25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Series: Day 21

Special Moments Photo Pillow

First off.....

**Happy Hanukkah**

to my friends who celebrate!

Hope your celebrations are wonderful!

By now we are all in the final stages of getting ready for the holiday weekend.  I wanted to share a project that I completed last week.  If you have been following my blog during this series, you might remember my Day 3 blog post Christmas Memories Photo Pennant Banner.   For those who missed it and don't want to click back at this point, it was a pennant banner made with images of awesome times in the past.  (image on the right)

While I was sorting through old photographs, I came upon this next photo.

It stopped me dead in my tracks.  I sat and gazed at this captured moment and with years between the time the image was taken and now, I got all choked up.  You see, that little boy is 17 now and that little girl is 14.  Certainly I have images of them sitting around in frames from this time, but this image captured something.  It captured the essence of my son.  You see, I know that at the time this photo was taken, he already knew the truth about Santa and yet, after already posing for pics and getting their treats, he returned to give Santa a hug.  

I knew that I had to do something special with this photograph.  Something more than just framing it.  It needed it's own special place.  I decided to make a nice Christmas pillow. 

I bought a nice heavy decorative plain white fabric and transferred the image using the transfer paper method. 


I then got together all the supplies I would need to make a little Christmas Pillow.




I put together the pillow in a very standard way and used velvet red Christmas ribbon folded into a trim to finish off the sides.

This little staging area is the back of an
old mantel that I plan to restore next year.

At 17, he talks a big game; all tough.  Sometimes I wonder how he got so jaded.  Seeing this image reminded me that deep inside, he is still that little boy who wants to believe in the miracles. Wants to dream big dreams and have them come true.  Life as a teenager has been hard on him and the protective walls have come up, like what happens to so many dreamers.   I understand that.  We all have to do what it takes to get us through it all.  I only hope, that after high school, he will embrace that dreamer inside and remember...he can believe in miracles.

Keep your eye and hearts open this holiday season for the little miracles.  Sometimes it is as simple as taking the time to sort through old photographs and finding a gift all it's own wrapped in timeless paper.

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my

Day 22 of

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Ideas and Gifts Series!!

-The End-

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Series: Day 11

A Collection of Captured Visits With Santa

and

a Silver Jingle Bell Frame

I knew the moment that I decided to put together this 25 Days Christmas and Holiday Ideas and Gift Series, that I was going to share some treasured traditions from my own Christmases.  Today, I want to share an idea with you that is close to my heart, along with a little mini-project too.

Every year since the birth of my first child, I have faithfully taken my kids to the traditional Santa & Me activity.  You know the one....off to mall with kids dressed in their finest for a visit with Santa and a picture on his lap?  Somewhere along the way, my sister and I developed the added tradition of buying a discounted frame in the frenzy of after Christmas sales.  Before packing away the collection with the Christmas decorations, we would place the current year's photo into the new frame...and so on throughout the years.  All of us enjoy decorating the Christmas tree, but I have to admit that bringing out these individually framed images of my kids throughout the years is the highlight of my decorating. 

Some of the images are hysterical.  Like the one of my daughter at 2 years old crying her eyes out while sitting with a very pleased older brother on Santa's lap!  I have found over the years that these photos do something even more important...they have documented the amazing years that I have had as a mother with these two awesome kids!   

I still make them go take them with with total disgust and embarrassment excited anticipation to the mall for these photos.  I know...I know, it sounds cruel.  After all, they are teens.  Just rest assured that we go on off hours to make sure that none of their friends see them! The agreement is that when they reach 18 or graduate from high school, their time is over.  They get a great meal out of it, a kick out of seeing the babies cry and a few laughs along the way.  I surmise that they will look back and miss this time.  I know I will.  (I have to tell you that, after a few years hiatus, my sister's 22 year old, 6 foot 4 inch son returned this year to Santa's lap for a fun loving, hysterical picture.) 

When I was unpacking the framed memories, I noticed that I didn't have last year's image framed.  I cannot remember why I didn't buy one.  So, I thought it only fit that since this is the inaugural year of The Homeless Finch, why not put something together with what I already have?  So here is what I did.

I looked through a box of old frames and found this tarnished silver frame. Perfect! I dragged out a few things, including the Dollar Store ornaments that I used in blog post #8, Metallic Ornament Wreath.    

 

In the end, I decided to use the silver jingle bells.  I simply glued four of them across the top using Gorilla Glue, added a shiny silver bow.  Here it is standing among so many other memories.  

