We had a lovely Christmas. I want to share a debrief about it sometime soon. It will probably be a combination with my Things that Made Me Smile for December.

In the meantime, I’m going to share two things that make me smile about January. First is the fact that January, with its cold weather, gives us the reason to wear sweaters. That’s nothing new, I know, LOL. Many/most people start wearing sweaters in September of October or so if they live in the northern hemisphere. Of course, they’ve been doing this for ages.

I never really homed in on this idea, however, for all my years as a mom when all my seven children were at home. Like, it totally escaped me to amplify this idea and have fun with it. I wish I had, when all the kiddos lived at home. It would have been fun as I lived within 5 minutes driving distance from three thrift stores. It would have been fun to go thrifting looking for cardigans, especially with my older daughter, when she was a teen, as she loves fashion and beauty. We have fun today thrifting together but it’s just harder to get together as she is married and has two active little boys.

Oh well, I can’t change the past. I guess it was when I learned about hygge (go here to learn about that), about 6 years ago, that I started my “thrifted cardigan sweater artistry” for brightening up winter. It has made my fall, but more especially, my January/winters more exciting. I have a LOT of fun finding sweaters, especially cardigan sweaters, at thrift stores, then coming up with colorful combinations with tops. See all these examples. More will be coming!

The other thing about January is that I call it Reading Aloud Books/Book Lovers’ Month. I first got this idea years ago from fellow homeschooling mom Shauna Bird Dunn, who said that every January she reads Jim Trelease’s book, The Read Aloud Revival. It renews her determination to read aloud to her children. When I heard that, I realized, yeah, that’s such a great idea. What better month to focus on reading aloud than in January when there’s more darkness and cold? More on the books I’m reading this month in a future post. If you want more information about reading aloud, go here.

I’m sharing all these pictures of my sweater combinations to inspire you to have fun and find your own sweater combinations for warmth and comfort this January! Have fun finding sweaters, with digging through your closet, asking friends or family for cast-offs, buying used at thrift stores or online, or, buying brand new! Happy Hygge January with sweaters, books, and cocoa!