Light Plight Turned Delight: Christmas is Coming

It's no secret that I get overwhelmed by Christmas decorating.  Because unless you want to hang your garland along with a year's worth of spider webs, first you have to clean.  And if you're anything like me, then once you start, you realize just how disgusting your house is.  It's a real if-you-give-a-mouse-a-Christmas-cookie situation.  Nevertheless, yesterday I started decking out the fireplace, then moved on to the tree only to discover that my (albeit ancient, slightly leaning, floor model) pre-lit specimen needed a little more hot buttered rum (hashtag drinking-puns-from-a-teetotaler).  Good thing I already stocked up on lights:  

Lights: Sylvania, Hobby Lobby

Then again, I bought these to replace the extra strands that I add (I like a lot of lights), which had also died.  Sigh. 

Yet despite my borderline bah humbug attitude, I don't hate Christmas.  Oh, no.  I love Christmas.  And so I want it to be special and can never do it (or anything else I care about) halfway.  Is it any wonder that one year I got so stressed out I didn't put up a tree at all?!

When the husband got home from work, I told him about our low-wattage situation.  And he said, "Did you plug everything in?"

Um, what?  Wasn't there just the one plug?

Evidently not, because in a blink we had this:

Which just goes to show that things are never as bad -- or as dim -- as they seem.  Also that, like a toddler, I shouldn't be trusted with outlets.  

Anyhoo, time to bust out the ornaments!  The newest are these cacti and French fries, just a few of my favorite things. 🌵🍟

Ornaments: Wondershop, Target

So, here's to merry mishaps that melt into, not springs, but succulent surprises.  

And to jacking up the electric bill Griswald style.  

Under the Archway . . .

. . . awaits a world of wonder and whimsy.  Under the archway of my porch, that is, and also under the Archway cookies.  Not too long ago, I was retrieving a package from my front step when I noticed the half moon of bright blue sky under the arched overhang and thought, now, that would make a nice picture.  And then I thought of Archway cookies because when I was little, my grandmother used to give them to my sister and me.  They were usually the ones with the jelly in the middle, and whenever I see them, I think of her.  These days, my favorite flavor is the frosty lemon; the husband likes the Dutch cocoa.  

I love cookies so much (but then, who doesn't?) that once in a blue moon, I'm tempted to bake them.  But whenever that feeling strikes, I make them out of felt instead (after, of course, buying some).  Like in this Snack Attack Barrette Brooch and old (but not stale!) Chocolate Chip Cookie Brooch.  I'm always much happier with the results.  Plus, there's no danger of burning the house down.

Top: Bongo, Sears

Snack Attack Barrette Brooch

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brooch

And that's how the cookie crumbles.  Also, how we got from cookies to childhood to baking to felt and back to cookies again, bringing us to the end of this If You Give a Mouse a Cookie style post.  Which means that there's only one cliché left to say:

Got milk?