Holiday Greetings...

Warmest Wishes for a Wonderful Holiday
and a Bright New Year
from Miss CherryBubbles and Past Life!

And, oh my goodness, I see that I've got 97 followers now, and you know what that means...
it won't be long until I host a fabulous 100-followers giveaway!

Stay tuned...

Do you remember ribbon candy?

Ribbon candy always brings fond memories of my childhood Christmases!


Along with a few other old-timey candies, my family always included ribbon candy in the holiday candy dish. It's not the easiest candy to eat without shattering the "ribbon", but it's so colorful and differently-shaped from any other type of holiday candy. According to a history of ribbon candy at eHow.com, the striped pleated confection has been around since 1856 and was invented by the F. B. Washburn candy company in Massachusetts. The Sevigny brand of ribbon candy pictured above is now owned by F. B. Washburn too.

I always wondered how it was made, so I did a little looking around on this new-fangled computer internet to see what I could see.

Note: You can pause the music by clicking the pause button on the red music player in the right sidebar.

Here's how Hilliard's House of Candy makes theses lovely treats...




And here, the ribbon candy is made entirely by hand...



What holiday candy stirs your childhood memories?

I'm Getting Sentimental...

Well, the decorations are (mostly) packed away, the cookies are eaten (or, rather, the leftovers are in the freezer), and the colorful lights have stopped blinking (we turned off the outdoor timer), but I just wanted to share a few of the gifts I received from my parents for Christmas in 2009.


As a child, I always helped my mother make the holiday cookies. My usual job was to decorate the cut-out cookies with colored sugar. And those tiny silver balls that had real silver in them and weren't supposed to be eaten. Do you remember nearly breaking teeth eating them anyway? I most certainly do, although thankfully I never sustained any dental damage. Getting back to the topic at hand... My mother has a quite a collection of cookie cutters in a giant popcorn tin, and from this vast collection, she picked out the older ones, wrapped them up, and gave them to me for Christmas. There are a Santa, reindeer, star, and angel in red plastic, and a metal heart and hatchet, both with red wooden handles. Now, I can't wait for a good reason to bake more cookies!


I also received two boxes of vintage Shiny Brite ornaments that have been around longer than me - and I've been around for quite a long time. How well I remember placing these ornaments just so on the fresh-cut Christmas tree. We always got a blue spruce. My favorite ornaments were two that had reflectors and one with a hand painted pinecone on it. Oh, and the hand painted snowman ornament was a favorite too. The fragrance of the tree, Christmas music on the record player, the sparkle of tinsel.... just to see these boxes of ornaments brings it all back to me most vividly.


The most sentimental gift for me, though, was the baby quilt that my mother and grandmother made back in 1965. My grandmother did the quilting and my mother embroidered the little pink bunnies and yellow duckies. Before giving the quilt to me for Christmas, my mom gave it a gentle cleaning and added a label with my name, hers and my grandmother's names as the makers, and the year they made it. This quilt is something I will treasure always.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for all the wonderful holidays we've shared!

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

Just another New Year's Eve...

Thought I'd share a bit of fun viewing for New Year's. My dearest and I always watch "After the Thin Man" on New Year's Eve - why, of course we have cocktails, but thankfully, no murders. Enjoy!

Dragnet: The Big Betty - Sgt. Friday makes an arrest on New Year's Eve



After the Thin Man - Nick and Nora celebrate the New Year with style and crime.



Sunset Boulevard - Norma Desmond throws a New Year's Eve party for two.



And, of course, it wouldn't be New Year's Eve without Guy Lombardo and the ball drop in Times Square!

"Here's to the bright New Year, and a fond farewell to the old; here's to the things that are yet to come, and to the memories that we hold."
-- Anonymous

Wishing you a very Happy New Year!!

All That Glitters Is Not Gold...

Sometimes it's Silver Gleam Icicles!

Just this past Monday, I stopped into a nearby multi-dealer antique shop to buy some vanilla beans (oddly enough, there's a booth with spices, herbs, etc.). While there, I decided to have a look about the place, being unable to resist the lure of antiques. As I approached a booth near the front, a silver gleam caught my eye... There before me on a 1950s formica table were, not one, not two, not even four, but SIX BOXES of vintage tinsel! I couldn't believe my eyes. Vintage tinsel, the real thing, was not something I ever expected to find other than online. I bought four of the six boxes (yes, I know, why not buy them all??).


The metal used in this tinsel is not indicated on the box, so I'm not sure if it's silver, lead, tin, aluminum, or a mixture of metals. I can tell you that it has weight, although my dearest doesn't believe it's heavy enough to be lead. Whatever the content, it drapes beautifully. The tinsel is also crimped for more surfaces that reflect the light. And thankfully, it's not affected by static, like the PVC tinsel of today.

Here's a close-up photo of how it looks on the tree. The golden teapot ornament is a family heirloom that was passed to my mother by my grandmother, and now to me.

And now, the tree, tinsel, lights, and ornaments in all their glory....

Wishing you a special silver gleam for your holiday, however you may celebrate!

Now, where'd I leave my cup of eggnog?