Y’all, it’s gonna be a hot one!

Hot, hot weekend .. hot, hot bargains at the tent sale!  I’ve just been down scoping out the sale setup, and the scoop is that we’ll have floral stems for as little as $1 each.  I saw a big box brimming with beautiful $2 stems, and lots more.  See anything here that catches your eye?  Our Elf Associates will have it all in order for opening at 9:00 AM on Friday.

After you shop, or before, or during .. cool cool it down with ice cream!  Delivery’s coming first thing on Friday, so we’ll have plenty on hand to help you chill .. choose your flavor – or go for a fudge puppy ~ Belgian waffle dipped in chocolate fudge and topped with whipped cream .. dreamy.

Pans of fresh fudge waiting to be cut & weighed for you.

We’re bringing the big chill inside the store, too – check out the new lights going onto the big tree.  Brrrrrrrr!

It’s a winter wonderland in May on the parkway.  However you choose to celebrate Memorial Day, make it a special time!

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

P.S. Remember, we can’t run the tent sale on line, but you’ll find plenty of sale bargains at www.christmasplace.com.

 

Memorial Weekend Sale!

Have you ever wanted an item from one of our fabulous displays, only to be told we wouldn’t be able to sell it until the display was removed?  Well, now is your chance – we’re selling some display items – treasures we found languishing in the attic, discontinued items from the basement, and a few things in between.  If you’re in Pigeon Forge this weekend, look for the big white tent in our courtyard and come shopping!

We can’t offer these items on the internet because, in many cases, there is only one of a treasure, but we’ll have plenty of specials on line, for those of you staying close to home for the long weekend - in fact, if we have your e-mail, be on the watch for our first monthly sales flyer.  We’re going to send some extra-special offers to your in-box on the 25th of each month, starting this month.

Christmas Place honors all fallen service men, women, and animals who have given their lives so that we may enjoy freedom today.

“I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day.  I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it.  We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did.”  ~Benjamin Harrison

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

P.S.  It’s going to be a warm weekend, but not to worry - Mrs. Claus’ Candy Kitchen will help – with creamy milkshakes, scoops of ice cream, and ice-cold water & sodas!

Tuxedo Strawberry!

Here are our chocolate-dipped strawberries – and check out the one in front – dressed in a tuxedo for this special day!

 

Call the Candy Kitchen at 865-453-0415, extension 146, to reserve your selection.

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

Valentine’s Yummies!

Mrs. Claus’ Candy Kitchen has the freshest Valentine’s sweets in Pigeon Forge!  Feast your eyes on our selection of goodies:  Chocolate & candy dipped apples with heart sprinkles, chocolate covered pretzels, cherries dipped in white, dark, or milk chocolate, a chocolate-and-candy covered cherry bonbon, and a variety of Ritz Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Oreo cookies covered in chocolate and heart sprinkles!

Even now, they are dipping fresh, sweet strawberries in chocolate.  You know you have time to stop on your way home today…

Happy Valentines Day Eve!

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

Gingerbread Time!

Do you any of you make .. and then eat .. gingerbread houses at Christmas time?  I’ve always wondered, because I didn’t grow up in a gingerbread house family, and no one has ever offered me a piece of their gingerbread house at a party.  It seems like a tradition that needs to be passed down through the generations.

Patty, our team lead at Mrs. Claus’ Candy Kitchen, began working in food services at the age of 13 thanks to her father, a master baker.  She has been making and showing gingerbread houses competitively since she was sixteen.  She earned a degree in culinary arts at McComb Community College in Michigan, and has continued a life of learning as she follows her passion for food.  Her career has led her into many areas of food preparation, but baking & candy making are her true loves!  In 2008, Patty won Chef’s Choice Honorable Mention in the National Gingerbread Contest, the last year she entered.

This year, she entered a gingerbread lighthouse in the Gatlinburg Festival of Trees competition, and earned second place in the amateur division.  She won First Place in the People’s Choice category for her fantastic lighthouse creation!

We’ve been happy to have Patty cooking for us since 2000, and she is our head candy maker – she loves coming up with new fudge flavors and candies for us to enjoy!

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

Fall for Tuesday!

Oh, yes, fall has arrived!  And the people are rejoicing!  Several of us mentioned the need for a light jacket this morning, and we may even get  overnight temperatures in the 40s next week.  Yippee!  We’re received some good, soaking rains in the last few days, and if we get enough of that, the leaves will come out beautifully for us.

And so, on a fall theme, I have today fall colors from Vera Bradley, and fall treats from Mrs. Claus’ Candy Kitchen to entice to you come for a visit.

Check out the just-released colors – my particular favorite is Buttercup, the first on the left, followed in order in the picture by Twirly Birds Navy, Twirly Birds Pink, Baroque, and Versailles.  (Of course, in Indiana where Vera Bradley is headquartered, it is pronounced Ver-sails.  Just so you know.)

Vera Bradley Fall Colors

As before, they have also interpreted these prints with a slight twist in the Frills collection, laminated fabrics with a kicky kind of style.  I love the Lunch Bunch bags!  It’s all such fun stuff.

Frill in Curly Bird Pink

Frills in Buttercup & Baroque

It’s time for pumpkin fudge at the Candy Kitchen!  I took a super-close photo so you can see the spices in the mix – isn’t it lovely?  All that sweet-and-spicy goodness waiting to be enjoyed.

While you’re sampling the fudge, keep your fingers crossed that there’s an iced cookie in the case .. look at that happy pumpkin sprinkle on top!

Glorious Fall!  How we love your cool nights, misty mornings, and warm afternoons.

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

P.S. Yes, I did get to sample the items in today’s photos.  In fact, I’m also picking up the Buttercup Lunch Bunch!

Fall is in the air …

… and pumpkin fudge is on our lips!  This concoction tastes just exactly like pumpkin pie in lovely, sugary, fudge form … you have to come to Mrs. Claus’ Candy Kitchen and try a piece.

You can see the spices in the mix.  I have mad love for this flavor.  And remember, when you eat it standing up, NO CALORIES COUNT!  How cool is that?!

~Janet @ The Christmas Place

P.S. I apologize for any afternoon cravings generated by this post.  Now I must be away from my desk for a very few short minutes.  For work.  Of course.

Start the weekend right!

When was the last time you enjoyed a fresh, hand-dipped, chocolate covered cherry?  I never knew they could taste so good – not too gooey and sticky sweet, but cherried, just-right-sweet, firm and chocolate-y.  Delicious work, Donna!

If cherries aren’t your thing, coast into the weekend on a raft of her hand-made English Toffee instead?

All this and more, waiting for you in Mrs. Claus’ Candy Kitchen!  Because I am required to safeguard all the food items which I photograph for the blog, I am afraid to take pictures all at one time of ALL the varieties of sweets Donna makes in the kitchen, like thin mints, turtles, coconut haystacks, maple walnut clusters, pralines, chocolate peanut clusters, everything clustering in chocolate and caramel and whirling and twirling around and around……………………  sorry, just feeling a bit light-headed for a minute there….

Just a reminder that Sunday is Strange Music Day – this encompasses any and all music that is strange to you, because, really, are you going to let complete strangers tell you what is strange?  I don’t think so.  That would be wierd.

~Janet @ The Christmas Place