Where did all the years go?  How did that little crying 2 year old girl grow up so fast?  How is it that my son's time on Santa's lap is coming to a close?  It's been like a whisper in time and it's almost over.  I am so fortunate to have captured those moments on a few fleeting photographs placed in fun and whimsical frames throughout the years. 

I wanted to share this idea with you guys.  I don't know what stage each of you are at with raising kids, but I was hoping that at least one of you would get a kick out of this and try it out for yourself!   

My kids will continue to grow up and move on...but my memories of these cherished years will greet me each year as I crack open the boxes of decorations...

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my

Day 12 of

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Ideas and Gifts Series!!

-The End-

Linking this post to:

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Series: Day 6

Thrifty Holiday Wreath With A Message

I have a close friend who grew up in a rural area of Brazil.  Her family was large and very poor.  They often went without meals, walked two hours to and from school everyday and lived in a home with walls made from tree posts and mud and a roof fashioned out of palm fronds.  She is a US citizen now and has grown far beyond her roots, though travels back to see her beloved family often.  She tells me tails of her days on that farm in Brazil and I share those amazing stories with my kids who have never wanted for anything.  

As a child, she was told by her siblings about this wonderful, magical man, Papai Noel.  She heard that all the good children were paid a visit while sleeping on Christmas Eve. If they placed their shoe in the window, he would fill it with treats.  Well, by now you should realize that this Papai Noel is just like our Santa Claus.  So every year with hopeful spirits and the knowledge that they had been good, her brothers and sisters would place their shoes in the window hoping for special treats to be dropped into them by this magical merry man.   

Every Christmas morning, they would awaken to look and see that for reasons unknown to them, Papai Noel had passed by leaving their shoes empty.  Of course, they all wondered if someone in the group had not been good.  Certainly all of them must have wondered if it was them who caused Papai Noel to pass over their empty shoes.  Instead, they would proceed with their days, happy to be together and hopeful that if they were even better the next year, that Papai Noel would finally come to shower them with his goodies.  

This story always sticks with me this time of year.  When we are all running around trying to create these wonderfully beautiful homes filled with wonder and excitement, so many go without.   We all try to do our best to remember those in need this time of year and I think that matters.  Don't you?

So this past weekend, I was at a flea market and my eyes fell on these little beauties.

I immediately thought of my Brazilian friend when I saw these shiny red shoes.  I am sure she never wore such a fancy pair as a child, but they were shiny red and I could picture them on a little girl at Christmastime prancing around in a beautiful dress with eyes filled with wonder and amazement.  

I bought them, brought them home and got to wondering how to use these little shoes in my Christmas decor.  I decided to make a holiday wreath using thrift store finds.  I wanted to make something that symbolized finding plenty in what one has.  Here are the elements I used.

I found the wreath at Goodwill a few weeks back for $2.  Grapevine wreaths are not cheap, but I find a constant supply at my local thrift stores.  The pears and the rusty star were taken off of another wreath that I found that day too.  You can actually still see the price of $2 on that pear if you look closely.  The little owl ornament was 25 cents. (What a neat find for me.)  I chose the garden troll for two reasons.  My friend loves to garden and finds happiness in her garden, probably from her childhood days on the farm.  Second, because...lucky me, it's green!!  Nice to have a green element to go with the red.  So here is what I came up with...

I put together all the elements and worked in new greenery that I had leftover from another project.  I chose the word "believe" because it symbolizes that no matter what is happening in your life, as long as you have hope and believe in the magic, there can be wonder and amazement!    These shoes are a reminder to me and my family that Papai Noel could come at anytime and shower you with treats. But it isn't about a shoe filled with treats. It's about a shoe placed with faith that maybe, just maybe he might come this year...

So when you are designing your holiday wreaths this year, keep this idea in mind.  Do you have a story to tell?  Would you like to convey a message or a thought about the season?  Sometimes, a wreath is a great pictorial place to display those ideas and thoughts.  Give it a try. 

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for my

Day 7

of

25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Ideas and Gifts Series!!

-The End- 

(The source for the photo of the shoes in the window is http://s6.thisnext.com/media/largest_dimension/51FA01E8.jpg)

Linking this post to:

            

               

       

       

       

A Special Visitor to The Homeless Finch Studio Has Me Pondering

Popping in today to share an amazing little something that happened this weekend in my studio.  I was in my usual mode of checking emails, surfing Paint Party Friday and pretending to be a great weekend family member.  You know what I'm talking about...  You really want to work on your projects, but the family is home underfoot and you try to pretend you are 'all in' for them and their needs?!   I gotta balance it ya know!!

