I have a good little, very short, Christmas Story for you! (In a minute!) But first, sweet old MUSICA! I’m looking around and it seems like these days, finding and living a fairy tale of your own making gets put on the back-burner way too much. It’s hard! We hurt for the discombooberation of the world. But it’s Christmas time. Magic time, when we remember ANYTHING is possible. The perfect time of year to renew our vows! 
💝 Giving ourselves and our beloveds that happiness at home, reminding ourselves of the faith and beauty that lives in us all, and doing all we can to lift the spirts of those around us. Reminding myself how that is done . . . all the little things, delicious food and kitchen smells from childhood, anything that sparkles, cozy blankies, socks, old movies, flannel jammies toasty-warm from the dryer, singing, extra hugs, walks in nature, quiet mornings and cups of tea. Long night’s rest . . . under the Long Night’s Moon . . .
But first, speaking of Long Night’s Moon, which we 
JUST had, and signifies, yes, the end of these short dark days!👏👏👏 On the Solstice, coming SOON, December 21st, we’re having a dinner party to celebrate the sun setting on the shortest day of the year! GOODBYE! Every day after that will get a little LONGER!! More light! What a wonderful Christmas gift!💝 And so, we segue to my traditional stocking-stuffer to help you remember to dance to the light of the moon in 2026!🎶🎵🎶
It’s 
my full-moon Bookmark, Bellisma Lunisima 💞 (“a hole in the sky, a supernatural nightlight” … 🎵 Jason Mraz), with the dates and the great Native American names for each of the full moons next year. Just click on the link, print it out, have it laminated at a UPS Store (or not), and voila!
I also have a special personal gift for one lucky person🎁 . . . we’re having a drawing! Just leave a comment at the bottom and you’ll automatically be entered into a giveaway that includes all the goodies you see below: There’s a set of two holiday notepads, a box of brass-plated Angel Chimes with candles, a signed copy of my little Home For Christmas book, two designs of my Christmas Cards, and two sets of the cards I love to use for thank you cards… because they have recipes on them!♥️ There’s a Santa dishtowel, a “Home Cooking” tea-pot plate for cookies (or to hang on your wall), and some darling Santa stickers for your cards and gifts! From me to you with LOVE!💝
I’m going to announce the winning name next week! So you get this before Christmas! It’s a lot, but we have so many good things in stock right now, I couldn’t just choose one!! In ADDITION, four more of you, my girlfriends, will receive a copy of my Home For Christmas read-aloud book, and of course, I will sign it however you like! So you can keep it, OR you can give it to a friend! 💝
And one more surprise, just ONE lucky person . . .
will receive one of the very last of our wonderful SANTA CUPS!!! For a merry merry Christmas with love from me to you!♥️
Don’t forget to leave a comment! (At the bottom of this post, you’ll see a line of tiny words and right toward the end you’ll see “Comments” … they hide it for some reason!❌⭕️)
Also, another wonderful thing . . . I am SO honored to have been recently interviewed for the new Beatrix Potter Society Blog . . . where they ask artists how they 
were inspired by the art and life of Beatrix Potter … such a good question for me.💞 I loved answering it. Hope you enjoy it too, just click the link above . . . I’m always especially happy bringing people together, to perhaps help new people to get to know Beatrix better! If you haven’t joined the Society yet, you would love it. I follow them on Instagram too. Good influences, people who have done wonderful things in their lifetimes, need to be kept alive ~ and there are a LOT of good people giving their time to keep that happening ~ the legacy of Beatrix Potter is one of them!!♥️ There is so much more to learn about Beatrix, and everything is so much more accessible these days!💝
As you know, I’ve collected lots of books about Beatrix, and read them all, and am always looking, when out and about, in used bookstores or flea markets to find my out-of-print or hard-to-find favorites to share with you in my web store!
This year’s crop includes the charming Peter Rabbit Natural Foods Cookbook Illustrated by Beatrix Potter!
I have to show you my copy, a gift, inscribed to me by a very young Girlfriend, Anna Baker.
