The festivities of Christmas and New Year are complete. The decorations are boxed up for another year, and the cold, brisk winter weather looms ahead. Will we have snow to look forward to this month???
The answer is yes! Snow on January 10th, 2025!
January can be a bit of “let down” after the holidays. So how do we celebrate one of the all time coldest months of the year? January is like eating an elephant… you can’t tackle it at once, but you can manage it one bite at a time, as the old saying goes.. January, take it ONE day at a time!
Here’s to celebrating the long, cold, brisk, windy January days, one day at a time, breaking it down into manageable chunks, offering a bit of sunshine on an icy, bitter cold January Day. Have fun this January with a few trips and stops inside Wilkes County Hardware this January, warming by the old-fashioned wood stove. You never know what you might find that you need!
January Days
1st- New Year’s Day– a feast of cornbread, black-eyed peas, greens, and pork, and New Year’s Resolutions. Stop by Wilkes County Hardware to grab a new cast iron skillet this month!!
5th- National Bird Day– Winter is the perfect time to watch and enjoy the birds feeding in your yard. Stop by to pick up a new bird feeder, suet, or bird food
Stop by Wilkes County Hardware to pick up your winter suet, feeders, feed and more!
6th- Epiphany (3 Kings Day)– Celebrating the arrival of the Wise Men, many observe this as the official end of the Christmas season
9th- Static Electricity Day… no one likes this problem during the winter! Bring more humidity into your home, add lotion to hands to help fight it. Carry a coin with you or even a bolt 🔩, pocket knife…. You get the gist to reduce the risk.
These lotions are selling fast during the winter months at Wilkes County Hardware
10th- Houseplant Appreciation Day. Winter is the perfect time to enjoy those green plants!
11th- International Thank You Day- send a note of thanks to someone today!
12th- National Sunday Supper Day– Gather around the table and enjoy family time. Make it a weekly tradition in 2025.
Handcrafted by Keegan… a beautiful piece to add as a centerpiece of your Sunday Supper celebrations… Supper vs. Dinner
13th- Clean Off Your Desk Day– Time to tackle your desk, or any other surface areas that need to be cleaned! Stop by Wilkes County Hardware for some cleaning essentials.
Did you know that Wilkes County Hardware has a great selection of cleaning products???
15th- Hat Day– it’s definitely time for a new Wilkes County Hardware Hat today!
17th- Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day… Don’t give up! It takes time to create a habit (like a few months of consistent practice ) remember the phrase, eating an elephant one bite at a time…
19th- National Popcorn 🍿 Day- Go watch a movie today at our nearby Liberty Theater and eat the famous popcorn!
20th- Blue Monday/Take Walk Outdoors Day- it’s time to get outside and enjoy the sunshine! Check out the blog post for more ideas on how to beat the winter blues
A brief dusting of snow began December 2024, making me long for a bit more.
December marks the beginnings of the winter season. Winter… a time of perseverance and optimism for spring will come.
December, Christmas is near.
A Light DustingSnowy Morning SurpriseSnowy Stack At DuskWinter Solstice SunriseWaiting on SunriseDecember 31st… That Touch of Pink
Random Happenings
You never know what you will find in the middle of a grocery store parking lot! Parking lot golf????
Christmasat Home 2024
Fresh Mistletoe for Christmas! Thanks to Kim Reid for the adventure!New additions this year to my green plants to add a festive flare, pine cones and berries for the holiday season Our Christmas clock is a family favoriteBobbles and Santa Handmade Christmas Handmade Christmas Handmade ChristmasThis Christmas was the first year we put our inflatable back out in several years. Our sweet little neighbor has enjoyed it so much this year. Our original “Snowy” the polar bear was injured by heavy rain earlier this month. Santa was our quick find as a replacement.Cookie watching over her neighborhood
Thank you to everyone who has followed along my year long photographic journey in 2024 exploring the everyday life of #thehardwarelife. I’m excited about new opportunities in 2025! Coming soon, the Favorites of 2024 revisited. Stay posted on the blog.
