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 the sweet mantle. My husband mounted an antique mantle with a mirror to the wall and painted what would have been the firebox black. Works perfectly for cozibility! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Making memories with my two youngest grandchildren…baking and decorating sugar cookies just like my grandmother did with me:) Merry Christmas and a Peaceful New year!!!
Susan,
Love your books, your illustrations, your Williard newsletters!!
Keep being creative and sharing it all with us!
Love the mantle and your cute tree. My tree Is also little but I love it. Would love to win. Merriest of Christmas cheer to you. Love your Christmas book about your childhood. I read it every year!
Merry Christmas to Susan, Joe, and all the lovely people who are part of Susanbranch.com. Don’t forget to.hang some mistletoe! 🧑🎄🎅🎄🎁🍬🍫❤️
Your joyful update definitely helped kindle my Christmas spirit, thank you, and very much looking forward to the turn to longer days too!
I was also delighted to see the Beatrix Potter Society Instagram post featuring you! 😍
Thanks for a wonderful post – they always are so happy and up-lifting! The world needs more people with the “happy genes” like you!
I so enjoy your Willard letters. I have been receiving them since the 90s.
I so enjoy your Willard letters. I have been receiving them since the 90s. Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !
Always love reading this! Your fireplace looks amazing! Hope I am the winner.
Merry Christmas. Your mantle is wonderful. Joe is so talented. Makes it look very cozy. Have a wonderful holiday season.
How perfectly marvelous! I live in a double wide in the country,. It’s so cozy and filled with cottage love. Merry Christmas dear Susan and Joe!🎄
Thank you for sharing all the darling holiday ideas including the bookmark! Will use it in my Peter Rabbit book.
Congratulations on the wonderful mantle- go Joe!! Have a Happy Holiday 🩷
Discombooberation is my new favourite word! Ha!
And I love your fireplace! We have an electric one, pretty flickering light and a mantle, it changed the room
What a charming fireplace mantel! I love decorating the mantel too – I put one of the “fireless” ones in our bedroom to make it feel more cozy. Thanks for sharing this experience – and the pictures! It was a joy to read! Pam
You’ve got that magic touch! Your mantle is perfect! Go Joe!
Aren’t husbands who can build things wonderful!?
Merry Christmas to you!🎄
So many good ideas I had to take notes: books to order from the library, holiday decor to add to the possibilities list, & maybe it’s time to plan an stroll around England! Thank you for your lessons in positivity & perseverance. Happy Everything!!
Your new mantle is wonderful. Thank you for sharing and always being positive and optimistic. Beauty is so important to the health of our souls. You offer us beauty with every Willard you write. Merry Christmas!
Wishng you both a wonderful Christmas. We once found an old secondhand mantle and hubby turned it into an English fireplace in his study – the perfect place for it in the hot Australian summer. We have loved and enjoyed it ever since. Also have wonderful memories of the day we purchased it, with other family members helping. Love yours and the story it tells. Thanks for sharing it.
“ and doing all we can to lift the spirts of those around us.”
Thank you for reminding us. We live far away from family so have invited another couple to come and spend Christmas afternoon & have supper with us. After feeling blue, I am now inspired to get out the seldom used Christmas china and create a cozy happy day for the four of us oldies. Sure we will be missing the excitement of holidays gone by but embracing the joy of this blessed season with new friends. P.S. we have a faux fireplace too & love it.
Sweet Anna Baker, twelve years old!❤️🎄
Thank you Susan for the holiday ideas. I especially like the winter solstice celebration. Glad you’re home in California is bringing you and Joe so much joy. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!
Susan, thank you so much for sharing your heart and creative mind – you definitely make my world a better place! ❤️
Love the faux fireplace! It adds so much charm to the room.
Merry Christmas!
I’m so HAPPY for a Christmas Willard. Have a MERRY and BLESSED Christmas.
Treese/Colorado Cowgirl
I just love reading the Willards! Thanks for thinking of us and having this give away. Love the mantel. Merry Christmas!
Love your creative idea for the mantle. Always a joy to read your Willard.