Adorable, and a pure keeper! And the perfect example of young magic-making in a new generation ~ and I have to say, Good job MOM!💝 Beatrix AND cooking.💞 A win-win for a lifetime of giving, and receiving.
Here’s the cover . . . we have just a few of these in our web store, including the one that this one replaced! Another sweet Christmas gift.♥️
And this! Have you seen this?
It was a complete surprise when I found this large scrapbook filled with copies of Beatrix Potter’s original letters, photos, and journal entries;
showing her watercolors, her family, her books, her story, her paint box, written in her handwriting, if she had made a scrapbook, this is exactly what it would have, should have, looked like!💗 Someone did a WONDERFUL job with this.
I particularly loved how real it felt with all the three-dimensional items, her first Christmas card designs that open, a basket that you can lift the lid, an envelope containing that famous illustrated letter, for you to open, touch, unfold, and read, even a small photo book with pages to turn ~ all set in the English Countryside. It must have cost a fortune to publish this book. I would LOVE to know who DOES things like this these days!!! It’s really so beautiful.
And the secret part, the coup de grace . . . the most amazing thing, on the inside back of the cover is a hidden door that opens, easy to miss and a complete surprise. Waiting inside is a copy of her first book! So in case you find this book in a store, look closely, before you buy it, be sure to see if the little book is still there. (All my copies in our web store DO have the little books, just in cases!) It is HERE!
We also have a few copies of this totally charming old book . . .
. . . the first, most wonderful biography I read about Beatrix, that led me to so much more, when I discovered she was truly
I’ve shown you this book before ~ it has several of Beatrix’s line drawings in it, printed from the illustrated letter she wrote for the child of a friend . . .
I turned the page to this and I heard my book say, “It’s okay, you can paint in me” . . . which of course I did . . . Like a little coloring book! How fun to paint that little blue jacket!!!
All three of these books are in our web store!💝 If you love them, be your own Santa, and put one under the tree for YOU. We also have some of her wonderful figurines . . . AND our jigsaw puzzle! Back in stock just for this Christmas!
This is my stack of her little bunny books, waiting to be packed up to be brought to their new home in California, where they have been very happy on my “Heroes” shelf, where they sit imparting inspirational DNA while I do my 2027 calendars and update my Christmas Book with new art and recipes!♥️
So here is my little Christmas Fairy Tale . . .
As you know last year we moved across the country into a very old 1970s double-wide. It isn’t nearly as large as our old house, but we’d been wanting to downsize, and it was perfect for that! It had an open plan with lots of windows, and oddly, one entire WALL of mirrors, which 
normally I might not have liked, but it brought in a TON of light from the wall of windows on the other side of the room, which in turn brought in the garden, so it didn’t take long before I learned to love it a lot. Below, you can see the mirrored wall, it’s in the dining room part of the open room . . . you can see me there, reflected, and across the room behind me, you can see two lamps and tall windows in the living area, but it’s dark outside, so they are black. Sort of get it? Part of the kitchen is also reflected in the mirror. There’s a doorway to the hall on the right.↘️
I have to admit, making magic in a very old, untouched and un-updated double-wide is more of a challenge than making magic in a 150-year-old Captain’s House (on Martha’s Vineyard, which put us way ahead on the scale of magic from the get-go). Things like plaster walls, thick decorative trim around heavy wooden doors with antique brass knobs and fittings, with a shelf over the front door for pumpkins in the fall. . . these things do 
not exist in a double-wide. If you want them, you have to figure out how to get them! But if ever a challenge is worth it, this is the one. Being that this double-wide lives in the middle of an English garden that we accidentally planted here in 2004 with no expectation of ever living here ourselves! So it’s a double-wide in tree, hedge, bird-bath, hummingbird, and blue-sky heaven. So on we go, building our world, just like we did the first time. But isn’t making a home just the most wonderful thing? Most creative job in the world!👏👏💗 Never forget:
After a lifetime of dreaming, I know this to be true.♥️
So here is another shot of that mirrored wall … because really, if you don’t know it’s there, it can get a little invisible, and what I’m about to show you can be confusing! Call this the “Before” shot.
Of course we were spoiled, our old house came with an old fireplace, all full of ancient whispers, which we loved to decorate at Christmas . . .
