Candy Cane? Who came up with that?!

Recently when we decorated our Christmas tree my nine year old son began to complain that we didn't have any candy canes. Apparently you cannot have Christmas without candy canes. :) So, what do you think I do, I load in my car at the first opportunity and drive my happy self to the store to get some. You know, when I was a kid (many years ago) I can only remember ever having red and white candy canes that tasted like peppermint. Now a days there is such a variety that you could have a candy cane for each day in December and still not taste them all. Made me wonder who came up with the idea of the candy cane in the first place. So, with a little bit of typing through Google, here is an article that I found. Enjoy the holiday season and don't forget your Candy Canes!

The symbol of the shepherds’ crook is an ancient one, representing the humble shepherds who were the first to worship the newborn Christ. Its counterpart is our candy cane – so old as a symbol that we have nearly forgotten its humble origin.

Legend has it that in 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral handed out sugar sticks among his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Creche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into shepherds’ crooks. In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small blue spruce with paper ornaments and candy canes.

It wasn’t until the turn of the century that the red and white stripes and peppermint flavors became the norm. The body of the cane is white, representing the life that is pure. The broad red stripe is symbolic of the Lord’s sacrifice for man.
In the 1920s, Bob McCormack began making candy canes as special Christmas treats for his children, friends and local shopkeepers in Albany, Georgia. It was a laborious process – pulling, twisting, cutting and bending the candy by hand. It could only be done on a local scale.

In the 1950s, Bob’s brother-in-law, Gregory Keller, a Catholic priest, invented a machine to automate candy cane production. Packaging innovations by the younger McCormacks made it possible to transport the delicate canes on a scale that transformed Bobs Candies, Inc. into the largest producer of candy canes in the world.

Although modern technology has made candy canes accessible and plentiful, they’ve not lost their purity and simplicity as a traditional holiday food and symbol of the humble roots of Christianity.
(copied from www.ideafinder.com)

Using what I have...

Have you ever been given, or "left" with an item that you just can't figure out how it can ever work in your own household. While you are worrying about that you are also stressing yourself out because no matter what, you cannot get rid of this useless thing. Maybe it is the wrong color, wrong style, or just plain ugly. Well this is what happened to me. When my grandmother passed away I felt the need to take her chair. It was the chair that she had always sat in. She always said it was the most comfortable and I felt that if I could keep it then I would keep a little piece of her with me. I know, I'm being all sentimental, but it is true. So, here I am with this comfortable, ugly green swivel chair. It doesn't exactly fit with any of my decor and if I leave it with my boys it will be destroyed within a year and I just can't let that happen. So, I get to thinking. I can buy a slip cover to put over the chair since I don't have the money or the know how to re-cover the chair myself. The problem is this, I don't have the money for a slip cover right now. What to do, what to do. Then as I sit there pondering my choices I think about all the spare linens that I have in a closet. Surely there but be something there of interest. Upon rummaging through the closet I find a cream colored dust ruffle, a white blanket and some of my old teddy beards. I begin by putting the white blanket over the chair to hide the green color. I concentrate on the front and sides as no one should be able to see the back. I then put the dust ruffle over the blanket and begin to smooth and tuck the material around the chair. I did have to pull two of the sides to the back and I tied them in a knot to keep them in place. After adding a pillow and the teddy bears I think I have a fairly shabby shic start to a chair. It's all about using what I have within my home to make an older piece of furniture fit my transitional style.

Old with the New

I have never been one to decorate everything for Christmas, but this year is different. This year has been a year of change and I have tapped into my inner Martha Stewart. :) I have always loved antiques and putting old with the new is just the way things should be. My table is an old teak farm table that I found at a local store. The buffet was bought for $40 at an antique shop. It was originally priced at $98 so this was a great buy. The Christmas tree is in an old lard bucket and is sitting atop a crate that I bought for $10 at a yard sale. In the center of the table I put a basket, bought for $4, and to fill the basket I put a colorful dish towel. Under the dish towel I put paper for fill. I then put some pinecombs and a few Christmas ornaments around a lovely flower that a friend gave to me. I think the overall effect is adorable. Just goes to show that the saying "One mans junk is another mans treasure" is so true.