Love those. Do you set it up as only a village or is there a train set that goes with it? Nice gift to yourself.

In past years when I was out shopping for others I would buy gifts for myself along the way. Now I do very little shopping even when there is not a pandemic going on. My gifts to myself were usually clothes. Now I don’t go anywhere. I did buy some new pairs of stretchy pants. That tells a sad story!

Those are so gorgeous, Robo! Wow, unique gift to yourself.

I just literally want days off. Although my biggest "splurge" gift would be a Spin bike. I'd buy it already but finding space is the hardest part.

I'd really love a mani-pedi but going to the nail place is a risk I feel I should not be taking.

Robo, I’ve never seen FLW Christmas village houses! Cool!

I want to go somewhere, but not now. I think I’ll get a mani-pedi.

Plants, real and faux. I bought more bougainvillea already, and I am thinking of mixing a faux plant (like a large fiddle leaf) in with my lemon trees in the same area. My lemon trees are covered in blossoms and the fill the whole room with a wonderful sweet scent. I'm in love!

I wanted to add some greenery to my kitchen (after looking through tons of kitchen pics for refresh ideas). I have to laugh at all the plants in kitchens staged in places that cannot be possible (behind the stove, in one case!?). I plan to buy a real Rosemary, but also just ordered this:

I have a more conventional village that I set up on my buffet and mantel - here are pics from a few years ago. This year I bought some felt snow blankets and some more fairy lights to light them up so I'll post pics if I get it all done.

I have a teak china cab/clock I'm thinking I might stash the FLW houses in.

I come from dairy farming and forestry families so I got some pieces representing that

And just some winter houses.

Re: train set - I can see now that Emmett would love a train set however between his and the dog’s rambunctiousness I’d have to find the world’s least breakable train.

Robo, I know you probably mean an electric train, but this is the perfect age for Brio wooden trains. You need lots of tracks and pillars and whatnot to build fun things, so you are never out of ideas for what to buy, and it's all indestructible. It's easy to integrate unit blocks into railway layouts too. My children's set started with their father's trains.

I'm toying with turning the bay window ledge in our guest bedroom into a Christmas fairy village . . .mostly with hand made stuff and stuff I already have . . . I have a fairy carriage and a unicorn to pull it and the instructions for a fairy castle made out of a square kleenex box and some paper towel rolls. Then just need some little decorative touches . . .

I'm also toying with buying some lights for the trees lining our driveway. Traditionally I haven't decorated outside. A lot of time and money I just didn't have. I did wreaths on the front door and garage and that was it. No different this year, still little time and NO spare money, but thinking it might be a good thing for our cheer and the neighborhood's cheer. I have a small flowering tree allée along the driveway that would look nice with hung lights. A big investment though. I ran a lights festival at the arboretum where I worked for six years, so I know the costs. Not necessarily a bad thing if you are planning on doing it every year, but if I am working full time next year and we move, that's one more thing to pack up . . .

I love the FLW houses, Robo. I have a Christmas village, but I haven't put it out for years. It takes so much time and space that I haven't been interested in doing it. You would think this year would be the perfect year for it, but somehow, when I think about putting it out and then away, I decide not to do it.

My "treat" is four new tires for the car that are being installed as we speak...not too exciting, but necessary.

Gsciencechick, in the midst of the first shutdown, I found a nail tech that makes house calls. She brings all the supplies. The only thing I needed to provide was water and a chair for myself. We set up on the deck so there was plenty of fresh air and we wore masks. The cost was expensive, but worth it. I found her by searching mobile nail tech and mobile aestheticians.

I bought a small silver tinsel tree. I've never been a fan before but the more bling the better. This is an 'anything goes' holiday. Makes me kinda wish I had an ugly sweater.

I don't know when Christmas-themed sweaters suddenly became ugly. I used to buy a new one every year and I still like them and think they are festive.

Robo I had no idea there were FLW replica houses. Those are delightful.

