A few of my favorite (Christmas) things...

I wanted to share just a few of my favorite tree ornaments.

Some old... Some new

This one I call Rudolph, despite the fact his red nose is gone.

Growing up we had a kids tree,

the bright silver metal tree with the color wheel light at the base.

Remember those anyone? 

 Believe it or not, my mom still owns this "antique" tree!

Each year I would seek our this ornament to place on that tree,

OK, to be honest...

 each year I still seek out this ornament to place on the tree!

My first Christmas in marriage,

we lived in an apartment and owned no ornaments to speak of.

We were able to buy a real tree, real cheap.

But with no budget and no ornaments we bought

two bags of raffia and tied bows all over the tree.

To this day we still use the same raffia bows on our tree

each year!

Come our second and third year of marriage we

decided to make our own ornaments using dough.

That is the story behind this tiny house!

This little angel was another of my childhood ornaments.

I would have been about 5 when I received her!

And most importantly, this nail hangs on my tree

to remind us of why we celebrate Christmas,

For Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

And while this season is one to celebrate the Birth of Christ,

I pray I'll never forget the price.

Thank you for allowing me to share with you today.

Oil Art

Today I will show you how to turn

plain white card stock...

into this...

a set of homemade cards ready to give for Christmas!

You will need the following materials:

a plastic shoe bin

 pre folded card stock

envelopes

oil paint (the kind you would use on model cars)

toothpicks

popsicle sticks (or something to stir with)

plastic or newspaper

First protect your work space by laying down plastic or newspaper.

Next fill the plastic shoe bin half full of water.

With a toothpick drop several drops of oil paint onto the water.

 repeat using as many colors as desired.

With a popsicle stick stir the paint to create "groovy" designs.

Lay your card, one folded side down, onto the top of the water.

When you lift the card, you will get something like this!

or this!

Lay them flat to dry.
After they dry completely
I gather them up and put them into folded position
and put them underneath a heavy object or book.
This allows them to lay flat in a folded position.

When it comes time to package
I choose about 6 cards and combine them with 6 envelopes.
You can "wrap" them in any way you want...
use ribbon,
put them in a pretty box,
or I use wire, buttons and beads.
The possibilities are endless!

This is a very easy project to do with kids as well.
In fact, my daughter loves this project and
did enough cards to give to each of each
her teachers this year for Christmas.

As a tip... if you have plastic gloves, wear them!
Same goes for a smock to cover good clothes!

I am posting this at
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Big thank you to Susan for being such a wonderful hostess.

and at
a Soft Place to Land for DYI Day.
Big thank you to Kimba as well!

Thank you for visiting today!

Art Work Friday

Happy Friday!

I want to share with you my "Black Friday" find of the day!

I saved it for Art Work Friday because

well, it does have to do with art in a way!

Sometime between 4am Walmart shopping

10 am brunch at our favorite breakfast spot

and

1pm circus plans...

I was able to fit in a quick thrift store shop!

I saw this box on a bottom shelf and my heart skipped a beat!

I loved it little dove tail ends...

as I started to hunt for a price,

I noticed it was quite heavy so

I opened it...

Now, my heart is really racing...

the box itself is an easel when opened,

 plus an artist pallet.

what's underneath...

Quality and more importantly fresh oil paints...

Artist pencils galore...

What a find!

Of course, now I still must find a price

like most thrift stores

no price = no sale.

I close it back up...

take a deep breath

turn it over...

and find this

Really... $5.00!

This is probably close to $100 dollars worth of supplies.

truly a blessing to both Wayne and me!

I was still holding my breath as I went to the front to pay for it..

I could just picture them telling me it was mismarked but

thankfully I bought it without a hitch!

Now I have the motivation needed

to complete those few projects that have been rolling around in my head.

Thank you for joining me today!

Holiday Cloche Party

I must confess that as of August this year

I didn't even know what a cloche was!

As of noon today

I didn't even own a cloche...

So off to the thrift store I went...

Look what I found!

(and it only cost me $1.00)

I was quite thrilled to discover that my newly acquired glass bell

fit perfectly on my old silver plated stand.

Now came the age old question

What should I put in here?

While putting up Christmas decorations

I came across a small pile of paper leaves.

During a Thanksgiving, many years ago,

I put up a small Christmas tree and asked each family member to

write on the paper leaf ornament

what they were thankful for that year.

And while this looked nice in my "cloche"

it felt like it needed "something" added.

I picked two very special ornaments

added some holly and came up this this!

This one was Pop Pop's. 

He has since went home to heaven,

but has left a legacy behind.

This one was Nona's.

She is my grandmother who suffer a severe stroke last year.

I have the honor to help care for her each week.

This is dear to me since her stroke has left her unable to

freely voice her thoughts.

Thank you Marty for allowing me to share these memories

in such a unique way.

Please visit Marty at A Stroll Thur Life for more inspiring

Holiday Cloches!

Joy, Joy, Joy

It officially December...

time to listen to Christmas tunes

time to decorate the house

and time to whip out some Christmas Tablescapes!

Today I am going traditional with Red, Green and White!

I started with my silver chargers...

Added my Green metal plates...

(these are clearance from Pottery Barn, many years ago)

Added my white salad plates...

(these are Pfaltzgraff open stock I bought at Old Time Pottery Barn)

The place setting on each end of the table received a layer of Red salad plates, next.

I would have put one at every setting if I owned more than two!

I then added fun red paper napkins...

(These my Mom brought back for me from a trip to Asia.)

I topped it off  with these fun dessert plates.

(I do believe these are from Target, I received them a few years back as a gift.)

The silverware is a Mikasa pattern that we picked for our wedding registry.

The stemware was a gift from my sister,

and the blue Target glasses add a little sparkle!

May your evening sparkle and shine!

A little snowman to make one smile!

The feather tree is one that I made from a Styrofoam cone

and craft feathers.  I posted about this on Sunday!

Antique Christmas bulbs, hanging from the chandelier.

And ...

Who sees you when your sleeping,

knows when your awake,

knows if if been bad or good...

so be good for goodness sake?

Why... Santa of course!

This week I want to wish each one of you JOY!

Thank you for visiting with me today.

I have linked over to Tablescape Thursday

at Between Naps on the Porch.

Thank you to Susan our gracious hostess.

Join me tomorrow for Art Work Friday!