One Final Thought for 2012

One final thought for 2012

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day!!!!!

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Although I know that Christmas is virtually over for another year, I can't help but post the words to one of my favorite songs. No matter what I have been through this year, and it has truly been hell, God is not dead nor does He sleep....wrong will fail and right prevail...and that is my deepest wish for the new year....peace on earth, good will to men.

Two Days of Painting and Decorating!

 Well Dear Friends, I am so tired. For the last two days I have been working in my daughters' new home. She does not have a lot of furniture yet but she does have vaulted ceilings and it was a lot work trying to get them painted. So  this is the finished living room. She is going for a den/library looking room so this cabinet I had in my office but of course for our children we give everything so off to her home it went. She lives about 1hr and 15 min. from our home. It is probably difficult to see but inside the cabinet are some wonderfully charming things...but I forgot to get a close-up. The stand on the floor is upside down while the glue dries.
Please click on pictures for full view.

This is what it looked like when we got there. I had sent the ladder ahead but the walls were a light tan with a hint of yellow and I knew we would need to paint! At this point the cabinet looks pretty messy.

My sister-in-law went with me to paint and I could not have done it without her. We started in the bedroom. The taupe is the same color we used in the living room and the turquoise was just one wall behind the bed.

This is the other end of the living room and a new pair of curtains. We had time today to go to a thrift shop to see about a few more pieces of furniture but we didn't find what we were looking for so we will keep looking.
 We also organized her kitchen but of course I forgot to take pictures but all in all I thought we had a perfect couple of days and she seemed happy with the results.
  I am not home and resting because I am so tired!!! No crafting today..lol!

Pine cones From Wool

I started working on a craft yesterday and I thought I would share. Since Christmas decorations will be coming down soon I thought I would add a few new winter decorations. These little pine cones were just what I was looking for. This is my pile of material from a winter white wool coat that I picked up at the thrift store. The full tutorial is here and here

This is what I came up with so far. I will be making a few more and I am considering  a little glitter????? What do you think?

This is our driveway this morning. The trees are covered in frost, it is so beautiful. Our sweet friend stopped by and plowed out our driveway! Well, I am off to work on a few more pine cones let me know if you try this project. You will notice that the tutorial is for brown pine cones...I just wanted to lighten things up!

I am so honored that I was featured here Please stop by and visit all the featured homes!

Here is an up close and personal look at the 5 cones I have done. I will tell you that the second tutorial is much easier than the first but it is a lot of cutting!!

A Little More Snow..And a few thoughts

We are so thankful that we ended up with about 6 inches and not the 13 they we calling for...oh what a blessing that is. Six inches is manageable but what do you do with 13 inches of ice and snow...so today the snow is beautiful and not a burden.

I have been contemplating what project to begin. I do not take my decorations down this early. To me the season has just begun and will last for a least another week or so. I am sad that the kids are back to work. It was so much more fun when they were in college and home on break for a few weeks. When they started packing up on Christmas to go back home I had a  terrible knot in my stomach. An ache that  for another year it was over...that the kids were going and there are no parents to call..no Christmas presents sent to Florida as for so many years before...I had that sick feeling that I was alone. Wow, that is a powerful and uncomfortable feeling. My dear hubby must have known my grief even thought I left it unspoken. He sat down in the chair and said he wanted to watch some Christmas movies. And so we spent the rest of the evening watching movies and holding hands...he was offering me the comfort he knew I needed at just the right moment.

I am not sure how long grief lasts, maybe a lifetime. We are approaching the one year loss of my Dad and it seems to intensify my feelings of loss over Mom..and the empty nest with the girls... I think this is the most difficult season of life I have ever endured.  I have not how started a quest to see what God has planned for me. It was so easy..raising the girls and as they got older I spent my time with Mom...crafting and taking her to all of her appointments..now...well..that is where I start my new year....hoping for a new season...one filled with joy, peace and love.

I pray the same for each of you. And thank you for all the kind words and visits this holiday season.

Snow....

This is just the beginning, we are to get 13 inches of snow by dinner time today. This is not normal for us. We usually get about 36 inches for the entire season so maybe if we get half today we will be almost done for the winter??? I doubt it. I wouldn't care too much about it if it wasn't for my family having to go to work in a winter storm warning. It makes it sound so scary. We only have a few inches so far but this afternoon seems like it is going to be much worse.
I am praying that there are angels surrounding my family today.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to each of you and your families. May this year be one of sweet, wonderful memories!

