Our Homemade Christmas---Pictures of the Kids and Their Decorating

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I hope you are all enjoying the fruits of your labors to make whatever constitutes a Christmas celebration at your home special for your family...and that you are getting to slow down and appreciate all the many blessings that surround us all.

We are finally finished with all "necessary" things, such as the trip to WalMart for dinner supplies, decorating, mailing out cards and gifts, wrapping, and such, and now there is just the fun stuff left...like seeing how many kinds cookies we can bake over the next few days, snuggling on the couch with cocoa while watching a favorite Christmas movie, driving around to see the Christmas light displays, or singing carols around the piano while mom does her best to play them (out of her easy arrangement books!)

I took a picture of the kids the other day sitting around the piano and I wanted to share it with you. 

Merry Christmas from Blessing Farm!

That's Cowboy up top (age 6) and Tex to his right (age 14), with Boo on his lap (age 2)

Then Ladybug is on the left (age 8) next to Firefly (age 4) in the center

Here's a separate one of Bubba and his young lady, Miss A.

They are at my parents' house.

I thought I would share a few photos of the house and how we've decorated this year. If you read my previous post about the Christmas Dinner Table Crafts, you will know that we only found one box of Christmas decor this year...no ornaments for the tree, no Christmas cds (I miss the James Taylor one the most), and so on.  We did, however, find just enough of the important things to not really mind at all that Christmas will be understated this year. 

We found the manger scene, the Jesse Tree ornaments we made last year, the kids' advent calendar (just not the one my Grandma made...sigh), and some cute felt Snowmen and a stuffed Santa (my kids know the secret that Santa is just a symbol of giving and that Jesus' birth is the reason we have Christmas) who keep managing to migrate all over the house, having adventures with the angels and the reindeer. The usually all make it back to the base of the tree by nightfall, so they can go out again and have more fun the next day.

You can see that the plastic candy canes I bought at the Dollar Tree keep winding up on my chandelier. (I spent about twenty dollars and got colored balls, hooks, bows, tinsel, candy canes, stockings, and a few crafting supplies to make some ornaments and napkin rings for the table) 

The cat also keeps winding up on my table, tempted by the tinsel and dangly things...silly Molly. The stockings are from the Dollar Tree, too. We usually have the traditional red ones for decoration, but we don't fill them up. We always did that when I was a kid, but after Ladybug was born, then Cowboy less than two years later, and so on...it got to be too much (time AND money). 

Usually, we generally do three gifts per child: one to develop a gift they have (this usually costs the most), one symbolically cuddly gift (blanket, pj's, stuffed animal, coat, etc...to show we are loving them always), and a book (any reason to give a book around here...right?). This year we agreed to do just one bought gift per child at a lower amount than usual, to use the extra savings to put up a fence around part of the yard so Boo will be safer when he plays outside. I have, however made a few gifts for the kids. What do you do in regards to gifting at your house?

This is our manger scene, the most important part of the decor. The shepherds regularly move their sheep around, and the wise men are traveling...(the kids know they didn't arrive the night Jesus was born, but they love the camels and don't want to give the traditional wise men up.) I found a bunch of these older pieces at a flea market years ago. This year, Joseph, from the set my folks used when I was a child, is getting to be a shepherd (one of our shepherds was broken). He likes it, I think.

This is a hoot. I thought Cowboy stuffed poor jolly Santa upside down in the chimney of the tissue holder house my grandpa made, but it turns out it was Tex who had the sense of humor...This is the reading corner. Thankfully, our Christmas books were in the box we found! Yay!!

The kids made snowflakes at their homeschool 4-H meeting last Friday. I think they make fantastic decorations, don't you?

This is what has traditionally been the kids' advent calendar. The pieces are fluffy and it is made of sturdy cloth. They play with the pieces all the time, so it had better be! Jesus is still waiting to be placed in the manger...

