Merry Christmas, 2016!

Christmas is right around the corner...and so it is in ThimbleWorld! 

But first, let me take you on the tour of my world of thimbles around the house for Christmas this year.

A tree with many toys beneath, many of which are thimbles. 

Remember that table and chairs of thimbles I made back in October? Well, here it is again--in the way I made it for. Note the plate of cookies, glass of milk, and note to Santa on the table. It was an awesome find that fit perfectly.

I decorated with snowflakes this year. My very old crocheted tree adorned the felt snowflake quite nicely. Accents are a snowglobe and a "Home Sweet Home" thimble.

The Tally-Ho Tavern or the Bar on the bar. The Santa "train" is a trio of thimbles.

Santa (thimble) at another tree with tons of gifts. A wine cork reindeer looks on.

More snowflakes with a pine cone tree my daughter made when she was little.

Santa even takes lists from aliens...

We had to have another year of the "short tree" because of the puppy, so I decided to do it in snowflakes.

Snowflake above, houses around and below...

Santa (thimble) drags his bag into a house.


The snow white houses under the tree...the colorful snowman is the thimble.
  
Behind those houses is the new white house. Santa exits toward his sleigh and a reindeer (thimbles).

The church and tree. An angel prays in the distance.

Next stop is a Christmas village.
  
Mrs. Claus sees Santa off (they are thimbles). Elves play in thimbles under the trees.

More elves (thimbles) hang out in front of the Toy Store. A toy train chugs along on its track around the tree (thimble). In the back, a snowman (thimble) looks on.

Abe Lincoln Snowman (thimble) proudly waves his flag outside the post office. The hardware store has a miniature carousel (thimble).

Last, but definitely not least, THIMBLEWORLD!

Christmas Land takes center stage around the tree.

If you look closely, you can see that Christmas Land is set up on a felt snowflake. All the houses (thimbles) and trees run the outline of the snowflake.

The houses and trees along an edge.

Santa at his house at the rear of the snowflake village.

A commuter dashes for the train.

The country side of life in ThimbleWorld.

A lodge is nestled into the mountain. Two of my handmade cabins sit on one level of the "snow mountain."

My handmade covered bridge thimble. Amish buggy approaches. Note the driver.
  
Our house, is a very, very fine house. I included the new shop.

The city side.

The rural mountainside. My observatory is aimed at the planets above.

There's even another cabin outside of the city...complete with outhouse.

The center all lit up.

ThimbleWorld, in all its glory!

Finally, to wrap things up, let's finish in the kitchen. Snowflakes adorn the doorway.

The house-shaped thimble rack with lots of Christmas thimbles.

 The snowflake glows a nice, soft light.

 My Christmas "mug" collection. These are only about an inch tall.

Well, that's it for this year. If I display my ThimbleWorld next year, that will be the 10th year I have done it. So, on to Year 10!












Thanksgiving 2016

Thanksgiving decorations are a pleasant easiness between the two big holidays (for me, at least).  I did a few changes, mostly because of moving things around so I can claim my lost section of counter top. Monthly mini-Thimble World maintains the colonials and Indians theme with omissions and additions.


I decided to take out the larger totem pole and Indian chief to keep things in a closer perspective. Then, I threw in a big fire.  

I can't have the familiar train in the display (of course), so I found a covered wagon and team of horses to take its place.

I added a windmill next to the colonial barn.

 Nothing changed a lot, however. Still the lovely fuchsia tree blossoms in the center of "town" with the bench awaiting visitors, 

 To top it off, my handmade thimble of a scarecrow and tree on a "hill."

On the nook of my kitchen table is the usual pilgrim display.

Pilgrims and animals around the home.

Scarecrow next to small cornucopia. Lots of autumn warmth in this display. The little acorn out front is a thimble.

A trail of autumn leaves around my books.

More colonials and Indians on a larger scale.

The colonial farm with a log cabin far in the back.  Most of the critters are actually thimbles. The sheep are the ones that aren't.

The cute pilgrim children. The bucket of spilled milk and the new little churn are both "collector" thimbles.

Many little thimble animals surround the tree in the middle.

The adorable Indian children and their animals relax by a (lighted) fire pit in front of their teepee. The totem pole in the back is a stack of (totem) thimbles.  Believe it or not, I had to buy the totem from England.  It was not an item for sale in the U.S.

Anyone remember the table and chairs with a web tablecloth and crystal ball thimble from last month?  It's baaaaaaack!  Only (as a side note) this is what the table and chairs were originally made for. A Thanksgiving feast! And that turkey is a thimble! (I made the chairs from metal thimbles and buttons. The table base is a thimble made to look like a spoon of thread.)

And that turkey opens up to reveal the wishbone!  Anyone want to make a wish?

The tour is finished, so let's gather at the kitchen table for a 
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!