Statistics show that a resurgence of baking takes place between Thanksgiving and New Year’s holidays. Over 73% of folks get excited about getting into the kitchen to either prepare meals for their family holiday meals or BAKE the holidays away. Speaking from personal experience, I do have a relative who begins baking cookies right after the Thanksgiving holiday concludes and he bakes cookies the entire month of December! He generously shares with his mailman, delivery drivers, friends, family, etc.
An “old school tradition”, homemade holidays.. sharing with neighbors and even the postal carrier
A trip into the grocery store will confirm these earlier facts… finding stacks of baking supplies which are definitely impulse purchases waiting for those who experience the urge for a making a sweet treat during Christmas.
Yes, there are a few holiday traditional foods that I always enjoy making each year. As you read this you are probably making a mental checklist as well, maybe even your finalizing the grocery shopping list to get started with your homemade holiday. I hope you enjoy this glimpse into a homemade holiday season. Happy Homemade Holidays!!!
Baking for the holidays for gift giving purposes is an “old school” tradition of Christmas. In our Agricultural rooted traditions, folks harvested their abundance, and at Christmas offering a time to share in holiday joy by sharing a homemade treats with friends and neighbors.
Cakes are often shared around the table over Christmas, if you haven’t read this previous blog: Pound Cake, A Southern Staple
Even in 2024, I must admit, nothing is better than homemade for the holidays. I feel very honored to receive the homemade gifts that we have been given. These are homemade gifts took a considerable amount of time and effort for the gift to be completed prior to giving. That can’t be purchased online either!
The gift of homemade can be found inside Wilkes County Hardware!
I know that I don’t necessarily fit neatly into that category of homemade gift giving, but there are other ways we can observe the “old school” tradition of homemade holidays.
Gathering together around the table to “break bread” and celebrate the season with those traditional homemade holiday foods that we all know and love can make our time together memorable. All pitching in…sharing the load of preparing the family favorite foods, what could be better!!!
And yes, I’ll say we had the best biscuits on the holiday table when we gathered at Granny’s house on Christmas Eve. Those little buttery, golden treats, literally melting in my mouth and warming my full stomach into a blissful holiday slumber as we awaited Santa’s arrival made for some delicious homemade memories of Christmas that I still recall fondly.
Granny used an old, vintage metal dishpan smaller than this one to make her homemade biscuits. I used to sit and watch her make them. She would create a “well” in the middle for the milk after she worked the shortening into the flour. Granny did this effortlessly every single time. I’m thankful that she taught me how to recreate them. I don’t think mine are quite as tasty as Granny’s were. Wilkes County Hardware offers these dishpans for sale year round.Apple Butter and a biscuit… homemade goodness! Or honey and a pat of butter???
The homemade holiday… Offering all, a time to reconnect, laugh, share the joy of the holiday. Traditional homemade holiday meals AND desserts bring a sense of nostalgia, comfort and belonging to those gathered together, a sense of HOME.
Gingerbread buttercream! Oh my!!! (See recipe below)
Looking back, the first time I ever gathered with Richard’s family at Christmas, their homemade holiday looked slightly different from what I experienced growing up. His grandmother made fresh coconut cake every single year as well as Ambrosia. Let’s just say, she loved coconut and fresh oranges for the homemade holidays.
Fresh oranges 🍊 an “old school” homemade holiday tradition. Oranges were a staple treat found inside Christmas stockings for many years. Fresh orange slices were always on the Christmas breakfast table at home. I always looked forward to Christmas breakfast with my family, featuring…fresh biscuits, country ham, and fresh orange slices
Besides the love of oranges, one other shared homemade food that Richard and I both enjoyed each Christmas, Sausage Balls. I still make them every year around the holidays to honor our combined family homemade holiday traditions.
Christmas mornings are made for these yummy treats! Benjamin now helps me make these each time as a tradition that we started many years ago when he was younger.
And let’s not forget about those great snacking foods and warm cozy drinks! Chex Party Mix takes me back to the Christmas memories of my parents making the mix in the kitchen, while my sister and I were busy eating the Chex Mix at the table as they finished it up. I also love the white chocolate version with M&M’s.