Here's the piano with all the random other stuff that was in the box: the light up tree, some angels, a random angel snowman ornament...since I have so many helpers this year, I am not surprised when I find any of these things (well, not the glass stuff...they do know to leave that alone) elsewhere in the house, visiting Santa or the snowmen under the tree.

We were happy to find our Christmas carol music in the box, too, plus my mom found the best hardcover Christmas carol book with classical Christian art masterpieces on the facing pages at the library for a DOLLAR!! I just love it, and the arrangements are easy enough for me to play (thanks Mom!!). I have one book that is pretty, but every arrangement uses tons of flats or sharps and I just can't keep up with it. You have to keep it simple for me. The kids have been practicing Jingle Bells, Silent Night, and Carol of the Bells. That is sure nice to hear. They don't seem to mind my less than perfect playing, or singing, for that matter. ;-)

 

Here are our favorite homemade placemats that we love to use every year. Taking them out and using them at breakfast, lunch, and dinner really makes the kids aware that Christmas is on its way. You can also see one of the napkin rings we made with our crafting supplies. You can check out my post on how to make both the placemats and the napkin rings/ornaments (see picture below), if you have time to fit in one more Christmas craft. They are easy and fun to do.

This is the green tinsel wreath Ladybug made the other night. She was very proud of herself, and so am I! She did a great job, and I think our simple tree looks fabulous!

Last of all is the primitive wooden manger set on top of the kids' easy reader bookcase...and yes, this one gets a lot of play time, too. Well, I think that is just fantastic because Jesus is the reason for Christmas, and the more the kids think about him, the more they will appreciate the meaning of the special day when it finally arrives...and the more likely they are to make Christmas an EVERY day thing, which would be good for us all. 

Peace on Earth, Goodwill Towards Men...

Love God, Love Each Other...

and above all Praise Him!!!

Blessings to you and yours, and a very Merry Christmas to you all!!

Kids' Crafts for the Christmas Dinner Table

 I have a few fun, easy, and inexpensive craft ideas to share for the last minutes before Christmas (as if you have extra time to waste!).

We had a slight Christmas storage malfunction (the boxes containing the tree ornaments were misplaced), so last week I made a trip to the Dollar Tree to buy a few packages of colored balls (plastic ones, safe for Boo), a few packages of plastic (but cute) candy canes to hang, some tinsel, and some bows. 


While perusing the aisles, I had the thought that since my napkin rings had been misplaced, too, maybe I could make some using these inexpensive materials. 


Here's what we came up with...

Buy a package of 12 shower rings, some tinsel, some hooks, and some bows. Our store had gold, red, green, and silver tinsel. We decided to use the gold for making ornaments and the red for the napkin rings.

Wrap the tinsel around the open shower ring, making sure you catch the starting end under the wrapping to secure it. I left the tinsel on the cardboard it was wrapped around instead of trying to figure out how long of a piece I needed (so I had to leave the ring open to put the tinsel through the gap...if you cut your tinsel, you could pull it through the closed ring every time).

If you have smaller kids who are participating, you might want to take the time to do a trial ring, unwrap it, then cut pieces of tinsel for each one. Ladybug helped me make the rings and once I started them off, she had no trouble finishing them (she is 8 yo). All I had to do was to fasten the ring at the end, then she wrapped a tail end around the remaining white space, and added the bow (when we were making them into wreath ornaments).

Here is an example of a gold wreath ornament. We added a hook by wrapping the large hook end around the wreath body. The kids loved adding these to the tree, and we may make extras to give away after Christmas dinner (like party favors, right?). They take a maximum of ten minutes each to make, so you can make quite a few while singing along to a Christmas cd or watching a favorite Christmas movie.

Here is an example of how the napkin rings turned out. They are easy and fun, and look kind of cute with our colorful napkins and quilt-top table cloth (we added the leaves to our table and none of the table cloths fit, so I used a quilt top instead). 

