Sweets n' Stuff

I love Christmas sweets. I really like the pretty delicate candy ribbons and hard candies.  The ones above have a chocolaty filling but I prefer the ones with the vintage flavors of cinnamon and peppermint as opposed to fruit. 

 It is really so difficult to diet around this time of year.  There seems to be a holiday party every weekend. I really enjoy breads like cranberry, pumpkin or  banana. I enjoy them with tea and I add insult to injury by putting them in the toaster oven with butter. Will I ever learn?  I am such a sucker for comfort food , especially when I am feeling Christmas nostalgia and when it's cold outside.  I suppose the secret is to have one slice a day as opposed to a slice, with the several cups of tea, I drink everyday.

This year,  I have found so many different kinds of beautiful gift bags and wrapping paper. They have sparkles  durability and some even have little plastic gemstones. I still have a ton of small gifts to buy for friends.  I am thinking it would be nice to try fudge and put it in nice tins this year. My fudge usually ends up too soft and not sugary and crumbly like my grandmother used to make.  I don't know what I am doing wrong.  Maybe, I should just make fudge sauce for ice cream and let myself off the hook.

 No one did Christmas like the Victorians.  I have a small Father Christmas tree above. I also have a bunch of Victorian Dolls that I display for the Holidays.

 I also love retro fifties style Christmas  stuff. Below you see a home made Rudolf from sticky burrs and sticks and seeds. Cute idea.

 Look at these nicely packaged candies above. Again, I just love that classic Victorian vibe.  Below, I found these really pretty, Victorian gift tag stickers  They sparkle as well. Yes, I have everything to wrap and carry gifts, now I need to start thinking about shopping for gifts. Gloves are always a useful gift or better yet, home made mittens.  I am putting too much pressure on myself. A Starbucks Coffee gift card might be the easy way to go but what am I going to do with all this gift wrapping paraphernalia?

 Here are some antique Christmas tags and little religious Christmas blessings. They are from the roaring twenties.

 Christmas is not Christmas without the Grinch.  I know many of my friends have the Elf on the Shelf to encourage their children to behave but personally, I prefer to have a grouchy Grinch leering down at them. Kind of like me.