. . . we NEEDED a fireplace back there, for our cold and snowy New England winters. But we realized, that due to the mild weather in California, 
we didn’t need or even want a fireplace ~ it would require space! What I actually REALLY wanted, was a mantle! This came to light last Christmas, when I looked around and said, “I have no mantle to decorate! What we need is a FAKE fireplace ~ and we could put it on that mirrored wall in our “dining room! It would reflect candlelight!🕯️ It would be so cozy!” And I gently mentioned it to my darling husband, saying simply, I need a fake fireplace on yonder mirrored wall kind sir, and him replying, something to the effect of, “your wish is my command.” Anyway that’s how I remember it.💞
And so it was. He found a mantle, he found some appropriate pieces to go with it, he made other appropriate pieces, we looked at pictures of other mantles and surrounds, we looked at our old one…
Joe began cutting, glueing, and drilling . . . I never knew his drill has a flashlight in it! How handy! And just like Michelangelo cutting his masterpieces from the marble, just like THAT, our mantle started taking shape.♥️
We just guessed what height to make it ~ the side boards for the surround, are leaning against the mirror to give us some idea of what it would be like… I really loved the fireplace I saw in one of the rooms of Jane Austen’s house in Chawton in the UK . . . narrow, tallish, simple, plain. All it needs is boughs of holly!
This is it, it’s in a tiny room.
But maybe ours would have more substantial mantle, with a sort of back splash like the one on the Vineyard. But tall and narrow… Joe put it on the floor so we could see what it looked like. I laid the sides a wee bit crooked, he straightened them and started putting it together. Pretty soon he leaned the sides against the mirror and balanced the mantle on top. I decorated it, lit the candles, went mad with delight, then undecorated it so he could he take it down. He added an apron, put it back up, balanced it again, I decorated it again, went mad, he took it down, added a tiny shelf at bottom of the apron … etc, three times . . . until we had it all! He glued and screwed it together, and stapled a piece of black velvet on the back. And once again, I decorated it!
And voila! here it is! It’s screwed to the wall ~ now permanent, staying forever ~ here Joe is doing the 
last bits, adding a hook for the other stocking, wearing appropriate head gear. “This is ridiculous,” I exclaimed, laughing out loud every time I looked at it.
I continued laughing while taking a thousand photos, so adorable. I could barely believe the transformation!
I had a mantle! I couldn’t wait to show it to you!!
It takes up no space, is 56″ tall to the top of the back splash; the mantle is 48″ wide and 9″ deep ~ and it changed everything. It even created a sort of natural space on the left where we could tuck in a tree. I’d already purchased a small one because I thought it might have to go on the table (it’s up on a plant stand now), but next year, it’s clear there’s space to have a full-height (but skinny) Christmas tree in the corner!! This fireplace is rocking my world! I love it so much.💫💫💫
Voila, the “after” picture! And now I have this little corner I can decorate for the seasons ~ there’s a place for pumpkins, candles, bunnies and chicks for Easter, for photos, flowers, books, banners, a lamp, or even a birthday cake! We get to have dinner parties in front of the fireplace!♥️ See that little card on the apron of the fireplace? Joe added a tiny narrow shelf (like we had on Martha’s Vineyard). I can PUT things there! And I now have a place where, if I want, I could have fireside chats on Instagram! Or read a story! That is why I would have to call this a Fairy Tale. Because like my mother told me, you can have anything you want, as long as you make it yourself can get your husband to make it for you! Proof positive:
PS, an addendum. After Joe finished his brilliant masterpiece, I went looking on line to see if perhaps others had had this same idea, a fireplace with no fire… a faux fireplace to add extra coziness and charm to a small room. In case my Girlfriends were thinking how fun this would be but have no Joe, I wondered if maybe it would be possible to BUY one that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Because you know, if you dream it you can make it so! I was surprised, shocked maybe, there are so many choices! Little ones, big ones, simple and fancy, whatever your heart desires!♥️ Mas MUSICA? Oui!
