Most Creative Yo-Homes!

[Annie (118992501)]

"To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home."

~ C.K. Chesterton


Interior of house/Christmas Day, 25 December/1843...


Foyer/Reception:




Ballroom:




Master Bedroom/Bath:

[Annie (118992501)]

During the last Christmas of the war – and the last Christmas of Lincoln's life – we do know something about how he kept the holiday.

On December 25, 1864 the Lincolns hosted a Christmas reception for the cabinet, recorded the White House Historical Society. However, they also had some unexpected guests for that evening’s Christmas dinner. Tad Lincoln, the president’s rambunctious young son who had already helped inspire the tradition of a 'Presidential turkey pardon', invited several newsboys – child newspaper sellers who worked outdoors in the chilly Washington winter – to the Christmas dinner. “Although the unexpected guests were a surprise to the White House cook, the president welcomed them for dinner,” wrote the historical association. The meal must have been a memorable one... for the newsboys at least.
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"Although it separated many from their families, permanently or temporarily, the Civil War also helped to shape Americans’ experience of Christmas, which wasn’t a big holiday before the 1850s. “Like many other such ‘inventions of tradition,’ the creation of an American Christmas was a response to social and personal needs that arose at a particular point in history, in this case a time of sectional conflict and civil war.”

~ Penne Restad, 'History Today'



Amherst, MA, December, 1865 - A grieving nation healing from a civil war and the death of a president:

[Annie (118992501)]

"The way we treat people we think can’t help or hurt us — like housekeepers, waiters, secretaries — tells more about our character than how we treat people we think are important, How we behave when we think no one is looking, or when we don’t think we will get caught, accurately portrays our character better than anything we can ever say or ever do in service of our reputations."

– Michael Josephson

Household helping hands getting ready to celebrate Christmas:





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"May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!"

~ Author Unknown

[Annie (118992501)]

During a time when financial hardships were commonplace for many British households, 'A Christmas Carol' delivered just the right message to bring families back to a holiday that often becomes a celebration of wealth and consumerism. Charles Dickens reminded his readers that a joyful Christmas morning does not require Ebenezer Scrooge's gold, as much as it needs the heart of the poor Cratchit family.

Dickens likely saw himself in the character of family man Bob Crachit. Like Crachit, Dickens was a husband and father of a large family. His wife was pregnant with their fifth child while he penned the novel, and they were struggling to make ends meet. Dickens previous writings were not earning very much, and their living expenses were too high. He began writing 'A Christmas Carol' as a desperate attempt to earn more money and provide for his family.

While financial gain may have been Dickens' original motivation, he quickly found himself swept away by the story. When describing the writing process, he said he "wept and laughed, and wept again," and he "walked about the black streets of London fifteen or twenty miles many a night when all sober folks had gone to bed." He believed in his work so passionately that, despite his financial situation, he paid for production of the book out of his own pocket after disagreements with his publishers. Hoping to make his work more affordable for everyone, he also lowered the purchase price.
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"I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

~ Charles Dickens

[Annie (118992501)]

"Merry Christmas and good night.
Everyone's finally in bed.
It's been a good day, merry and bright.
A successful Christmas, all said!"

~ Unknown

[Maggie (109217188)]

"Merry Christmas and good night.
Everyone's finally in bed.
It's been a good day, merry and bright.
A successful Christmas, all said!"

~ Unknown



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https://apps.facebook.com/playyoworld/?d=h67163649

'Precious"

[Annie (118992501)]

Awww... thank you, Maggie. So sweet...

[Annie (118992501)]

The Razor's Edge

The Himalayas/Christmas,1945:

[michelle ganley (14702341)]

"Merry Christmas and good night.
Everyone's finally in bed.
It's been a good day, merry and bright.
A successful Christmas, all said!"

~ Unknown



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https://apps.facebook.com/playyoworld/?d=h67163649

'Precious"

love this one

[michelle ganley (14702341)]

The Razor's Edge

The Himalayas/Christmas,1945:

and this one

[michelle ganley (14702341)]

[Annie (118992501)]

Thank you, Michelle... sweet of you to say. I like yours, as well, especially the cards . I was thinking about attempting - well, copying would be more like it - one, myself.

Coincidentally, someone just recently did a tutorial for everyone explaining how to construct one, but now I can't remember where I saw it. Thanks much for posting yours. it will give me a template to follow... if you don't mind, of course?

[michelle ganley (14702341)]

thank you annie of course i dont mind. The post with tutorial is on discussions thats where i got the idea i just did it a little differently

[Annie (118992501)]

Awww... thanks so much for your help. Lovely card designs by all.

[Annie (118992501)]

"What Child is this
Who laid to rest
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?"

~ William Chatterton Dix (14 June 1837 – 9 September 1898)
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[Annie (118992501)]

Over hill and dale astride their trusty steeds, the townspeople had begun to gather together to prepare the town hall for our new years gala. Unfortunately, our architect/builder will not be able to complete the three rooms that come with this house in time for the festivities.

However, we - the citizens of this fair town - would like to offer a collective heart-felt toast in wishing all - in keeping with the spirit of the season - a very happy new year:

"For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."

~ T.S. Eliot
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"And there’s a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie waught..."

~ Robert Burns, Auld Lang Syne (1788)

[Annie (118992501)]

"The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (German: Nussknacker und Mausekönig) is a story written in 1816 by German author E. T. A. Hoffmann, in which young Marie Stahlbaum's favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls. In 1892, the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov turned Alexandre Dumas's adaptation of the story into the ballet "The Nutcracker".

[Annie (118992501)]

Working on the 'new free contemporary room' (so, as usual, contents are subject to change) using the panoramic window as my main focal point:

[Annie (118992501)]

A very short, short, short story:


September, 1215 and King John's attempts to quash rebel opposition at home have proven to be unsuccessful. Discontent within England has reached the breaking point and he will shortly be forced into a civil war. Peace will only be negotiated following his death in 1216.

[Annie (118992501)]

This picture is from the last challenge. I probably would have added a few more items but I inadvertently deleted the whole room and am not going to reassemble it. You cats dig, right? Okay then... see you later, alligator.