Whatever you may call this version of heavenly Chex Mix… Reindeer Food, Christmas Chex… it’s a definite keeper for Christmas (recipe below)Sipping on a hot mug of mulling spices, Russian Tea, or a cup of hot cocoa overflowing with melting marshmallows, all the while munching on a homemade holiday cookie, Christmas homemade holidays are definitely underway.
New memories can made each year around all these shared homemade meals or treats. Homemade holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas are the perfect opportunity to get back into the kitchen and celebrate the holiday with a bit of homemade goodness. And the opportunity for Christmas nostalgia reigns supreme as we reconnect with these special homemade holidays memories. Happy Homemade Holidays!
Essential ingredient for Gingerbread Buttercream (see below)
Gingerbread Buttercream
Recipe Ingredients (perfect for 13×9 cake pan) Please double recipe for a layer cake.
1/2 unsalted butter (softened)
2 1/2 c confectioners sugar
1/4 t ground ginger
1/8 t ground cinnamon
1/8 t ground cloves
1 t vanilla
1 T molasses
3 T maple syrup
2 T Heavy cream
Step by Step Process for success:
Place softened butter and sugar into mixer and beat until blended.
Add all other ingredients and beat on high for 3 minutes, stopping to scrape sides, blend until smooth, light, fluffy buttercream texture forms.
Icing cake after cooling down completely and enjoy!
Reindeer Food
Key ingredients: (add what you love, this what I put into my Reindeer Food)
Rice or corn Chex (one box)
Cheerios (half box)
Pretzels (half bag)
M&M’s (one bag or more of Christmas colors)
Confectioners Sugar
White Chocolate Chips (2 bags- melted)
Mix all ingredients together (excluding M&M’s) in a very large bowl while white chocolate chips are melting. Pour the mixture onto sheet pans covered with parchment paper (prevent sticking) and adding M&M’s into mixture. Pour melted white chocolate evenly over the cereal mixture, allow to cool. I melted my white chocolate chips in microwave in glass bowl and added a small amount of vegetable oil and stir well until melted. Sprinkle confectioners sugar over top of Reindeer Food.
Christmas is a fantastic time to watch an old movie…. Start a new homemade tradition with this recipe: Hearty Slumgullion Stew: From a recipe adapted from the Classic Christmas movie, It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947)
2024 Hometown Holiday Season is underway! Light Up Downtown was a great way to begin the celebration
It’s time to unpack the Christmas tree decorations, if you haven’t done it already, and turn on your favorite Christmas music. The holiday season is here and it’s time to enjoy an evening of Christmas tree decorating. I must say, it’s a full on family affair and tradition that we all pitch in and help decorate the Christmas tree at our house.
It’s a joint effort with the tree being set up, lights strung onto the tree, and then the masterpiece of design begins. The Christmas tree decorations are put into place, we all place them onto the tree branches delicately, slowly filling in the gaps. The final end result, a heart full of love and joy of Christmas boasting within our home, a Christmas tree like no one else has or will have. The family Christmas tree. You can’t simply replicate that. It can’t be bought in a store… Christmas tree decorations are as unique as the owners themselves, handmade, customized to each individual family, and personalized. No Christmas tree is the same. What a wonderful thing!
I always enjoy the unpacking of ornaments. Our collection is definitely varied and unique. As the storage containers of ornaments makes it out of the closet, a peak inside reveals our stash of treasures of handmade ornaments. The collected ones, and those that represent fond memories of travels. I also love the ornaments that have been passed down through the generations through both of our families.
I must admit, it’s True Confession time: My very favorites are the handmade ornaments. My heart literally melts every time I take an ornament out that Benjamin made in preschool, or that he crafted with me. These special ones always seem to make it onto the Christmas tree every year no matter the size of our Christmas tree, big or small.