Another little story

I had today all planned but sometimes things don't work out the way you think. Do you believe I had to drive 35 miles to get donuts for Christmas morning I stopped at 4 bakeries but no donuts..you have go to be kidding me...lol.Finally, Krogers had a few left.. But they are purchased and waiting....so I am officially resting for a little while...then off to church and family time... Merry Christmas Eve

Kitchen Part 2

Thought I would share a few more pictures of my kitchen decor. This is a quilt my Mother made for me a few years ago...I just adore it. She was a very talented person and best of all she shared her talents with her children. We worked on this together.

Remember my Halloween cabinet, well, it here it is all decked out for Christmas.

I have a little collection of salt and pepper shakers for Christmas and a pot of chili waiting on hubby to get home.

And a fruit basket that was delivered yesterday....

Merry Christmas!

Kitchen Part one...Santa

  My Mom was a talented artist and crafter. Every year she would long to be home for Christmas but instead was in Florida. She missed us so to fill that void she would paint Santa's of all shape and colors. When she made one...she actually made four of each..one for each of her children. So I had placed my collection above my kitchen cabinets as my tribute to her.

This one is ceramic and one of my favorites.

These Santas are wooden with many tiny pieces in his pack..

I have always loved gingerbread men and Mom would purchase or make me many sets of them also. But this year most of my gingerbread remained in storage and I went with Santa.

While Mom was sick I cross stitched her a beautiful cardinal with Christmas ivy, both of which she loved. Mom was so happy when I finished this and told me she loved it!

 
One year I received a box in the mail and here was this charming gingerbread. Mom had made the pattern and once sewed she shipped it to me as a surprise! I love her and she brings a smile to my face.

Again, more of the santas she painted for us.

These are all above my cabinets and I will share the rest of my kitchen in part two....
I was truly blessed with a loving and giving Mother...my Christmas wish is to be more like her.

http://www.itsoverflowing.com/2012/12/overflowing-with-creativity-53/

http://www.commonground-do.com/2012/12/vintage-inspiration-119-counting-days.html

Tree Canvas!

 Yesterday I was thinking about a project I saw on a blog and I thought I would give it a try. Now, I will tell you my project is not as wonderful as the original that you can see at artsyvava.
Hers is painted on a wood block and has fabulous distressing. I did not have a wooden block but I did have a blank canvas that I was going to use for a different project so I decided to give it a try because I knew I could paint over anything that was just terrible. I mixed three different paints to get a shade that would work in my dining room. And inside my Mom's paints I found some diamond dust so I sprinkled some of that on top also. I had wooden blocks that spell joy that I also had for a different project. I painted them, distressed a little and then hot glued them onto the canvas.

The original had buttons on the tree which I loved and have not decided if I will add them or not. But I do have a set of rice lights with 35 tiny lights on them. I am thinking of poking little holes in the canvas and sticking little lights through. Now my daughter and husband do not want me to do that but I think it might be awesome. I could always glue the buttons on top of the holes if I didn't like it. What do you think?  My painting is much more simple that the original and her branches we so much more defined but this is my first ever experience with painting and I thought I had better let it alone.

 This last picture is just a look at the tree before the joy was added...I would like to thank you the wonderful bloggers for sharing their projects with all of us...for the inspiration to give it a try. I am happy with my first attempt.

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/2012/12/transformation-thursday-no-183.html

http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/2012/12/fabulously-creative-friday-linky-party.html

Christmas Home 2012

Our Home for Christmas 2012

If you go back into my earlier blog you can see more pictures of each room but this is a sample of our home...Oh my...I forgot the kitchen...I will update with those pictures tomorrow!! Merry Christmas to each of you. Thank you for visiting my home. This is where we spend quiet evenings and long winter nights....Thank you Lord for this blessing.
http://www.cozylittlehouse.com/2012/12/tweak-it-tuesday-20/
http://www.stonegableblog.com/2012/12/homespun-christmas-linky-party-recipes.html
http://www.thenester.com/2012/12/2012-christmas-tour-of-homes.html