Ho! Ho! Ho! Boutique

Ever since I can remember, Christmas was a big production! When I was a baby, my grandma started a christmas craft business called, "HO! HO! HO! Boutique", which we lovingly referred to as "Boutique" growing up. My mom and her sister, my aunt Karen got into the business too, so really, Christmas stuff was in the house year round. January-September they spent free time working on what they would sell at Boutique. In the summer, we made at least one trip to Tahoe dedicated to finding good quality pinecones and bringing them home. October was spent at craft fairs and bazaars selling Boutique items. November it was the homes... in the early days, we did one weekend at our house, one at my aunt's house and 3 weekends at Grandmas House. This meant the Christmas Tree was often up by Halloween. It the later years, it was strictly the 3 weekends at Grandma's House. My Grandma's birthday is Nov 3 and mine is Nov 5, so we always celebrated together and we have many pictures of us blowing out candles with "Boutique" set up in the background. I think my grandma must have owned a dozen folding tables, all different sizes and styles and at least 6 Christmas trees. The effort that went into this business each year was monumental!

Out of all this came the most wonderful part of our Christmas. You see, my grandma's specialty was felt ornaments and pine cone arrangements. When the grandkids were born she started a wonderful tradition that we all love. She made an ornament for each of us that had to do with something special that had happened to us that year.

Each one has special meaning and I love to look at them all. I have to say my absolute favorite is the one of Mandy and her puppies. My dog Mandy got pregnant (we don't know who the father was, but my parents had their suspicions). She had some of the cutest puppies you'd ever seen. We loved them to pieces... unfortunately, we didn't get to keep a single one, but the effort my grandma put into that ornament to recreate exactly how each one look always melts my heart! Another favorite is the one I got the year I turned 16 and passed my driving test. We didn't have an "easy" car to take the test in (one was a pickup truck and the other was a stick shift), so I borrowed my aunt's car... if I remember right, it was a Toyota Corolla and it looked just like this one! I also love my Ricks College ornament, which has become even more special since they changed the name to BYU-Idaho. She created this ornament from a sheet of stickers (each one was about an inch in diameter) that I bought at the student book store. The advent calendar below is one of her best sellers - we had one growing up and she gave one to each grandchild when they had their first babies - my kids look forward to December 1st every year!

I think the thing I love to "show off" to people most are my stockings - I just love them! Once I finally had her make me one to match the kids, I browsed through her stock and couldn't find just the "perfect" one that fit my personality, so I said, "I want the tree from that tree skirt and the snowman from that ornament, etc.. etc..." and she made me the perfect stocking that had all the things on it that I loved the most! I think she was a little flustered that I wanted a white snowman on a white stocking, but she found a way to make it work and I LOVE it!

I am truly grateful that my mom has helped her continue the tradition for my kids. They LOVE their ornaments and the more unique they are the better. They love to hear the stories behind their ornaments and they love to listen to the stories behind mine. It's a Christmas tradition that I cherish and NEVER want to give up!