The Crowning Glory of Christmas Cheer

Christmas at my sister's is always filled with fits of laughter, spectacular food and gingerbread creations.

When the kids were little we had raucous competitions in gingerbread house building and decorating. These days, two are out of the house and one is looking forward to departing soon. That means my sister and niece undertake their design/build plans with no restrictive time limits (and creative, detail-oriented glee).

This year's project was truly a team effort. Niece Emily constructed the beautifully detailed 'nilla roof, wafer by wafer, while her mother brought the structure to life with painstakingly applied bits of candy flair.

The crowning glory was the sweetly swifted "snow" covered roof.

Results of the IKEA adventure

Crazy, nutty and a sense of IKEA humor

The Christmas shopping season brings out the best in shoppers and purveyors alike.

I got a wild hair to visit IKEA at the Mall of America on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Having searched in vain all common sense choices (garden centers) for greenery pots for my front steps, I thought, why not IKEA?

Low and behold, I found just the right containers! An added bonus was learning that IKEA is crazy about low prices.

Never thought the Swedes got too worked up about anything. However, a visit to the IKEA Madness section of their website proved me wrong. For the historical perspective, view the charming story of how a boy from the "woods of southern Sweden" created a retail force in 36 countries.