First Sunday of Advent - Hope

“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Today is the first Sunday of Advent.  A time to anticipate and celebrate the coming of Christ. A time of reflection and a time to prepare our hearts for the joy of Christmas.  In these times of uncertainty and hard times, my prayer for you is that you find hope through the birth of Jesus, and that you find his joy and peace filling your hearts in the days ahead:>)

Happy Thanksgiving

The dishes are done, the turkey bones are simmering to make broth, and the leftovers are in the fridge.  The last two slices of punpkin chocolate swirl cheesecake have been sent home with my sister so I don't eat them myself. It was a day filled with laughter and fun and hugs and catching up with the neices and nephew. Love that.  I hope all of your Thanksgiving's were as warm and happy and blessed as ours:>)

Black friday? nah.  I don't need anything badly enough to stand in line with 4000 other people for two hours. Not fun. I'll just be home tomorrow, listening to Christmas carols, hanging with the kiddo and maybe decorating a little for Christmas.  Sounds perfect to me.  I know I won't have to cook for a few days. Oh what joy:>) Whether you decide to brave the crowds or just stay home yourself, Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. 

Handmade Holidays

More fun with Handmade Holidays! Remember, we would love to see anything handmade or thrifted that could be used as decor or gifts for the upcoming holidays! The creativity is unlimited and I am so inspired by the beautiful gifts and decorations I have seen:>)

 I made this quilted throw for a dear friend who has helped us in so many ways.  The fabric was given to me by a co-worker, and although it is a little too country for me, it is just the thing for my friend!  I made simple 6" squares and put them together in a pleasing way and machine quilted along either side of the seams. Easy, but pleasing. I may add some home made cocoa mix and a pretty mug so she can curl up with her quilt and a warm drink:>)

Next, my new favorite earrings. Made from vintage glass pearlized buttons of all things!  I found a sweater with these little beauties at the thrift store and I just knew they would be perfect for something pretty. I added sterling wires and now they dangle delicately below my ears.  I'll add some to my etsy in case you need them!

And last, I know I showed you this swag made from evergreen cuttings from the yard and some old floral picks and toile ribbon. Nothing new but I think it looks festive on my door, and I didn't spend a dime.

I'm also linking up with Today's Creative Blog for




 and  A Soft Place To Land for DIY day and Reinvented for Trash to Treasure day So go ahead, show us your awesome handmade gifts and decorations and those thrifted goodies that make great holidays affordable.  Mr. Linky is below.  

Entering the Gate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here we are, Entering the gate of the happiest time of the year.  A season set apart by the happiness and joy of the birth of Jesus. A season of Thanksgiving, and it all starts this week.  I see us all scurrying to decorate our homes and make everything beautiful, and that is one of the joys of this season.  But I would like to take a moment and make sure that not just my house, but my heart and attitude are in order.  In the past I have found myself being so caught up in everything being “perfect” and “beautiful” that I have sometimes snapped at my family.  Why did they leave that mess there?  Why don’t you help me with this?  Don’t you know we have guests coming and everything doesn’t look as it should?  Feeling, can I say it? a little overwhelmed and overbooked 

Yup. I have been that woman.

I am sitting myself down with a nice cup of tea right now and getting my priorities in order. 

Don’t sweat the small stuff. 

It isn’t about the gift or, heaven forbid, the cost of the gift. It’s about time, and love and kindness. 

The decorations and crafts are wonderful, but not if they leave me feeling rushed. 

It’s about the memories.  What memories will my kids have some day?  Cranky mom wanting to make everything perfect at the expense of everyone's sanity and peace?  Or a mom and wife who always had time for fun and cuddles and long walks in falling snow?

It’s about worship. Remembering the greatest gift any of us could have gotten. The birth of a Savior of our souls. 

Right now, before the rush and whirlwind and parties begin, decide what is really important about this season and remember it when things get frantic. 

Enjoy a cup of Christmas tea and add a bit of thankfulness and good cheer to sweeten it.

And have a wonderful holiday season :>)

(And don’t forget Handmade Holidays Mr. Linky on Tuesday!)

The Skylight Project

Let us begin with the pretty pictures shall we? I was noodling around last night with this cool tool box sweet husband made as a kid for his mom. It weighs eleventy-hundred pounds empty so it never got used, but I thought it made a great place to play around with a holiday display. So I pulled out the bag 'o trees I bought after Christmas last year on clearance, and along with some glittery snow, candles and tiny pinecones I picked up on a walk, I put together this cute little forest.

