Xmas Xcitement

Today was first Advent, as my mom reminded me on the phone today.  I had the day totally free (for a change) and was feeling into doing something crafty; which is rare for me.  Advent is something that we always celebrated at home, but only now do I realize we did it in a totally secular way - as a countdown to Christmas.  

I collected some greenery while walking this afternoon, and used what I had at home to construct a festive candle holder.  I finally found a use for this plate I made a few years ago that came out of the kiln with a big crack in it!

Some fir and mistletoe, a half-used pure beeswax candle, and a bag of thrifted craft supplies, and voila!

 I think it is pretty good for 20 minutes work.  You can also see the glued-together East German windmill that I thrifted in the summer.  Unfortunately, I had to blow out the candles right after taking the picture because the propellers were starting to burn!  Nothing really worked in communist countries, after all!

I particularly like this little deer amongst the fir...

And for the 'kaffe zeit', I couldn't find any lebkuchen in the grocery stores, so we had slices of Stollen, Merci chocolates and Chai tea.  

Okay, I realize the Chai didn't really go with the rest of the German theme, but it did have a gingerbread-like taste.

PS. Welcome to new followers - Protector of Vintage, Susie QT, angiescott and maryperk!