Button Christmas Tree

I love buttons!  Any kind of button will do.  Several months ago, Michael's had basic buttons in basic colors on their $1 display.  There are now several containers of red, white, and green buttons in my craft supplies.  This looks like a simple project that can actually be "recycled" after the holidays.  Take a styrofoam cone and attach lots of buttons with dressmaker's pins.  I like the pins with the pearlized or decorative heads.  There are so many great ideas at several of the ladies' magazine sites.  This project is once again from Better Homes and Gardens. I adore BHG's website!  Oh, just want to let you know that I don't receive any compensation for sharing any information about their site. The thrill of knowing that you just might enjoy creating some of these nifty, thrifty decorations makes me smile!  Happy crafting!

A Special Day

Happy 94th birthday, Daddy! 

I love you and miss you, 

but I know that your celebration is truly "heavenly" 

with Mama and my brother.  Sending you bear hugs and lots of kisses!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Cornucopia Ornament

Noel Nosegay

Glass Holly Sprig

Embellished Patterned Paper

Jingle Bells!

For some reason, I always wait until December to start crafting a few handmade ornaments for the tree!  Well, this year I'm early.  It's only November 29th!  I went to Better Homes and Gardens EARLY this morning to find some quick and easy, yet beautiful ideas.  Here are a few that caught my eye.  I was in a "tussie mussie" swap earlier in the year.  It was such fun.  So, the filled cones are on the to-do list.  I have lots of colorful patterned paper from my art swaps to use.  I have more than enough to make the cones and the embellished tree.  Going green and using some art supplies already on hand is a good thing this year!!  The simple, glass ornaments with the holly sprigs and jingle bells inside are so festive!  I'm thinking about making a similar one with small, vintage buttons inside.   Are you just beginning some Christmas crafting, or are beautifully wrapped gifts already underneath a decorated Christmas tree with carols wafting through your cottage?  Either way, it's the most wonderful time of the year! (Photos from Better Homes and Gardens)

The Season of Hope

Advent begins today.  Following Western tradition, this is the first day of the Church Year for most churches.  Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day and ends on December 24th, Christmas Eve.  To me, the season of Advent brings hope.  It is a time of joyful anticipation for the arrival of the Christ Child.  All mankind can rejoice during this time of longing for peace, justice, and righteousness in the world.  Many who celebrate Advent observe each week by lighting a candle.  May your personal season of Advent, whatever your spiritual calling, bring you an inner peace that is shared with your fellow travelers on the journey.

She Loves to Hear the Lids Pop!

Lots of folks will shop today.  Lots of fans will be watching the Alabama-Auburn game here in Dixie.  To each her own....but, this girl is making squash pickles and candied apple jelly!  The kitchen smells so good.  It is foggy and wet outside.  Our temps are dropping into the 20's.  The flames in the fireplace are dancing.  What a great day.  I sampled the homemade goods, and they are delicious if I do say so myself.  Now, it's time to bring a few potted palms into the basement, hang some cut lavender upside down, and brew a cup of coffee.  I am so blessed.  I hope that you are having the same kind of day...one that lets you enjoy your favorite things!

Haiku My Heart

Fall's leaves are canceled

As lights, carols, crowds begin

To take center stage.

Yes, today is the day that stores' dreams are made of!  Shoppers started lining up right after Thanksgiving dinner for all the sales that will be unveiled in the wee hours this morning.  I'd like to think that somewhere there is a quaint, little village such as the one pictured above where people stroll casually to begin the season.  Sweet carols are heard instead of rude comments to fellow shoppers.  It is a day of welcoming the first curtain call of the most joyful celebration of the year in that hamlet.  Anything less gets a BAH HUMBUG from me!  May your day be one of blissful dreaming, thoughtful planning, and peaceful solitude.  Most importantly, if shopping is on your to do list, "Don't get your tinsel in a tangle" as Anonymous has cautioned.

It's Haiku My Heart Friday hosted by recuerda mi corazon.  If you enjoy reading haiku or would like to share your own, click here!  Thank you, Rebecca, for being our hostess for this creative venue!  I so enjoying this chance to pen haiku when the muse speaks!(Photo from Flickr)

Giving Thanks

 For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends. 

                        Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) 

I am so thankful for my many blessings.  You, my cherished readers and blog friends, are among those blessings.  It is my sincere wish that you have a safe, bountiful Thanksgiving with moments to reflect.  For it is in the little moments that we experience life at its "largest."   Happy Thanksgiving!

And When I Dream...

Happy Pink Saturday!!  Last year I decorated my first "Putz" house.  I purchased a small, cardboard cottage at Michael's.  It was so much fun painting it pale pink and adding lots of glitter.  Yesterday, while checking my files for pink, I found the photo of the pretty, pink cottage that touched my heART and inspired me to create my own.  My small, glittered house is still packed in the Christmas decorations which will go up in the next couple of weeks. Just looking at this pic once again inspires me to embellish another this year.  Putz houses are so vintage!  (Photo from Flickr)

 For more Pink Saturday posts, visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound!!! 

