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!
XXXXX
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.
XXXXX
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!”
Thank you for the ongoing inspiration and Christmas JOY! It’s my birthday today…and I’m drinking coffee from my darling “Make a Wish” bone china cup that my sister (who is a Susan Branch fan-girl too!) gifted me a few years ago. I have gifted “Home for Christmas” to her and a few close friends. What a treasure it is! Merry Christmas to you and Joe! Love- Cheryl from snowy Royal Oak, Michigan
Good morning Susan! This was just what I needed this morning, a reminder there are others who cherish and value the homey, cozy, handmade with heart things. I was feeling a bit dejected (is that a word?) after a party last night where my gift (simple with handmade touches – have you heard of blind date with a book?) was the one that kept getting swapped. 💔 The happy ending is I do think the people that got “stuck” with them will enjoy them. ❤️🩹 Anywho, LOVE the mantle idea and creation. You and Joe are a dream team! Thanks for warming my heart and soul this AM. Merry Christmas from Maine. ❄️ 🌲 🕊️ Sue xxx. PS I hope Vanna picks me 😆
Love the mantle, a beautiful addition to the mirrored wall. I enjoyed the information about Beatrix Potter.
You have brightened my days over the years~thank you and Merry Christmas!
on the search for a fake fireplace now that I’ve seen how marvelous yours turned out and how magical it is on that mirrored wall…who knows, maybe I’ll put up a mirrored wall too!
thanks for being you and sharing your life with us.
Susan, I look forward to reading your wonderful words each month. I did the opposite and moved from my beloved home in California to North Carolina. Oh how I miss California. I miss my year round garden and the weather. I also put in a fireplace, just for the mantle. It’s decorated for Christmas. One thing I didn’t have in California was Cardinals. But now i have red magical birds. Thank you for sharing with us. Merry Christmas ! Happy 2026
Oh yes I do miss the cardinals!!! ❌⭕️♥️
I love reading your Willards! You do create magic in all your writings and books. Merry Christmas to you and Joe and all the friends out there. Jesus is the reason for this season. God bless you all!
Wonderful Willard, thank you for sharing your life and cheering me up during a difficult time.
Laurel
PS those books look wonderful, I need one as a gift for me and a friend.
I love the new fireplace! Also wanted to thank you for your audiobook recommendation in the last post and give you one I think you’ll love. Jenny Bayliss has several really cute and well written holiday/winter fiction titles. Her latest is I’ll Be Home For Christmas and it’s wonderful.
Please enter me in the giveaway and Happy Holidays!
Good morning Susan – thank you for sharing your wit, wisdom, and many stories with us. I have so enjoyed following you and The Willard all these years
Merry Christmas ! Joy for the new year !
My Grandmother had a mantle and she decorated it with her miniature Christmas village every year. Your mantle is lovely!
Merry Christmas!! I have been checking every day to see if your Christmas Willard was up and I got my first Christmas present yesterday when I saw it! It is always such a delight, but at Christmas a total TREAT🎄! Happy for your fireplace mantel. I downsized about 10 years ago and had two fireplaces and miss them especially for Christmas decorating. Joe knows how to create magic for you! I love how you continue the art of tradition! It’s fun to try new things and I do, but what means the most to my family are pulling out the “cute” memories they had through the years!! Wishing you and Joe a most beautiful and blessed Christmas!
I so enjoy your Willards! The fireplace is great and I wish you a very Merry Christmas. Thank you for the joy you bring.
So very magical! Thanks for another inspiring Willard……I always enjoy reading about what’s happening in your life. May you and Joe have a beautiful and blessed Merry Christmas and may 2026 be filled with Peace…and hopefully more Civility in our crazy mixed up world!
Oh, and thanks for the bookmark….I’m off to make a few little “tuck-in” gifties with it!
Love and look forward to your Willards. I have collected each and every one of lyour fab books. And have stayed up till the wee hours of the morning when I received one that I just couldn’t put down. I hope you will find this funny…ten years ago when we moved from our big house in Cedarburg, WI to a condo here, as you well know about downsizing, I put my Mary Engelbreit set of dishes for sale on here. I immediately got a response from a SB collector in CA. asking for photos and then sent them to her and her writing back that they were ME and not YOURS. I was so embarrassed, but we ended up being best pen pals!
