Xmas Tree Cutting and Elements

Yesterday was our annual Christmas tree cutting party. Some good friends of our (Dave & Pat) invite a host of people to join them for a trip up to Lenderinks Christmas tree farm north of Grand Rapids were we all tank up on free hot chocolate before heading out into the tree farm  to select just the right tree. The highlight of this event is always the feast of goods that Pat puts together for all of us in the parking lot after we return with our trees. There is always the most marvelous food and drink spread for us on tables that would make Martha Stewart proud. One of my favorites is the scotch eggs on a plate at the front of the above picture-to die for!

However, one of the real treats for me when doing this event is to be able to share this event with family. My son Eric(pictured above) was there with us and so was my daughter-in-law Angela (pictured below with CJ). I remember all those tree cutting excursions with my kids when they were little and and it is a joy for me to carry on the tradition with them now as adults.

The 2010 Christmas tree!!!

When we were doing our open house a friend of ours (Patrice) gifted us with the above paper ribbon. She has a real talent and love with working with vintage paper. She so inspired us by showing us the many things she is currently creating that the next time we were at our local book store we picked up the below book called, Playing With Books. It is all about the art of upcycling, deconstructing, and reimagining of books. We are both working on projects in this book and hope to post them when we get them completed. In the mean time if this kind of creating interests you check out the book and also check out Patrice's blog which is listed in our list of blogs that we follow. The name of her blog is Elements and she sells on esty under the name of The Trophy Wife.