Why I Oughta...

We're going to get started this weekend with the water putty.  This guy is 'vintage-y' looking, so he'll fit right in with some of the past year's editions. Here's the mold we used in 2013 . Here's the mold we used in 2012 . Here's the mold we used in 2011 .

Longtime readers know my fascination with Christmas Villages.  Hell...I even came up with the name for my own town:   Mantleburg .  But, due to space and a little bit of sanity winning out, I've really slowed down on the acquisition of any sort of new Christmas Village stuff. That was, until I was gifted this Chop Suey Palace from A Christmas Story this am. That lead me down a web rabbit hole where I discovered these:   National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation village stuff . Yeah...they're all there.  Cousin Eddie with the full shitter.  Clark's over-lit house, and even the huge tree on top of the Truckster.  As I've learned in the past, these things roll out in phases, so I'm expecting to see more next year. Maybe Mantleburg will get a new subdivision after all...

Last year, we put up our first Lionel layout in the basement.   You can see it here in this photo .  It was nice sized and fit into the corner of our basement.  Nat hated it.  She thought it was way, way, way too big.  The Babe, and I, however loved it. With Halloween just a day away, my attention is turning to Christmas. Putting up the train isn't so much about the actual train as it is about having a memory of my childhood with my Dad.  In looking around the web for inspiration, I came across this massive layout that was (apparently) on the back cover of the 1957 Lionel catalog.  From the looks of it, this appears to be a 2X size of our current layout, which means we're going to have to find a new home for the train.  With all the little kids at our house all the time, moving it into a different room isn't the worst idea ever.  I'm thinking that it can fit neatly into either the spare bedroom down there or perhaps even into the crawlspace underneath our family r

Speaking of Christmas Creep ...we got into a bit of it ourselves with a few purchases at a garage sale in our neighborhood last week. I couldn't pass this guy up and I think he'll go great amongst our collection of other vintage Santas in our holiday decor.  T he most recent example of one of these guys here .  And, here's another one with Spaghetti Trim . This one is old, but I'm not certain the exact date of manufacture.  As you can see below, it is a bank, but it also has a "Made in Japan" sticker on it, so that gives it some historical markers and places it amongst the rest of our collection. Pay no attention to the price tag on this one.  Every year we go to the Vintage Christmas show, we always pay quite a bit more for these ceramic guys, so I was thrilled to find a deal like this. I'll post about the rest of the stuff we bought, but after putting together a 'package deal', I think we paid less than even what they were asking here (

Since 2004 (and likely before, but 2004 on the web), I 've been recommending a viewing of The Last Waltz as a way to give thanks on Thanksgiving.  With kids - and a Turkey Trot - my time to sit down and watch the whole thing has been diminished, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be breaking bread with Levon, Rick, Garth, Robbie and Richard. Here's my post from 2011 on The Last Waltz . Here's my post from 2010 on The Last Waltz . Here's my post from 2007 on The Last Waltz . Here's my post from 2005 on The Last Waltz . Here's my post from 2004 on The Last Waltz . Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Momma and her first born who LOVED the St. Joe's fireworks.

The mold for my Easter Bunny Faux Chocolate craft project arrived via the USPS a few days ago.  He's about 11" tall which is about the same as the ones I made last year.  Here's last year's version of the Faux Chocolate Bunny craft project . I made four of them last year with Durham's Water Putty and gave three of them away.  Hopefully, I'll find time to make at least four of them again this year to start what I'll call a 'collection'. Now that I have the mold, it is just a matter of buying enough Water Putty and paint!

It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the mandatory viewing of The Last Waltz film in our house.  There's no better way to wake up and enjoy the day than by watching these guys celebrate the big day.  I'm guessing that as The Babe grows up a bit more, I'll be arm-wrestling her for control of the remote as she'll want to watch the parade.  But until then...I rule the roost on Turkey Day. Happy Thanksgiving! 2010 post 2007 post 2005 post 2004 post

We dressed the 'ole girl up in her holiday best for this weekend's Labor Day festivities.  She looked great.  Understated, but great.  I guess there's nothing like a party to get me to hustle in the yard and landscape beds.