Sweet hubby was noodling around too and I lovingly said, "honey, when you get a chance will you bring some of the Christmas decorations down from the attic?"  Being the great guy he is, he agreed to do that toot sweet and headed up the stairs.  Now ladies, we have an unfinished attic and there is a reason I don't like to go up there.  No floor. Just some boards nailed in a path to the shelves that hold the decorations.  Just one little mis-step and I am sure I would come right through the dining room ceiling. I think you know where I am going with this......

Check out our new skylight.

He is fine. He managed not to fall through completely and truth be told I was far more worried about him than I was the ceiling.  He just banged up his ankle and ribs but nothing that even bruised, I am so thankful!  But we are hosting Thanksgiving next week and golly this is going to mess up my decorating scheme! You can't believe how much dust and blown in insulation came down. It was everywhere!  It filled a huge trash can (don't act like you never keep chicken wire in your dining room, I know you do!.... Right?)

You might think I would be upset. I'm not. This was an old plaster ceiling and it had cracks that were driving me crazy. I get a new ceiling ladies and crown moulding to boot:>) Always look at the silver lining. The family won't care a bit that there is a hole in the ceiling, we just like to be together and I know we will all have a good laugh about it.  I think I'll call the insurance and see what they can do, but we have a big deductible so we may end up fixing this ourselves. Now I need to take everything out of the dining room that is glass, breakable or decorative because whether we do it ourselves or have it fixed by someone else, everything will have to be moved.  It might be a good thing to start fresh anyway. Never a dull moment...*sigh*

Handmade Holidays

Time for another Handmade Holidays linky!  I have a few projects to show you but I didn't get all my photos taken before I ran out of light  (darn short days!)  Here is one idea, remember all that silverplate I got on ebay?  It came with several of these adorable spreaders. A $5 set of metal stamps at Harbor Freight and a little practice on scrap metal and this is what you get. I ♥ love it ♥ !  It wasn't that hard and can you imagine how cute this would be in a basket with home made jam and bread?  And if you are afraid you couldn't do this, this spreader will be in my etsy shop, 'cause I've got more and I'm willing to share:>)

This cute wreath is another easy project.  I had the foam form in the basement in my craft stash and I wanted to wrap it in ribbon but I didn't have enough of the color I wanted to use.  I didn't want to spend any money so I grabbed some white fabric in a  tiny white leaf print and ripped some strips to wrap around the wreath form.  Next came yo-yo's rosettes and vintage button centers. I couldn't find my glue gun (!) so I used straight pins to attach the yo-yo's and buttons. A shiny red satin ribbon makes a pretty hanger.  I think I'll make two of these for the living room windows.

And that's it! Easy and cheap and festive. I'll be trying some more butter spreaders for the etsy shop later this week, so if you were hankering for one keep your eyes peeled. Now it's your turn! I would love it if you left your ideas on the McLinkly below:>) 
I am also participating in DIY day at A Soft Place to Land and Get Your Craft on at Todays Creative Blog. More great ideas, have fun!

A Sunrise, Some Pillows and Porch Love ♥

Excuse the blurriness of this photo and focus (haha) on the colors of this mornings sunrise.  I always thought the old saying was "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning" meaning bad weather right? But it has been a glorious sunny warm day. I happened to see this out my kitchen window this morning while pouring that first cup of coffee and I had to run out and try to capture it. I didn't do a very good job but goodness it was beautiful!

So today, I decided to get some outdoor work done while it is still indian summer.  I cleaned off the front porch, mopped the muddy steps, and ran out in the woods to clip some evergreen branches for a swag for the front door.  I checked my extensive stash of Christmas ribbon and found the last piece of this Christmas toile to tie around the branches then added some of last years pics.  Not bad for free if I do say so myself. I think I'll look for some sparkly branch pics that I know I have, it needs a little something glittery:>)

I took the chair out of the front garden where it had been holding a potted flower all summer. It was white but I wanted to use some bright red tartan on the porch this year so I grabbed my spray paint and gave it a quick once over in black.  I found the flannel tartan remnant for a song at JoAnnes, stapled it to the removable seat and I love it! Festive and cute!

Want to know what else is festive & cute? These pillows that went on etsy this morning. More in the works so I hope to list them this week as they are finished, then I will have to call it quits for the season so I can concentrate on gifts for the family.  I hope weather where you are is as fine as it is here. I'm heading back outside while I can to enjoy the day:>)  Enjoy yours too!