

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  6. Oh Nancy the trees not lit and your beautiful angel got broken!!! I hope she can be repaired?
    It will be a Christmas that you will never forget right?
    I love your collection of Nutcrackers!!! You have quite the collection.
    Happy Holidays to you and your family!
    Suzann

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  7. Tis the season! I'm sorry the angel got broken. Your nutcracker collection is amazing. I gave my nutcracker collection to one of my nieces several years ago. I just didn't have a place to display when we moved. Fun to see yours all standing at attention. You have some wonderful pieces. ~ sarah

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  8. So sorry about the angel.. She must have been lovely. I also love all your nutcrackers. What a beautiful collection. Glad it all worked out.

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  9. Wow, you have a wonderful nutcracker collection! What a pretty red and gold tree. Sorry your angel took a tumble...

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  10. Oh no! Sorry about the mishaps. I love your nutcracker collections....it's HUGE!

    :)

    Kelly

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  11. We must have the same tree....put mine up today and the whole middle section has no lights!!! So I added two strands of multi-colored lights and you can't tell!!! onward and upward....the nutcrackers are delightful....hugs...cleo

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  12. I just loved this post as that is how I feel when I haul out myself. And what is up with those naughty nutcrackers? One of mine had a broken arm this year -- what were there doing in storage. That is a fab collection of nutcrackers -- they looks so great displayed. Sorry about the angel! Your trees are just beautiful! Thanks for linking up with "It's Your Wonderful Life" Party! Joni

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  13. Your nutcracker collection is wonderful and I love the way you display them. I know your frustrations. I am always getting the big boxes out by myself. My dream home would have a huge hidden panel on the main level and it would open up and trees would roll out already decorated and everything would be on shelves, no boxes, no unpacking! That would add to a "wonderful life!"

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  14. Oh your nutcracker collection looks so lovely and cute...and they are looking so cool too:)

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  15. Hi Nancy,I started off really jealous reading of your garage..our decorations are in an attic space off daughter's bedroom, and I've put off going near it, cos you have to wade your way through her junk!
    But, thank you, you're human! And persistent! i'd have probably flung the tree away when lights didn't work.
    Love your angel, even broken, and the nutcrackers are just gorgeous - I've never seen anything like them over here.
    Now,i better go to that attic soon....

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  16. I was reading your post and laughing with you! It's one of those mysteries of the universe how we can pack ornaments one year and have them come out broken the following year. Your nutcracker collection is wonderful! And I really like your poinsettia tree topper! I'll look forward to seeing more of your holiday decorating.

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  17. Peace out! Exactly! sigh. I haven't even begun decorating or, even, shopping, this year. What's wrong with me? =( TODAY! Today, I must, at the very least get the advent calendar out. Your story (oddly enough) is helping me think that I just need to get a move on and rummage through those boxes!

    It's so lovely to be back!

    Love, Katy Noelle

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  18. Your Nutcrakers are WONDERFUL! Sorry to see the beatiful angel broken. You have such amazing style, everything from your transferware to decor is a treat for the eye! I just love stopping by. I know you will have everything in breathtaking order soon!

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  19. Those nutcrackers look amazing up and all around and in the armoire. I had the same problem with lights on my mantel...how is it all can be working when you take it down and then when you go to put it up...suddenly things aren't working?

    I'm so crazy that I decided my tree was too triangular so I've been adding extra length to some of the branches to make the tree more realistic looking. Can you say OCD? No...it's just I have a cheap tree that I'm trying to make look expensive...I obviously have issues.

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  20. Ok...I just had to come back and look again and count how many nutcrackers there are. I counted 41! Is that right?

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  21. Wow!! Now that is a lot of nutcrackers!!! They look just awesome! I understand about the problems. I have two topiary trees on the front porch that refuse to light, some broken ornaments to throw away and I had to go back to Walmart to get more lights for my tree!! Decorating is hard work!

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  22. Morning, Nancy! Oh, my goodness what a fantastic collection of nutcrackers! I don't think I've ever seen so many in one place! They look marvelous on your cabinet. Everything is looking so beautiful.
    be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  23. Lindy, Not sure if you will get this message here or not, but I miss you so much and think of you all the time! If you're in town a n y t i m e...please come see me!

    Love you!

    Nancy

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  24. Nita,

    I can't believe you went and counted them all...and I can't believe you could see all of them. You are right...41...actually there are now 42. I found one more hiding in another box.

    Jacqueline,

    I have thought the very same thing. If ever I had a dream of dream homes, it would have a place large enough to leave all my trees up and decorated and I could just pull them out. Boy wouldn't that save us all so much time?

    Nancy

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  25. Nancy,
    Lots of extra work, but the result is glorious! I know what it feels like - I broke 2 glass ornaments last night and the kitten ran over and tried to eat the glass shards??!!! I mean, really! (He didn't get any)

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  26. Oh wow, your trees looks fabulous and the nutcracker collection is just stunning. Such a beautiful display. Love it. Thanks for joining TTT. Hugs, Marty

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  27. Nancy, thanks so much for sharing this wonderful collection at my party.

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  28. Nancy, I adore your nutcracker collection. It is just gorgeous! Your Christmas trees look pretty too. Thanks for participating in the Poinsettia Party.
    Blessings, Beth

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  29. Hi Nancy!

    What a great Nutcracker collection! And you have some really fun ones! the trees came out beautiful. Love those poinsettia tree toppers!

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  30. Don't you just hate when thighs don't work out right the first time around. I find that if I leave it alone and then come back to it, things go so much better.
    I LOVE all of your nutcrackers and the trees on each side are just stunning!! Gorgeous!!

    Hugs,
    A Debbie-Dabble Christmas

    ReplyDelete

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