Another year, another great Petruck party.  This time The Babe brought her own chair. 

I was gifted a bottle of Dom Perignon from a friend when the Babe was born back in late 2009.  Quite the nice gift, eh? With champagne having somewhat of a shelf-life, we knew we wanted to drink it soon.  We kept trying to remember to bring it out or over to parties, but we always forgot it in our wine fridge.  So...we finally remembered and figured what better way to ring in 2011 than to pop the cork on this baby.  I don't drink A LOT of champagne, but I must say that this was pretty tasty and very drinkable.  I went back for a second glass. Consider drinking a big glass of Dom crossed off my life list.

Last week, I went to our Sears Essentials - which is really just a KMart - to pick up an ornament box. These are tubs that have special dividers that allow for an orderly packing of all of one's ornaments.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any.  The guys there said that I had to go to an *actual* KMart, not just one dressed up as a Sears Essentials.  Bummer. But...as I was nosing around the holiday section, I came across their Christmas Village display.  And...what did my wondering eyes did appear, but a bunch of heavily discounted buildings from Lemax and Department 56.   Lots of them without boxes, some with boxes, but ALL of them at rock-bottom prices.  I'm just a novice when it comes to this whole Christmas Village deal, but the structures that Sears had on display weren't the same as the ones at Menards. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't go crazy and buy up a bunch of buildings but this stuff was cheap.  Really cheap.  Especially the ones without b

Just like last year , I'm going to document my Favorite (Holiday) Things.  But...I'm not Oprah, so don't look under your chairs - all of you readers won't be getting these these things from me!  Here they are, in no particular order. 2010 Favorite (Holiday) Things 1.   Bass Pro Shop and their free photos with Santa.  We went to Marshall Fields on State Street and had the Babe sit with Santa.  And they proceeded to get us for $20 for the photo.  However, when we were in Bolingbrook, I took the Babe to see Santa at Bass Pro .  And sure, they *tried* to upsell me on photo key chains and such, if you say "no thanks", they let you out of there with a nice photo for free! 2.   Our new blowmold Santa, sleigh and reindeer.  I picked him up this year after eyeing the pair for a few years.  The plan is to add a reindeer each year and eventually get a full set just like Clark W. Griswold.   Just waiting for the prices to drop! 3.   Christmas Villages.  This one

My brother-in-laws are a pretty creative bunch.  For the past few years, they've been building gingerbread houses over their Christmas breaks.  Last year it was a pretty intricate log cabin house with a front porch.   This year, all three of them (Bill, Charlie, and Peter) had time together and spent quite a bit of time making a different kind of "house".  I use "house" in quotes because for some reason  they actually made a combination KFC/Taco Bell with a drive-thru lane.   Yes.  A restaurant.  I watched (I had NOTHING to do with this aside from watching and cheering them on!) as they baked the walls/structure and poured the sugar "glass" windows.  I came back a few days later and this beauty was built.  On the right, you can see the drive-thru's menu board and also note the wire(s) going to the bottom of the structure.  They even wired this restaurant up with interior lights.  And...to be even more crazy:  There's even an air conditioning un

In the spirit of haul videos , I figure I'd share a few of my spoils from the holiday festivities.  I thought for about a minute or two about doing a spoof haul video, but then figured I have better other things to do with my time. First up is a gift from my dad.  Growing up I always LOVED the holiday time because that meant that my dad was going to be setting up his Lionel train.  The set was his since he was a child and he somehow hung onto it and the set - for the most part - survived various moves and time.  This was a shared tradition throughout my childhood as we even went to various train shows each December adding a piece to the collection - sometimes a car, sometimes some track.  And....boy the smell of that transformer!  Those of you with older train sets know what I'm talking about, but it just smells like Christmas to me! The hobby resurfaced again a few years back when - for some reason - my interest in Lionel and trains rose.  We even went back to a show and

