Chickadee Home Nest: putz houses

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Sunday, November 29, 2015

Polar Express Children’s Breakfast

It’s a tradition now—my brother and SIL, and my husband and I, take all our grands on a Polar Express or Christmas train ride (depending on who’s sponsoring it), sometime before Christmas. We make a day of it, they wearing their cute plaid pajamas, and the adults may wear a reindeer nose or antlers…all in good fun for our babies.

Typically our chickadees spend the night with us, and we have a special breakfast to kick off the special day.

A couple of years ago UPS came to our door, delivering our very own Polar Express electric train! Mr. CHN had “heard” my heart’s desire :). Now we could start yet another beautiful tradition for our babies—a train for the Christmas tree!

Now that we had the train, the theme for our breakfast was, of course, based on the book, THE POLAR EXPRESS.

While the chickadees were snug in their beds, Ata (that’s me!) ~~in her kerchief~~ in her apron was busy setting a magical table for their surprise the following morning! I used a soft, fuzzy blanket as the snow, with thoughts of the trip to the North Pole, through forests and mountains and wildlife. (The mountains and valleys were created with stacks of cookbooks hidden under the deep, deep snow.)

The train comes complete with a hobo and his campfire,

the conductor and the nameless boy, referred to as “Hero Boy” in reviews and book summaries, and…

a silver bell, which I am happy to report we ALL can hear!

When I was in high school I traveled to Europe with a group of friends, and one of the highlights was spending a couple of nights in a Swiss chalet in the mountains, where there was snow even though it was summer. It was my first experience with down comforters, which were an absolute necessity! At night we could see the tiny lights in the valley below, and that beautiful scene I believe will forever be etched in my mind. It was that memory that created the scene for our quiet, snowy village where the babies would have their breakfast.

Conductors need a lantern…

Baby Love Chickadee had made this “snowflake” ornament, so of course it was included in our snowy scene!

The menu consisted of yogurt parfaits, served in the footed holly-and-berries bowls, milk in the bottles Ata decorated and saved from a snowman table (that’s another post, someday…), and yes,

TRAIN pancakes, with whipped cream steam! (The pancake mold is part of a transportation package from Williams- Sonoma.)

Sleepy travelers will soon be energized by the sugar high and the excitement of our adventure!

I hope this Polar Express breakfast inspires you to listen for the bell.

May you always hear it.

I still believe!

Don’t forget to pin these ideas, and I invite you to follow me at Pinterest too! I love Pinterest, so I’ll help you find the good stuff!

NOTE: Some of the items I use in my posts are for sale. If you see something you like and wonder if it’s available, email me at coral5252@gmail.com and let’s talk!

Monday Show and Share at http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

Mondays at The Art of Homemaking at http://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com/

Mop it Up Monday at http://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com

Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

ModMix Monday at http://modvintagelife.blogspot.com/

Make it Pretty Monday at http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/

Amaze Me Monday at http://www.dwellings-theheartofyourhome.com/

Mondays at Home Stories A to Z: http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/

Inspire Me Monday at http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/

Masterpiece Monday at http://californiacoastalhome.blogspot.com/

Karen’s Monday Something to Talk About at http://www.karensuponthehill.com/

Tuesday’s Blog Shop Listings at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

Tuesdays at Our Home at http://mariaelenasdecor.blogspot.com/

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Wednesdays at DIY Design at http://diybydesign.blogspot.com\

Wow Us Wednesdays at http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

Wednesday Share Your Style at http://www.nominimalisthere.com/

Thursdays Share Your Cup with Mrs. Olson at http://jannolson.blogspot.com/

Thursdays From My Front Porch to Yours at http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/

Share Your Style Thursdays at http://www.nominimalisthere.com

Home and Garden Thursday at http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/

Tablescape Thursday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Thursdays at http://www.impartinggrace.com/