Look at this one, clean, elegant, free-standing, and only $150, voila! If I only knew! Ha! well, there you go! I’m so used to asking Joe, I forget that there are other ways to go about this! I love his best of course!♥️ This mantle is even a half-inch deeper than mine… there are photos of it in a living room scene when you go to their site. . . but if this isn’t your cup of tea, there of tons of other ones to choose from ~ some of them are electric and even include the fire!🔥 This world!💝
Speaking of this enchanted world, this wonderful magical outrageously beautiful world that we, the human race, positively do not deserve but are unendingly grateful for, I thought you would like to see what a California Christmas looks like!
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Yup, no snow. And I do miss that thrilling first snow of the season! But the only white you see here are the drifts of sweet alyssum that springs up everywhere in the cool weather.
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The breeze you’re hearing comes down our valley from the Pacific ocean, alyssum fragrance floats in the air, the sun comes out almost every day, shining golden light and long shadows on my daily walk, and the silk trees flower in pink! A total blessing for light deprived person, I put my face up to drink in the sunshine.
But we absolutely DO have winter, it’s freezing at night (40s!!!), sweater weather, for sure ~ even fingerless gloves sometimes ~ and flannel jammies of course, it’s even cold enough for me to put my grandma’s nap blanket on the bed! Extremely cozy! It just probably won’t snow.🤭
Instead, check this out!
It’s a jasmine vine that found this chair on our front deck and is making a home there! I know I’m going to be sorry I let it go! It’ll probably take hours to get it all out! But it’s actually so pretty, and . . . think . . .
. . . what it’s going to feel like to sit in this chair loaded with light pink jasmine, and just rock and smell the flowers!🌸🌸🌸 So, for a possible future moment’s pure delight, here I am waiting for it to bloom, as each day the vine gets more deeply entrenched. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Jack is sending you all his kitty LOVE!😻 So, off we go, onward and upward.Company coming today! Going to Farmer’s Market tomorrow. Need some local honey🍯, and definitely want to see what the farmers are doing for Christmas!🪴 Merry, Merry darling people. Get out into nature if you can, take lots of deep breaths, and stay hydrated!♥️
Don’t forget to leave a comment for the drawing! You can sit in front of your fireplace and read everyone a story of Christmas long ago! “Home for Christmas!”
Love all your books. Especially your cookbooks. I always make your Butternut Squash Bisque. It is a hit every time.
Thank you for posting Willard. I enjoy every song, photo and word.
Hope you are enjoying CA. We are all still here in MA. Just had 10” of snow on Tuesday.
Donna
Merry Christmas to you and Joe! Glad you are loving the California Christmas. 🎄Lots of sunshine and no snow to shovel. 👍. Thank you, for all of your wonderful blogs. They are uplifting to everyone. Have a blessed New Year. 🥳
Oh Susan, it’s wonderful how you and Joe are making all things beautiful inside like outside. The fireplace is picture perfect. You both have been working so hard. Enjoy these quiet “dark early” winter months..they are so we can rest for the long hours of spring. Thanks for the wonderful blog. We love and miss you. xo
I love your new mantle that Joe built! He is so talented!! As always your blog was a joy to read. Only thing I missed was hearing how Jack is getting ready for a California Christmas. Indiana is snowy and getting ready for more on way Saturday. ☃️❄️ Getting ready for Santa and holiday festivities….my kitty, Joy loves getting in the boxes! 😺 I wish you and Joe and kitties and family a very blessed holiday filled with so much joy❣️🎄🎅🎁 Ho Ho Hoping I win!
Love the fireplace! You are so blessed to have Joe. Merry Christmas to you both!
We are lucky to have 2 fireplaces, 1 that came with the house and another that we added when we added on some rooms! At this time of year the one in the dining room is decorated with my snowman collection, and the family room has winter Teddy Bears. I love our home st Christmas!
Thanks for the chance at your wonderful goodies – Merry Christmas!
What a delightful Willard; Merry Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
These always cheer my wobbly heart!
Dear Susan,
You continue to be a true inspiration to SO many of us! Thank you for reminding us of what is possible if we dream it and put our energy into making it come true! Wishing you, Joe, and your family a Blessed and Merry Christmas.
