Santa Claus is Online!

Did you know that Father Christmas is online?

Have you heard about the Portable North Pole or PNP? 

Santa Claus is going to be online!

Here is a blurb from the PNP website:

For the third year in a row, Santa Claus will be online with his PNP console during the entire holiday season. With just a few clicks, you can use this amazing technology to help Santa send a personal message to your loved ones – all the way from his Village at the North Pole!

Rachael from A Room For Everyone said that her girls were delighted to receive theirs last year and that the message included her children's name, age, a photo of them in Santa's special book and the thing they would like for Christmas. If you click here you can go to Rachael's blog and see an example of a PNP message from last year. It is absolutely brilliant!

Thank you so much for telling me about this wonderful site, Rachael, and thank you for helping to keep the Christmas Spirit Alive, 365!

Blessings and best wishes,

Why I started a Christmas Blog.

I love Christmas and preparing for the Christmas season is one of my passions! I love decorating our home, playing Christmas carols, making gifts for my loved ones and, of course, being with my family at this very Holy and special time of year. 

I love the traditions we have built on such as going to Church on Christmas Eve and then coming back to our home for a Christmas Party complete with mulled wine, Christmas cookies and a visit from Father Christmas (AKA Mr Attorney!). 

I inherited my love for all things Christmas from my mother...I guess that is why she called me Natasha which means "Child of Christmas"! This love of Christmas inspired me to start this blog.

The aim of my Christmas blog is simple; to think of Christmas as not just a day, an event to be observed and speedily forgotten. It is a spirit which should permeate every part of our lives. (William Parks)

I hope you will join me in my quest to try and Keep the Christmas Spirit Alive, 365!

Blessings and best wishes always,

Natasha, the Christmas Child!

Christmas Cooking ~ Caramel Fudge

Greetings sweet Christmas friends! This week I have a delicious recipe to share with you. I made some of the most beautiful caramel fudge I have ever tasted! I am not bragging about my cooking here...this recipe is brilliant, foolproof and simply scrumptious!

It was easy to make and doesn't require many ingredients.

You just mix everything together in a bowl, pop it in the microwave a few times and voila.....

You MUST try Julie Harward's recipe for Microwave Caramels.

Recommended by Maddy

and Big Al.

Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe Julie!

Julie's Microwave Caramels

Butter a 9x9" pan, set aside
In a large microwave-safe bowl combine;
1 Cup Butter
2 1/2 Cups Packed Brown Sugar
1 Cup Light-colored Corn Syrup
1 (14oz.) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
Cover loosely with waxed paper. Microwave on 100% power for 4 minutes...or until Butter starts to melt. Whisk to combine mixture. Microwave again 4 min. more. Whisk well. Microwave an additional 4 min. Whisk gently.
Add...1 TSP. Vanilla...add 1 Cup of broken Cashews...mix together. Pour Caramel Mixture into the prepared pan.
Chill for 1 hour or til just firm. Use buttered knife to cut into 1" squares. Wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper...store at room temp. for 2 weeks. (Makes 81 pieces)

I bet you can guess what my family will all be getting for Christmas this year!

Blessings and best wishes,

Natasha 

Please join me each weekend for the Say G'day Saturday Linky Party!

You can also visit me at PINTEREST, TWITTER, 

GOOGLE+ and FACEBOOK!

PINK Christmas Gifts That Give Back!

A couple of weeks ago I had a fabulous time looking at all of the Christmas displays that are in the stores at the moment and I blogged about it here. I have also been exploring Christmas decorations from all around the world and one thing that I noticed very quickly is that Christmas is looking very PINK this year!





The other thing that I noticed was that many stores are selling decorations that somehow benefit others. For example, John Lewis in the UK is selling these beautiful baubles that  were made in Kashmir with money from the baubles helping with community projects in Kashmir. They are only £3.50 each!

Neiman Marcus has some gorgeous PINK decorations this year including this beautiful crystal pink ribbon ornament. It is made in the USA and it is rather expensive  at $95 but Steuben will donate 5% of all sales of this ornament to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

The Susan G Komen site is full of beautiful Christmas goodies and 25 percent of your purchase price will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® in the fight against breast cancer. At only $10 each you could buy one for every member of the family!

$10

$10

$12

The Pink Ribbon Shop has beautiful Christmas decorations and The Pink Ribbon Shop carries many items whose manufacturer and/or distributor makes a moneary donation to breast cancer-related organizations based on the sale of those items.

Australians can buy a set of Hallmark Pink Ribbon Boxed Christmas cards and 10% of the wholesale value will go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation and the The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation.

Chocolatier Australia is in partnership with the NBCF this year too. Donations will be made from sale of the following items:

• 40 cents from 230g Pink Chocolate Assortment
• 20 cents from 115g Pink Chocolate Assortment
• 10 cents from the sale of every Tin of Strawberry Blush.

Isn't it nice to know that this Christmas the presents we buy our friends and family can do double duty! Not only will they bring joy to whomever you give them to, but they will also help make the world a bit brighter too, by raising money for worthwhile causes!


Happy Christmas shopping and happy PINK Saturday!

Blessings and best wishes,

Natasha's Nuts about Nutcrackers!

I am sure you have probably worked out by now that I LOVE Christmas and I am hoping that if you are here visiting me here today that you might just LOVE Christmas too! I love Christmas so much that I have already started thinking about how I will be decorating our home this year and what new decorations I would like to buy. One thing that is at the top of my list is a new Nutcracker...perhaps one of these little guys that I posted about last week.

I think Nutcrackers are so special and festive and I would like to start collecting a few more. 

Martha Stewart

Nutcrackers for All

They have actually been around since about the 15th Century.

Source

 They usually always have a large mouth which can be opened by a lever at the back. Source

 Williams Sonoma Home

 Gump's

D. Blümchen & Company.

These days we associate nutcrackers with the beautiful fairy-tale ballet which is always performed around Christmas time every year. 

Ana Bagayan

ETA Hoffman wrote a story called "The Nutcracker and The Mouse King" which was then adapted by Alexandre Dumas and Tchaikovsky composed the score for the ballet version of the story in 1892.  

Source

Every year, in every city, countless ballet troupes, accompanied by Tchaikovsky's beuatful music, perform this classic about a girl who helps a wooden nutcracker man defeat a nasty army of mice and winds up in the magical dreamworld of the Land of Toys.

I have only got three nutcrackers but give me time....I am sure that they will have a new friend very very soon!


Here are my three Nutcrackers!

Aren't they a handsome bunch!

I think they are so fabulous that they should become Pop Art Icons for Nutcrackers everywhere..

Do you like my Andy Warhol Nutcrackers!? Aren't they gorgeous!

Here is a creation based on the work of David Hockney. It is a picture of the Christmas tree at the 

Rockefeller Centre that I took in 2004....I have New York on my mind....

Check out my other blog to see why!

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. 

 W.T. Ellis

Thank you all for visiting me today. I loved seeing you and I hope you will visit again soon!

Best Christmas wishes,

Natasha

Please join me each weekend for the Say G'day Saturday Linky Party!

You can also visit me at PINTEREST, TWITTER, GOOGLE+

INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!