Merry Christmas!

Darling, Angela. Noelle's Christmas Crush
October 1st 2013 by Simon Spotlight

Noelle Holly Winters loves having her birthday on Christmas, but this year she has decided that her birthday party will NOT be Christmas related, and instead will have purple and pink decorations. She agonizes over the guest list and finally decides she will ask her crush, Noel, whose birthday is on Christmas Eve! Not only is Noel supercute, but he does service projects with the student council and is really nice. When he agrees to go to Noelle's party, she is really excited, so when a major snowstorm hits town and she has to cancel, she's understandably bummed. Her birthday is saved when the family goes on their traditional ice skating outing... and Noel is there, too.
Strengths: I like these, I do. I have two copies of each of the first three because the 6th grade girls adore them. They are sweet and innocent, and didn't many of us palpitate over someone at that age, someone from whom a kiss on the cheek would have made our birthdays perfect?
Weaknesses: So easy to make fun of. My fifteen year old delights in doing dramatic readings of these; they definitely have their cheesy moments.

Waggoner, Susan. Have Yourself a Very Vintage Christmas
November 1st 2011 by Stewart, Tabori and Chang

If you have ever considered collecting Shiny Brite ornaments or vintage Santa salt and pepper shakers, this book is a must read. Waggoner very completely explains the different Christmas trends per decade and includes instructions for how to replicate the decorating and how to make some of the decorations yourself. There are lots of vintage illustrations in this, which it makes it fun to look at, but it is a HUGE lack that there are no pictures of the vast majority of the crafts, and none of the decorating tableaus that are described. Pity. That would have made the book.

And yes, I have TWO sets of these spinners that my parents bought when they were first married. And I knew that my love for all blue lights was based on decorating I had heard about from the 1930s. (And my parents always had blue lights.) We have quite a collection of ornaments for the tree, but I came to the conclusion a LONG time ago that it was unwise to get sucked into collecting things that only come out for a month every year. Not that I have gotten rid of the small cardboard  box of vintage ornament hangers...

Wishing all of yours peace during this holiday season, and a bright and happy new year!