These are three of my books that have Christmas scenes. While my last Hollyhill book, Summer of Joy, has a title with summer in it, the book has plenty of snow along with Christmas scenes for Jocie and her family. These Healing Hills has snow and Christmas too even though it has its share of autumn weather as well. One of the major scenes has ice and snow that makes for a precarious trip down the mountain to save a mother and baby.
But the Christmas scene I want to share with you in this post is from Love Comes Home, and it has something to do with making homemade decorations for a Christmas tree the way we sometimes did when I was a kid and made strings of popcorn for our tree. So here goes with a scene with Kate and Jay right after he gets home from the war.
Together in the bare little apartment with the street noises drifting up to them, Friday and Saturday passed in a breathless rush. They talked. They laughed. They bumped elbows in the tiny kitchen, cooking eggs and bacon. They ate apples and cheese in bed while reading aloud to one another. They shopped for Christmas presents to take to Rosey Corner and gave a man selling Christmas trees fifty cents for a skinny cedar tree.
“Wait until Graham hears we paid good money for a cedar tree.” Kate laughed as they propped the tree up in the window. “We’ll never hear the last of it.”
“But it smells like Christmas, doesn’t it?” Jay shook one of the branches to release some of the fragrance, and a shower of needles fell. “Might need a little water.”
“And a few thicker branches.” Kate stood back and studied the tree through narrowed eyes. “I’m not sure we got our money’s worth.”
“Four bits? Sure, we did,” Jay said. “Our first Christmas tree. Cheap at any price.”
They decked out the tree with a string of lights and shiny red balls. Kate popped popcorn and sat down with a needle and thread. Jay lay on the bed and watched as she tediously strung the popped kernels together. After fifteen minutes, two stuck fingers, and only about a foot of popcorn garland to show for her efforts, he got up and stuffed a handful of the popcorn in his mouth.
“Hey, you’re eating the decorations.” Kate laughed and reached for the bowl.
He grabbed it first. “The tree doesn’t need popcorn.” He held his hand out to her. “But I’ve always wanted to eat popcorn in bed by the light of a Christmas tree while the most beautiful girl in the world tells me what she wants for Christmas.”
Kate stuck the needle into the spool of thread and took his hand. “Popcorn in bed. Mama would tell us we might have mice in bed with us too after that.”
“I’ve slept with worse.” He pulled her close. “But never with better than my gorgeous wife. Now what is it you want to find under the tree on Christmas morning?” Jay kept the ring he’d bought in Virginia secret in his pocket, glad he’d gotten something then, because now he couldn’t bear to let Kate out of his sight long enough to shop.
“You,” Kate whispered. “Only you.”
“But you’ve already got me.”
“Sometimes Christmas comes early.”
Jay pulled the string on the light in the kitchen to turn it off. Outside the streetlights kept darkness at bay while inside the red lights on the Christmas tree cast a rosy glow over the room. “It does indeed, Mrs. Tanner. It does indeed.”
I loved writing the romance between Jay and Kate in this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it and liked revisiting this scene. And because I have some copies of Love Comes Home to give away, I’m going to do just that. Leave a comment to be in a drawing for that copy. I’ll pick the winner next Sunday, December 15th. If you’ve already read the story, books can make fun gifts. So, if you are 18 or older, you have a week to enter. Here’s a question for you to answer, but any comment will get you an entry.
Have you ever strung popcorn to decorate a Christmas tree, or what other decorations have you made for your tree?
Maybe Wednesday I’ll pull out a Christmas scene from These Healing Hills or Summer of Joy. Does that sound fun?
Comments 38
As a kid we stung popcorn. I think we may have the 2nd year of marriage. But the first year we found some wood cutouts that I painted for our little table to Christmas tree. They were our only ornaments for quite some time. Then I found some unique old ornaments. Next we gave our children an ornament each year until they were 19 years old. And. Being I like snowmen. My birthday in September each year I got a snowman ornament. Or at least something snowman’ish. Hehehe My husband died last 9/7/24 so our Christmas was very small with no tree for 2024.
Author
So sorry for the loss of your husband, Shari. Those first Christmases and other holidays after you lose a loved one are always hard. I hope you had much love around you even if you weren’t feeling like doing your usual celebrations.
Sounds as if you are very inventive with your ornaments. I’m guessing that you had fun picking out the ornaments to give your children each year.
Yes, I have. My first Christmas with my husband.,
Author
Just like Kate was trying to do on her first Christmas together with her husband in the book, Lisa. That makes me smile. I’m guessing you were more successful at getting that popcorn strung up than Kate was. LOL
I have strung popcorn and made lots of handmade ornaments. I try to make some every year for my kids that have kids. I made some angels this year to sell at our craft bazaar at church.
Author
Sounds as if you are gifted with the good kind of craftiness, Paula. I’m sure your kids and grandkids like getting Mom/Grandmom’s made with love ornaments.
I read Love Comes Home long ago, but now J feel like going back and reading it again! Re decorating a tree… I never strung popcorn, but we have a special angel that my now adult daughter made when she was about 6 or 7 years old in Bluebirds that finds its way to the top of our tree still every year. We have to treat her with care after so many years, but it wouldn’t be our tree without her!
Author
I have a few of those ornaments that need that special care, Lynda, so that they can find their way on my tree and awaken some good memories. But what a special little angel for a topper for your tree.
