Author: Cyndi

King of Christmas Home Decor

By Cyndi – Posted on

Helping You To Find The Most Amazing Christmas Trees Ever

King of Christmas

the early big Black Friday Sale at King of Christmas.

If you’re familiar with King of Christmas you know that they have the best most beautiful and highest quality Christmas trees and decorations anywhere.

I purchase the flocked Christmas tree above last year and I have no regrets.

My tree is beautiful. I love it.

This amazing Christmas tree came with lights attached to it and it looks gorgeous when it’s all lit up at night in my living room.

The tree is so sensational that I didn’t even putting any ornaments on it. That’s just how beautiful this tree is. King of Christmas has a lot of gorgeous trees to chose from.

Whatever your preference it I’m sure you’ll find whatever you need. 

They also have a wonderful selection of accessories for all your Christmas tree needs. Their wreaths and garlands add a touch of splendor to any Christmas decor. 

King of Christmas has a great collection of all things Christmas.

Check them out. You’ll be over the moon when you see their large selection of Christmas trees.

Shop trees under $300.

‘Tis the season everybody!

Cyn

Beauty and the Face,

Love for the Skin

A Champagne Christmas

Are You Ready for Christmas?

By Cyndi – Posted on

Are you and your house Christmas ready?

Christmas is kncoking at the door

Christmas is knocking at the door. 

Christmas is here and I mean it is in full display in my house. The lights, the Christmas decorations, cookies, cakes, trim for the tree and so much more!

My tree is up. My coffee table is spilling over with all kinds of Christmas wonder and I’m enjoying every second of it.

When the lights come on in my starry night red hurricanes they illumine the entire first floor of my home. Christmas is alive and I can feel its presence.

This Christmas I am looking forward to receiving peace and joy all season long. I see myself relaxing while enjoying the sounds of the Christmas season.

I’m thinking about going to a candle making class as well. Anything that brings me peace and happiness is what I’m looking forward to this holiday season. Perhaps I’ll do some writing. Maybe I’ll craft a few Christmas cards and send them to close friends.

What about you; what are your plans for Christmas this year?

Christmas is knocking at the door. Open up and enjoy the time together.

May your Christmas be bright,

Cyn

www.achampagnechristmas.com

www.everywomanslifelovingjourney.com

Happy Thanksgiving

By Cyndi – Posted on

Christmas is on the horizon but First Thanksgiving

 

Thanksgiving is Thursday November 28, 2024.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. 

Thanksgiving is coming soon. Yes and here at my house we are overjoyed. It doesn’t take much to get me excited so when I hear the word Thanksgiving I’m ready to get busy cooking.

The supermarkets all have their Thanksgiving items on display and I love it!

I started shopping for my thanksgiving dinner in October. I always want to be ready way before the day because I don’t want to run to the store when they are jam packed even though I must admit it is so much fun seeing people prepare for this special holiday.

This year I’ll be making my traditional Thanksgiving dinner that my mother handed down to me.

Here’s my Thanksgiving day dinner menu,

  • Turkey
  • Dressing
  • Potato salad
  • Mac n cheese
  • String beans
  • Candied yams
  • Cranberry sauce
  • Dinner rolls
  • Water

For dessert we will enjoy homemade sweet potato pies.   

This is the famous dinner that I prepare each and every year for my family and they love it. I just thought of something. Instead of potato salad I think I’m going to make scalloped potatoes this year. Yes, that’s what I’m going to do.

After dinner my family and I will enjoy each others company and watch the NFL. I’ll check to see what teams are scheduled to play on Thanksgiving Day.

I’m looking forward to cooking and spreading holiday cheer all day long for Thanksgiving 2024.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to get together with family and sometimes friends.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Oh, and Merry Christmas too.

Cyn

www.beautyandtheface.com

www.purplepaperpoetry.com

 

Wonderful Songs for the Christmas Season

By Cyndi – Posted on

Christmas Music and Sounds of the Season Make Us Sing I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Christmas music for the soul

Hello Christmas Luminaries,

Can you believe it’s November 2, 2024, already?

Talk about ready, I cannot wait to get the Christmas celebration started.

Someone in my Facebook Christmas group informed me that Sirius has already started playing Christmas songs early yesterday morning.

I am excited because listening to the many wonderful Christmas songs is a great way to get into the holiday spirit.

My favorite Christmas songs and recording artists are, Mariah Carey and Baby Please Come Home. I also love Josh Groban’s rendition of Celebrate Me Home. How about Dean Martin, the Crooner, who sings amazingly when he belts out, A Marsh Mallow World.