Fun2Be, I too have Christmas village items, the German village pieces, but same here. I haven’t set them up in years for the same reason. The grandkids enjoyed them when they were small. For a few years I would choose 3-5 pieces and just set those up and then stopped. Have been thinking about selling most of the pieces.

Sigh. All I want for Christmas is a trip but alas.

I must say, I held off on the mani/pedi until last month when my friend told me how impressed she was with the protocols our local salon was following. I’ve actually been worried about the owners of the salon, a Vietnamese couple who are really delightful, and decided to take the plunge to help their business. Honestly, their protocols seemed more thorough than my doctor’s office. First of all, they are now appointment only, in order to keep the number of people in the salon at one time low. Plexiglass, everywhere. Air purifers throughout the salon, temperatures taken at the door, the whole nine yards. Of course, masks On everyone. I felt entirely comfortable. Perhaps check what your nail salon is doing, @gsciencechick

Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread just wanted to say to gsciencechicrk, during the first shut down I along with several of the ladies in my building were starved for some pampering. I called the local nail salon where we all went and asked if they would do house calls if we were outside. We had a ball. They made much needed money, ate snacks, drank wine coolers, ice tea, and enjoyed ourselves. We got to know the three techs who accompanied the owner and we hung out with masks, outside for several hours. That was the highlight of my summer. Here is an article about the struggle for nail salons and their immigrant workers. The second and third picture are the salon that made the house call.

Today I was at Costco and bought myself an arrangement of pines and white logs, red berries in a wood looking container. I think I will forgo my tree this year and put lights on this instead. I will set it on an antique school room chair near my fireplace.

Last year, we were at the tail end of a kitchen renovation. The year before, the whole exterior of our house was in mid-reno. This is the first year I can really decorate the heck out of our Victorian house, so “my” treat was about $300 in greenery I bought today. I’m going to throw it all over the front of my house on Friday.

I need a new iPad. I accidentally stepped on my current one a few days ago. 😬

This is “Heel Shattered iPad 2020” ....

Oh dear!!! I know the feeling of that iPad!

While visiting DD and DSIL, I very much enjoyed using their Shun utility knife. It was a dream. My knifes are Henkel, so not shabby but, gosh, I loved the Shun. While at Williams and Sonoma today to get them a Shun paring knife, I grabbed one for myself. I used it tonight and am in love. Merry Christmas to me!! :)

Uh oh , Jinx, too bad. You can just have the screen replaced you don’t need a whole new iPad.

Dedtired, I looked into that, but everywhere showed it more expensive than a new one. I’ll check into it some more — I’d like to keep it!

We're going to splurge by spending the month of December at our house in Cathedral City, starting tomorrow, and heating the pool to 85°, which is fairly expensive to do. At least we won't have to use A/C in the house, and so we won't have that expense, which can be more than what heating the pool costs. It's less than a two-hour drive to get there, and so there is really no risk involved. I feel safer in CC than I do in L.A. anyway.

We've been spending alternate months in each house, and this has not gotten old, at least not yet. In the desert, we can drive to some nice places to go hiking. We can do that in L.A. also, but there is a lot less traffic in the desert, and the hiking areas are close. In L.A. we mostly hike in the Santa Monica Mountains and sometimes go mountain biking there, although we haven't done that recently.

I feel fortunately that we can get nice changes of scenery easily, and if we want snow, we can go up on Mount San Jacinto late in December. I won't be taking the Palm Springs Tram, and I don't even think it is running at this time.

Lars sounds like a wonderful way for you and your brother to spend the holiday :)

Dedtired, when my phone screen shattered, and I took it to the "screen medic" to have the screen replaced, the fellow said it would be cheaper to back to Best Buy and replace the phone. I wonder if ipad is the same?

Whatsayyou, thanks for the tip about the Shun knife.

I have to second Zalco's suggestion of a Brio train. My son was obsessed with them for years. We've kept them in the attic for a future grandchild since they are none the worse for wear despite years of play. You can get trains from the Thomas the Train shows and movies to go with this set, and my son knew the names and personality quirks of Henry, James, and all the other trains, and spent hours and most of his days weaving little scenarios for awhile there. I see these all the time on Craigslist, and they are not an inexpensive toy, so you might check there first.