Susan
P.S. I have all of your books 🙂 which are treasures!
A holly jolly Christmas to you and Joe (and the kitties, of course.) It is wonderful to have lovely gardens and birds and little magical things happening. In Florida where I live I await the return of bluebirds who nest near our porch and raised 2 broods last year! Nature is a marvel, and so are you to notice it all and call it by name and make something out of a dream. Wishing you many lovely dinners whiled away in front of your magical mantel.
Dear Susan as your fan I’m wishing you and your husband , family and friends peaceful, full of joy Christmas and may the new year be wonderful. i already have lots of your stickers, 5 of your cookbooks, desserts book, Christmas book. I’ve also been carrying your calendars since 2023. And now I’ll have one for 2026.
Thank you so much. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Lots of love
Merry Christmas Susan! Your mantle is beautiful! It looks like its always been there!
Enjoyed the Willard of course and Merry Christmas!
So glad to have you back. Have been missing my Willard — and you. Have a Most Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!!!!
Glad to have my Willard back. Been missing it and you! Have a most Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!
Happy Christmas Susan, did I dream that your friend Lowly was going to send you her mantle? I need to study your pictures.. the mirrored wall confuses my brain. Mantle is lovely. Debby
Dear Susan, thank you for the Christmas joy! Merry Christmas to you, Joe and Jack I now have a beautiful tuxedo kitty, too!!
Yikes, reading your blog reminds me how much you have influenced my buying habits when it comes to Beatrix Potter! You, Susan, got me hooked and I love all my BP things. I have most of what you displayed, especially the little precious statues of each character. All 45+ of mine are very much admired and cared for. When you show one of the many talents of your Joe the song…”It’s so nice to have a man around the house….!” starts playing in my head. Amen to that!!!
Merry Merry Christmas!
You always manage to bring the magic to everything you do! It really IS beginning to feel a lot like Christmas 🎄 no matter where you go. Thank you so much for sharing! 🎅
Y’all are geniuses!!! That mantle is the best idea I’ve seen in a long time. So cozy and a great way to use the mirrored wall. Merry Christmas to you, Joe, and all the elves that keep our beloved Susan Branch site running smoothly year round🎄
Your house is beautifully decorated and your mantle is a wonderful addition.
Happy Holidays.
I love the mantle and I completely understand the need for one. I always enjoy reading the new Willards and your books. Merry Christmas (and enjoy your mantle).
Your new mantle has made your California home so festive this year. We also downsized and I am thrilled with our new, much smaller home. Sending wishes for a splendid holiday season, how nice to be around your dear family again!
Your mantle is darling! Fills me with joy seeing your pictures! We just moved into a new house on December 1st and while the house is bigger than our old one, the mantle is not nearly as impressive as our last one, but I think once the stockings go up and I play around with decorating it, I’ll come to love it! ☺️ Merry Christmas!
Thank you, Susan, for bringing so much joy and positivity to our lives! I truly cherish your Willards each month as well as your beautiful books and calendars. Merry season to you and Joe!
The fireplace is perfect! It makes everything warm and cozy!
Merry Christmas to all! So glad I found Susan’s blog after buying her cookbooks years ago.
Your Santa Claus is the face I always think of when Santa is mentioned. Thank you so much for such an iconic visual. It’s the best.
Have a very Merry Christmas!
We miss you in New England, but it’s so good to hear about all the fun you’re having way out there in California! Love how cute you’re making your double wide – my grandmother would call that “making do” ! Cheers to you both from Cape Cod.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from snowy Michigan. Your fireplace mantle is absolutely gorgeous. Joe did an awesome job in making it and setting it in place. I enjoy seeing how you are making your new home so cozy.
Lois
Your mantle is beautiful!! Your dining room looks so cozy and inviting. Love reading your Willard. Have a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas, Dianne Fuller🎄
I have mantle in my new house and dearly love to decorate it with each new season.
Merry Christmas to you, Joe & Jack♥️💚. Love the new mantle✨ Such a fun spot to decorate thru the seasons.
Every Willard leaves me smiling! The mantle is just perfect…well done, Joe!
At 75 I am starting to watercolor !