Each of these individual ornaments holds a special place in our hearts and minds. These special ornaments are crafting a unique handmade look to our family tree every year. Each ornament holding a special story or memory attached to it… one of the reasons what makes the Christmas season so special for all of us in the Searcy household. The handmade family Christmas tree.
Wilkes County Hardware is featuring its own handmade holiday Christmas tree this year! These beautiful ornaments are handmade and ready to add to your collection or would make a fantastic holiday present for someone special on your gift list this year. Thanks to Little Corner Pottery for these beautiful handmade ornaments. These are selling quickly!
As you begin to enjoy your Hometown Homemade Holidays in 2024, Ultimately, you might need to venture into the hardware store to pick up a new strand or two of lights, maybe even find an electric timer so your beautifully decorated Christmas tree turns on automatically, grab a new extension cord, or maybe even a power strip to connect all the lights and cords.
Stop by Wilkes County Hardware to pick up a Santa 🔑 Key. The Magic Santa Key only works ONE night a year, Christmas Eve. Leave this key out for Santa 🎅🏻.
But, have you ever thought about crafting your own Christmas magic? Handmade ornaments can be made with materials right inside your favorite hometown hardware store. Yes, we have the usual materials like green string, glue, tape, dowel rods, nuts, bolts, and washers… my question to you today…what unique materials could you use to craft a memorable ornament for your tree this year???
Maybe crafting isn’t your forte. That’s ok. We have your Santa gift list ready to go! Wilkes County Hardware features some of the finest local artisans from our local area. Nothing is better than the gift of handmade for the holidays. The gift of handmade is a special gift will be remembered year after year and can’t be found inside a big box store.
Handcrafted by Keegan Watson has been a local featured artisan inside Wilkes County Hardware for several years now. His award winning work has been featured in Our State Magazine.Often times customers ask, how do I use this piece??? Larger bowls make wonderful ways to display collections(see photo above), use in daily food prep, or anyway you need it!Local soap, shampoo and conditioner bars by Land of CanaanPottery pieces by Little Corner Pottery Shop along the featured ladder wall to find Little Corner pottery and Handcrafted by Keegan Watson. Handmade towels by The Vintage Home Studio Pottery by Blue Door Studio New artisan: Redeemed Rust, Christmas ornaments and magnets are flying out the door this year! These handmade dishcloths are routinely sold out! 2 for $5 We feature a local artist each season with our updated window art work each season! Thank you to Andrea Baldwin for keeping us festive all year long!!!A Handmade Holiday, A Christmas to REMEMBER!
November 1st hit me hard this year. October is a very, very busy month in our world… two festivals occur each year in Downtown North Wilkesboro. Apple Festival begins the month of October and Spooktacular concludes the month.
As I began to put the Halloween decorations away, it occurred to me that Light Up Downtown was 21 days away. Literally, as a downtown merchant we are moving from Halloween into Christmas season as quickly as possible 😬.
Always a fun time when Santa drops in for a visit!
Wow! So much prep work gets underway between each holiday season and festival… BUT that would require a different day and blog post!
My mind wandering, task in hand, Halloween decorations being packed away and beginning to think about the upcoming Christmas season ahead… Light Up Downtown North Wilkesboro marks the official beginning of our “Hometown Holidays” here in Wilkes. I began to reminisce about my personal experiences of Christmases past in our hometown.
Time flooded my memories… the ultimate focus, making memories with our son by recalling upon the Christmas experiences that we shared together here in our hometown.
All of these Christmas memories were a core holiday remembrance that I have coined as a “Hometown Holiday” Memory.
A visit with Santa at Talia
I can vividly recall taking “B” to Light Up Downtown to view all the lights in the Downtown corridor, seeing Santa at Talia, or even snacking on a homemade cookie as we wandered through the Christmas Open House at the old Wilkes Courthouse.
And it simply wasn’t a Hometown Holiday without heading down to Memorial Park to select a Christmas tree.
Our Hometown holiday experiences continued with The Annual Christmas parade sponsored by the Wilkes County Chamber of Commerce. The ultimate celebration of the parade each year, was the final view of Santa as he waved to all, boasting a joyful Merry Christmas !!!!