With Christmas already in our rearview mirror (sad, isn't it?), I needed to document the latest addition to our decor before it gets packed away.  In early December, we went to a vintage Christmas fair on Randolph Street in the city.  We've gone the past two years and have come home with a handful of treasures each year. These guys were my favorite buy this year and they've been sitting near our front door in the entry - so we get to see them a lot. They're stamped "Japan" - so I'm guessing that dates them to before WWII, right?  As with most people's Christmas and their Christmas decor, things just keep expanding.  Or...as my brother-in-law once put it:  "Christmas is like the universe.  It keeps growing each year." I'll have to remember to put these guys back up by the front door.  That is, if I can get my attention away from building the baddest Christmas Village ever!

Christmas is here and the Penny Hockey boards (Topper Hockey!) were a hit!  Nat and I gave our gifts to my family last night on Christmas Eve. The boys get A LOT of gifts from Santa and others at my folks, so it takes a lot to grab their attention.  I'm hopeful that they'll pick up their boards in the coming days and fall in love with the game like I did. On the 3 boards I made, I stamped each one with the name of the game (Topper Hockey), their name and also left room for a second owner.  Getting them to think of the game as something that they can enjoy and share with others is important and this way, they understand that this isn't a disposable gift. Also...if you look closely, you'll see that Topper Hockey hasn't left 'beta' quite yet! I stamped my initials and the year in the bottom corner - so they remember when the game showed up.  I also included a "History of Topper Hockey" (written tongue-in-cheek) and the official rules of the gam

Just like in years past, we not only have a tree in our living room, we also have a smaller one out in the middle of our front yard.  Our front yard, you ask?  Yup. It is a fundraiser for the school district and they drop the trees off for our block on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Not everybody puts one up - there might be a person or two who are Grinches, but for the most part, the entire block participates. This year, I arrived early at the tree pickup and grabbed a tall one.  Everyone puts the old-fashioned C9 lights on them - we use the big ones, but in LED bulbs. There is a lot to like about Elmhurst, but this small tradition is one more reason to like living here - the sense of community around the holidays is nice and makes the season a bit more merry and bright. For reference sake, here's our other yard trees: 2009 Front Yard Christmas Tree

For the past few years, Google has teamed up with NORAD to allow parents and kids to track Santa across the globe in Google Earth.  I'm posting this on the 23rd (Happy Festivus, Everyone!) because some of you read these posts via email a day after they're posted.  Here's a video from last year.  If you look closely around 23 seconds, you can see Santa flying right down the Chicago River!  And...I have it on good authority that there will be even more Chicago footage this year! This year, Google has made it even easier to track the Big Guy wherever you might be on Christmas Eve. Pay attention, parents!  This year, no more need to be chained to your laptop or desktop.  Now...you can track Santa on your phone.   That's pretty easy, isn't it? How to Track Santa on Your Mobile Device: 1. Get Google Maps on your mobile device .  If you don't have it loaded, you can use this QR Code to get it now: 2.  On Christmas Eve, open the application. 3.  Search for &quo

Let me preface all of this by stating clearly:  Yes...I feel a bit of shame for this new guilty pleasure.   I have to admit something:  I've *somehow* fallen in love with our Christmas Village.  Yes...those little porcelein buildings/scenes that people put up at the holidays.  You know the type.  You probably overlook them.  I know I used to.   But, for some reason, my brain keeps telling me that I NEED to collect these little buildings.  It all started a few years ago - back in 2007 we received 2 Department 56 buildings for a wedding present from Nat's Aunt and Uncle.  Last year, I put both of them up on our temporary mantle.  This year, however, is a different story.  With the mantel finished , I figured it was time to think about what could go up there decoration-wise.  And...those two little buildings sparked something!   One night, my mom was over and we started talking about the village buildings - and it turns out, she had a few Department 56 buildings t