No Place Like Home # 5

"At Christmas, all roads lead home." ~ Marjorie Holmes


Hello and welcome friends to No Place Like Home! Well, here it is the last day of November and the first Sunday of Advent has arrived so the countdown is on. I know we're all very busy and I hope we will all try to take a few moments to slow down and enjoy the sights and sounds leading up to Christmas....Enjoy a new Christmas tea or a cup of coffee and listen to some Christmas music. 

The other day I shared my Spode Christmas Tree mugs, plates and a beautiful Andover Christmas plate with a nostalgic scene on it. 

I shared my little Christmas Tree in A Boot tutorial. 

And I shared my recipe for Crustless Pumpkin Pie.

If you would like to see any of these please click here to go visit that post.

Now, on to my features. You all shared so many wonderful posts last week and I appreciate each and every one of you for linking up. There were some posts that I would have featured but there was no link back to this party. Remember, if you want to be featured, you must have a link back to No Place Like Home.

Trisha @ American Honey Home shared her real evergreen wreath and hung it on her vintage gate. Love it! 

Schotzy @ Wings of Eagles shared her wonderful Christmas decor. Lots of red, white and plaid. Aren't her little foxes sitting on the mantel cute?

Terri @ Artful Affirmations shared her beautiful teacup and some lovely crafts she has been working on. Terri has been away for a while and we're so happy to have her back with us in Blogland!

Carmen @ Country Blessings set a lovely Thanksgiving tablescape using her red transferware and she also shared a wonderful recipe for Cranberry Bread. Yum!

Now let's see what you are creating in your home to make it a cozy place to come home to for your family, your friends, and yourself. 


 Lord, this humble house we'd keep 
Sweet with play and calm with sleep. 
Help us so that we may give 
Beauty to the lives we live. 
Let Thy love and let Thy grace 
Shine upon our dwelling place. - Edgar A. Guest 

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

A Christmas Tree Tea

Christmas is a season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame for charity in the heart. ~ Washington Irving


Good morning dear friends! I hope all my American friends are enjoying their Thanksgiving holiday.

Because I'm going to have a busy weekend, I decided to put my post up early. 

I have been enjoying Christmas music, baking, crafting, decorating and tucking away gifts in secret places. 

At the after-Christmas sales last year I found two of these little 12 inch tall trees. 

One I have taken off the stand and glued into a ceramic boot which was part of my mother's Christmas bouquet last year. I put cotton around the base of the tree then decorated it with a few white balls and little sugared cranberry ornaments. I also glued a wee teddy on to the boot. 

What do you think? I'm still working on the other tree.

Timothy the Teddy bear relaxing on the boot.

The last time we were in Vancouver, BC to spend Christmas with our son and his family, I found these delightful Spode Christmas Tree mugs for half price. There were four in the box.

About a month ago I found the matching plates. I was so tickled because there were four of these too. I love the candy cane edge; very festive!

Spode has been creating beautiful products using classic designs and techniques since 1770. One of Spode's most famous designs is Christmas Tree, the original holiday pattern since 1938. 

Another day I found this darling Christmas plate called Andover made by 222 Fifth which I think looks wonderful with everything else. 

I adore the old-fashioned design and the pine cones around the rim of the plate. I do like matchey-matchey which tends to be more formal but I also like mismatched pieces because it makes for a setting with lots of personality. 

The most trying hours in life are between four o'clock and the evening meal. A cup of tea at this time adds a lot of comfort and happiness. ~ Royal S. Copeland

After working on my wee trees, it's time to take a break. Would you like to join me for some tea or coffee and a slice of my crustless pumpkin pie? 

It's going fast!

Perhaps a lot of you are tired of pumpkin pie but not me as it's one of my favourites. 

Would you like the recipe? 

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

Spray 9 or 10 inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.

15-oz can pumpkin or 2 cups
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
2 large eggs slightly beaten
1- 12 oz can Carnation Evaporated milk

Mix the eggs with the pumpkin and then add the dry ingredients. Mix well and add the evaporated milk. If using the 9 inch pie plate, you will have a little pumpkin mixture left over. You can cook that in the oven or microwave in a separate dish.

Pour into prepared pie plate and bake for 55-60 minutes. Test with a knife. If the knife comes out clean, you know it's done. Cool for two hours and refrigerate. Serve with whipped cream and enjoy!

Thank you for stopping by today and please join me on Monday for another No Place Like Home. Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 


I am joining the following parties as well~

 A Return to Loveliness
Tuesday Cuppa Tea
 Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party
 Tea Cup Tuesday
 Share Your Cup Thursday
 Home Sweet Home


Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

No Place Like Home # 4

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It can turn a meal into a feast, 

a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. ~ Melody Beattie

Welcome dear ones to No Place Like Home and Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends! 

What an exciting time to begin a new party with the Holidays on the way! I can't wait to see all your wonderful decorations and Christmas goodies!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
Everywhere you go. ~ Robert Meredith Willson


Since the weekend, it has been rather dreary and rainy so I have been enjoying my tea and coffee in front of the fire. 

I found a beautiful poinsettia sprinkled with glitter and it looks so pretty with my china. 

I also shared my faux snowball tutorial as well as the little tree in a shaker bottle. If you would like to see this post, please click here.

We had so many wonderful posts last week and I thank you all for linking up with me.

Several posts caught my eye:

Linda @ Beautiful Ideas shared her charming chocolate and cookie bar. Love the red and white theme. Lots of yummy ideas here.