It's not really very fancy, but fun and homey. I like it that way, and the kids are having a blast contributing to the decor this year (instead of mom doing it all herself...I like that, too, even if I keep finding candy canes hanging from my chandelier and Santa upside down in the tissue box!).

Notice that some of the candy canes that are supposed to be on the tree migrated to the chandelier. Santa tried to fit down the chimney of the tissue box Great-Grandpa made, but he appears to be having some trouble. 

You can see an example of our second craft idea in the picture above (the one with the napkin ring)...it's the place mat. 

I made these mats years ago using card stock, self-laminating sheets from Sam's Club, and old Christmas cards and wrapping paper. The kids LOVE them, they are easy to wipe up, they look festive, and are fun to make.

Each child has his or her favorite place mat. Getting these mats out always makes us feel like Christmas is on its way. I am glad they were inside the one box of Christmas stuff we found in the attic (where it was all supposed to be...hmmm, I think I need to start keeping a notebook to remind myself where stuff gets put around here).

The reverse sides are all the same. I chose a wrapping paper that coordinated with my dining room colors at the time. I figured that for regular meals, we could use the fun greeting card-side, and for nicer meals, we'd use the matching fancy paper-sides.

Over the years I have collected more cards from various sources (thanks Mom!), as well as gotten some pretty Christmas wrapping paper on sale (after Christmas) just for the purposes of making more mats for our table (when I made the others, our maximum number was five, now it is eight, not including guests).

If you'd like to try doing this for your Christmas table (it would keep the kids busy today or Christmas Eve while you cook), gather the following items:

1. card stock
2. old Christmas cards (or falling apart Christmas books, if you can stand to cut them apart...you could also use coloring pages, or do collages from magazine articles with holiday pictures, or use your own printed photos from past Christmases...the possibilities are endless).
3. Christmas wrapping paper (all I could find for the picture was green, but my son found the pretty gold angel paper I've been saving later, so that is what we will ultimately use on the back of our new mats).
4. Glue sticks (or scrapbooking glue dots would be great)
5. Scissors
6. Self-laminating sheets (a laminator or contact paper will also work, but I find that the self-laminating sheets are easier to use and they are a bit stiffer, so they seem more sturdy in the long run...mine are about eight years old and still look like new).

Once you have gathered the materials, sort your cards into groupings by color, subject, or whatever other designations you feel blend well together. In the picture above you will see that I have found cards with snowmen and manger scenes to use to make two mats (or maybe even three, since there are so many snowmen). 

You should also pay attention to the sayings inside the cards. These can be good additions to the pictures. My kids love reading "The Carol of the Birds" on their favorite bird mat (see above). I particularly like the mat with the names of Jesus on it. I actually bought those cards to use that year with this idea in mind!

Next, start laying out your ideas on the paper. This one's theme is obviously "the manger scene" or the birth of Christ. I started gathering cards on this topic because I loved the stained glass window card. I thought the painting was gorgeous, too.

After playing around a bit, I added some background behind the stained glass window to tie it into the quote in the upper left corner. The background comes from a secular holiday card we received...I didn't find anything I wanted to save about the message, but I liked the pretty pattern. You could also use scrapbooking supplies (fancy paper, stickers, sayings, etc.) to jazz yours up.

To finish off this project, you would securely glue your pictures onto the card stock (I use glue stick as white glue can dry funny and takes too long, but you could also use scrapbooking glue tape/dots or something else crafty that works for you). Then you would cut a piece of wrapping paper, slightly smaller than the card stock, and glue it to the back.

If you are using laminating sheets, please follow the instructions carefully to avoid mis-placements or bubbles. The thing about the laminating sheets is that if you mis-place your paper, it will NOT come unstuck, so be careful. If you are using one of the other methods, well, I assume the same precautions apply, but you will have to figure it out on your own! Sorry.

I set the finished mat (the layout is finished, but it is not yet assembled completely) next to the back of one of the old mats, so you could get an idea of what the finished product would look like on both sides. I will finish these later today using that pretty wrapping paper I saved for the reverse side. I have plans to do an additional six mats, so we will have a total of twelve, for when we entertain guests during the holiday season.

