Wishing each of you a magical Christmas filled with memories made and memories remembered.  May you have a joyous holiday, and may we all remember the reason for this beautiful season.  We hope if you are traveling you will travel with great care!  Have a wonderful holiday.

Merry Christmas from all your friends at Simple Treasures

  Starting Monday, December 27th,

All Holiday and Christmas merchandise will be 40% off  

   Wrapping It Up. . . . .

Good Morning!  Can you believe that Christmas is just around the corner? Doesn't the fresh blanket of snow add to the season?   Is everyone staying warm and wrapping up last minute Christmas shopping?  I just wanted to let all you know that if you are stumped on finding that "perfect" gift, make sure you stop by!  We would love to help ya!  There are new shipments arriving almost daily and you know Shawna; her selection is wonderful and includes something for everyone!  If by chance you don't know what that special person would like there are always gift certificates available as well, so please let us know if we can help in anyway!

I'm sure everyone's busy baking away and getting all of their Christmas goodies done?  Oh the calorie consumption during the holidays, don't ya love it!  Actually let's just not think about it :)  Speaking of holiday tastiness, make sure you check out the gourmet hot chocolates at the store!  They are amazing!  There is an assortment of flavors and they are packaged individually (great for stocking stuffers or to arrange in a mug to give as a gift) or you can buy them in a set with different yummy flavors. ( in cute, cute containers of course!)

For "Feature Friday"  Shawna is running a sale on her Pepper Jelly, such an easy, great appetizer for any holiday table.  From now until Christmas you can save a $1 per jar by just mentioning the blog.  This would be a wonderful addition to a gift basket or even just the Jelly itself is a great gift. To serve, pour over fresh cream cheese and serve it on your favorite cracker.  That's It!  You will definitely get rave reviews.

Well we hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season.  If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know!  We always enjoy seeing you at the store.  May you all have a safe and Merry Christmas!!

Your Holiday Traditions. . .

We wanted to start off by thanking everyone that participated in our drawing!  It was a great success and we really appreciate the time you took to share your special family traditions.  It was nice to see what families do to keep the true meaning of the season in their hearts.  So again- Thank you! 

We do have a winner!  Our lucky friend will be receiving an email today with instructions on how to redeem their $25 gift certificate.  Congratulations.  So exciting!

As we mentioned last week, we are going to post a handful of our readers traditions.  There were so many great ideas and warm memories to choose from.  So grab a cup of warm something, kick up your feet and enjoy!

1.      One of my absolute favorite holiday traditions is letting the kids pick out their own Christmas ornament each year. It makes decorating the tree so much fun, reminiscing about each ornament that goes on the tree. I can only imagine when all 3 of our kids are older, how many ornaments and memories will be on that tree.

2.      My favorite childhood Christmas tradition was the Christmas program at our small little church.  We all dressed up like people in the Christmas story.  I was usually an angel with gold tinsel wrapped around a wire coathanger perched on my head.  We would all receive a brown paper lunch sack full of ribbon candy, peanuts in the shell and a big apple or orange.  We loved those bags of treats! 

3.     My favorite tradition is when I put the tree up, I get to hide the ornament, the "Christmas Pickle".   Hard to find in all the green of the tree.  My husband and kids all have a contest to see who can find it first, and that person gets some sort of special treat for the day.  (a back rub, their favorite meal that night, etc etc....nothing materialistic, just a simple gesture of their picking).  I started this when the kids were 3 & 5.   Now they are 16 & 18 and STILL love the tradition!!!!

4.     To start our holiday traditions we watch the Oskaloosa Christmas Parade together as a family all bundled up sipping coffee & cocoa. Family dinners, sledding and baking cookies so when the kids come in they have fresh warm cookies and hot cocoa is a tradition that we've had since I was a kid. Sledding at my dad's house again like I did as a little girl-he even made us snow boats with a rudder on the back which steered which direction you wanted to go. As a child my dad and I would get up really early about 2 weeks before xmas and drive the gravel roads near friends farmland and picked out our tree and cut it down ourselves and then my brothers and I would decorate the tree. No matter what traditions a family makes are very important in the bond of family. Special times that warm the heart and will be held as wonderful memories during ones life are priceless.

5.     One thing I do with my girls is shopping very early the day after Thanksgiving,this year we started at 11:oo PM,waiting in line OUTSIDE for 3hrs in the cold!! also we do some holiday baking the first weekend in Dec. ,its a all day project.

