Christmas - grace grits and gardening

I miss Dallas at Christmas

December 17, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Yes, there are a few things I miss about Dallas. Especially at Christmas. Not that I don’t lovelovelove Fayetteville, because I do. But I miss Chester and his people, Harold and Gale, and other Munger Place friends too numerous to mention.

Chester and Annabelle. Best buddies.

Munger Place porch parties, impromptu get togethers and holiday parties are unique and special.

Especially at Christmas.

I missed my nephew march in his first ever Christmas parade. I’m all about a Christmas parade. Shout out to Zach!

I don’t think Zach is in this picture, but he’s somewhere in this group. Jasper Band (Plano, Tx) is HUGE.

I miss Pei Wei. I do. And Scalini’s. And Tex-Mex in general. Tex-Mex is hard to come by in Fayetteville (or at least I haven’t found it yet).

I miss my rosemary plant. For the first time in at least twelve years, I had to buy rosemary at Thanksgiving. Craziness. I’ll be planting rosemary soon, but I’m not confident it will survive Northwest Arkansas winters.

Truly fun neighborhood. There’s even a hoola hoop in the picture.

I miss Northpark Mall. Although I’m not much of a shopper, I do miss Northpark.

Especially at Christmas.

Dallas, I’ll be visiting soon! But I do lovelovelove Fayetteville. Just so we’re clear.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]I miss Northpark at Christmas. @NorthParkCenter #Dallas [/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:

I’ll Be Home for Christmas – Josh Groban

Handmade Snow Globe

December 10, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Yesterday during a short burst of craftiness, I made a snow globe using a Mason jar. From start to finish, this handmade snow globe took less than thirty minutes which included scrubbing clean the Mason jar which contained oily, congealed, leftover Thanksgiving salad dressing inside.

Last year, Annabelle gnawed the base off the tiny white Christmas tree (pictured below). Since I couldn’t throw it away, it’s been waiting for the perfect project. I’ve had the miniature snowman candle since my children sold wrapping paper and other stuff no one needed during school fundraisers in the early 1990s. Not kidding.

Step One. Secure embellishments to the jar lid using a hot glue gun. Use whatever you have on hand. I used the snowman candle and tree. (I added a tiny piece of berry garland to my tree – visible in the last picture.)

Step Two. Add snow. I used a combination of granulated sugar and…wait for it…wait for it………..GRITS! Yep. (You can use that cool fake snow sold at craft stores, but I improvised. Plus, I’m partial to grits…) And I added a sprinkle of red glitter which served no purpose, and I would omit next time.

It looked pretty cute on my windowsill, and I considered stopping there, but then I would have made a snow lid instead of a snow globe. Not that there’s anything wrong with a snow lid.

Step Three. Screw the jar onto the lid. I did this backwards, but it worked. Next time, I’ll glue my embellishments onto the lid, pour my snow into the jar instead of the lid, screw the lid on and flip upside down. But whatever. It’s meant to be shaken, so no biggie.

Step Four. I glued a little festive decoration on top because once I start with the hot glue gun, I can’t leave well enough alone.

Step Five. Shake it up. Watch the snow (grits – heehee) fall. Admire the marshmallow world you’ve created. Gift it to a friend or keep it for yourself.

Mr. Snowman does look a bit freaked to be in there, doesn’t he? Bless his heart.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]I made a snow globe. Guess what I used for #snow? [/tweetthis]

P.S. I discovered through the wonderful world of Instagram, my friend Busvlogger and his adorable kids made snow globes yesterday too. If you don’t know about Busvlogger and his YouTube videos, you are truly missing out. He is a stay-at-home dad who shares his daily adventures with wit and charm. Check out his snow globe project below. He shows how to do this with children (sans hot glue). You are very welcome.

Musicial Pairing:

A Marshmallow World – Frank Sinatra / Dean Martin

Simple, Perfect Gifts

December 27, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

Another Christmas has come and gone. Santa was good to me. Again.

I love Christmastime. All the hustle and bustle and decking of halls stirs memories of holidays spent with family members no longer with us.

But they are with us, especially at Christmastime.

Papa Creecy with his big red sack saying ho, ho, ho! Nana laughing about something. (She was always laughing.) Mammaw Ruby rolling out dumpling dough on her kitchen table. Papa Homer passing out sticks of Juicy Fruit to all the kids.

This year we made a few new memories playing board games, attending church services, cooking together, wrapping presents.

Ah yes, the presents can be stressful. But gifts are part of the fun, especially giving and receiving that perfect simple gift—not expensive or fancy—but chosen from the heart.

Here are a few of my favorite gifts this year.

Journals. Aren’t they gorgeous? A beautiful journal filled with blank pages represents such possibility…

A Zoku slush maker. This is exactly like the slush maker my sister and I had as kids. I am soooooo excited about this. See, it’s in the freezer ready to go.

Look at these adorable Mudpie Glittens (gloves/mittens). I wore them to the Dallas Mavericks game last night. (The Mavs didn’t win, but the family made more fun holiday memories…)