A Storybook Life

Today, as I sit at my window dreaming and gazing at such beauty on the other side of that thin piece of glass, I am again reminded of just how much God must love us! Not only am I thankful for the earth and all of it’s wonders, but I think the “wonder” of our little slice of heaven, The Queen Village, warms my heart just as much. I like to think of it as… my own little storybook world!

Today, I thought I would invite you to spend some time with me in our little Victorian Village. She is aptly named The Queen Village… because she is said to be fit for a queen!

Here are a few recent pictures of our winter wonderland! The little river tucked deep in the forest is a favorite place of mine. Even though the village had just been covered with a heavy blanket of snow, you can still see the steam coming up off of the water. The beautiful snowflakes that cover the river banks and the surrounding woodlands, almost look like someone opened up a window of heaven & scattered a wealth of tiny crystals for us to enjoy!

This is our secret place, where just up the hill, we decided to carve out a little knoll to put our cottage so we could be as close to the river as possible. You’ll also see a few of our country roads, where along each side stately pines and mature maples stand guard.

Here’s a little description about Camden NY… my storybook world

This little village is definitely something out of fairy tale land! The homes are mostly Victorian in style, and often there are some very special homes to be had for great prices!

In the center of the village is our village park. There you will see green lawn spread out like a blank for us to rest, surrounded by beds of flowers, benches, stately trees, and our quaint gazebo where most of our village socials and events are held.

Many evenings throughout the summer we are able to enjoy performances by area bands. The kids especially love the dancing tunes! It’s so cute to see the little ones arm in arm dancing in circles around the lawn.

Two or three times per year, we have large celebrations with parades down main street. You never know what kind of float you might see with all of the great talent around here

During the Autumn season, you may hear the fire whistle going off a few to many times. This is our signal that rides are being given down at the fire house. While we’re waiting for our turn to ride atop the fire engine, free juice & doughnuts are served. It’s a great time to catch up on all of your visiting with the town folks, as well as a great way to celebrate fire prevention week.

Each Christmas Santa comes to the Queen Village in a horse drawn wagon (I think their jingle bells must be one of my favorite Christmas sounds!). As the horses take us through the village streets, our carols are accompanied by villagers who are putting the finishing touches on their holiday decorations. On this night, we all gather around the manger scene and sing Christmas carols, while we enjoy the sights and sounds of the season over hot chocolate and donuts.The thousands of little lights that encircle the trees, light poles, and street lamps are especially beautiful with a blanket of freshly fallen snow! Ever planted in our memories, are those joyful evenings spent with family and friends. We just love the 5th season of the year! What? You didn’t know there were 5 seasons? Well, around here folks call us “The Village With 5 Seasons”, because we celebrate Christmas in such a big way.

Our little library sits on the corner right off of the main street. On cold winter days, you’ll find a rocking chair pulled up to the big fireplace for a day of quiet lazy reading. The walls are always decorated with the work of local artisans.

One of my children’s favorite winter pastimes, is to go across the street to the “hill.” This is where we go sledding, tubing, and snowboarding. It’s a great way to spend time with the kids after a big snow. Of course, after all that “work” we need to come home & enjoy some hot coco beside the wood stove And while I’m on the subject, there’s something truly romantic about a night so cold, that the smoke from every village chimney is almost frozen in time – all of this against a backdrop of the full winter moon!

It’s wonderful to be a part of a small community where folks truly care about each other & work together for the good of all.

A friend of mine has a local TV show, where they take road trips to area villages. Take a ride with her as she travels home to Camden.

Forest park, as mentioned in the video, is a place that we enjoy as much as we can! It’s a wonderful place to talk walks, follow the nature trails, or to simply rest on the benches to do a little bird watching & enjoy the view of the river! A friend of mine has put together an awesome website about this wonderful public forest (thank you Chris ! Forest Park, Camden NY

And finally… some of our local students have put together a little video to share the history of our Queen Village, that I’m sure you will enjoy!

I hope you have enjoyed spending some time with me today… and may your life be a storybook one!