6.     My husband and I have been married for 5 years now.  Because it is still just the two of us, it usually isn't very exciting to have "our own" Christmas.  But we would like to be able to open up gifts from each other in our own home - gifts from under our tree.  So, before we pack up and go over to both of our parents homes, we choose one present to open up at OUR home.  This way we have a "Christmas" with just the two of us, but we also get to bring some presents to open up and share with our families too.

7.     My favorite Christmas activity, ohh there are so many.  I enjoy all the beautiful services our church offers during this joyous season; attending children's Christmas programs; touring the Christmas lights; sending anonymous gifts and SNOW!!!  God has blessed my life in many ways and I am so grateful.   May your holidays be joyous and filled with wonder. 

8.     My favorite tradition is that I have ALWAYS gone into my daughters  bedroom on Christmas morning to tell her "SANTA WAS HERE!!!!!". she is 31 years old and I still do it!!!!!!!!!! I think she thinks I am nuts :)

9.     Every Christmas day my mother's side of the family gets together. That evening is what I look forward to. The whole family sits around playing games and chatting about anything and everything we can. Sometimes our games get so intense that we all end up crying from laughter. I really enjoy these bonding times as I sit back and take a moment of appreciation for everything in my life.

10.  My mom made the most awesome cut-out cookies, like ever. Seriously. The best. She passed away almost 6 years ago but my family counts on me to continue that tradition. A few years back I made all sorts of Christmas shapes and really decorated them up but we all decided that just the plain old oval shape that my mom did was really the best. They just somehow tasted different :)

The recipe:
1c margarine (soft)
1 1/2c white sugar
2 eggs
2T milk
1t vanilla
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t cream of tartar
pinch of salt
4c flour
Cream oleo and sugar first, add remainder of ingredients except flour, then slowly add flour. Put in the fridge for a while, this makes it easier to roll out. Roll out on floured surface. Cut out shapes. Place on greased cookie sheet (found that solid vegetable shortening works the best) bake at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool on rack. Top with the following icing.

Icing: (I make a double batch of this for a single batch of cookies)
3oz cream cheese (can use regular or 1/3 less fat, fat free will not work)
1T margarine
1t vanilla
2c powdered sugar
Cream first three ingredients, then slowly add powdered sugar. Can tint with food coloring too. After icing, leave out on counter to allow the icing to set up. ENJOY!!!

11.  One of my favorite holiday traditions is going out to the farm to gather fresh greenery & berries to decorate my window boxes and outdoor planters. It is so fun making outdoor arrangements—almost as fun as planting flowers in the spring!

12.  My favorite holiday tradition is placing our baby Jesus in the manager setting (animals, Mary and Joseph are put out when I decorate after Thanksgiving) on Christmas eve after kids are in bed. They see that he is in it when they come down the stairs Christmas morning signifying that he was born and the reason for the season of celebration.

13.  My favorite holiday tradition - we always have decorated birthday cake (or cupcakes) with candles for baby Jesus.  We sing Happy Birthday then the little kids blow out the candles before we share this special dessert.

I knew you wouldn't be dissappointed.  Hopefully you found one that would be fun to do in your own families. 

 Well my friends we will see you next Friday! 

Thanks for stopping by.

A Holiday Drawing . . .

Happy "Feature Friday" everyone!  Did everyone have a great Thanksgiving?  Can you believe that Christmas is just around the corner?  We have some fun, fun posts lined up for the month! 

To celebrate the beginning of this festive month we are having a drawing.  We are, of course, only keeping it exclusive to you, our great blog friends.  So here is the scoop . . . . .

1. Send an email to mysimpletreasures@hotmail.com  with your favorite Holiday tradition, whether it be an activity, recipe, or decorating. (it can really be anything!!) 

2.  We will put all of the names in a bucket and pick a winner.  Then we will feature some of the fun Christmas traditions here on the blog.  That will help all of us generate some fresh seasonal ideas to incorporate into our own homes.

3.  The winner will be notified via email by December 8.  You are probably wondering what the winner will get?  Shawna is giving away a $25 gift certificate to the store.  You can use it for yourself (insert fun evil laugh) or you can give it to a friend for a gift. 