Cheerily,
Micheline
“Oh Susan, your work has been a thread of magic in my life for so many years. Thank you for sprinkling charm into the world the way only you can. ✨ And if the Christmas winds ever blow your Santa flag back our way, my porch would be the happiest one on Lake Erie. ❤️🎅🏼”
Susan,
THANK YOU for taking your time to write and publish such a delightful, escape- to-a-better-time, and beautiful newsletter each month. I love to have your suggested MUSICA playing in the background while I pour over your words, often with a cup of tea. 😉
I wish you a beautiful and memorable Christmas and Holiday season, and all the best to you and yours in 2026!
The mantel is adorable and really adds to the room! Love the inspiration I always get from your Wiilards. Merry Christmas to you, Joe and little Jack
Hi Susan – I needed this post so much today to help with all the worry! I remember exactly where, three towns, decades, and multiple bookstores ago, I pulled out your Heart of the Home book to buy ♥️, followed by others over the years. I’m also a Beatrix Potter fan and love her inspiring story and the Lake District. Anyway, thank SO much for the beauty, light, and joy that you bring to my world!
I love your idea for including a delightful mantle on your dining room wall and Joe did an excellent job of turning an idea into cozy magic. I live in the Eastern Sierra in an old cabin that someone turned into a ranch house, They left the original brick wall fireplace intact and evryone says the bricklayer had drunk too many cocktails while building because there are bricks going in every direction, angle and elevation. It has grown on me.
I love your white paper trees on the new mantle! So darling! Well done, Joe, for building the mantle, and well done you for decorating it so sweetly.
This Willard is just what I needed today in Ithaca NY…thank you girlfriend Susan!
Thank you so much for sending us a Christmas Willard. What a wonderful surprise today! Also, thank you for the opportunity to win any of these wonderful gifts. I hope you, Joe and the Kitties all have a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Year’s.
Merry Christmas to you. I love the mantle! Your house is wonderful! Very cold here in Sacramento today. We have had so many foggy days that I have forgotten what it is like to have the sun shining! May peace and love surround you during the holidays!
You are a breath of fresh air and every day I check to see if there is anything new posted from Susan! I love your new mantle and you have already made it yours. It looks like it has always meant to be right there!
Thank you for all you do Susan! My twin sister and I have been following your work for many years. You are a light to this world💕
Hi Susan, Thanks for all your beautiful Willard’s ❤️
Thank you for this wonderful post. I love the fireplace. This may be a duplicate comment as I tried to send one earlier and something went wonky with my pc. So if you did receive the first one, I apologize for this second one.
I have followed you forever. I too, am a lover of Martha’s Vineyard – our vacation home. I first purchased your books at The Bunch of Grapes Bookstore on one of those earlier vacations. As a retired Primary teacher, I am very fond of Beatrix Potter’s books. I now have a darling granddaughter for whom I made a small quilt of Peter Rabbit fabric. I will be leaving my present home for a smaller home in the place I grew up. I will be quilting again as we are expecting another darling girl in the days leading up to Christmas. Wishing you and Joe a very happy Christmas! Karen
What a beautiful mantle! Susan, you are so blessed to have such a wonderful and talented husband! Thank you for sharing your lovely and cozy home with us. Just what I needed to see today! Merry Christmas!
Thank you for bringing some cheer and good news! We all need GOODNESS and GRACE right now.
Merry Christmas!
Dear Susan,
It really did turn out nice. Great job, Joe. It’s funny that I saw some photos of your MV mantel decorated for Christmas on FB and thought about you and how you must be feeling this year without a mantel to decorate and VOILA! You got your mantel! I live in a 1950s rambler and have coveted houses who (I guess that should be “which” but houses feel like living entities to me) have deep windowsills on which to place things. Well, I finally asked him to put up a shelf in front of the picture window and kitchen window by my bistro table. They both have curtains that hang down on either side so the shelf does not look out of place and now I can put plants there…..and decorate for Christmas to my heart’s desire. ❤️Cathy
Merry Christmas – your posts are so inspirational!