Pearl

Camden NY | The Queen Village

With Christmas now behind us, most of us will spend the next week packing up all of the beautiful bits & bobbles that have dressed our home for the past several weeks. And although it’s kind of sad to see all of our little Christmas treasures get tucked away for another year, it’s also sort of nice to have our home “freshened up” for the new year. Even so… there is still a bit of an empty feeling, when we think about having to wait another full year to display those treasures again.

Here’s a great idea to help you prevent that “empty feeling” around your home, and to help you to look forward to each new season/holiday throughout the year.

Why not keep a few of your things out & “re-purpose” them to match each new season/holiday?

For example…

I love my grapevine wreaths! So, instead of putting them away because Christmas is over, why not take the Christmas decorations off of the wreath & put some other sort of decorations on it for the rest of winter? Or, you could keep everything off for a natural look.

This year, my husband bought me a little tree for Christmas. It fits on my kitchen counter just perfectly! Instead of putting it away, I am going to dress it with items that say “winter” – instead of “Christmas”.

Here are some different things that say “winter” (not just “Christmas”), so instead of packing them away, you can keep them out all winter long.

Birds

We get to enjoy feeding our feathered friends during the cold winter months, so how about using little birds made from pretty paper or felt (like the ones above)? Using some scrapbook paper, you could make up beautiful little birds to match any style or color. Then use them to hang on a tree, wreath, light fixture, or across your curtain rod.

Ice Skates

Snow-people can live in your decor all winter!

Snowman

Mittens

Snowflakes

Twigs

Berries

Greens

Also, if you’re having a difficult time deciding which colors to use, so your home says “winter” instead of “left over Christmas”, you can’t go wrong with white, silver, light blue, and green!

Merry Christmas to you all!

I hope that today is filled with… family, friends, good food, and thankful hearts.

May you remember the true reason for this wonderful season, the ultimate gift, our Lord Jesus come to earth… God with us. And most importantly… may your heart receive His precious gift of life personally!

I thought I would share one of my favorite Christmas carols with you today, as it means so much to me personally.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come, let earth receive her King! Let every heart, prepare Him room…

Our family loves traditions! There are many things that we love to do every year, simply because we’ve always enjoyed doing them together. And yet, there are those few things that bring us enjoyment just because we like the surprise of not knowing what to expect… like our Christmas goodies!

Some years we will make sheets & sheets of different kinds of cookies (truth be told… my husband loves to do alot of this!), and some years we will simply make a special dessert.

I thought I would share a “sweet” idea that you may not have thought of for your Christmas gatherings… cupcakes!

This year, at my son’s graduation party, we decided it would be easier to have individual cupcakes – instead of one big cake that had to be cut & served. We were amazed at how well the cupcakes were received! As a matter of fact, by the time everything was said & done, there wasen’t one left!

Then, this fall we went to a friend’s wedding, where the mother of the bride made a beautiful multi-tiered cupcake tower. Not only did the cupcakes taste wonderful, but they were still being talked about weeks after the reception!

I must say… cupcakes are not your everyday – run of the mill little pieces of cake these days Instead, they are being looked at as very chic little pieces of art… that are also delicious to eat!

I wanted to spark your creative thinking, and thought these beautiful little cupcakes would give you some great ideas to start with.

Please click on each individual cupcake to learn more about it & it’s baker! Now these are my kind of artists

Check out these next 5 beautiful cupcakes from Bakerella
The fist picture is also from her collection.

Look at these sweet little ornaments that you can also eat

I love the colors & designs in these examples.

The simple design and pale colors make these very chic!

I love these Christmas tree cupcakes. The baker made the tops by baking the mix in waffle cones.

You can make beautiful “jackets” for your cupcakes using pretty paper, or paper lace.

Simply Beautiful!

Eggnog Cupcake with cinnamon stick!

And finally… who says Christmas art should only be shared on gingerbread?

Today we received the news that MicasaStyle.com has chosen the winner of the “Decorated Room” contest, that we were hosting for them on our blog.

Drum roll please……..

The winner is – Mary Carroll, from Little Red House

Here is the link to her room on MicasaStyle.com – take a second & go take a peek. She has done a wonderful job getting her room ready for Christmas!

Thank you to all who participated, and thank you to MicasaStyle.com for asking us to share it with our readers.

And Mary…. enjoy spending the extra $100 for the holidays!