December Sneeking In My Back Door

How did it happen?

Where did this past year go?

This afternoon quietly and wonderfully I heard December knocking on my back door.

I have just one wish for this holiday season...that wish is to be fully present in every tinsel covered minute of it...to appreciate the authentic and loving reason for this time of year...to marinate in it like a child.

I guess that is three wishes...but what I really want is to get back to the true spirit of Christmas and fill my family and friends with the feeling that filled my holiday spirit cup to overflowing when I was a child.

Cha, cha, cha and jingle, jingle all the way.

I am as busy as Santa's elves preparing for a holiday bazaar that happens this weekend...my craft nook is filled with burlap and drop cloths and paint and glue and acorns and glitter and thread and bits of paper and lots and lots of creative mojo....I am in my happy place.

I also finally did some work on my second Etsy shop..."Extra Buttons"...it will be filled {any day now} with long collected goodies...vintage and otherwise that's time has come to move along to a new home...you really only need so many do~dads in your home and the rest are "Extra".  It is time to share.  And let me tell you...I have some fun items that I will do just that with.

And now back to creative~ville...I will share my folly this week....but for today...my happy place is calling.

Happy Thanksgiving

Of all the blessings that I am blessed enough to count...my little 'ol blog~o~rama is at the top of that long list.  Not just because the blog world is so much fun...but because each and every day the encouragement, generous support, gentle lessons, the creative bar that is constantly raised and love are abundant and have enriched my life in the fun~est way possible.

So thank you for popping by neck~of~the~woods.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Thursday On My Mind

"I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home...I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby."

 

~ Nancie J. Carmody 

 

 

Thoughts on this Thursday before Thanksgiving ~  It is very cold and very windy and I love it very much.  Every time I look over at our dog today she is staring at me with total love in her eyes...right back at ya sweet pup.  Who, what, where and when were all of these clothes in the laundry pile worn?  I love acorn caps, jingle bells and piles and piles of fabric.  My glue gun is quite Hot.   I really, really love these quite days before the holidays begin.  I have gleaned enough crafting goodies to last me and ten of my friends until the end~of~time.  I love Uggs.  I want to marry 'em.  The old fashioned pressed apple cider that I am drinking is really stinkin' delicious!  Maybe I will marry it too!  I think I will make French onion soup for dinner.  I wish I lived closer to my Mom.  I wish this war would end.  Just some random thoughts swimming round my ol' noggin today.

 

This face of fur and I walked a couple of miles today for the third day in a row...take that high blood pressure! 

 

 

 This tennis ball should be a food group!

 

 

She looks like she's singing...la, la, la...

 

Made some of these for ETSY...

 

Blowing in the wind...

 

 I love copper spray paint for the holidays...

  

Cut up an old vest...re~purposing gone wild...

 

 It's coming...I can smell the sweet smell of freshly cut pine...

 

And now, back to painting burlap and gluing acorn tops to anything that will sit still!

I hope that your Thursday before Thanksgiving is full of wonderful thoughts and activities.

Smiles ~ Ramona

Thoughts Of Thanksgiving

I always say that preparing for Thanksgiving is like my own little holiday before the holiday.  I absolutely LOVE this holiday.  For me, it begins right after the last trick~or~treater has knocked on our door.  As I wait for the price of turkey to drop...I write out the menu....it is usually the same over the years...but I always, always try to add something new and unexpected to the buffet.  Keep 'em guessing....you know.  One year I added crab cakes and another time it was refreshing Waldorf salad...but the year I discovered Rachael Ray's Pumpkin Soup with Chili Cran~Apple Relish...well, I thought I better get some cutie~pie individual soup crocks for my Thanksgiving table....cuz this one is a keeper!

Doing the prep well in advance makes the whole day...fun~ner!  I love to plan the menu, read recipes, make place cards, iron cloth napkins, set the table in a new and surprising way,  this work is filled with such peace and delight for this wonderful holiday.  

And all the while....the family has know idea that I am deep in holiday mode!  Thanksgiving just might possibly be the best holiday around.

 Pumpkin soup crocks....

If you have heard the news that there is a shortage of pumpkin puree this year...don't fret...it is easy~peasy to make your own...and it makes your home smell wonderful...

 

 I am doing squash colored napkins this year...found this pack at Home Goods...

 Another crock...maybe I will put the cranberries in there...

 What the who~ha....this squirrel nutcracker has found my burlap acorns...

 Pretend squirrel and pretend acorn together again! 

 Platter....empty now...but not for long...

Cocktail napkins for pre~turkey tid~bits...

Even with my Thanksgiving preparations well in hand...I have an upcoming bazaar on the brain...

 I have been painting red burlap...

 

 And remembering how much I love jingle bells....

 

Yep, love 'em...

 

  These are bound for my ETSY shop...

And you can bet that they will be jingling~all~the~way!

 

 I am thankful for this opportunity to serve my family...

little do they know what a blast I have planning for this special day.

Do you love the Thanksgiving preparations too?

Smiles ~ Ramona

The Art Of Giving Thanks

If the only prayer you said

in your life was "thank you"

that would suffice.

Meister Eckhart 

Happy Tuesday morn to everyone...sweet Tuesday morn...precious, un~crazy~busy Tuesday morn...a true calm~before~the~storm kind of morn...and it just happens to be a Tuesday.  A perfect day to practice the art of giving thanks.

It is a wonderful art...giving thanks...and it will feed your soul like nothing else in the universe.  How blessed are we that by celebrating the simplest of gifts in our lives....we are rewarded with the blessings of gratitude....pretty stinkin' lucky, Id say!

As I marinate in the somewhat calm days before Thanksgiving, I have, on purpose and with a full heart, slowed down and said ~ thank you.

It looks like Mother Nature is getting a jump start on decorating for the holidays!

  

 This face is the ONLY thing that stands between her black lab life and the alternative...well let me put it this way...there is a reason God gave hyper and happy seven and a half month old black lab puppies cutie~pie faces....I'm just saying...

After a Northwest storm...

And the calm before another one...

 

Chores...but raking is fun~ner than folding laundry...

 

Peace...

 

I cannot help but give thanks...

 

No words...just gratitude...

 

Still...

 

My summertime burlap painted pillows...festooned for winter...

 

Garland...

 

Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday for decorating with found and gathered objects...you know, wonderful bits of this, that and the other which you have gleaned for that special "someday" project...

I took a cup~hook~a~rama and attached it to the inside of a kitchen cupboard door....

 

 Then I swipped a gigantic spool of twine from the garage and hot glued it to the base of one of those cinnamon~y pine cones from the craft store and slipped some little wooden beads on the twine, tied a knot on the end and hung it from the cup hook~a~rama...

 

I plan on doing this on several of the cabinets...

 

I was making this in the middle of a Northwest thunder and lightening fall storm thus the light in these pictures isn't so great...

A Thanksgiving craft and a fun project on a stormy afternoon... 

 Both of which I am thankful for... 

 

 Enjoy these wonderful fall days before Thanksgiving....as for me, I am going to practice the art of giving thanks...living in the moment, finding joy and happiness in the simple and true things all around me...if I skip a beat and forget how to do that...all I have to do is look into this sweet face...she is grateful and happy and playful and joyful and lovable and I am sure...thankful every minute of the day.

Have a great day!

Smiles ~ Ramona