Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Much love and thanks for your support.

-M.

Our wonderful Stacie is leaving us! After two great years at M & Co. Papery, Stacie and her husband are packing up and moving to Vegas. How dare she do this to us! I can tell you that even though she has been forewarning me of this for months now, I cannot believe the time has come. I am so very sad. I have been truly lucky to have found not only a very reliable, loyal and hardworking employee, but a very good friend as well.

I know this is short notice, but Tuesday, December 23rd is Stacie's last day. (sniff, sniff) She didn't even want me to post this now. But I know how much all of our customers have come to know and love her and I want to give you the opportunity to say goodbye.

It will not be the same without Stacie's quirky and lovable personality.

Thank you Stace. You have made my life better by having you in it!

Love,

-M.

Eat, Drink, and be Merry!

Because Christmas is a time to gather with family and friends, Bob and I host an annual Christmas party. It has turned into a big event. Every year we invite about 50 people to share in an evening of food, fun and karaoke! It is serious fun! Usually Bob selects a menu of enough complicated food that it sends me over the edge. We are cooking for days before the party! This year we are serving Mexican food consisting of carne asada, pollo asada, rice, beans, salsa etc. I know this sounds simple, but trust me, Bob will find a way to kick it up a notch! Already, the beans can't just be beans, they have to be chipotle puree', and he is making an avocado sauce, roasted bell pepper sauce, roasted salsa and who knows what all else for the accessories. Well, lucky me, my house is already decorated and there isn't much left to do. Now I can relax and enjoy the food preparation!

Of course the invitation is the first impression of any event, so you must match your invite to the occasion. This is the invitation we sent out this year. I love it! It is perfectly merry!

Have a wonderful week and I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful weather.

-M

Happy Birthday!

We at M & Co. Papery want to say Happy Birthday to Lisa! She has worked for M & Co. for 7 of the 8 years we have been in business! Lisa and I had lunch at Kona Grill where I snapped this picture with my phone.

Thank you for being such a great, loyal employee and friend. Many best wishes for a wonderful next year, Lisa!

Love,

M.

The Polar Express

Magical. That is the only word I can use to describe our night last night! We invited some of our close friends’ children over for a night of watching the Polar Express. It could not have been a better night!

I wanted to make it special for the kids, so after printing up the tickets, I delivered the invitations to their parents the night before the event. The plan was for the parents to put the tickets somewhere fun for the kids to find. A very special invitation. One of the parents put the tickets on their childrens’ pillows to find before they went to sleep. The other set of parents put the tickets on the Christmas tree for the kids to find when they woke up! Needless to say the kids couldn’t wait for the night to begin.

We decorated the tv room with Christmas flag banners draped from the ceiling, and a table set for snacks and of course hot cocoa! And since our family room is not very large, it was perfectly cozy. For me, the icing on the cake was the fact that it was finally cold enough to light a fire, which added to the friendly atmosphere and the feeling of Christmas.

The kids were required to wear their pajamas and bring their tickets for theatre entrance. They were adorable in their pj’s and slippers. Once they arrived, my husband, dressed up as a conductor, opened the door and punched their tickets for the ‘train ride’!

We had blankets strewn on the floor, and pillows to maximize comfort. The kids settled in for a grand theatre experience. And it didn’t disappoint! (did I mention that we bought a subwoofer for this?) The train was so loud it was rattling the walls! It was so fun!

Anyhow, the movie was wonderful and hot chocolate was served. But my favorite thing was at the end of the movie, Bob, having collected all of the tickets, had written 2 letters on each ticket to describe the personality of each child. Once the movie was over, he passed out the tickets and they tried to guess what each one meant. It was so great the things he came up with and how perfectly it fit each child!

It was certainly a night to remember!

-M.

I printed each child's name on the outer envelope (from our bulk stock at the store - $0.35 each),then used Ice Stickles (from M & Co.) to glam it up! The tickets were made by scanning a ticket my friend had, and then adding our own info to it. The insert was also made from the store bulk stock ($0.15 each) and then Ice Stickles added.

All of the decorations were gathered from around my house. Including ornaments straight off my tree! (I think we still might have a couple of these Merry Christmas glitter signs at the store)

My camera never seems to capture the magic of the night. Atleast I know our memories will be magical!

As all of you know, I simply cannot get enough of Match dishes! I started my collection about two years ago, and have slowly added pieces along the way. Believe me, once you get started, you will be hooked. Match pewter is handmade by artisans in the north of Italy. Which translates to impeccable style and quality. I love how versatile the dishes are. I can use them for formal settings or casual roasted chicken dinners. And, they work for every holiday since I have them in basic white.

Come on in and start your own collection. There is still time to get your order in before Christmas! Match is the perfect gift... if even for yourself!

-M.