Christmas prep

We are down to the last few details for Christmas. Like Christmas nails! These are a Jamberry design called Christmas Sweater.

I made an orange clove pomander for the kitchen. Christmas makes me think of oranges.

Orange pomanders have sort of a gross history. Masking the unpleasant smells during the Plague. Eventually they became a Christmas gift. Martha Stewart has how to steps posted.

I found these Bob's peppermint stir sticks while I was out shopping. While I try to avoid buying myself things at Christmas time, I thought these would make a nice treat.

I was right.

Oranges for Christmas

Someon was eating an orange in the office and it smelled like Christmas to me. My family usually gets a box of Florida navel oranges around Christmas. We peel and eat them in the evenings when we watch TV.

Apparently an orange in the toe of a Christmas stocking is a tradition. This site says "The gold Nicholas threw to provide the dowry money is often shown as gold balls. These are symbolized by oranges or even apples. So the orange in the toe of the stocking is a reminder of Nicholas' gift."

I like to tell Aaron about how Laura in The Long Winter got an orange, an peppermint stick and a penny for Christmas. (Mentioned in this article)

When I was home my mom and I went to a few markets to find a box to split.

I was putting away some boxes when I found this box from my Grandma's. I looked at the shipping label and it was sent from my Great Aunt when who lived in Florida to my Grandpap. I guess my family has been eating oranges at Christmas for a long time.