This edition of Willard is just in time for the Christmas cheer that you always share. I love your positive spirit! It brings a smile and hope for our weary world. Everyone needs a Joe and you are blessed. Your new home is warm and inviting.
Reading Willard in front of my fireplace in northern Iowa.
I love receiving Willards. It is always a nice surprise. You have always inspired me. Your house looks adorable. I love your Christmas tree too!
A very Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
I always look forward to Willard and your emails are the first I open. Grateful to you for sharing your joyful outlook on life! Happy holidays to you!
P.S. Will there be a volume 2 of Distilled Genius?🤞
Thank you for brightening my day, Susan! Your positivity is so contagious.
While we are using real fireplaces for the next few months to stay warm you have flowers, birds, green growing things in your yard PLUS a fireplace to decorate!
Oh i do appreciate your wonderful, warm words today. It’s bitter cold up here in Northern California but reading your blog is like a cozy fire . I love what you have done to your place and Joe’s mantel is so cool. I have a copy of the Margaret Lane book on Beatrix but haven’t managed to read it yet. Soon. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season.
My 2026 calendar is ready to hang and I have my new versions of the old favorite cookbooks to sit down and read as soon as I get all my final exams graded next Friday! Such lovely things and positivity to surround myself with. Thank you, Susan!
Coziness abounds! Even in the South one needs a fireplace or a bunch of candles 🕯🕯🕯 to take the chill off!
Good recipes 🥕🥕 from a naughty bunny 🐰!
We have moonrise/full moon 🌝 friends here. They will ❤️ the bookmark!
Hugs 🤗,
Margot
I always look forward to reading Willard and I am grateful to you for sharing your joyful outlook. Happy holidays to you!
P.S. Will there be a second volume of Distilled Genius?
SusanBranch! You’re the BEST!💐
Oh my heart is filled with joy reading your post. This will be my second Christmas without my darling ( Mom) Oma ….but reflecting on the gift of all the years we celebrated together. So I make myself do the things that I would do if Oma was here. A tea party for friends today , another tea party tomorrow for my Bible Study besties. Clean the house once, prepare the menu and celebrate twice! Always with my mom in my heart. Merry Christmas Susan and Joe ❤️🎄❤️
Thank you for sharing your move/decorating journey! Love to imagine how close you are to the ocean ❤️ (San Joaquin valley envy, aka HOT in summer 😣
The mantle ROCKS and the room is ‘whole’.
A very Merry Christmas to you, Joe and the kitties 🥰
Of course I’m leaving a comment! Pick me pick me!!! You know how I love everything you do!!! You have Great Taste! …and please let me know if you didn’t receive contact info for Barrington Books RI. Love ya, Happy Healthy Holidays!!! Just a year ago you were on Amtrak traveling East!!! Merry & Bright!! 🥂…no Santa emoji….he must’ve left to come down your fireplace!!🤶🏼💂🏼♀️🎀Terrific job, Joe !!!
Mwah, Cheryla*
I did get that!!! Thank you so MUCH!❌⭕️
Merry Christmas! It’s always a treat when a new Willard comes to the email box. Thanks for brightening my day. ♥️🎄♥️
Willard always comes at just the right time! Thanks for the holiday cheer, good things and sweet memories.
Love, love, love the mantle!! Makes the house so HOMEY!!
I agree, Susan. A house becomes a better home with a fireplace. Merry California Christmas to you and Joe.🎄. Were you able to sell your BIG house?
We still own it!💞
Merry Christmas! You are like a magician, Susan! Yesterday I asked by email if you were making the full moon bookmark and Voila! Today they arrive in your Willard! I print, laminate and give them out to my very best loved ones who love to receive them at Christmas.
Thanks so much for your creativity, love of life and all the beauty that surrounds us. My George is much like your Joe. He made me a great stand for my laptop so it is level with my head for viewing. Bright purple! My daughter loved it when she saw it and now he is making her one for Christmas.
Susan! Thanks so much for this bit of Christmas cheer- it’s exactly what I needed! Your joy, Christmas elf hubby and Beatrix make the world a perfect holiday place. Merry Christmas!