We always enjoyed the togetherness and loyally participated every year. We gathered with friends to enjoy the moments of Hometown Holidays that seemed to happened seamlessly every year. To those who put these events together, I say Thank You! The Christmas memories are precious and very special to not only my family, but to many families who participate in these local holiday celebrations and events every year!
Another part of Hometown Holidays: Christmas plays, and church on Christmas Eve
My personal reflections went even deeper. The Gifts we give at Christmas will often be forgotten years down the road, but these “Hometown Holidays” memories will stay with us and will be remembered always.
That thought put a bit a perspective into Hometown Holidays Season that is now upcoming for 2024. So my personal goal for this Christmas is to explore and experience new Christmas hometown holiday events.
All the Christmas lights are on! Light Up Downtown 2024
Will you also accept this opportunity??? What new memories will we all make this Christmas 2024 by experiencing something new in our hometown??? After all, Christmas is a special time with family and what could be better than by establishing new traditions and memories.
Looking at the list below, our hometown is full of opportunities for families to gather and create hometown Christmas traditions and memories. Christmas Memories are simply timeless treasures of the heart. Go make some new Hometown memories this holiday season!
I’m looking forward to new Hometown Holiday Memories, and a return trip to the Gingerbread Festival this year! Last year was our first time seeing the talent of all of our local gingerbread makers, and can’t wait to see what’s in store for this year!Coming Soon: Look for the next edition on the blog, Handmade for the Holidays.
What special hometown holidays events do you always look forward to each year???
Hometown Holiday Events in Wilkes at a Glance! (Definitely not a complete list but gets you started)
Light Up Downtown North Wilkesboro- November 22, 2024
Reindeer Games- Wilkes Playmakers December 5-8
Wilkes Literacy Gingerbread Festival- December 6-7, 2024 at The 1915 Event Venue
Christmas in the Commons- in Downtown Wilkesboro December 7, 2024 3:30-8pm
Holly Jolly Christmas Party- Wilkes Art Gallery- December 6th
Wilkes Chamber Singers- Performance of The 12 Days of Christmas – December 8th St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 3pm, Tuesday December 10th North Wilkesboro Presbyterian 7:30pm.
Community Lovefeast- Candlelight Service in the Moravian Tradition, North Wilkesboro Baptist Church Sunday December 8, 2024 7pm.
Sip and Shop Holiday Market- Wilkes Art Gallery December 9, 2024 5pm-6:30pm
Annual Holiday Market- Wilkes Art Gallery December 10-21
A Storybook Christmas Parade- Saturday December 7th 3pm
Wilkes Heritage Museum Christmas Open House- December 7th 10am-4pm
Christmas Carriage Rides-in Downtown North Wilkesboro December 5, 7, 19, 20,21
Santa And Mrs. Claus visits Tripp Mercantile- December 7, 20,21 (4-7pm) during carriage rides
Christmas at the Cross- Candlelight service at Faithfest Thursday December 12th 6pm.
Friends of the Library Holiday Book Sale- December 12 5-7pm, December 13-14 9am-5pm. 611 Cherry Street North Wilkesboro (buy one get one holiday books on Friday and Saturday!)
Santa at Liberty Theater and FREE movie-Polar Express Friday December 13 6pm. FREE movie runs from December 13-19, 2024.
Breakfast with Santa- Wilkes Playmakers Saturday December 14 9am-12pm
Santa at Dom’s Bakery- Saturday December 14th 2-4pm
Grand Ole Christmas Show- JAWC- December 19th 7:30 pm
Festival of Tables- Benton Hall Thursday December 19th, 2024 6pm.
Santa at Cook’s Sporting Goods-Saturday December 21, 2024 1-4pm
AND Don’t forget your memory making Annual shopping trips to Wilkes County Hardware for handmade Christmas gifts, stocking stuffers, picking up a Santa key for the kids, and warming by the stove.
See y’all soon!
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The Hardware Life - A wife's journey into the hardware business 