Well, so I had walked out of my studio in an attempt to appear engaged with the activities that they were wanting to focus on.  At some point, I decided to check back in the studio.  Walking in I realized that there was a finch flying freely around the room outside the aviary.  Immediately worried that my finch would fly free, I ran to the door that was open to the outside and closed it.  I grabbed the fitted sheet I use this to catch them when they get out.  As I turned and really looked, I realized that the finch was not mine.  Nope.  It's was a wild finch that had flown into my studio through the open door.   

I called to my family and they ran into the room as I said, "I can't believe it. An actual Homeless Finch is in my studio!"  Of course, I had to snap an image of the poor little guy before catching and releasing him. 

He looks so afraid in this image below. Don't you think? 

A Homeless Finch in My Studio

The rest of the day, I thought about that little chance happening and told a few of my friends about it.  Everyone wondered if it was some sort of sign. My sister had the dreamy thought that it was my mother coming by for a visit.  I have one male finch in the aviary without a mate.  He sings very loudly every morning trying to attract a would be suitor, not realizing in his little bird brain that no potential mates can hear him.  I think perhaps this wild finch heard him and wanted to find out what all the commotion was about.   It was fascinating to talk about and ponder.  What do you think it was?  A fluke? A sign?  

Flame
The finch who calls for a mate.



I am hoping to bring you a few reveals this week.  I have a few projects coming into the final stages. Stay tuned...OH! and watch out for the Homeless Finch.  If you leave your door open....he might just fly in for a visit.

-The End-

My Pine Hutch Shifts to Thanksgiving Mode Filled With Cherished Memories of My Mother

Over this past weekend, before my hands got so deep into painting my Master Bath Cabinets and Doors, I switched out the strictly Halloween accents on my pine hutch and placed a few treasured Thanksgiving friends throughout the already autumn inspired design.  If you missed how I put this together for autumn and Halloween you can go HERE to see the original post.  (By the way, I am typing this right now with days of dried white paint all over my fingers.  I gave up two days ago at trying to scratch it off!)

So here are my new friends.

My mother, who has has been gone for over 17 years, bought me these little paper pilgrims at a crafts fair at a local high school. She saw me eyeballing them and knew at the time that I couldn't afford them. She bought them when I wasn't looking and showed up on Thanksgiving Day with them for me as a hostess gift. I pack them away by themselves with fresh tissue paper every year. I truly treasure these little people. They remind me of good times with my mom.

I bought these that same year at an outdoor crafts festival.

I scattered these little blocks atop my vintage skates and along the top edge of the hutch.

My Mother gave both me and my sister a set of these little china pilgrims.  At the time she also gave us an octagon shaped mirror to set them on.  After she passed and for several years, I would set them up just as she wanted us to on that mirror.  Time has passed and I have grown to realize that what she really wanted for us is to figure out what we liked and do it our own way.  I think it takes being a mother to finally understand that.  I still have that mirror, but prefer to set them out together without it.  They have suffered damage over the years at the hand of my children when they were small.  I have mended them with some Elmer's glue and put them right back out. 

Somebody named 'Twinkle Toes" of Fort Lauderdale made this little Clay Pot Turkey.  I think he is ingenious and wanted to show you this.  As you can see he would be easy to replicate and is a possible great craft idea for a party. If you want me to email you close up images, just let me know.

This tall drink of water is one of my newer purchases.  I picked him up a few years ago at HomeGoods.  Below him on the table of the bottom half of the hutch are a wooden turkey I picked up along with way and a little scrabble message idea I took from the blogs. 

Scattered throughout the entire layout are my primitive boxes and vintage tools and utensils.  I love this collection and always try to incorporate much of it in my seasonal decorating. 

Do you have cherished pieces that you have kept over the years?  Do you remember to bring them out and enjoy them?  Do you have anything boxed away, shoved in a closet or drawer that someone special gave you? Perhaps that special someone is gone, like my mother.  Don't forget to bring those special items out and enjoy them.  I can say that just bringing my paper pilgrim couple and china pilgrim family out brings me back to a wonderful time in my life.  It somehow keeps me connected to my mom.  It reminds me of what an amazing person she really was and inspires me to carry on the legacy...


Now....I gotta run and get back to the cabinets.  They are really looking awesome, but they are just not ready to reveal.   Here is a sneak peek from yesterday on my progress.

-The End-