Dearest Susan,
I have been grappling with the fallout of my downsizing too. Although it was absolutely the right thing for a retired couple – and the location is perfect Cape Cod – the house is tiny and not at all the old colonial my heart yearns for. I have been making myself sick poring over real estate listings and wanting to go back to what I once had, knowing it is not right for this age and stage. Your post and ADORABLE fireplace helped me see that cozy is a mindset that we can absolutely create if we first accept what is and then work from there. Indeed, anything is possible. Thank you for sharing that. It was exactly what my heart needed tonight. Now excuse me while I get busy looking for ways to make my space what my heart needs too!
YAY!!!💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼
Love the mantle. Everybody needs one! Kudos to Joe for such a fine job! Have a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.
Your Christmas decorations are lovely! And the Santa cup is so cheerful. Thanks for bringing creativity, joy, and love into the Christmas season as we celebrate the miracle of Jesus’ birth!
Lovely Christmas Willard, chuck full of inspiration as always! Thank you, Susan! Love your mantle. I couldn’t do without mine, either. It’s a year ’round greeting card stand, and a place to hang my seasonal decor. Have a wonderful holiday and the best to you & Joe in the New Year!
Please?
I love your fire-less place. That Joe! What a guy. Have a great Christmas. We cut our fabulous 13-foot tree from the National Forest today. Don’t worry. It’s perfectly legal. Cheers!
Always eager for your Willards. So inspiring to watch you ”bloom where you are plants”!!
P.S. which book is your coffee cake recipe? I too will make it for Christmas!
C*
My Christmas Book!
Susan, this is my very first Willard after subscribing recently, and I LOVE your exuberance and optimism in the midst of this upside-down but still beautiful, magical world! You’ve just helped me find my joy in this season, lifting my spirits immensely!
Happy Christmas to you and Joe with your warm and cozy fireplace! Pure magic!
Love the fireplace! We’re getting ready to add more character to our house, I can’t wait to see the finished product.
I want a mantel, too! Love it!
I love, love, love hearing from you ! Your letters are such a joy to read and keep me happy for days. I hope you and Joe have a fantastic Christmas and a Blessed New Year. Love
Love the mantle an all of your inspiration, Susan. Thank you and Merry Christmas. Gwen Ratermann — [email protected]
Love the mantle an all of your inspiration, Susan. Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas 🎄 Susan and Joe! Love the mantle! It looks amazing! God bless us all!
❤️ 🏡 Have a happy cozy Christmas! 🎅🏻 🤶
Your creativity, visions, and the working together you and Joe perform is remarkable and inspiring.
Thank you for your Willard’s.
I am not writing this to win anyone of your gifts but just to let you know how enjoyable it is to receive your enthusiastic, creative, and energetic writings.
Love the mantel! Have a very Merry Christmas
Love reading Willard! The mantle is perfect. Thanks for all you do!! Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!
Always lovely and oh so inspiring! Love the new mantle and forever loving your use of stars everywhere!
I too love Beatrix Potter and attended a Meeting of the Society when they were in San Diego about 7 years ago. Plus I went on the A fine Romance trip and we went to her house on Hill Top Farms. You two are peas in a pod. Your blog is always inspiring. Happy Christmas!
The mantle is magnificent! I love to decorate mine as well, for each holiday. Christmas blessings to you and Joe!
Oh what joy! I was just thinking the other day that I needed some joy in my life and today the Willard arrived! Thank you, Susan! Merry, joyous Christmas to you and Joe.
Love the moon calendar! Thanks for brightening our lives!
Susan, I wish you and Joe a blessed Christmas. How exciting, this will be your first Christmas in your new home. It’s fun watching you making this house a home.
Thank you for sharing your gorgeous holiday decor! The faux fireplace is a masterpiece!
I enjoyed your story and if I can get my husband to get rid of an ancient piano/desk that is just taking up space in our small living room… I just might put in a mantel too! Since we don’t have a fireplace.
Beautiful workmanship Joe and really did transform that room nicely for Christmas decorating -Thanks for the inspiration and Merry Christmas Susan!
What a wonderful Willard and love the mantel! What kind and thoughtful items for the giveaways! Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year . . .