This project goes quickly once you sort your cards and choose which sayings and greetings you want to use. If each child/adult did one placemat (their own??), it could be an easy project to finish in an hour. But if you make more for a larger group, or as gifts, well, I guess it can take as long as mom needs it to!

Remember to save your cards from this year, so you can do this next year, if you decide to pass on trying it out now. Just make sure you remember where you put them, so you won't wind up like me and be missing half your Christmas stuff (it's only the Christmas cds I miss...we only have one WOW Christmas collection and Michael Buble's Christmas cd, so we've had the 24 hour Christmas music radio on, but it plays more secular than classic Christian carols, which I prefer).

I hope you are having a blessed Christmas season and making many sweet memories with the ones you love, always remembering that Jesus is the reason for the season...don't forget to keep the CHRIST in Christmas.

(If you haven't seen Christmas With a Capital C yet, you might enjoy watching that movie while you do this craft. It is available for instant download on Netflix right now.)

Blessings,

Heather

Kitchen Update (With Pictures)

I am posting this mainly for my mom, who isn't feeling well, and wanted to see what I've been doing the last few days. I've been telling her how motivated we've been to get some long undone things done to update the house this week, so we can really enjoy the Christmas seasonal events next week...more decorating, making cookies, cutting down our tree this weekend, a concert, finishing the gifts we are making, and sending out our cards. 

I told the family that I am NOT decorating like crazy with pretty things all put on top of dust and grime, so we have been having a great time (really!) teaming up and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning...not to mention moving doors, fixing knobs and piano benches, painting shelves, moving furniture, putting up wall paper, and more...singing Christmas carols all the day long.

This door is the first big change. I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. This door used to be between the parlor and the dining room. The other day it struck me that a door would be ideal for keeping Boo out of trouble (as in messing with the water in the sink, climbing on the counters, raiding the fridge), but where could I get a door without paying an arm and a leg for one? Tada! The parlor...maybe??

We measured the door by the parlor and found it fit, so I moved the hinges and the door lock plate, and now we have a wonderful door to keep Boo from getting into whatever he wants to. I was able to LOCK the door while I painted today and it was almost comical to see the forlorn faces plastered against the glass panes. But I WAS actually able to paint, and before that would not have been possible, unless after nine pm. I like painting much more at four pm.

Oh, and I also moved the highboy from one side of the door to the other so I could move the piano into the dining room from the parlor. That will make room for the tree, and actually, I am finding that the kids play it more with the piano in the room they walk through all the time. That's a bonus! All my special needlepoint and cross stitch pictures aren't up on the wall where they are supposed to be yet (we took them all down months ago when we evacuated for the hurricane and I never got them back up), but that is on the list for tomorrow.

The next big change is the addition of "wall paper" as a backsplash behind the sink counter. I say "wall paper" in quotes because it is actually contact paper and only cost about five dollars a roll. Nice! Ladybug helped me pick it out to use on the shelves under the cabinets, and when I got home I realized how well the colors went with the cabinets and the wall, and thought maybe it could finish off the look of the wall which used to be light yellow, and not too clean anymore. Now it is nice and crisp, easy to wipe off, and kind of retro.

Further examination of this area will reveal the fact that I finally got a board set above the cupboards so that I can display items up on top. I am not sure I love what I have up there now, but it is better than the harum-scarum dusty baskets I had there before. I am thinking I will get the milk glass vases out of my china cabinet and put them up there instead. I don't need clear glass AND milk glass vases, so maybe I will find someone who needs vases to pass them on to. They are pretty.

If you'd ever been in my kitchen previously, you would also notice that the small spice and display shelves above the stove and sink that I added are FINALLY painted. Yay!!! They've been unpainted since I added them and stood out like a sore thumb. The pot and pot lid rack still needs painting...that is on my list.

