Intentional Christmas

 

December is a busy month for many people, but for retail families it can be chaotic. I have learned to be very deliberate during this month, balancing a full calendar of obligations with a few moments of light-hearted fun.

My husband had two days off this week, and we made good use of those 48 hours. We visited family. We put up the tree (not decorated yet), and we put up the outdoor deer and snowman to complete our Christmas lighting.

And one afternoon, we made it to the Toledo Zoo to see their amazing Lights Before Christmas display. We grabbed our hot cocoas and enjoyed the lights and exhibits.

I'm glad we found the time to make this happen. Last year, we went with all the kids on Christmas Day, but this year we will likely be more scattered.

I have plenty of items yet to come on my calendar. Articles (too many!), a holiday concert, church events, downtown holiday events, and a college graduation. And next week I'm meeting up with one of my online crafty friends to spend a fun day in Marshall.

Are you being intentional this Christmas, or do you take each day as it comes? What are you looking forward to?

Time to go fluff the Christmas tree!

Silent Night cards

 

I added sixteen cards to my Christmas pile this week. Yay!

This card is relatively simple, but it has a nice vintage feel to it, thanks to the Simple Stories paper.

I added some shimmer spray to Jesus in the manger, and layered a silver star at the top.

And inside, I found two verses that worked well.

By the way, this 65 LB shimmer card stock from Recollections (Michaels) is my favorite for adding to the inside of a card. It is lightweight, and it adds just a bit of sparkle.

 

I have 32 cards addressed and stamped and ready to go to the post office today. Yay!

More cards to come!

Advent at church and at home

This Sunday was the first Sunday in the season of Advent. What is advent? I can tell you what it isn't. It isn't opening a box a day for twenty four days and pulling out __________________ (fill in blank here). 

Seriously, have you noticed the variety of items that are sold in "Advent" calendars now? Wine, cheese, jam, LEGOS, KCups. You name it, and someone's thought to market it.

When I was a child, my Advent calendar was simple and sweet. The scene was always beautiful, a nativity or winter woodland. I opened a window every day, and under the flap I would find a Bible verse. That's it. No prize other than God's word. 

And isn't that the best prize of all?

Advent simply means "coming". It is the first season in the liturgical church year where we reflect on Christ's first coming as an infant and look forward with hope to his second coming as King.

Every Sunday, a candle is lit. The first candle represents hope.

I am reflecting on Advent at home as well. In preparation for the season, I found an online shop called The Daily Grace that had beautiful items like this mug.

They also had the Advent pens, each with the word for that corresponding Sunday. I am using them with my devotional.

I ordered this beautiful new book from Concordia Publishing House, Enduring Grace, that will take me through the church year.

                                                                                     

In the mad rush of the season, it is nice to pause and reflect on the gift that we receive at Christmas, the one that doesn't fit in a box. Jesus!

Adding a Little Retro Vintage Feminine This Christmas

 

The trendy style for Christmas this year (if you pay attention to anything that Tiktok is telling us) is the Ralph Lauren Christmas. Lots of tartan plaids in traditional colors of red and green. Like an old English manor.

As a Mom of three sons, I've been doing plaid Christmas for a lot of years now. But this year, I decided to take a different approach. After all, we're empty nesters now. I don't have to decorate my house for sons that don't live here. This Christmas may be different, too, as I think my Indiana sons may not be visiting on December 25. No worries! We will see them all at some point this December.

I wanted to add a little holiday spirit to my bathroom. This is also the guest bathroom, so it needs to be accessible. The garden-inspired yellow flowered shower curtain just didn't say Christmas for me.

I thought about purchasing a new holiday shower curtain and bath mat and Christmas towels. But really, all of that to keep it up for a month or so and then store it for eleven months of the year? That's silly.

I remembered this Shabby Chic Rachel Ashwell curtain that I've had for 20 years (yes, seriously! 20 years!). Pretty shades of pink and green. Hmm. Can I make this look like Christmas? Yes, I can.

A wreath pulled out of storage.

A few pink and silver trees from the Target dollar spot. Perfect!

This silver-framed angel drawing was a gift from my niece/goddaughter, Sarah, one Christmas. She was such a talented artist. She sings with the angels now. I love to pull this one out for the holidays in her memory.

With my fluffy pink bathrobe hanging on the back of the door, this retro bathroom makes me smile. And I'm even happier that I did it with just a few dollars.

I have some more Christmas updates to show you soon. 

December is here, and so is the snow. We had about six inches over the weekend! It's putting me in full holiday mode this week.

Blessings on your Monday, cafe friends!

Paint Party

 

Mom and I had a paint party yesterday!

I found these adorable, brand new, never used paint kits at a local Goodwill bookstore for only $1 and $2 each. I bought them all! They all have winter and Christmas themes, so I thought it'd be fun to pull out this weekend.

I was worried that the acrylic paints would be dried out when we opened them, but they were surprisingly fresh!

Each kit came with its own paint palette, a variety of brushes, the paint by number instructions, and little hangers for displaying.

Mom and I both picked snowmen. 

Mom has always been gifted with painting. She's very good at shading and choosing and mixing colors. She was so careful and deliberate.

Me? I was slapping it on haphazardly, concentrating on filling each space in.

We had a Hallmark movie on in the background, and that was all you could hear because we were so quiet and concentrating so hard!

It still needs a little finessing, but I think it came out pretty well, all things considered!

It was a fun project to keep us busy on a lazy afternoon.

Today, I'm taking my oldest and his wife to our little downtown for some Small Business Saturday shopping and lunch.

So Much to be Thankful For

 

Happy Post-Thanksgiving! 

We woke up to snow covering all of November's brown in a blanket of white. So pretty!

Our oldest and his wife picked up my Mom on the way, and she's spending the weekend here with us. Such a blessing!

We had these visitors in the afternoon. Turkeys! Like my brother, Tim said: They didn't understand what it meant to be invited to Thanksgiving dinner! ha ha!

We had seven of us huddled around our small table. Nice and cozy! The meal was good, and there were plenty of leftovers, too.

Jemma loved having Grandma with us. She was always by her side! (It could be because Mom was always sneaking her treats!)

We had a nice, lazy evening watching Hallmark Christmas shows and nodding off occasionally.

I think today will be more of the same.

Blessings on your holiday weekend!

The Colors of November

 

The colors of November are muted, full of neutral tones. Gone are the vibrant colors of October, and in their place are the many shades of brown. 

Today's cards are celebrating those warm neutrals.

I used Concord and 9th's Sweater Weather turnabout stamps and dies. It's definitely sweater weather now!

Just a few more weeks of autumn before winter's arrival. 

Is it too late to mail my Thanksgiving cards? I'm a little behind this week! I had too much to do to prepare for the big meal on Thursday. After 217 trips to 53 grocery stores (okay, I exaggerate, but it feels like that!), I think I'm ready to get some cooking and baking done. Trying to keep it simple (more easy casseroles, crock pot turkey, and store bought mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, and cranberry relish). I've assigned a few things to the boys, and I'm hoping to recruit my husband as my sous chef and chief dish washer on Thursday.

One good thing about the big meal...I'll have leftovers for days!

Blessings on your holiday weekend, cafe friends!