"Angel" Tree

Nope, this is not the Pink Maple family tree!! My dear mother would be appalled if the family tree was decorated with long bits of dog and cat treats! This is the MSPCA-Angell Holiday Tree at the Prudential Center in Boston. Every year we get Pink Maple Puppy an ornament on the tree with her picture to support the MSPCA's Pet Care Assistance program, which provides veterinary care for pets whose owners cannot afford it and for animals rescued from abuse or neglect. If you're familiar with the Pru, there are 2 trees covered with the cutest pictures of dogs and cats along the corridor towards Barnes & Noble.

I had a wonderful holiday: a very long and yummy Christmas Eve dinner with family, a quiet Christmas Day, and a red velvet birthday cake, all capped off by a big snowstorm Sunday and Monday that turned a 3-day weekend into a 4-day one! Hope your Christmas was merry and bright too!

Best Wishes

Christmas TV

One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season is watch Christmas episodes of old tv shows. I just search for "Christmas" on my DVR and all sorts of fun shows pop up! I am a big classic tv and movie fan, so one of my favorites is the I Love Lucy Christmas special. The show was on for 6 seasons, but only had one Christmas episode! This video is the first part of the episode, but my favorite part is actually the end when Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethel all dress as Santa Clause to surprise Little Ricky on Christmas morning, but when they arrive there are 5 Santas and discover that one must be the real Santa! Yes, I know quite cheesy but oh so fun!

DIY Christmas Party Decor

Hosting a party and in need of quick Christmas decorations? I love this DIY snowflake gardland project over at Jessica Jones' How About Orange blog. You could make a whole bunch of garlands and string then over the doorways throughout your home or apartment for a super fast and festive decoration. Alternate red and green snowflakes or go with gold and silver for a more elegant look. Add vases filled with fresh greens and votive candles and you are ready to PARTY!

Whirlwind!

Well, it has been a whirlwind holiday craft show season for Pink Maple Design. My mom and I have our last one this weekend, the two-day Holly Fair in Harvard Square benefiting the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. Our busy weekends at various fairs and shopping nights over the past two months have been both fun and exhausting. I love interacting with customers and helping them pick a treat for themselves or the perfect gift for a friend or relative. I also loving taking in everyone's different Christmas shopping habits: I admire those who are so decisive and quickly check recipient's off their list and move and I also admire those who deliberate and daudle over even the smallest purchase as you can tell they really want the gift recipient to like what they choose. I think I'm a mix of both types of shoppers. Sometimes I can be incredibly decisive and other times I agonize over choosing the perfect present. What type of shopper are you?

Getting in the Holiday Spirit

Tomorrow is my first Christmas party of the holiday season! It's an after-work cocktail event for the friends group of a local charity. To make things easy, I'm wearing the bottom-half of my outfit (J Crew wool mini, black tights, and Christian Siriano for Payless flats) with a plain sweater to work and then I'll switch into the sparkly sweater (J Crew merino necklace sweater) in the evening! Now I just wish I had a proper garment bag to carry the sweater to work in . . .