Lastly, I tossed a bunch of jars I'd saved into the recycle bin (though I have so many, you can hardly tell), and moved the cookbooks from the top shelf down lower so I could actually use them. All my perishables are in jars since we live in the country and mice are not a rarity in the winter. Fortunately, our indoor cat likes catching mice (she wasn't old enough last winter to be of any use), so I am hoping there won't be any issue with that this year. Is that too much information? Just being real here. Mice like warm places, and our house is warm, and homey. I like living here...I can understand why they would like to, as well! 

In any case, that's the tour of the updated kitchen, Mom. I hope you like it!!

Blessings,

Heather

My Kitchen Island Treasure Find

If you had stopped by to visit me on Friday afternoon, you would have not found me here.

Oh, Tex was here. He is such a good son. He offered to watch the littles for a few hours, so I could go do something I have been wanting to do all week...visit the Antique Mall. Why have I been wanting to go there so badly? Well, Hubby gave me a $50 Visa Vanilla gift card for a belated Valentine's Day gift (he was gone over the holiday), and it was burning a hole in my wallet. Especially since my mom had spotted something on SALE that I have been wanting for quite a while...something interesting, old, and of a good size to act as a "center island" for my small country kitchen...an old Singer sewing machine base with a cutting board on top.

Well, Mom was good to me, too, and when I told her I was able to make it to her neck of the woods (forty-five minutes away), she headed on over to the Antique Mall with my dad to make sure the item I wanted was still available (to save me a trip if it was gone), and sure enough, it was. So I got Ladybug dressed in her cutest "going to the Antique Mall" clothes, and we headed out for some girly time.

I was doubly-blessed because my friend, Lady L. just happened to be in the area that day, and she was able to meet me there for some fun walking around and chatting. She actually had a mission of finding a red and white sugar bowl WITH a lid for her hubby's morning coffee sugar (she's slowly redecorating to a 50s kitsch-y kitchen), so we were able to while away some time looking for one (sadly, with no success). It's always more fun when you have a mission, though.

In any case, I purchased my new "center island" with my gift card (the kind folks there held it for me, since they know me so well *grin*), and we even managed to fit it in the car and got it home and in the house with no problem.

Here is my treasure find. I absolutely love it. It is an old iron Singer sewing machine base, and the treadle system still works! The top is wood (painted black), with a hinged wood cutting board on top. It is not as long as the hall table I was using as a "center island" before, so it is easier to work around. It is just the right width that I can set four plates on it as I prepare lunch for the kids, or tea for the ladies.

Here it is facing the dining room...........and here it is facing the sliding door.

If you look closely, you can see how I added two narrow shelves for spices and such over the stove. Eventually, I plan to invest in white baskets for the items around the microwave area. Eventually, I will clean up the mish-mosh of baskets I have above the cabinets and make it only the white glass I collect.

You can see it still works for the hand-mill on loan from Lady L. Isn't it pretty?

I used the mill to grind wheat to make multi-grain muffins yesterday. You can also see how I ripped out a funky old nick-nack shelf system (with curlicues and railing), and added a second narrow shelf over the sink for my spices. All it needs is a coat of paint to look great! But, oooops, if you look right by the dishwasher you can see the one cabinet door that got lost, so it never got painted. By the time I found it, the paint was put away, and well...yeah, I REALLY need to get that paint back out.

Just a few shots of the rest of my kitchen.

The fridge and counter need decluttering, I think.

If you look on the wall at the left top in the left picture above, you will see the shelf I bought for just $10 a few weeks ago that now holds some of my bigger pans. The narrow shelves to the right (that need some white paint) were bought by my mom at a yard sale last year for just a few dollars each. We added hooks and they have made great pot and pot lid holders.

Time for Tea! See, it's just the right size...

Check out my post on Saturday Tea Time to get the recipe for those delicious muffins.