I just treated myself to a TRX suspension system, thanks to the tip from gsciencechick.

BRIO are the best for young children and old!! Daddy and kids had the best time creating worlds and roads for the trains--Thomas and his gang fit the tracks too!! My village goes in a book case DH made for his mom back in the day. When she died I got her village and the book shelf--I sprinkle in the Putz buildings my dad made decades ago. Her village featured buildings that meant things to them. FIL was mayor/veterinarian. She was librarian/TV cook for Kay's Kitchen...Together they make me happy to remember where they once stood.

I bought myself the Dyson Airwrap Complete. I haven't used it yet so I can't comment on that. Even though I bought it at Shoppers Drug Mart on their 20x the points day (probably a Cdn thing) that resulted in over $200 worth of points.... I still haven't reconciled myself with what it cost. It might go back.

Robo, when my kids were small we got an electric train set from Playmobil. Much larger and sturdier than usual model trains. It held up really well and they enjoyed it for years. It is now stored away for our grandkids.

I need a commission from TRX!

It's so hard for me to justify a non-medical indoor visit to something like a nail salon, especially when the cavalry is coming in the form of a vaccine. All it takes is one asymptomatic person or someone with symptoms who just has to get their nails done. I just can't bring myself to do it.

My phone died the other day, so I splurged on the iPhone12.

I ordered this reindeer topper for the mailbox. A former neighbor had one which I admired for years and years. After many years of searching craft fairs and internet sites, I am so happy to have found this one. This is either irony or serendipity. Since DH and I put a hold on a homesite in an 55+ community, this is our last Christmas in this house. The new community has mailbox clusters, so mailboxes are not located at the homes. Anyhow, I am excited to have my topper to enjoy this season. This reindeer arrived in my life just in time. So I am humming, 'just in time, I found you just in time..."

What wonderful additions to your Christmas village, Robo, I love them!

Many years ago I hand-painted many pieces of Christmas village. Every December I display it all on the antique hutch in our front foyer. And, every year around this time, I start searching for additional “perfect” pieces for it . . . which is getting tough!

My treats arrived! Pride of place on the teak hutch.

my only quibble is the dark blue windows on this one don’t light up very well.

the man himself

Another vote for the Brio train set. My nephew at 3 years old would literally spend hours playing with his. When my sister would come home, there would be one suitcase devoted to the train paraphernalia. She said it was totally worth it to have something that would occupy him so thoroughly. After dinner last Christmas, my sister took my 3 y/o DGS up to the playroom and dug out a small portion of the trains and tracks. He loved it. And like his now 30 y/o cousin, he was thoroughly engrossed for a couple of hours.

Love your houses, Robo! I've never seen the FLW versions before.

I started buying DS Brio when he was a toddler. He's now 35yo, and his nephew/my grandson and then his daughter played with the same set. It's now waiting on our almost 1yo granddaughter to be old enough to play trains.

Not Christmas related but I’ve wanted one for a long time and treated myself

Bought myself 3 items at J Crew sale; 2 more at Sundry sale; a sweatshirt from Etsy; and a paint by number kit to get me through winter.

Robo, I love how those houses are lit from within.

I've always taken care of myself, so nothing different!

We also have a Brio set waiting for the next generation. That and Legos were the only toys I remember them keeping. Nearly all the books though.

My real treat is having my oldest son and his GF here until early February. I have missed them so much. They isolated for 2 weeks and drove down with masks and sanitizer, staying in an Air BnB on the way and are now in another until they get a test and the results. It will be complete if my youngest is able to spend the holidays with us. The schools really should go remote and that would give him time to get a test and results. If that happens, I hope it will be done to avoid great suffering, not because the suffering has already hit. Worst case, we will do driveway dinners and such as weather permits -- so hoping for mild December weather for a change. LOL