I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for the Christmas season to be here! There are few things better in the world of holidays than the tinkling of Christmas music, the smell of hot apple cider and visions of sugar plums! Of course being the girl that I am, I also do love the sparkle!
To help kick-start the sparkle, Liam and I decided to take a trip down to the McHenry Mansion Visitors Center and Gift Store, which just so happens to also be where my mother works (also a big fan of the sparkle). Once I stepped through the doors, Christmas had arrived.
The design team had just started putting out all the Christmas goodies, so the cozy little shop was starting to look like a fabulous winter wonderland! Two of the walls gleamed with Old World Christmas and Radko ornaments and tinsel trees lined one of the tables creating quite the magical forest. You could spend quite awhile looking at all the special ornaments, and I think it is fun to pick one out for people as gifts. The Hill family tree is FILLED with ornaments we have collected over the years and it makes it just that more personal; a story to be told with each one.
A really fun idea if you throw holiday dinner parties, is to pick out an ornament from the gift store’s huge collection that personally fits each guest, and then place it at their place setting! Even forego the name tags and see if each guest can figure out which is theirs! Just a thought to spice things up! 😉
Liam knew exactly where his favorite place in the shop was…the corner filled with replicas of colorfully painted old toys, beautifully illustrated books and cozy stuff animals is where he spent most of the trip!
If you live anywhere in the Modesto-ish area, I highly recommend you stopping by not just the gift shop, but also the McHenry Mansion as well! During the Christmas season, the historical mansion is dressed to it’s holiday nines…and I’m talking every room in the house! It will take your breath away!
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