There are a lot of little projects left to do in my old country kitchen, but we've come a long way. When I started, we had an avacado green cast-iron sink and marbled avacado green (very old) laminate counter tops. The walls had old, cheap paneling on them. The sink cabinet was so rotted, it had to be torn out, so we used the cabinet from the opposite wall in its place (couldn't afford a new one). The doors and hardware on the upper and lower cabinets were very dated (70's), so we either took off the doors for the "open look" or we took off the trim and hardware, and then repainted the doors and cabinets. We are taking "baby steps" to get the look I want with the budget we have.

Storage has been an issue, so I have cut down a lot of the dishes I used to have. I still have more than I need and plan to declutter once more this summer. We've been here long enough now that I know what I actually use and can feel secure getting rid of the rest. I find I like having all of my dishes be white or clear, so I got rid of anything that did not fit that theme. It sure makes it easier when it comes time to set the table for a nice dinner. Everything goes together, even if it doesn't exactly match! 

We've been creative in finding solutions for the pots and pans since they won't fit in the cabinets (due to the sink needing space and the need for somewhere to story baby bottles, kids' cups and plates, Tupperware, etc.). Hanging them on the wall is an interesting solution to the problem. Once I get all of the pot shelves painted, it will look like I "meant to do that!"

Hubby put up the shelves on the wall near the fridge as a solution for cookbooks and glass food storage containers. It saved us money (cheaper than buying cabinets) and when it is tidy (which it is not right now), I really like the look. I am slowly buying "real" glass storage jars (one each time I go to Walmart) for everything from tea bags and snack bars to flour and sprouting seeds, though saving the larger glass jars from items like applesauce and using them has been a good short-term solution. Another one of my projects this summer is going to be to whittle down my cookbooks to those I REALLY use. Maybe I can give away some of the others here...hmmm.

I definitely need to get out a can of white paint for painting all of the trim and new shelving, and touch ups to the walls and cabinets would be a good idea, too. Anyone have a Saturday free and want to come over? I will make us some scones and a pot of Earl Grey for when we are done...? ;-)

I just love re-purposing old things to give them new life. Not only are they less expensive than new, but they are more original and more interesting, too. At least, in my opinion they are, and I enjoy the fun of the "treasure hunt" as well. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you will leave a comment and post a link to your own kitchen (or other room) makeovers using "found" items like this sewing machine base for interesting purposes.

Blessings for a wonderful week,

Heather

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Thankful Thursday---Treasure Hunting

Is this awesome, or what? It is a beautiful needlepoint picture I bought just this afternoon. I love what it says.

I was blessed to be able to go to the local antique mall/tea room today with my mother and sister-in-law, who is about a week away from delivering her second child, a son. We had a deeeeeelicious meal as always at La Petite Tearoom. I had an open-faced ham and cheese sandwich with pineapple chutney,  a pot of Earl Grey tea (yes, I drank a whole pot by myself), and a scrumptious piece of chocolate ganache cake.

Then we walked around the antique mall for several hours, looking for bargains and treasures. I found some of each. My bargains were a sturdy yellow-painted cast iron watering pot key holder for the reasonable price of $6 and two lamp shades for $1 each.

My treasure is the picture you see above. My mom says she can tell it was meant for me. I know it, too. I have one wall, the one above our piano, that is covered with pretty cross stitch and needlepoint pictures (none of which I made...my talent lies in finding them at bargain prices). This picture was absolutely MADE for that wall. The price tag on this one was $40. It is a bit more than I normally spend on something like this, but since it was so obviously meant for me, I could not resist. ;-)

I absolutely LOVE it.

So today, I am thankful for my incredible treasure find. I am also thankful for my mom and my sister-in-law and their fun company at lunch. And lastly, I am thankful for my hubby and (mostly) Tex, who watched the kids while I went out and had a good time with the ladies. Thank you everyone.

And thank you, God, for saving this picture for me. I promise to give it a good home.

May it serve as an everyday reminder for what some of the most important things in life are...our kids and the time we are blessed to spend with them.