I love your new fireplace. A fireplace adds so much character and warmth to a living room and makes a house a home. It’s so wonderful to have a mantle to display items seasonally, too!
I always get excited when I see your email about your latest Willard!! And, of course, anything about Beatrix Potter is always a plus! Love your new mantle! Congrats to Joe! Isn’t it wonderful having such a talented husband! Merry Christmas & all the best in the New Year!!
A mantel for all seasons is a must! Yours is very beautiful and perfect for your beautiful place. I have a very talented Jim, not a Joe, and he and I built our mantel, overmantel and wood-burning fireplace surround out of salvaged antique oak school classroom doors with a hearth created out of a slate chalkboard. It’s a joy to decorate for every season!
Susan, I know you know it but sometimes we like to hear things from someone else. You and Joe are just the cutest couple ever. I have to say I’m a lil jelly of all the things you guys do together. My picker has not been good. 3 kicked to the curb but not before I got my 5 beautiful children who are still my world at age 70. You are such a bright and shining star to the world! Thank you
I have friends unhappy with their pickers too! I just got lucky!!! Five “beautiful children” ~ makes you a true winner! So much love!
Love the fireless fireplace! Our current home has no fireplace, but I may figure out where to place a mantle.
What a special treat to find a “Willard” tonight, Susan. Love your fireplace! Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
I, too, love Beatrix Potter and the Enesco Beatrix Potter by Jim Shore ornaments that bring me joy every Christmas. And I agree with you that Joe did a marvelous job on your mantle. Merry Christmas to both of you!
I love the bookmark. Thank you! I think I’ll print a copy for myself and my two daughters (ages 14 & 10). We still use an owly one you shared a few years ago.
Thanks for the updates, the Insta recommendation, and the lovely contest.
I wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Every year I look forward to your Full Moons bookmark. Thank you! One for me and one goes to England. And – that fireplace 🥰
(Clapping hands together in delight!) You made magic! I love how much JOY your fireplace brought – how dear!
YOU, Dearest Susan, ARE BEAUTY PERSONIFIED!
Thank You!: ) Thank You!: ) For Sharing Your SPARKLY JOY!
XOXooXOxxOo
😘😘😘
Merry Christmas , Susan….
Thank you for reminding us what Christmas is all about….
What a treat to find this Willard – just when I needed a pick-me-up after cookie and candy making today!
That is one cute mantel! What a great idea! Beautifully crafted, and it adds extra charm to your home! I would love to do something like that in my home; hence I don’t have an open floor plan. But I love it! 🙂
I’m living in a house with 3 fireplaces that means 3 mantles. They all are decorated all year. I will be moving next year to a place with no fireplaces that means no mantles. So I get what you went through. I can make a mantle happen. Thank you. ❤️
LOVE the mantle!! It makes your home look so cozy!
I also wanted a fireplace in our home and my husband surprised me with an electric one a few Christmases ago. Our men are the best!
I just discovered your site and I love it. So encouraging.
It was so fun reading step by step about the creation of your perfect mantle. I think it’s a really good thing that Joe built it. It’s one-of-a-kind. Susan, you were the one with the great idea ! Thanks for the ideas about learning more about Beatrix Potter. I plan to read some of the books you shared. I loved the festive-ness in this blog and the lovely Whittier quote at the end.
I love reading these Willards!
Merry Christmas!
Well done Joe!! Marvelous in every way!
Susan, You and Joe are so creative! The fireplace is beautiful and what joy it is already bringing! Looking forward to seeing how you decorate it each season. Merry Christmas from Indiana.
We plan to holiday at home in southeastern California’s high desert. I can see Joshua Tree National Park from the kitchen window. It’s a special place with lots of wildlife. Happy holidays!
Oh Susan! I love you and your Willard’s. Having the mantle on the mirrored wall is a great idea. Joe is a master of all trades. Your home reflects your creative imagination.
And we are so lucky you share it with all your girlfriends. I’m so happy to be one of them.
Your new little mantle is perfect! Merry Christmas and here’s hoping for a kinder, more empathetic and loving New Year. 🥰