And then there are the tall and talented group called the Temptations who come from the Motown Family, my family. We cannot forget their special rendition of Silent Night. They sing so beautifully with Eddie Kendricks on lead vocals.

I also love Celine when she so beautifully sings O Holy Night. She and Josh have my heart whenever I hear them sing so sensationally.

Wonderful Songs and Sounds of the Season Make Us Smile Every Year at Christmas

There are many top holiday Christmas songs that I love so much. Here are some of my other favorite Christmas songs that warm my home and melt my heart. To say that they deeply resonate with my spirit are would be an understatement.

A Holly Jolly Christmas

Silver Bells

Santa Baby

The First Noel

Carol of the Bells

Do You Hear What I Hear?

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Sleigh Ride

The list above is some of my favorite Christmas songs ever. What about you; do you have a few songs that you look forward to hearing throughout the Christmas Holiday season?

To be honest with you, I could listen to these songs all year round!

Sounds of the most wonderful time of the year begins the moment you hear Andy Williams’ version of It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Enjoy Christmas music for the soul and jingle all the way to Christmas day!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Cyndi

www.wreathonmydoor.com

 

Six Easy Rules for Christmas Wrapping

By Cyndi – Posted on

How to Love and Enjoy Wrapping Your Gifts for Christmas

Six Easy Rules for Christmas Wrapping

When it’s time to wrap your Christmas gifts listed below are six ways to enjoy wrapping your gifts this year.

1) Choose wrapping paper that makes you feel good and that is a joy to wrap with. Consider colour, print and texture when choosing.

2) Do wrap ahead of time and over time. Wrapping is fun but not when it becomes a chore. Who wants to wrap fifty gifts five days before Christmas?

3) Fabric and wallpaper samples are great for wrapping stocking stuffers. In other words, utilise precious ‘scraps’.

4) You don’t have to wrap everything. For instance, if you’ve bought play costumes or beautiful clothes for your little one, show them off under the Christmas tree on a little clothing rack. Gift bags are also great for items like stuffed animals and items that are difficult to wrap.

5) Don’t be afraid to go for a ‘look’. I often choose different papers that complement each other and pair them with red or green velvet ribbon.

6) Be yourself. Whatever wrapping you choose, it will be fabulous. Just go with your own vibe and enjoy the wrapping process, preferably with an excellent Christmas playlist on in the background!

And there you have it, six easy rules for Christmas wrapping. Be merry and bright and enjoy the holidays. 

Six Easy Rules for Christmas Wrapping

Merry Christmas,  

Aja

The Traveller’s Christmas Gift Guide

By Cyndi – Posted on

The Traveller’s Christmas Gift Guide: Italian Edition

The Traveller’s Christmas Gift Guide: Italian Edition

Hello Christmas Luminaries,
 
Your Traveller’s Christmas Gift Guide, Italian Edition is here. I hope you enjoy this beautiful heartfelt moment and all the loved my daughter, poured into this amazing guide to help you with your Christmas shopping this year. 
 

One of the things I look forward to most on vacation is searching for gifts for friends and family. There is much to be learned about a country’s culture through its art, history, cuisine, sartorial aesthetic, and even its weather and these subjects play a significant role in my ‘treasure hunting’.

My family and I recently travelled to Rome, Florence and the Tuscan countryside and there were treasures to be found around every corner. Some were free (the bewitching Trevi Fountain); some happily paid for (Florentine splatterware dishes).

I skipped the ubiquitous tourist tat (apart from a good magnet) and made way for a village antiques store in all its ramshackle splendour, shopped culinary delights in a 19th century-old supermarket and sniffed my way around a niche boutique of intoxicating handmade soaps and fragrances.

I also wanted to kick myself as I spotted a grand confectionery store with beautiful candied fruits that looked like jewels, just as we were leaving for the airport..oh what wonderful stocking stuffers they would have made for my young boys!

The Most Wonderful Christmas Gift Guide Ever

Here is a list of the gifts I purchased during this magical trip (many of them are also available online if visiting Italy is not an option) and I hope it inspires you to think outside the box this Christmas. After all, what could be better than saying ‘Merry Christmas, I love you’ with a treasure you sought from afar?