We are excited to see all of your wonderful ideas and hope that you will take part in this fun drawing!!  The drawing will start today and run till Wednesday, December 8th.  We will post the winner next Friday.  Oh, and please remember only one email and entry per person is allowed.

Thanks so much!  Let the Holiday festivities begin!!

A Thank You & Store Hours . . .

Hi All!  Another end to a fantastic week, can you believe we are already half way through November.  Busy, Busy, but hasn't the weather been incredible?!?  Shawna and I were just commenting that we actually think we are ready for first snow fall. (only after our trips are done to see our families:)  Then the whiteness can begin!

Shawna wanted to start off by expressing her gratitude to all that made her Open House such a huge success.   Thank you!  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to stop by and say hi!  She really enjoys seeing and chatting with everyone.  She also wanted to apologize for not getting the recipes up last week, so we promise before the end of this post you will have the yummy recipes for the refreshments that were served at the Open House.  They are simply divine!

Here are the store hours for the week of Thanksgiving:

Monday, November 22, will be the tour of stores in Pella, so we will be open until 8:00 p.m.  Stop by and see what specials Shawna has for the evening!!

Tuesday & Wednesday -Regular Store hours 10:00-5:00

We will be closed Thanksgiving Day!

We will be open on Black Friday from 10:00-4:00

We will also be opened Saturday November 27 from 10:00-4:00.

Please call or email if you have any questions, we always love to hear from you!


Here are the recipes we promised! 

Graham Cracker Cookies

Cut graham crackers on perforated line and place in jelly roll pan.

Cook the following in a saucepan for 10 minutes until somewhat thick:

1 stick oleo

1 stick butter

½ cup sugar

Pour over the graham crackers and place sliced almonds on top.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes. With a spatula carefully place crackers on

Saran wrap or a hard surface to cool.  Put in refrigerator to set up.  

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

41/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cloves

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup molasses

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups butter

3 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine flour, soda, salt and spices. In large mixing bowl beat butter on low speed for 1 minute to soften. Gradually add the 2 cups of sugar; beat until fluffy. Add eggs and molasses; beat well. Stir dry ingredients into mixture.

Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet. They don't spread much.

Bake at 350 degrees about 10 minutes until light and still puffed. Do not overcook. Let stand 2 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Have a Happy & Safe Thanksgiving!



image courtesy of Country Home



Simple Settings . . . .

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of the year!  We get to be around a table full of fabulous food, around people we admire and love, and it is a perfect time to reflect on the bounty that we have been blessed with.  I also love Thanksgiving because it is a time to make our surroundings extra special.  Whether it be the special dinnerware we use for the occasion, special linens or extra traditional accents that trigger wonderful memories of Thanksgivings past. 

I thought a fun "Feature Friday" post would be highlighting some simple place settings.  So many times we think we have to have extravagant place settings. We feel that more is better.  I think that simplicity is the key to not only avoiding holiday stress, but I think it actually creates more of a calm feeling when the centerpieces don't overtake the table. 

Here are some great examples of some simple decorations that could easily be pulled together and adorn any size table.  It is perfect because it adds that subtle hint of fall, yet also welcomes and entices one to the comfort of the table.

I hope that these will help generate some fun centerpiece ideas.  The sky is the limit.  No matter our taste and no matter our budget we can create a centerpiece that reflects the ambiance we aspire to have.  If there isn't any room in the budget,  this is a great time to look around our home and pull together unexpected things to make a beautiful centerpiece that we envision.  We can also look outdoors and utilize nature's beauty.  You are more than welcome to come to the store and we can help you pull something together, if you are still needing some sort of arrangement to make dinner extra special.  We hope this was helpful!  It is so fun to fancy our tables up a little, don't ya think? 

Because of the holiday we won't see you next week in blog land, but don't worry dear bloggie friends, we will be back the following week.  We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  See you soon!

We'll see you at the Fair . . .

Hello Friends, we hope everyone is having a fabulous week!  With chilliness coming our way, we have a great place for you to stay WARM!  We wanted to make sure that everyone knows that Simple Treasures will have an exhibit at the annual Pella Fall Craft and 100+ Vendor Fair. The fair is located at the:

Pella Community High School Gym

 212 University Street

Pella, IA  50219

We will be there from 9a.m. to 3p.m. on November 13th.  We have a special coupon for savings at the store, for all of our friends that stop by.  We look forward to seeing you and drive safe! 

Happy Feature Friday!