Out with the old...In with the New

Happy New Year Everyone!

We had a wonderful Christmas here. Our family gathered together and made some special memories for Christmas 2010. I have to say my favorite presents this year were homemade. One is the luscious curtain my grandma made for me. Another is a wonderful pillow coming from Nesta Usa. I'll share pictures once it arrives! Four days and counting!

Countdown to Christmas ...

My friend Julie and her sister Brenda have their houses all decked out for the holidays. I was giddy with excitement when Julie invited me in to take some pictures of all her scrumptious decorations. Here are a few pictures from their beautiful cottages. You'll love them just like I do. I will be featuring my sister's sweet home in another day, so please come back. Until then, keep decking the halls with white!

Christmas Presence

I played the audio tape of Scrooge for my daughters while we were doing a craft the other day.  It was a good reminder to me of how I need to keep Christ central in my Christmas. Because I know Jesus as my Savior, Christmas has so much more meaning and heart-felt gratitude for me now, than it did in previous years when I celebrated Christmas as a non-believer. My prayer for you is that you also know Jesus. There is no better gift!

Christmas Contentment

You know how the Lord just gives you something neat? Something special in His word and it just gets you right in the heart. Makes you think. And think. Well, I was reading Psalm 17  this week and I got to the last line. It says, "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness."  I just love the contentment David had at this time. He was surrounded by his enemies everywhere. Yet he rested in the Lord. I like the punctuation here too. The commas make me pause and consider each statement before it. "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." Wow! Just to be content with waking up with His likeness is so awesome. I want that. Don't you? Anything else can happen in my day, yet I will be satisfied if only I have His likeness. I really hope and pray this is something I never get over. Blessings!

Sweet and Salty

I made these wonderful treats this week with my three year old (one week away from four) daughter. She was such a great little helper. I was so grateful for her too. It doesn't look like much work, but opening up two bags of hershey kisses and taking off all their wrappers was time consuming. She lined the pretzels up on the cookie tray and placed the kisses on top. Then we baked them for five minutes and pushed an m&m into each top. Just the right combination of chocolate and salt. Thanks Rachel!

A few of my favorite things

I am a shabby chic girl through and through. I love architectural salvage yards, yard sales, flea markets, my girlfriend's garage...you name it. If it's chippy, vintage, white and shabby it has a place in my home. Well, a girl can wish, anyway! There's so many fabulous things out there. At this point in my life, with two small children to think about, I have to prioritize what I spend my money on. My budget for all -things shabby is pretty shabby too, if you know what I mean. Still, it's wonderful to window shop. That's what I love about so many sites on the web and the magazines I "read." It's so much fun to see what others are doing and enjoy what they have found. I'm sharing a few things that I've found along the way. One is an old window that someone (gasp!) put out for trash on a very well-appointed street near my more humbler neighborhood. I enjoy hanging my wedding cards and Christmas cards on it, depending upon the season. I also found this FABULOUS, chippy, aquamarine shutter that someone had disregarded in the basement of an old apartment building. I only wish I would have found two. It really is my very favorite piece. I went out today looking for a white wreath to hang on it for the holidays and came home empty handed. I just wasn't sure a green one would have the look I was going for. Anyway....thought I would share some of my treasures with you. Hoping you are enjoying the "hunt" as much as I am.  On a side note, tune in over the next few days for a recipe my daughter and I made yesterday. It's where salt meets chocolate. What a perfect combination.  Cheers! 

I love most everything vintage. I dug out a couple pictures from my husband's and my childhood at this time of year-- so many years ago -- and just had to place them on my fireplace mantle along with my daughter's picture's on Santa's lap. It's a real joy to walk by them and see the wonderful memories we all have in common.
I hope you are enjoying this Christmas season and looking for ways that make you smile.

A Little DIY

I was so proud of myself for doing this. AND doing it cheaply! I saw this fabulous picture in a magazine of three wreaths hung with one ribbon. It looked so beautiful on the front door, I just had to start shopping for my three wreaths. Well, as I shopped I discovered that I wasn't going to find any pre-decorated or even un-decorated green wreaths for less than $15-20 each. My heart sank. Weeks later I was in the dollar store and saw greenery wrapped up in a "circle" bundle for $1 each. I bought three.Then I bought blue and silver glittery balls for another $1 for two packs each. I hot glued them to my "wreaths" and tied a burlap bow on the top of each. One burlap ribbon holds all three together. I was so thrilled and everyone has said how great they look.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Don't you just love this time of year? The fresh scent of pine, glittering Christmas lights and the giving hearts of many people. I just love the spirit of the season! We had fun putting up two trees. One we call "the girl's tree" and one we call "our tree." My youngest daughter loves to decorate the tree. But more importantly, she loves to re-decorate over and over. That is why we call it "the girl's tree." If I give them the freedom to decorate and re-decorate their tree, I figure "our tree" will be safe from little hands. So far it's worked.

I am so blessed to have the most precious little girls. Last night my husband went to check on our youngest because he heard her talking in her sleep. He came back to bed saying, "She was sitting up in bed with her eyes closed saying "My mama is pretty." Dear little thing. Her birthday is coming up soon and she will be four. She is so excited. We just finished celebrating her GG's (great grandma) birthday (85) and then her Aunt Nancy's birthday, so now Rachel is asking us to start singing to her, even though it's almost a month away. Of course we do, and that gets her all the more excited. 

On the Radio

I think my family has found a new Christmas-time tradition! We joined some friends and more family down town to celebrate the Christmas tree lighting with singing and hot cocoa. As we sang for a local business, Warm Hearts Cafe, they surprised us by wanting us to sing Christmas carols on air. How fun! There was about 15 of us crammed into this little room singing for everyone to hear. What a wonderful way to start off the season. I hope you are finding some fun ways to kick off the holidays in your neighborhood.

Decorating Down Town

My dear friend Julie asked me to decorate our city's Christmas tree with her. It turns out she knows someone on the board of the local chamber of commerce and they know of her decorating skills. I'm so glad she asked me! I have to confess: I have always loved decorating my home, but never considered myself (maybe I still don't) a Christmas tree decorator. But it sure was fun! I'm so glad she was brave enough to climb into the swinging bucket of the truck to reach the 10' high tree. I don't know that I would have been coordinated enough to push the bucket controls and hang an ornament at the same time.

IT STARTED WITH A SIMPLE INVITATION ....

I was sitting in church several months ago listening to the Pastor preach. He challenged us to consider what passion we had inside us that could be used for God. As if talking back to him in conversation, I said to myself, "I love decorating, but how can that be used for God?" The reply was so clear in my head that it surprised me. Use it as a ministry to help displaced women and children. I was thrilled and shocked and elated! I was excited!! I love decorating! No. I LOVE DECORATING!!!
I have a dear friend, Julie, who shares this same passion with me. I couldn't wait to tell her. I decided I would make a phone call to New Life For Girls, a local women's ministry in my area. Here's a paraphrase of the conversation that ensued: "Hi Bernadette...the Lord has placed a burden in my heart for decorating and I was wondering if I could help in any way to bless the ladies that live at New Life." Her answer was so precious and wonderful to my ears! "We are in the building phase of our third floor. We want you to come and decorate the eight rooms in there" WOOOHOOO!!! Of course I had to call Julie right away!