Day 3 of Just Joy's Christmas Traditions Countdown:I don't know that I could pick a favorite song out of all of the wonderful Christmas carols out there. But whenever I hear any of the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas songs I think back to when I was a kid and my mom and dad were asked to be in charge of the annual Christmas slideshow for our church. They did this for quite a few years. They would spend hours and hours collecting pictures of families and church activities and getting them in just the right order. Then they would run through it countless times calculating how long to show each picture so it lined up perfectly with the music. Their slideshow...
Day 2 of Just Joy's Christmas Traditions Countdown:About 5 or so years ago my mom and dad found out that a friend of theirs bought an old school bus for fun family adventures. We asked if he would be willing to take our whole clan out to see the Christmas lights around our area. Mom and dad went over early and hung up Christmas lights and decorations to make it even more festive and we packed up cookies and hot chocolate to take along for the ride! It has been so fun to be able to be all together and to sing Christmas carols as we enjoy the rows and rows of glowing houses. This is definitely a treasured tradition...
12 more days until Christmas Eve!! Can you believe it? While we finish up the last of the Christmas packages we thought it would be fun to share with you 12 of our Christmas favorites and traditions, one each day until Christmas Eve! We hope you will join us by commenting with your favorites too! This long standing tradition actually takes place in October or November. Since I was little, the girls in our family, along with aunts and cousins and Grandma, would you go to a cute and unique little restaurant called The Greenery that included a fun little shop attached to the side. We go for an early lunch and then spend the afternoon looking at all the...
Jingle Bells.....in September?? Ok I realize there are alot of people who are not going to to agree with me on this but hear me out. I love Christmas music. I mean I really. love. Christmas. music. I seriously LOVE Christmas music. Well, let's be real, I love everything about Christmas and those who know me best can testify to this. But we're talking music today. I have probably over 50 Christmas CD's (yes, I'm old, I still listen to CD's) Each CD probably plays for 45 to 50 minutes, right? Now there is no way I can adequately appreciate each of these CD's if I only listen to them from December 1 to December 25. I look at...
Have you ever wondered what a patina finish is? Is it paint? Is it a stain? Well we have some answers for you!You may have noticed that quite often we refer to some of our products having a "rust patina". That's because we LOVE the effect this gives the steel. Patina is very different from paint. It causes a chemical reaction that brings out the individual color. We have found that each piece of steel has it's own "personality". When the patina is applied to one piece, it may turn a beautiful solid color of rust. When applied to another piece, it may turn several shades giving it almost a marble look. Sometimes you can even see shades of green and...
