Karen, you have every room decorated, they are all beautiful, the fireplaces look fabulous, the collections the chandeliers, wow, I can't imagine hauling out all those things and doing all that! I think one big tree would have been easier! LOL! I have been having a lot of back problems, I think the arthristis I have in my back is just complicating all my other back problems, so looking at all you've done with your pain problems, I just can't imagine doing all that. Are you sore from all that work. I sure hope not, cause your house looks GREAT! Hubby put up our big tree today, I'd prefer the 4 foot in the bay window, but with grandchild living here, he wanted the big tree up. I have gotten rid of so many of my decorations for the big tree that it looks rather sick to me, but he loves it & that is all that matters. I prefer doing some smaller themed trees. The one year I was flat on my back & could not do a thing for 9 months with back problems, hubby put up a 4 ft tree, he bought me all sugared fruit, amber & burgundy & gold ornies, it turned out so pretty, that is what I wanted to do this year, but grandson over-ruled me. Anyway, you sure did a great job, your whole house looks like Christmas!!!

Last Christmas I was given a beautiful piece of crochet that the giver said was a dishrag. I re-christened it 'Candle Mat'! You can also make crocheted Christmas ornaments (my aunt always made crochet stars & stiffened them with starch & put glitter on them), or paper ones (she made beautiful angels with brown paper grocery bags, glitter, pipe cleaner halos, & crayoned faces), or stuffed or quilted ones like bells or candy canes, or felt or cotton ones, like pictures, with sequins, stuffed with quilt batting. Last summer I went to a quilt show & loved the Christmas ornaments that were made out of white felt with embroidered snow scenes or bells or French horns & colored with crayons. You just color the 'picture' & set it with a warm iron, with a piece of paper towel between the iron & the item. I tried it on something that was supposed to become a potholder (unfortunately, my rollerball pen leaked all over it.). I did like it very much, & I plan to make more of them for sure. The motif was fruits & vegetables, from a package of Aunt Martha's iron-on transfers (they're popular now; I've seen them at Hobby Lobby & at Walmart). I ironed the transfer onto a potholder-sized square of off-white cotton & colored the peas & then colored the surrounding sunburst in orange, set the colors with a hot iron, embroidered in black around the sunburst... & stuck it in my purse to get matching embroidery thread to outline the peas, which is where that dang $1 pen ruined the ornament as well as the inside of the purse. I think vests are always nice, too, for a more personalized gift. A plain black one or a blue denim one will go with so many things, & you can personalize them with applique or embroidery or photographs, Years ago, I saw one at a craft show for maybe $40 or so, & it was just a purchased 'blue jean' vest with small crocheted doilies appliqued (with fusable webbing) onto it, with some sparkly beads in patterns of, say, flowers or spirals or stars; the original buttons had been replaced with fancy ones, & the vests had different pieces of vintage jewelry attached at random places. If you want to use photos, you can photocopy them onto unbleached muslin (instructions are all over the internet) & applique them onto the vest. You can buy a new vest or,if you're giving it to someone who likes a more antique or shabby chic look, you can often find them at thrift stores, or you can make one very easily.

We are definitely into the countdown & I have started - my DH is in food sales and gives each of his customers gifts (about 40 of them!). I start right after Christmas & get gifts for the next year on clearance. Usually we give books, candles, and ornaments and I try and stay under $5 for each. I have started buying for family too - all the grands - kids & neices & nephews (all 20 of them) get books. I purchase from a catalog/website that has on sale & clearance - I try to find books under $5 (for the customers mentioned above also). If you want the name of the website please e-mail me. For our 4 kids we wait until we get a list from them. I have bought items off the list & then got their list and ended up spending too much! For brothers & sisters & immediate nieces & nephews - I make jam/jelly & they each get a jar of wonderful goodness - we grow the fruit & then I make jam & jelly for them. I am about 1/2 way done on that... I don't post all that often - but I enjoy lurking - what a wonderful group of people. Thanks.

Although I am currently only working as an advanced amateur shooting for my own purposes, way back in the late 60's while in the Air Force I was professionally trained as a "Still Photographic Specialist" and I worked as a professional photographer for a short time after I got out of the Air Force in 1972. I principally shoot Pentax invented the through the lens pentaprism viewfinder and they were the first company to make cameras with a built in light meter. At the time Nikon was makng the Nikon F, which is unquestionably one of the finest camera ever made, but the Nikon F did not have a built in light meter, Instead they had an optional viewfinder that had the light meter built into the viewfinder and with the optional viewfinder it was designated the Nikon F Photomic. Canon was still making some world class rangefinder cameas but they had not yet got into the SLR market. From 1966 until 2006 I had amassed a collection of 21 ranging from an 16mm fisheye to a full 1,000mm that weighs in at nearly 32lbs including the dedicated wooden tripod that came with it. Pentax lenses, so when I decided to upgrade to Digital I chose a Pentax camera because Pentax has reverse engineered their digitals so we can still use all of our lenses. Needless to say, I am fully comfortable with a totally manual camera, although I do appreciate the conveniences of modern technology. As a sideline, I have been teaching a free photography class at our local senior center for about a year, and as you might imagine I hear your question quite often. First off, let me make it perfectly clear. Just buying a professional camera will no more make you a better photographer than what buying a stethoscope would make you a nurse. Before you buy a camera you have to stop and think about what you intend to do with it. If all you need is a camera to take good high quality scenics and family album type photos then I would not recommend the expense of a true DSLR. Professoinal photographers need a DSLR because they need to select lenses for the type of photography they perform. By example, a news photographer needs a fast normal lens and generally a moderately long telephoto, whereas a sports or wildlife photographer needs super long telephoto lenses while a scenic photographer needs super wide angle and a portrait or fashion photographer needs normal and short tele lenses and a nature or forensic photographer would need macro lenses for super closeups, while a laboratory photographer might need a microscope adapter for their camera. While that Nikon D3100 package is a very good deal, you must keep in mind that it is an entry level DSLR and while it does have enough automation that you can basically take it out of the box and use it as a point & shoot while your learning, but if you decide to really get into serious photography within a year or so you will begin to see its limitations. Basically that camera has different modes, which means you can select Full Automatic mode, Portrait Mode, Scenic Mode, Sports mode, etcetera and the camera will make the necessary adjustments to meet the need of the mode selected. It should also have a manual mode so as you advance it will work with you. For a true beginner making the initial switch from basic Point & shoot to a more sophisticated camera I would advise you to consider what the industry now calls a "Bridge Camera". (In fact, I bought a bridge camera as a backup camera). Generally the bridge cameras have the same basic shape and size as a DSLR and many of the advanced control features but instead of interchangable lenses they have a super zoom lens and they cost much less. By example, Walmart carries a number of bridge cameras from Nikon, Canon, Fugi and Kodak. My personal choice was the Kodak Easyshare z981, which has 14mp resolution and a 26x zoom lens(equivalent to a 26 to 676mm zoom.) It has a 3" display on the back of the body and it will shot both stills and video,and it has all the modes that you will have on that Nikon. All for a mere $238 plus you will have to buy a memory card separately. Another great bridge camera is the Canon Powershot SX30-IS. It has a 35x optical zoom and sells for $350. One word of caution. 200 to 250mm is about the longest lens that you can successfully use as a hand held camera. I would strongly suggest if you buy a camera that exceeds 200mm or 8x you will need a tripod too. Having said all of that, no matter what camera you choose, in the beginning you will feel a bit awkward until you get the feel of it. If you run into situations you don't understand or you have photos that you would like constructive criticism I would invite you to post them in the photography forum and their are a number of very knowledgable ppl that will help you along as you learn.