Your Christmas fairy tale is pure magic. Love the fireplace mantle. Just the right homey touch for your nostalgic holiday magical decorations. Hone–made is just the best.
I really like the mantle. I do miss the ambiance and the historical feeling of the Marthas Vineyard house. I grew up in a big historical home. it leaves a mark on your heart.
Was just wondering this morning when Willard would be out. Merry Christmas!
What a lovely blog today! My day started all rushed and harried and to get a cup of tea and read your newsletter was divine and magical. All the stress melted away and my peaceful demeanor is on the right track again! Love your mantle and the little bits and bobs! Merry Christmas to you!
Thanks for your reminder that Christmas is a season of hope. I am a widow who tries to look for the beauty in each day, and your Willards are beautiful, and inspiring.
I didn’t know who Susan Branch was until a friend gifted me the book Vineyard Seasons in 1988. I became an immediate fan and have read everything she has published ever since!
I love this – “Giving ourselves and our beloveds that happiness at home, reminding ourselves of the faith and beauty that lives in us all, and doing all we can to lift the spirts of those around us.” I’m going to print it so I can have a daily reminder on my desk. Merry Christmas to you!
♥️♥️♥️
Your new fireplace is wonderful–how creative! It’s fun to see how you are transforming your new home to suit your own dreams. Merry Christmas!
Lovely mantle!
Love everything in your Willard.
Susan, I hope this joyful season grabs you and yours with the largest hug of Christmas spirit (including extra doses of peace and serenity). I always savor your emails. Wishing you much laughter in 2026,
Heather
What a beautiful mantle! I want one too♥
Love the newsletter
Happy Holidays
Oh my stars! It’s always a Happy Day when I find a Willard in my inbox. Thank you so much for your love and enthusiasm and positivity. It’s magical, and much needed. Your mantle looks amazing! Merry Christmas to you and yours! 🎄❤️
Love the newsletter
Happy Holidays
What a clever idea…a fireplace on that mirror wall. It’s perfect. Between you, with the ideas and Joe with the skills, together you can make any house a home. I have always enjoyed moving and seeing how some place new to us could become “home”. It’s a challenge finding the perfect spot for our belongings, but such fun at the same time. You will, I know, have a wonderful Christmas gathered around your table, enjoying your decorated fireplace. I wish you, Joe and Jack the very merriest Christmas and a New Year full of good health and love. ❤️
LOVE the mantle! Great job Joe! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thanks for beautiful art and happy stories!
Love everything about your posts! It’s like we’re best friends having a chat while we sip tea and have nibbles! Merriest Christmas to you and Joe!
LOVE the mantle! Great job Joe! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thanks for beautiful art and happy stories!
Love your fake fireplace…it softens the mirrored wall…a great combination. My mom and dad had a fake fireplace mantle upstairs with a real one in the basement. The best of both worlds.
Merry Christmas from Michigan. Lots of snow this week. Looks like we will have a white Christmas. I have been a fan of yours for years and years. Your drawings and stories bring such JOY!!! Love the mantle my Dad always would make me whatever I could think up just like Joe does for you. He always said homemade is best cuz you can feel the love!❤️
Thank you for this lovely Willard!! You inspire us to change up our little spots.. and then the world!!! Have a blessed Christmas!🎄
Merry Christmas Susan! Sending you and yours lots of Christmas blessings. Thanks for always sharing yours with us!
Hi Susan,
No matter the type of day it has been, your Willard makes the day better, brighter, and more comforting. Thank you for spreading love, creativity and inspiration to each of us.
Hope you, Joe, Jack and the barn kitties have a wonderful holiday season and best wishes for the New Year !
I get such joy out of reading your blogs and books! So many wonderful ideas for making a home, which I’ve been at for a long time, but there is always something new to learn❤️
Dear Susan,
I love your new fire[fireless]place. Good work Joe!
Happy Holidays!!
Darlene in cold, cold Michigan
I have been following your books and adventures for many years now and have to say you have brought so much joy to my world! I didn’t have a magical childhood growing up like you had. I was one of seven children in a two bedroom home in rural Appalachia, so, not such a great start, but my Mother did her best to make Christmas magical. I love Christmas because of that and try to sprinkle that magic around to friends and siblings. Your books make my inspiration more “inspired”! Thank you for sharing your gifts and enthusiasm with the world!