Christmas and New Year’s blessings to you and your Joe! With prayers for God to bless our country and world with PEACE…Jane Elbe
Pick me pick me for the Santa mug! My husband is Santa here in south central PA and I need that mug!
❌⭕️
Susan, the one thing I always remember from reading your “Christmas From the Heart of the Home” book is to make everything sparkle; clean, wash, and shine your dishes and decorations at this time of year. So when I am doing that, I think of you! Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
Merry Christmas! Love your blog and have many of your books and get your calendar every year.The mantle looks very sweet.
Merry Christmas!
It is always a joy to receive your Willard newsletters so beautifully written and artistically styled. I am in-love with your new fireplace and mantle. Joe did an amazing job, and I know you must be smiling every time you gaze upon it! I am looking forward to seeing your seasonal changes on your new mantle. Have a lovely holiday season.
“Welcome Christmas, come this way…Welcome Christmas, Christmas day.”
-Theodor S. Geisel aka Dr. Seuss
Merry Christmas to all! Thank you for this lovely holiday post! 💕
Dear Susan,
Seeing that I have a new Willard in my emails always brings an instant smile to my face! Thank you for sharing your magic with us and encouraging us to live out our own dreams. Sending happy holiday wishes from North Carolina!
Best always,
Laurie Dyr
Every year my sisters and I read “Home for Christmas
” together because you wrote about your life, which we are blessed to say was our life! The memories, laughter, tears are the delights of life. We cannot say how much the story of your mantle in your California home means to us. You live out the saying that is on one of your bookmarks which tags the pages in my “Home for Christmas” book: “The secret of having it all is believing that you do.” What a fabulous attitude with which to live life. Love to you and Joe this Christmas and every day!
Dear Susan
Loved your Christmas Willard. What a fun and clever idea. I bought a new flocked tree this year. Needed a change. Granddaughters decorated. Here in Michigan winter can last for months. After the holidays I ll switch to winter decorations. Snowmen, mittens, sleds, and skates. Have a beautiful Christmas and all the best for a very Happy 2026.
Sheila
Hello Susan! Love, love, love your everything . . . emails, website, store, calendar that I get every year, books, ideas, recipes! You are a marvel and bring so much sunshine into our lives. THANK YOU, Amy
I love your Willards, books, and products! I rarely buy stuff for myself though. Everything you create is so lovely! Thank you for sharing! The mantle idea is something I’ll keep in mind as my husband is selling our LakeHouse. I’m sad, but I guess it’s good to downsize as you age. Thanks again for your refreshing, beautiful, and uplifting newsletter.
Joe did an amazing job on the fireplace, so much better than a bought one.
Merry Christmas!!!
I just moved to sunny SOuth Florida from the Northeast, and I too missed my fireplace more that I thought I would. I broke down and purchased a lovely electric one ( you can just have the flame, no heat!) so I feel right at home.
Your Willard was just what I needed to “light up” a cold, dark winter morning here in Kansas City, Missouri! Thank you! And I LOVE your new mantle! Handmade by Joe makes it all the more “cherishable”!! Have a lovely Christmas!
The mantle is perfect! How lucky you are to have such a willing and talented spouse! You’ve managed to make this “outdated, double wide” into a charming, inviting home! Merry Christmas to you both. May 2026 be a healthy and happy year for you both!
Once again, an utterly delightful Willard! Merry Christmas to you!
I have that Beatrix Potter scrapbook and I love it. I’m also very fond of your Willards. Maybe it’s because I am a Willard (last name.)
Always love visiting Susan’s World! It fills my heart ❤️. Thank you 🙏🏻
I have a natural wood fireplace constructed with bricks but alas no mantle. I’m only the third person to live in the house and often wonder how the original owners ever imagined building a fireplace without a mantle?
Your mantle is everything perfect! That Joe; he sure is a keeper. You so needed that for coziness and decorating. So happy for you.
I am a Beatrix fan too-so much so. I have many of the little figureines but on the window sill in my kitchen sit two~Peter and Mother Rabbit with her twin babies ( I have twins that just turned 44). I think of you sometimes when I look at them and think you would approve.
