Cheryl, I don't really have a special one, but I've been buying some when I find them at the TS, and a friend gave me a few also. I usually find a few ideas I really like in each one of them! LOL I like the BHG Christmas from the Heart books, and I've been finding some of the Spirit of Christmas series along the way. I have one called Simply Christmas and another called Christmas Inspirations as well as a few others. Years ago, I would have liked the country style ones, but now I'm more into all the glitz and glamour ideas using crystals and glitter and beads--especially for the tables. Have you searched on Ebay or Amazon. I would imagine that even the used books would be just like new. Good luck in finding just the perfect ones for you. ;o) Luvs

Dawn, you are my type of girlfriend. I love old stuff too, and my dream is like yours - to have a quaint little shop - but like you said, it is very difficult for small shops to survive these days. I have had a gift shop in the past and just when things were going good, the DOT came in and widen the road which came right across the little country house I was renting. Was really sad to let it go because I sold not only what I painted and made but also older things that had been decorated, along with new things. Women loved coming to the shop even just to sit around and talk. The men loved the swing on the front porch. Heck, even when the shop was closed my friends would show up and we would sit in the rocker and swing, drink sweet tea and talk. Life was good (but a lot of work).

Thanks, Girls. Jeanne, I think I got the larger Woodland Santa at Michaels one year. They usually have a lot of neat Santas. Last year I grouped most all of mine on a table that was in the entry way before I got the sideboard. I'll take close-ups of the Mikasa in the curios when I take more photos. Tho its all pictured individually in my Collections album if you want to see it better. Emptying 4 curios wasn't too bad, there were around 50 or so greyhound statues in them. But the big cabinet where my Village is...boy, that's another matter. I have over 100 of Painted Pony figurines in it, and can only carry 3 at time safely. So a lot of trips to move them to the pantry shelves where the village boxes were. The neighbor behind me has a huge ol' pine tree that hangs way over into my backyard, so I have an endless supply of little pinecones for Christmas decorating. I saw on a blog where cut pine boughs lasted fine in water, so figured they'd be perfect for those golfers. LOL. Punk, I love cobalt glass in my Garden Junkin'. I gathered most of it into the center area of my backyard. My Blue Garden. LOL. I bought a bottle tree stand from Collections Etc a few years ago. Here it is, and some of my totems I made. hugs, Karen

Thank you so much for the lovely comments on my homemade decorations, they made me smile. This was simple to make and I just used things I already had in my craft room. I first cut out the Christmas card pic and glued that to the mason jar using Modge Podge glue (you could use Tacky Glue also), it's a bit thicker than Elmer's Glue, and let it dry overnight. I next painted the jar a brown color pouncing it on using a sponge brush. Let the first coat dry some and give it another coat. While the paint is wet, sprinkle the jar with Diamond Dust. I then put the jar on a dowel stick and let it dry overnight. The candy canes are red & white chenile stems. The snowballs are small styrofoam balls of course. Stick a good size length of floral wire into them for something to hold onto and cover with some wall spackle. While wet, sprinkle them with, you guessed it, yup, Diamond Dust. Can you tell I just love that Diamond Dust stuff. Stick the floral wire into some styrofoam and let them dry overnight also. The next day and the paint on the jar is dry, I tied a piece of homespun fabric around the jar lid. It was easier to tie on the fabric now and it's out of the way. The rest of the stuff in the jar is just a mixture of Chrismtas greenery; pinecones, some small ones and some medium size ones; red & mustard colored pip berry stems; a few cinnamon sticks, some red fuzzy floral thingys (I have no idea what to call them, LOL), and a metal star spray. I hot-glued it all into the jar starting with the greenery (put the hot-glue around the rim and then add the greenery pieces, it'll dry real fast). I then just hot glued the other stuff and stuck it in here and there. As for a selling price Di, I think it's just a matter of what you think folks are willing to pay. Some crafters would price it based on the cost of their materials and then double it for their time. Sal