Sincerely,
Dana Davis
Wishing you a very merry Christmas and happy new year. Your new home is beautiful and I love seeing all the changes and updates you’re making and I look forward to seeing more from you in 2026. Peace and blessings.
Ahhh…This is a wonderful Willard and put some magic in my day! Thank you – and “Go Joe!”
Joy to the World and Joy to you! Merry Christmas, and thank you for spreadiang good cheer. WE ALL NEED IT.
Reading this has brought me so much joy today. Susan, your words and art are more appreciated than you know! Despite the challenges of today, reading this has reminded me of how magical the little things are… even the moon!
Thank you, Susan. May the holidays be bright!
Annie
That mantle looks fantastic!
I’ve loved your work since my friend Sandy Bristoll introduced me to you. She lived on Martha’s Vineyard for a time. Since she passed away in 2013, your work has helped me keep her close to my heart. My Friends of Gladys Taber pen pal and I also enjoy writing to each other using your cards! Thank you, thank you.
It’s snowing here in frigid Illinois–hope it turns all our empty trees into a fairyland!!
Joy to the World and Joy to you! Merry Christmas and thank you for spreading good cheer. WE ALL NEED IT!
How very special your very own lovely fireplace in California! Thank you, Joe for loving Susan so well. I so enjoy your Willards and have saved so many! Merry Christmas🎄 and May 2026 🤩be a wonderful year for you two. Love all you do💞
Thank you for sharing your wonderful stories. I always enjoy reading your blog & can feel the happiness coming through. Merry Christmas!!
Joy to the World and Joy to you! Merry Christmas and thank you for spreading good cheer. WE ALL NEED IT! Thank you for your positive attitude.
That mantle is WONDERFUL! To me, a house is not a home without one! I’m downsizing and looking at a one bedroom condo. BUT I NEED to create a fireplace for it! Can’t be cozy without it!
Thank you for this Willard, Susan! It has been a very challenging year over here and your books, writing, and spirit have helped me stay connected to what really matters. Your work is so nostalgic and inspires me to bring as much coziness as possible into my days and to SLOW DOWN and allow for creativity. Thank you for sharing and for the opportunity to win your giveaway. Happy Holidays to you and everyone who reads this message! 🌲❤️✨
What a great mantle. Joe is very talented. It makes the space very cozy. Have a great holiday season.
Merry Christmas, to Susan and all. Happy New Year, too!
Merry Christmas to all! Your house is beautiful, so cozy and warm Susan🎄
With all that is going on in the world, I needed this today. Thanks!
Perfect solution for a small”ish” California home. We always need room for more decorations. Love receiving your Willard today. Helps get me in the decorating mood for this weekend. Thank you Susan!
Enjoy every minute of your festively~is that a word?~decorated home…I’m stacking Christmas books on my mantle…Merry Christmas to you and yours🎄
Merry Christmas from Springfield, Massachusetts! I needed this Willard today – trying so hard to get my Xmas cards out but I keep getting sidetracked. I’m picking my darling daughter, Luna, up from her first semester at Smith tomorrow morning and I’ve just printed out the full moon bookmark to leave on her nightstand as a little welcome home treat! Thank you so much for that. (I printed out one for myself too, and one for my step-daughters Christmas stocking! Now to order my 2026 desk calendar. I love your emails, your art, your books, your presence in the world. Thank you. Thank you.
This is my favorite blog and website of all time. I always laugh, smile and it makes me even happier than I already was reading it. Plus, it never ceases to amaze the finds and variety of things posted and written about. A real joy and pleasure always ensues and I get lost in the blog.
Sitting here reading Willard during what has been a rough week. Aging father in the hospital, difficult conversation with sons, grieving a lost loved one….THANK YOU for being a bright light this Christmas season and each month Willard greets me in my inbox! Blessings to you and yours this Christmas!
Something must be wrong with the stars, so many rough weeks these days. Stay strong, be good to yourself, and thank you for saying hello!💞