On the Seventh Day of Christmas ...

I must admit that I was REALLY excited when the groups were announced for this twelve days of Christmas swap, because, Jeri was in my group!  I've been doing this swap now for a couple of years, and I think that this is the first year that I was in the same group as Jeri!  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy receiving art from all the artists, however, I really get excited when I have the opportunity to swap with an artist that I've not swapped with in a while.  I think the last time I swapped with Jeri - other than the fat book from earlier this year, which was a collected group effort, of course - was a tip-in swap from a couple of years ago. 

And, as you might of guessed, Day 7 is Jeri's day!

Here's what the wrapping looked like ...

Very cute and clever! 

And inside was this ...

I'm not sure exactly what it is ... but I love LOVE love it!  The mitten houses a little Santa Claus-y "stuffy" and the back of the stuffy has a pin in it.  That's the part that threw me!  I mean, from first glance, I thought, OK, this is a really cool wall decoration!  And this will look great on my wall (I'm thinking of hanging it up next to the stockings to add a bit of color and pizzazz to that section of the wall) ... but the pin in the back got me thinking ... is this a large broach or something like that?  Maybe something to pin on a warm, wooly outer coat (or in my case, cape ... I love my cape.  My gramma gave it to me.  It was one of the very last gifts she bestowed upon me before she passed away ... but I digress)

Anyway ... I really love this, it's so festive and adorably cute.  I hope it is not wrong to hang it on the wall, because I think it would add a really nice touch the the stocking wall.  (We don't hang our stockings on the chimney with care, because the tree is in the living room and the fireplace is in the family room, and we don't expect St. Nick to walk all through the house just to fill the stockings and leave our presents!  All that activity would surely awaken everyone ... even the mouse.)

UGH ... corny, yes, yes, I know.  Sorry.

OK, I'm out of here.  Thank you Jeri, for such a cute and remarkably unique gift.  I shall cherish it!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas ...

Today's gift comes from Dawn!  Thank you, Dawn!

First of all, I have to share with you the cute little box that the gift arrived in.  Check it out ...

This tiny little box came to my mailbox just like this ... talk about a fun package to receive!  So cute.  That's what I love about this gift exchange in particular ... the wrappings are almost as fun as the gift inside! 

And this is what was inside ...

This is a beautifully sparkly decoration.  The front spells out "Joy" and the back is decorated with a rhinestone.  I would have included a photo of the back, but I seldom am able to capture the beauty of rhinestones with my camera so I figured it was going to be fruitless. 

I love the way this is assembled with the chain, the little glittery ball at the end, and how beautifully it adds a touch of holiday brightness to my living room wall.  I was thinking of hanging it from the mantle, because then it would be able to move around a bit more and some of the sparkle on the back would come forth now and then, but, most of our decorations are in the living room, and my mantle is in the family room ... which is to become my studio.  Yay!  :)

But that's another story.  I do love this little decoration - thank you Dawn for this clever little piece of art.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas ...

This post is running a little bit late.  What can I say?  My Mondays are always pretty insane.  My husband is off on Monday, so we get most of our running around done on Monday, and that leaves very little time for anything else. 

But I did take a moment to unwrap today's gift, which comes from Liane! 

Surprisingly, there have been no tree ornaments given in this swap until today!  Usually, this seems to be the popular choice with these Christmas gifts, and that's not a complaint (so I hope it didn't sound like one!)  I am thrilled with ornament gifts, because I love the fact that my tree is decorated with unique ornaments.  Every single one of them is different ... no two alike ... and most of them are handmade works of art.

Liane's gift is my newest addition to my tree ...

 Isn't it lovely?

I love the little bit of sparkle that the dangly crystal will add to the tree.  This is a wonderful ornament, and I'm so happy to have a new ornament to add to my tree this year!  Yay!

Thank you Liane!  Your gift is PERFECT!