-Splatterware dishes (serving bowls)..if these particular dishes aren’t your style, look for other Tuscan made ceramics that suit the style of the recipient

-Gourmet treats (limoncello, vin santo Venchi chocolates with their jewel-like wrappers, cantuccini, dried pasta, Gilli fruit candies)

-Babington’s tea  

-Antique glasses or other items

-Anything from Santa Maria Novella (their beautiful soaps or potpourri with a small budget or one their perfumes on a larger budget)

Classic kids clothing (for the grandkids..Baroni)

-Linens (guest towels for the bathroom, tea towels)

-Stationery (marbled paper, notecards with hand-painted motifs

The Traveller’s Christmas Gift Guide, Italian Edition offers a nice variety of unique gifting ideas for anyone on your list this year.
 
I hope this guide inspires and helps you to pick out the perfect gift for those on your special list at Christmastime this year.
 
Merry Christmas Everyone,
 
Aja,
 
 
 

Let’s Decorate for the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

By Cyndi – Posted on

Let’s Get Ready To Welcome Christmas Into Our Homes

Decorating Our Homes for the Christmas Season

Decorating Our Homes for the Christmas Season starts right now.

If you’re ready, read along and decorate your hearts and homes with me for the holiday season and smile with glee.

Christmas is almost here and it’s time to roll out the red carpet and get ready to celebrate after we have decorated.

Who is ready to decor their home for the holidays? Let’s delve into merry and bright and illumine our homes with beautiful Christmas decorations.

As I have said time and time again, I love Christmas. Christmas is the most amazing time of year for me and my family.

Here it is October and I am ready to decorate my home for Christmas For the last two years I have been decorating my house for Christmas in October.

Although I shelf shop for Christmas decor every year in October I still prefer to use my own traditional pieces to decorate my home with, but you’ll still find me racing to Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, Michael’s for fun. Going to At Home to get a look at their breathtaking Christmas decor. I was not disappointed!

Shopping for Our Holiday Decor

Decorating Our Homes for the Christmas Season 

First, Home Goods is my favorite store for buying Christmas decorations. HG inspires me and gets me deeper into the Christmas mood that warms my spirit.

Shopping for the holiday season get me super excited and seeing the stores stocked up for Christmas. This time of year motivates me to decorate early because when October rolls around in my mind it’s Christmas and I want to enjoy Christmastime as long as possible.

Also, Hobby Lobby and Michael’s are both great to buy decorations for Christmas they both are similar in what they sell for Christmas.

I visited At Home in Maryland and was in awe at their enormous selection of all things Christmas. They had every ornament imaginable and in a variety of colors. 

From red to light pink, blue and mauve everything in their Christmas section was lovely and I enjoyed browsing through their decorations. 

After shelf shopping I decided that I would leave all of the 2024 Christmas decor behind and use all of the decorations that I already have instead of buying new.

I’m ready to decorate and I’ll start with my coffee table.

A few years ago I purchased a gold tray that I absolutely love.  It will be my coffee table’s centerpiece to be a showcase of stunning Christmas decor.

This gold tray is beautiful, bright and perfect for the Christmas holidays. Something about it sparkles and it says Christmas morning, noon and night.

Now, right in the middle of my gold tray I have placed a glass gold Christmas tree which serves also as a candle. It smells remarkable.

Right next to my gold Christmas tree I placed a tall gold reindeer. He has antlers that make him more than beautiful. Everything about him is gorgeous.

Next, I have added red and gold ornaments to this lovely tray with a few purple pieces to make this masterpiece pop.

To add more color and whimsy I have placed a set of three Starry Night Ribbon Ornament Hurricanes in red that illumine with white lights to brighten my table. I purchased these lovelies  from Valerie Parr Hill when she introduced them on QVC in July. These stunning hurricanes help to set the tone for Christmas and they are truly amazing.

And then there is Santa Claus. He is on the opposite end of my red hurricanes. He is clothed in a red soft winter coat and has some wonderful gifts in his sack. He is ready to make his deliveries.

Well, Christmas Luminaries, I think that’s it for now. My Christmas tree will be going up this week. I’ll be back to share the photos with you.

Decorating our homes for the Christmas season should be joy and love

Happy Decorating and Merry Christmas!

Cyn

www.achampagnechristmas.com

www.wreathonmydoor.com

 

 

 

 

Christmas is Love Peace and Joy

By Cyndi – Posted on

 Christmas Miracles Happen When Love Enters Into Our Hearts 

Christmas Miracles and Love

Christmas miracles and love.

Christmas is love and when we invite this special time of year into our hearts and homes we get to experience overflowing joy that majestically flows in clothing and warming us with Christmas presence.

Wonder becomes splendor and the two become expressions of love that await Christmas miracles making wishes come true. This happens when we close our eyes to dream.

We open our eyes to see the beauty of the holiday season and we smile.

Gifted to us we receive an abundance of peace and joy and maybe even those things which our hearts desire or that which we need.