Love Comes Home was a book with a lot of love and emotion in the story. If you read it again, hope you’ll like revisiting Rosey Corner.
I have never strung popcorn. I still have a tree skirt that my mom made years ago.
Author
That sounds like a treasured keepsake, Diana.
I have strung popcorn for the tree, decades ago with my children.
Author
It was decades ago when I tried it too, Penny. Now I’ll just sit down with a bowl and eat it. LOL. But when I was a kid, we would often pop up a big pan of popcorn and make a batch of chocolate candy. That was the best.
I’ve never strung popcorn for a tree, but I have made homemade ornaments via craft kits to hang on the tree.
Author
Sounds as if you may have enjoyed making those special ornaments, Megan. I hope some of them still find a place on your tree.
I’ve never strung popcorn, but I’ve always thought it would be fun to try. One our ornaments on our tree was brought back from Holland by my grandmother about 30 or so years ago.
Author
Isn’t it the most fun to have ornaments on your tree that brings back good memories of events or loved ones, Elizabeth? And that stringing popcorn wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be when I was a kid and gave it a try. 🙂
I don’t remember stringing popcorn but I remember the old time tensile we used to put on the tree. I went to the fencerow and got cedar to go in my outside pots yesterday and I’m working on my big tree now. Merry Christmas!
Author
I still haven’t decorated yet, Janice. I’ll have to get after it on putting up the tree this weekend. I might find a little cedar to bring in to get a little of the scent.
We strung popcorn and Red berries for our tree.
Author
I think several of you knew those red berries or cranberries dressed up your trees. The old picture I posted does have some strands of popcorn on it. I don’t know if Mom put the strings of popcorn out for the birds later. I’m guessing she did. She loved feeding birds.
We did string popcorn for our Christmas trees in the early years of our marriage, and as the family grew with 3 children in 4 years, we got fancier and added cranberries intermittently to the garland!
Author
Those fancy popcorn and cranberries made the tree prettier, Rebecca. I can’t remember my mom ever buying cranberries, but we always had popcorn. We grew that in the garden. My aunt who always cooked the holiday meal bought those cans of cranberry sauce – the kind you slipped out of the can and then sliced. Loved it.
A scene from one of my favorite books! We’ve strung popcorn and cranberries to put on our tree. Also, used other handmade decorations. I kind of miss those days. (Sure hope I win the book. A great addition to my “Ann Gabhart shelf”.). I hope you and your family have a very Merry and Blessed Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year, Ann!
Author
Thanks for the sweet Christmas and New Year’s wishes, Judi. Adding those cranberries to the popcorn make it prettier.
Maybe this will be your lucky time for that book. It’s so neat to know you have a shelf for my books.
I never strung popcorn for my tree, but , I made counted cross stitch ornaments. I made Precious Moments and Care Beats ornaments for my family , including my children. They now have an ornament to keep that I put so much love into for them.
Author
I’m sure your children will treasure those ornaments made with such love, Linda. I have some old ornaments from when my kids were in school and I always make sure they find their way onto our tree. I love a tree full of memories from homemade ornaments to ornaments bought when on a trip.
I’ve never strung popcorn. But I have crocheted a garland, a tree skirt, and lace snowflakes.
Author
Sounds as though you’ve made some pretty Christmas crafts. The lace snowflakes sound beautiful.
I LOVED the Rosey Corners series & all the wonderful characters! I was sad to leave Rosey Corners when I finished the last book. I’d love a sequel!
One year I strung popcorn and cranberries and hung it on a small tree on my patio for the birds to enjoy. Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved making all kinds of Christmas ornaments. For a number of years I sewed hundreds of appliqued ornaments I designed and sold them at a Christmas boutique. This year I sewed about 275 patchwork hearts in Christmas fabrics. I plan to donate them to give Christmas cheer to seniors and disabled people through a local charity.
Author
You are very creative and busy making so many ornaments, Karen. I’m guessing your patchwork hearts will lift some spirites for those who receive them.
And the popcorn and cranberries on an outside tree sounds like something my little songbirds would like. I’m sure you had fun watching birds come get the food.
Yes we have strung popcorn and put on our tree before and also done the paper chain out of construction paper!
Author
I always thought making the paper chains was fun and I’ve done that with the kids in the past. I strung popcorn when I was a kid, but probably, the same as Jay, ate more than I got strung up.
Yes, on my first Christmas with the kids after our divorce, I didn’t have money to buy decorations for the tree. We, instead, strung popcorn and made homemade Christmas lights out of tagboard and colored them. After cutting the lights out, I attached them to a string and wrapped them around the tree just like real lights. I continued decorating the tree with ornaments that the kids made at school. I think it was the prettiest tree we have ever had! There’s just something about making homemade ornaments and putting them on the tree!
Author
That sounds like a tree with a lot of good memories, Dianne, and very creative with those lights.
Yes, I have with my family and made paper chains, snowflakes, etc.
Author
Snowflakes are fun to make, Lucy. I need to do that with my Sunday school girls. We could do the paper chains but some kids aren’t too excited about doing that these days. At least not the ones I’ve tried to talk into it. LOL
I have never strung popcorn, but have made ornaments for the tree using a tube with tiny figurines in them.
Author
That sounds cute, Shirley. More creative than just stringing popcorn. 🙂