We have been to the magic of her home as well and it remains a huge red letter day in a life full of them (all in the attitude).
I was just looking for a card this morning and came across a bunch of quotes I have saved over time so once again, thought of your love of their inspiration.
I know you love to read too. So many wonderful books out there right now. Have you read How to Read a Book? A charmer.
Happy Christmas season. xo
I’m looking to surround myself with loving, happy thoughts and memories this holiday season. Thank you for bringing in the brightness, Susan 💕💕💕
Merry Chrtistmas!
What a beautiful mantle you have made!
I so look forward and enjoy your blog!! It brings me back to so many wonderful, precious memories of “yesteryears.” It inspires me to make today special for it will be a memory one day too. Thank you for sharing and blessing us with your talent not only in art but in words. God bless and Merry Christmas!! May 2026 be the best year yet!
I look forward to your Full Moon Bookmark every year…so thank you so much!
The mantle is stunning….did you make the star garland? It really makes it magical!
Merry Christmas!
I absolutely love your mantle. I have no “crafty” husband. I have a husband, but he’s not crafty. I’m going to search online for mantles. I never thought of just adding one to my house.
Merry Christmas to you!
Oh my goodness, everything looks so festive and beautiful! And then I saw the bronze shoes and it reminded me that I have my bronze shoes along with my one-year-old picture in the frame. Memories! Thank you so much for such a wonderful drawing! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Oh my gosh! That mantle is beautiful! It brought some coziness to your home. You are so lucky to have Joe.
Susan always warms my heart and helps me escape the chaos in this world. What a blessing she and her Willard’s are. Merry Christmas to you!!!
Susan, I absolutely adore the new mantel!! It’s just perfect. I love the story of the doublewide even more than Martha’s Vineyard and I hope you’ll write a book about its wonders!
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!! Love to you, Joe and your sweet kitty!
That was a lovely post, as always, Susan. Reading every Willard just makes me smile. It’s light in the darkness to me. Your giveaway package looks darling. I rarely win anything but what the heck? Maybe miracles DO still happen, right? Anyway, have a lovely rest of the month including MERRY CHRISTMAS. Sincerely, Susan, from the blog writingstraightfromtheheart.blogspot.com
Dear Susan,
Thank you for the news-filled Christmas-y Willard! Your solution of having Joe make that beautiful faux fireplace is perfect! I love how it transforms your room. My daughter has bought me your 2026 calendar so I’m looking forward to enjoying that in my home next year! Merry Christmas! 🎄
Dear Susan,
Thank you for the news-filled Christmas-y Willard! Your solution of having Joe make that beautiful faux fireplace is perfect! I love how it transforms your room. My daughter has bought me your 2026 calendar so I’m looking forward to enjoying that in my home next year! Merry Christmas! 🎄
Hi Susan, receiving Williard is one of my favorite things ~ wrapped up in digital strings!
Thanks for always thinking about your girlfriends!
Happy Christmas & a glorious New Year!
Kas
Your cross-country move came with so many big changes but you and Joe have certainly risen to the occasion! I wish you great joy this holiday season and beyond 💕
You are so clever and Joe did a great job on that fireplace to make you smile! He knows so well what makes you happy! I love it! Cozy Christmas is what makes us filled with joy! Your home is shaping up around you! Merry Christmas and happy New Year!
Merry Christmas, Susan, and thanks for sharing this project with us. You and Joe are such a creative team! Your “can do” spirit continues to be a life lesson. No complaining, just figure out how to solve.
I get so excited when I see a new Willard in my inbox. They brighten my moment, make me smile, long for days gone by, inspire my own decor and generally give me a warm hug. Thank you, Susan Branch, girl friend.
Susan, so good to see another Willard and one about Christmas. Your mantle is just beautiful! And I love all the Beatrix Potter stuff. So cozy. Merry Christmas!
Wow. I have moved to Florida and miss my Mantle in Connecticut. But I do love Joe’s beautiful Mantle…..It’s been a journey to have moved South…Love you and Joe …you have helped me settle in..Merry Christmas…..
Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to you and Joe! I love decorating too and wanted a shelf, and hubby took care of that. We are blessed that our men can do and fix and make anything and everything!!! xox
Every home should have a mantle (real or fake) and what a wonderful addition to your home. Will be reading and re-reading your Summer book throughout the winter months. It gives me such hope for warmer weather but for now . . . Merry Christmas to all!
Hello Susan, Merry Christmas to you and Joe. Glad you’re enjoying the mild Calif Christmas weather. I miss my days of cruising Van Nuys Blvd and stopping at Bob’s Big Boy for onion rings and chocolate shake! And, love the new mantel. Your home looks so warm and cozy!
Loved your fireplace! So cool! I need more surfaces. Do we ever have enough! Merry Christmas to you and Joe!
Love your determination to keep Christmas magic thriving! It is more of a challenge and while I am having more of a minamilist Christmas this year due to health issues, I got my little tree up and pulled all my candles from storage to have that Christmasy atmosphere.
P s. I love the word ” discombobulated “
Well done Joe! Your mantle is so lovely and so YOU… thank you for so many years of inspiration for handmade love! Your Christmas book is propped up in my 100-year-old kitchen and it just belongs there! Did you know that they have tiny electric “fireplaces” you can plug in under your mantle so that you have the glow and ambience without the chimney and ashes? Merry, merry Christmas to you, Joe, Jack, and your beautiful home!
Oh Susan everything is so beautiful I don’t know where to begin! I wait all year for my full moon bookmark! After I print mine on card stock I cover it with Scotch brand clear packing tape! It’s just the ride size to keep it nice! I print one for my sister and my nieces too. Your mantel is perfect! As only you can do 😘❤️ I have all my Susan Branch Christmas things out and all my Beatrix Potter treasures as well ❤️ Wishing you, Joe and all the kitties the Merriest of Christmases with love xo Julie Marie ❤️🎄🎅🏻🧑🏻🎄⛄️☕️📚
Thank you for yet another delightful Willard! I love your faux fireplace. You’re right, there is just something about a mantle for making a house into a cozy home. May you Christmas be blessed with joy and gladness, yummy eats, laughter, love, and good health, dear Susan and Joe.
I love the reminder to make your own fairytale. It’s easy to think we need to move to a different house, but we don’t. What a great reminder in December because we have all of cold, dark January to begin working that fairytale. 🙂 Merry Christmas, and thank you for continuing to inspire!
You always inspire me!
Merry Christmas 🎄
What a genius idea, your fake fireplace! And the perfect location too. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and how lucky you are to have a man who can build anything! Good job, Joe!
I loved the Beatrix Potter scrapbook someone put together. I too do things similar, but they are about activities in my life. I call it my yearly journal and include things I do that are out of my normal routine. I add three dimensional items, so it gets quite bulky at times. It’s fun to look back and see how I spent those years. Photos, ticket stubs, my own artwork, doodles, you get the picture. It’s great fun to create.
Thank you for your Willards. LOVE them!
Your beautiful newsletters are always day brightener!
Before I make copies of Full Moons of 2026 (which I love that you gift us), I have to find my Beatrix Potter – My Journal! and spend half the day enjoying the treasures in that book all over again! Merry Christmas blessings to you and Joe and Jack.
Beautiful Willard 2025. Thank you for sharing with us.
Thank you as always for an uplifting and fun newsletter 👏🏻❤️I went to the Beatrice Potter Instagram and watched their documentary on her. Absolutely wonderful you’ve probably seen it but if not WATCH please. You and Mr Joe have a fabulous California 🎅🎄
Very lovely fireplace mantle. Looks cozy. I love Beatrix Potter and made sure my first graders did too.. I taught for 35 years. We always made Peter a blue coat at Easter time. Thank you for sharing so many good ideas.
Thank you for such a wonderful blog to read and enjoy! Love your decorating and of course your new mantel.
The mantle is lovely! How wonderful that it was made by your Joe for you. A treasure for always!
Merry Christmas!!
Love the Santa cups!
Your Willard truly is enchanted. Thank you for immersing us in the magic of the season. Best wishes to you Susan and your family of admirers.
