We spend days getting all of our Christmas decorations out each year, and always love finding homemade ornaments and memories from Christmas's gone by, even the piece of Christmas Tree Spode china that my mom chipped one Christmas Eve while she was washing the dishes. We also seem to have a small collection of memorable Christmas mugs on our shelves, and every time I drink from a mug I think of where it came from and where we were in our lives during that time.
This little mug was a gift from my sister-in-law Tuzza, many, many years ago. It plays Jingle Bells when you pick it up, and after all these years it still works. We love finding this mug every year and think of Tuzza every time!
These two small mugs were purchased many years ago for 50% off for my children Frank and Katie. I remember seeing these mugs well before the Christmas holidays and thinking of how expensive they were. I was so happy to see that they were still on the shelf when the store had their after Christmas sale. Frank and Katie used these mugs to drink hot chocolate every Christmas - I'm so glad that they survived those preschool hands!
This little Tom and Jerry mug is from the Spode Christmas Tree collection, and is part of a larger set. I began collecting the Spode Christmas pieces when they were on sale in Macy's and Marshalls. They used to stay on our hutch shelves during the holidays and used only for Christmas Eve, Christmas morning breakfast, and Christmas dinner. Several years ago I decided to use them as every day dishes during the holidays, and I'm so glad that I did. My very first set of Christmas dishes was the Corelle Holly set, and I was so excited to buy that little set of four Corelle dishes - they were definitely a splurge for us at that time!
These two mugs are from Williams-Sonoma, and came with little cake/sandwich plates in a set. The first mug is a set of elves building a snowman, and the second set is all the same vintage Santa picture. They are fun to use, and I always want a cup of steaming hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows on top when I see the Santa mug!
I found this mug in Marshalls last year, and picked it up because it made me smile. It's a huge mug and my dose of morning coffee looks very tiny in this mug, it works better for tea in my opinion.
Last but not least is this mug that I received as a Secret Santa gift from a wonderful teacher when I taught at the Sawmill School in Tewksbury, New Jersey. Sue left teaching many years ago, and I would love to catch up with her sometime - she was a really wonderful, intelligent, caring woman.
Getting ready for a huge holiday cocktail party this weekend at Frog Hollow Farm. Above is a photo from last year of one of our appetizer trays - cut up veggies on an antique milk glass cake plate.
Well, I am happy that I found the time to post on my blog today - it was number three on my list of things to do, and I guess that's the only way I am going to get myself to remember to sit down and blog. All I have to remember now is to put it on my list of things to do!
xxoo
Ciao, bella!