Penny @ Penny's Vintage Home shared her Short Fat Christmas Tree. I love how she decorated one side for the dining room and the other side for the kitchen.

Phyllis @ The Relevant Tea Leaf shared her wonderful Girlfriends' Luncheon. A pretty autumnal tablescape with delicious food.

Karen @ Karen's Cottage and Castle treated us to her lovely collection of gold gilded china and her oatmeal cookie recipe. 

And Thel @  Thel's Kitchen shared her recipe for her wonderful Pumpkin scones. Delicious!

Thank you everyone for participating last week. As a courtesy, and if you would like to be featured, you must have a link back to my party. Please link no more than two posts. 

Now let's see what you are creating in your home to make it a cozy place to come home to for your family, your friends, and yourself.




 Lord, this humble house we'd keep 
Sweet with play and calm with sleep. 
Help us so that we may give 
Beauty to the lives we live. 
Let Thy love and let Thy grace 
Shine upon our dwelling place. - Edgar A. Guest 

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

A Snowball Tea

Good morning friends! I hope you're having a happy weekend. 

Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make everyday a holiday and celebrate just living. ~ Amanda Bradley

Saturday mornings are generally quiet here at Rose Chintz Cottage because Hubby leaves early in the morning to join a prayer group and then he's off to the gym.

It is a dreary rainy day today and it is dark inside the house so I am sitting here quietly before the fire and sipping a warming cup of tea. 

I have a sparkly pink poinsettia sitting on the table. It is a Sugar Plum poinsettia. Don't you just love the name?

Its petals vary from a deep pink to a lighter pink with lavender glitter dusted all over it.

I am using my RA Lavender Rose china today. I thought it would look lovely with the poinsettia. What do you think?

Sorry, I know the lighting is poor.

Tea is a time in which we were perfectly contented with ourselves and one another. ~ Charles Dickens

Join me for a cup of Chai tea and a brownie or ice box cookie?

The treats are served on my Victorian Chintz by Burleigh of England. 

Tea ~ a hug in a cup. - Patrick Jane 'The Mentalist'

And yes, there are snowballs but we're not eating them, we're crafting them!

Have you ever made a snowball? How about a faux snowball?

I have noticed that I am getting a lot of traffic on Pinterest and my post of three years ago for my faux snowballs. So I thought I would share the tutorial with you again today for those of you who have never made them. 

They really look like snowballs and the good thing is they don't melt!


You will need:
epsom salts
styrofaom balls
modge podge
old brush
egg carton

First apply some modge podge on one half of the styrofoam ball with an old brush and then roll the ball in some epsom salts or spoon the epsom salts on to the modge podged part. 

Let dry on an egg carton. Then repeat with the other side.

Use them in a display or anywhere you wish. Here I have them on a bed of fresh greenery sprayed with snow and my feather tree. Makes a cute centerpiece.

This same technique could be used on a votive candle holder or anything that you wish to have a snowy effect. I love epsom salts because it makes perfect snow for any number of crafts such as this shaker holding a wee tree. 

You can tell just by looking at these how I created them. Glue a tiny tree into the bottom of the shaker or jar using tweezers to place them. Once the glue has set, sprinkle in some epsom salts to cover the bottom of the jar or shaker and then finish off the cover any way you wish. I spray painted the salt shaker top and sprinkled on glitter while the paint was still wet. Decorate any way you like. 

Thank you for visiting and Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends this coming week! 

Please join me on Monday for No Place Like Home.



I am joining the following parties as well~

 Tuesday Cuppa Tea
 Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party
 Tea Cup Tuesday
 Share Your Cup Thursday
 Home Sweet Home

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi

No Place Like Home # 3

Mid pleasures and palaces though I may roam,

Be it ever so humble there's no place like home. ~ John Howard Payne 

Welcome to another No Place Like Home party!

I looked out my window this morning and saw my neighbour across the street up on the ladder putting Christmas lights on the eves of his house. I know most of us are busy getting ready for the holidays and I'm excited to see all your holiday posts coming up. 

On the weekend I was feeling rather nostalgic. I brought out my Friendly Village china and enjoyed a quiet cup of tea as I reflected upon the days of my childhood. 

I shared about my Granny's Pancake Jug. This old jug is more than one hundred years old.

If you missed that post then you can read it here.

I am happy to feature several posts from last week's party again this week. 

The most viewed post was: Debbie @ Debbie-Dabble who shared the great deals her hubby Joe got. What a super shopper he is! 

The following posts also caught my eye!

Lynn @ Quaker Hill Farm shared her lovely wreath of grapevine, ivy, berries and florals. Beautiful!

Sherry @ The Charm of Home  shared a lovely tea time using her poppy teacup in remembrance of our veterans and soldiers as we celebrated Remembrance Day and Veteran's Day last week.

And if you're looking for a nosh how about Mrs. T's Pumpkin Dutch Apple Pie @ Across My Kitchen Table. The best of both pies in one delicious pie. She shared both the recipe for the pie and her pie crust.

Thank you everyone for participating last week. As a courtesy, and if you would like to be featured, you should have a link back to my party. Please don't post any more than two links. 
Now let's see what you are creating in your home to make it a cozy place to come home to for your family, your friends, and yourself. 


 Lord, this humble house we'd keep 
Sweet with play and calm with sleep. 
Help us so that we may give 
Beauty to the lives we live. 
Let Thy love and let Thy grace 
Shine upon our dwelling place. - Edgar A. Guest 

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing from my heart~ Sandi