Merry Christmas to you and Joe. Thank you for always sending joy out to us, your Girlfriends, and to the World. May we all remember to do so. ♡
Merry Christmas! Every home needs a fireplace! We had an old mantle against our dining room wall and instead of where you put black velvet I painted a board with chalk board paint and then drew on logs and fire. Cozy in spades!
It’s always a special treat to get an email notification of a new Willard in my Inbox. Thank you for your holiday inspiration! Love, love, love the fireplace.
What a wonderful merry Willard! Love the fireplace–Joe is quite handy! Thank you for popping into my world and sharing yours! Sandy
❤️ your blog ❤️
Always a sit down, have a cuppa and breath moment when a Willand drops. Thankyou for always brightening our day and for bringing back Beatrix Potter memories when I visited her beautiful home in May for the first time (I took your book A Fine Romance with me).
The mantle is lovely! How wonderful that it was made by your Joe for you. A treasure for always!
Merry Christmas!!
Lovely mantle and Merry Christmas.
Love your sweet mantle! I live on the central coast too 💕
Love your fireplace!
Thank you so much for this happy surprise Willard. So much joy here! The fireplace mantle is beautiful and special. The scrapbook! Looks like you are staying in CA for Christmas this year. You must be feeling very content there…of course you are. ❤️ Happy Christmas to you and Joe. 🎅🏼🎄🕯️ We do a winter solstice bonfire here in Minnesota and this year we have a couple of feet of snow around the fire pit. 🎄🔥 So glad I have emojis to paint here on my comment. 😂
Have to work on the Christmas Book, so we will save our travel for later!!! Love the idea of a bonfire!!💞
Absolutely love the mantel and how you are creating a magical Christmas! I can’t believe how many holidays we’ve “shared”… for over 30 years now! And my daughter treasures a hand written note you sent here in response to her writing to you!
Since 1986, if you can imagine! Hard to believe, and so blessed by all that’s happened in those treasured years!♥️
I love mantels too! And old books. I never thought to combine the two until I saw your photos. I love our wood stove below our mantel and its golden flames warming our living room. Merry season’s greetings!
I have always loved everything Susan Branch, for many years!! Have all the books, tea mugs ( I particularly love them because they are so light to hold)!The new mantle is terrific!! Christmas anywhere is magical!! Thank you for the years of Joy!!🎄❄️🥶⛄️☀️🌴
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from New York!
Merry Christmas, Susan and Joe!
I wish you the Merriest of Christmases!
Love, Anne
I love your work and last night read this post to my daughter who is 7 and also loves your artwork. She fell asleep smiling – your words are always so cheerful and warm. Happy Holidays from Cape Cod!
It’s one of my dreams to renovate our living room to add an electric fireplace and mantle… they are simply so romantic!
What a wonderful giveaway you have put together. Love it all and the Santa mug is my favorite. Thanks for the chance to win. Have a Merry Christmas!
Merry Everything and Happy Always!! Love your mantle. One is so handy for decorating, especially at Christmas. Looking forward to part 2 of this Willard.
I love the new fireplace that Joe built for you Susan. I completely understand the need to have a place to add seasonal decorations and collections. I have my old entertainment unit with a book shelf on one side of it and a place for a tv. I no longer have a tv, so I love sifting through my treasures to put in the space. This year it is my parents creche’ and the many additional sheep and figures I pick up from yard and estate sales. The top is put to good use as well. So lovely to be surrounded by good memories especially through the holidays. Wishing you and Joe an amazing Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
To add to my earlier post – They were not SB books I gifted (perhaps they should have been)! They were my fave 2025 fiction – Wild Dark Shore and Famous Last Words. I did gift Distilled Genius for a 40th bday earlier this year which was received with great delight!
It tickles me to always read your thoughts… you are a generous giver of yourself and I’m grateful❤️Cheers to embracing the central California life style and all of the uplifting, positive ions in your area. I am there often🎄
I love this mantle. I look forward to the WIllard and sort of let out a little screech when it comes to my in-box. ❤️
Love, love, love, your transformation! You are just such an inspiration!
A Merry, Merry Christmas to you and Joe!