Harvest of Blessings

The rains came to my cottage earlier in the week, and now the trees are almost bare.  My yard is carpeted with beautiful gold, red, and parched brown leaves.  Though it looked like this Autumn would not be as colorful because the rains had stayed away so long, Mother Nature fooled us!  A kaleidoscope of different hues decorates every nook and cranny of the landscape.  Earth is dressed to take a nap.  Of course, with Thanksgiving only a week away, journeying souls are getting ready to visit family and friends.  Then, once the feast is put away, Christmas bells will welcome shoppers into tinseled stores packed with frantic shoppers.    For the upcoming week, I will savor a few hours off from ciphering and simplifying algebra and geometry for my students.  I will relish the quiet, the crispness, and the reveries of this and earlier Autumns. I will say a prayer of thanks for all that has been and all that is to come.  Where will your heart journey for the next few days?

A Wish Upon the Last Leaf of Autumn

"This is my wish for you. Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, love to complete your life." ~~Author Unknown

Sugar and Cream for Happy Pink Saturday!

Many years ago I learned how to crochet, and I spent many relaxing hours creating simple afghans and slippers.  Then somehow the crochet hooks were pushed to the back of the craft closet.  Well, this weekend I am all set to enjoy crocheting again.  I have decided to make dishcloths for Christmas gift baskets.  I'm using Lily's Sugar and Cream all cotton yarn.  Michael's had a sale this past week for this beautiful yarn, only $1.25 per 120 yard skein.  These are the pretty pinks paired with toasty browns that I will be using for some of the cloths.  These dishcloths are easy to make, and they last forever! Perfect "pink cottage."  (Photo from Flickr)

Haiku My Heart

Stone pillars stand

As tombstones marking the grave

Of a life well lived.

These nine stone pillars surround the site of Thoreau's log cabin in Concord, Massachusetts.  I often revisit Thoreau's writings when I want to escape from the world of  "busy-ness."  Thoreau tore down his cabin upon leaving the woods.  Only the earth remains.  He lived as he wrote--with a penchant for simplicity and reverence for creation.  It never fails upon leaving my brief retreats to my small Thoreau library that I muse what his thoughts would be on our modern times.  Is there any doubt?

It's Haiku My Heart Friday hosted by recuerda mi corazon.  If you enjoy reading haiku or would like to share your own, click here!  Rebecca's weekly gathering encourages my muse.  Thank you, Rebecca! I so enjoying this chance to pen haiku!(Photo from Flickr)

Here Comes Monday!

It was a wonderful weekend with temperatures dipping into the upper 20's overnight.  ALAS!!  Monday has arrived again.  After a relaxing Saturday of pajamas and reading and a delicious Sunday of dining at Chuys (perhaps, the most fabulous Mexican cuisine anywhere), how could a girl help but be on top of the world for Monday?  The sun is poised like a huge sunflower smiling at the earth.  There is a slight breeze, and some neighbors are taking care of last minute yard trimming.  I think that I will just sit and enjoy the view from my window before hitting the books for afternoon tutoring.  Yes, it is a workday.  But, I sure can't find fault with that!  I am blessed!  I hope that you are having a sunflower kind of Monday!!!!  (Photo from The National Sunflower Association)

Bonnets, Anyone?

 Happy Pink Saturday!

Are you as infatuated with hats as I am?  I love hats, yet I don't wear them.  My mother wore the '50's pillbox complete with veil to church on Sundays when I was a young girl.  Paired with white gloves and the sweet dresses/suits of that era....Oh, my!  Mama looked so beautiful.  Maybe, that's when my love for hats started.  I keep wishing for a comeback.  Maybe, it's here!  While shopping with a friend a few weekends ago, she mentioned that everyone will be wearing a hat this season.  Hats will be the rage!!!  Here are three that are in Victorian Trading Post's current catalog.  The lavishly embellished cranberry and black chapeaux are called "Christmas Bonnets."  The soft green with the blushing rose creation is the Daphne du Maurier. Are they not gorgeous?  So dramatic and so...so....so pretty!   Will you be wearing a hat this season?

For more Happy Pink Saturday posts, visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.! Hats off to Beverly, for our  "pink" Saturday gatherings.

Haiku My Heart

Unsure wings lifted,

The novice soared with courage

Into the unknown.

It's Haiku My Heart Friday hosted by recuerda mi corazon.  If you enjoy reading haiku or would like to share your own, click here!  Once again, Rebecca's fantastic weekly gathering has given a venue for ponderings.  Thank you, Rebecca! (Photo from Flickr)

Music in the Key of......

       "Beyond your wall is an unknown world full of forgotten dreams and untold stories."   What a great quote engraved on the back of this most unique music "box."  Just turn the knob and Moonlight Sonata begins to play.Though it's usually the week before Christmas Day before the shopping spirit  rushes through my door, this is an inspiration to shop earlier.  I'd like two please!