Love continuously wraps and warms us and we are given ornaments of grace.

Enjoy Christmas and take time to sit relax and think of the beauty of this sensational holiday season.

There is no time like Christmastime. It is truly a time to love and a time to give and to welcome family friends to gather around and love each other sincerely.

Lasting love endures and Christmas lives in our hearts forever and always. This season why not let joy, all the love and peace become our way of living and speaking. When we do this  Christmas happens everyday because Christmas is love.

 

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone

Cyn

beautyandtheface.com

The Christmas Holiday Gift Guide

By Cyndi – Posted on

A Special Holiday Gift Guide for 2025

Christmas 2025 will be all about games, architecture, the beach and the magic of ballet. With the first theme, I hope to teach the little ones about the joy of sharing, taking turns and the comradeship to be had in collectively taking part in structured games.

With the second theme, I want to help the kids to explore how architecture can teach us about beauty in the world and how it challenges us to think without limitations. The sky is the limit for their little minds!

With theme number three, it’s really simple. The beach is the most wonderful and perfect place for kids to be kids!

Lastly, we will take them to experience the magic of ballet first hand with a performance of the quintessential Christmas ballet, the Nutcracker. An afternoon tea with sweet treats and an overnight stay in London the night of the ballet will be the icing on the cake.

If you would like to help with this special occasion in their little lives, just let me know and we can discuss further.

Mom’s List

1. Beach bucket sets x 2
https://scrunchkids.com/product/bucket-spade-moulds-bundle/
I would love for you to choose the colours but kindly ask if you could choose between the various shades of blue and green.

2. Waterstones gift cards x 2
https://www.waterstonesgiftcards.com/product-category/gift-cards/
This year they will choose a few of their own books rather than me buy a ton like I usually do. Of course I will buy some because I can’t help myself lol, but I want them to start choosing what they want to read and give them that magical bookstore experience. You are welcome to choose a book or two each for them as well.

3. Gingerbread cottage x2 (this most likely won’t be available to order until later this year..maybe around September, but we will do these on Christmas Day next year!)
https://honeywellbakes.com/product/gingerbread-house-kit/

4. A toy each (to be decided closer to the time)

Jude’s Birthday:
Spirograph design set
https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/arts-crafts-and-music/arts/drawing-and-sketching/spirograph-design-set/p/213368

There you have it. Our small holiday gift guide for Christmas 2024.

Merry Christmas Everyone,

Aja

 

www.achampagnechristmas.com

Gift Cards for Christmas

By Cyndi – Posted on

Great Christmas Gift Ideas

Great Gift Ideas for Christmas

Good Day Christmas Luminaries,

Great gift ideas for Christmas is here!

How are you? Today is Saturday, September 28, 2024 and it is the most wonderful and perfect Autumn day.

The temperature is very mild and the leaves continue to fall as they leave their home falling to the ground blanketing and warming earth’s grace and splendor. Today is filled with all kinds of Christmas possibilities and I am embracing them all.

As I continue to countdown to the wonderful holiday season gift cards for Christmas have been on my mind. Have you or do you buy gift cards for friends and/or family?  

I have a few small gifts to buy and gift cards maybe the perfect gift. 

I really love the thought of giving gift cards for Christmas because it’s a very thoughtful gift in my opinion.

Great Christmas Gift Ideas Are Here

Giving a gift card to someone close to your heart takes careful thought though. Let’s delve into this great gift idea it to see if a gift card would make a nice gift for someone we love that maybe hard to buy for.

 First, let’s begin by asking ourselves some questions. 

The person I want to purchase gift cards for is my son. Now while I know which stores my son likes I need to ask myself if he would actually use the gift cards if I buy them, I mean would he use them or would they sit on his bedroom dresser. 

Secondly, I need to ask myself the following questions:

  • What kind of clothing does my son like/wear best?
  • Does he need socks or undergarments
  • What is his favorite clothing brand?
  • Would he prefer a Ralph Lauren gift card or a Neiman Marcus gift card?
  • Would he prefer a Target gift card or a Wawa gift card?
  • Does he need something for his car?
  • Does he need something for his house?
  • What is his favorite restaurant?

Asking myself these questions will help to make it a little easier when it comes to gift card shopping for my son and to understand what gift card he would actually use and appreciate.

What do you think about these great gift ideas for Christmas? Has this helped you in deciding if you would purchase gift cards for family? 

Happy Christmas Shopping and Merry Christmas,

Cyn

www.beautyandtheface.com

www.achampagnechristmas.com