Thursday Your Turn to Shine at http://blesserhouse.blogspot.com/

Share Your Style Thursday at http://www.Commonground-do.com/

Freedom Fridays at http://www.myturnforus.com/

Fridays at Feathered Nest: http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Fridays at http://rootedinthyme.blogspot.com/

Fridays at Home Sweet Home: http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

Fridays at 7 pm, Link Party Palooza: http://lilluna.com/

Show and Tell Friday at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Pink Saturdays at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

Saturday at http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/

Saturdays at http://piecedpastimes.blogspot.com/

Saturdays at Be Different, Act Normal at http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/

Saturdays at http://www.lifeonlakeshoredrive.com/

Saturdays at Sundays at Home: http://www.thoughtsfromalice.com/

Sundays at Silver Pennies: http://www.findingsilverpennies.com/

Sundays at Rustic and Refined: http://www.rustic-refined.com/

From my nest to yours~

Zuni

Friday, December 26, 2014

A Rustic Christmas Deer Tablescape

Two posts in one day! And here I’ve been absent for weeks! This is the companion post to my earlier one, A Pinecone Cheese Ball (http://chickadeehomenest.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-pinecone-cheese-ball.html). I thought the two would work well for a New Year’s Eve party.
For years I’ve thought I “needed” a pair of deer (the tabletop kind, not the barn/field kind), but I hadn’t really seen the ones I wanted. My mother has the Fitz and Floyd ones that are gorgeous, and those are some I’ve considered, but I just haven’t been sure about which ones, so I haven’t pushed real hard to get some…until this year, when I did our Christmas china cabinet in Friendly Village ~

Christmas china cabinet at Chickadee Home Nest

Then I got kind of serious about finding just the ones. It wasn’t an exhaustive search, but I kept an eye out for some I liked (and that I liked the price!), but nothing was jumping out at me…until…Mr. Chickadee and I walked into Harick’s, a favorite shop near our home in Shawnee Hills. You know how the music plays and the light shines upon the Christmas tree that Clark spots (Christmas Vacation)? That’s exactly what happened when I spotted the deer.
But they were pricey—more than I wanted to spend, and I get pretty stubborn about what I’m willing to pay. So we kept looking around and I told Mr. C that there were 3 or 4 things I’d want to take home, one of them being the deer, if only the price were right. Yep…you’re ahead of me, aren’t you? Guess what was under our tree when Santa came?!

Deer, Stag centerpiece at Chickadee Home Nest

When I “gently” questioned Santa about losing his mind he told me the owner agreed to hold them for him while we were there, and agreed to a fabulous price “adjustment.” I’m going with that, so I can enjoy them to the fullest! I know you’ll see these guys a lot over the coming years, now that I finally have my deer!

But you know we bloggers can’t leave things plain and simple. They needed to be nestled and fussed over, of course, to create the after-Christmas-yet-Christmassy centerpiece tablescape I wanted.

Now that’s more like it, isn’t it? Candles and “snow” and pinecones and berries and greenery.

I took a ton of pictures, because I want to show you the detail on them—the fur, or hair (my research says it’s one and the same) is quite visible, though they’re made of some sort of resin, I guess.

And did you notice the bark candle in front of the deer lying down? My brother has been making tons of these for me—they are really, really cool, and perfect for my love of woodland settings.

I think I’ll be leaving this “centerpiece” up for quite a while—certainly into January—though admittedly it has to be moved for any meal involving more than the two of us. Mr. Chickadee sits at the end of the table, so that works. I sit right in front of them, but I’ve been able to set my place just fine, which means I’ve been enjoying them up close.

I’m always curious about centerpieces—what do you do? Do you leave a large one like this up and work around it? If we do anything here at home for New Year’s Eve I’ll probably just move it back and continue with the woodland theme to not get too fancy this year, and I’ll do a simple buffet around it. For our New Year’s Day pork and sauerkraut it’ll surely need to be moved.

I’m wishing you and yours a happy New Year and the best in 2015!!