From the Book of Life: A Thanksgiving Advent Banner

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I've seen it happen all over the blogosphere---where thriving blogs that I know and love just go silent.  Sometimes the blogger will say something about health or family or business opportunities.  Sometimes they just don't say anything at all.  

When Miriam and I started blogging, we never thought we would be "one of them." But a funny thing happens when you load your wagon with a husband and kids and jobs and church and homes and holidays and laundry and life: something inevitably has to fall off the wagon to make room for everything else. Well, Miriam and I decided to keep our husbands and most of our kids, but we had to take the blog off the wagon for a while until everything shifted places and we could squeeze it into the corner. 

Today I finally dug into that little corner of the wagon and found our lovely blog and its readers patiently waiting for us.  Thank you.  We have missed you.

While we probably aren't at full steam yet, I thought I'd give you a glimpse into the holiday hullabaloo around these parts.

Here's the thing: I look at November more as an appetizer to December.  My hubby, however, loves Thanksgiving more than any other holiday.  (I surmise that this is because he doesn't have to cook the Thanksgiving meal.  Just a thought.)  So while I've been playing Christmas music and wearing red all month, my husband has been pondering pilgrims and pumpkin pie and wishing everything Christmas would just wait its turn around here.

I don't always understand him, but I love him.  So I did this.  I dug into my fall bins and found some unused sprays of silk fall leaves.  I snipped them off, wrote "Thanksgiving" on the front with some fabric paint, and clipped them to some twine with some mini-clothespins.  The effect isn't quite as stunning as I would have hoped, but the best part is what you DON'T see.

On the back of each of the leaves, I have taped a piece of paper with a Thanksgiving activity written on it.  Here is our line-up:

T - Do a Thanksgiving Mad Lib as a family

H - Write a "thank you" note to your teacher

A- Give a toy or outfit to charity

N - Do a secret service for someone in the family

K- Play "Build a Turkey" with dice as a family

S - Make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies together and share them with another family

G- Say only grateful prayers today

I - Pilgrim Trivia at dinnertime

V - Say "thank you" 10 times today

I - Play Thanksgiving Bingo

N - Make Thanksgiving Story Bracelets

G - Read a Thanksgiving Book

As much as I hate to say it, I think my husband was on to something.  I'm glad we've paused for a least a moment or two to celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving.  Our little advent of gratitude and family togetherness has been nice.  Really nice.  

But so help me, once we've bowed our heads in prayer and tucked into the turkey, I'll be diving headlong into tinsel and ornaments.  After all, you can only keep Thanksgiving on the wagon so long . . .

Sharing at . . .

Cedar Hill Ranch
Between Naps on the Porch 
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Homestories A to Z
Jennifer Rizzo
StoneGable 
No Minimalist Here
Common Ground
From My Front Porch to Yours   
French Country Cottage 
At the Picket Fence
Stuff and Nonsense   
Savvy Southern Style 
It's Overflowing 
Atta Girl Says

Christmas Carols: O Little Town of Bethlehem Gingerbread Houses

O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see thee lie. 

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep,

The silent stars go by; 

Yet in thy dark streets shineth 

The everlasting light; 

The hopes and fears of all the years 

When I was six or seven years old, my mom decided that my little sister and I should participate in giving to the Toys for Tots program at Christmastime. She explained to us that there were children who might not get any toys for Christmas, and that we could be Santa's helpers 

by getting the children a present to open on Christmas morning. 

All we needed was some money. 

Our mother's business plan was brilliant:

Make graham cracker gingerbread house ornaments decorated with frosting, Smarties, and ribbon candies, and then send young children up and down the street to peddle the wares. 

After all, who could say "no" to two little toe-headed, blue-eyed girls selling gingerbread houses? You'd have to be an absolute Scrooge.

She sent us out with our gingerbread houses and a homemade order form: 

$3 for a small gingerbread house, $5 dollars for a large one.

I remember knocking on doors and proudly holding up our gingerbread houses for the homeowners to see.  They would look at the houses, and then at us.  And then they would smile.  I just assumed it was because our gingerbread houses were the most wonderful ornaments they had ever seen.  (Mom really was a wonder with an icing tip.)  But I now realize that those homeowners were probably smiling at the highest-pressured sales pitch they'd ever received from two little girls in mismatched clothes holding graham crackers slathered in frosting.

I don't remember how much money we earned that Christmas, but I do remember looking at the bag of toys on the kitchen table after we had gone shopping with the earnings.  I'm not sure if any of those toys ever changed a child's life, but they certainly changed mine.

Ever since that Christmas, I have been a huge believer in holiday giving . . .

and in the power of gingerbread houses.

Lucky for me, I recently attended the Festival of Trees fundraiser for Primary Children's Hospital.

Not only was this a Christmas charity event, but it included an amazing gingerbread house display. 

I snapped a few shots of my favorite houses, including this charming ski lodge . . .

 

 and this classic grandma house . . .

and this English village shoppe.

There were also some non-traditional gingerbread creations, like this Dr. Seuss house . . .

and this rendition of the Shire's Bag End from The Hobbit.

I enjoyed this adorable winter cabin with its yellow lab on the front porch . . .

and this gingerbread lighthouse inspired by a Thomas Kinkade painting.

I loved this gingerbread model of the Provo Tabernacle with all of its illuminated windows.

But my absolute favorite gingerbread house of the tour had to be this version of Hogwarts, complete with Harry, Ron, and Hermione (and wands)!

I hope that somewhere in your Christmas festivities you are able to carve out some time for Christmas giving and gingerbread houses.  

And then again, if you are feeling a bit business savvy, you could always combine the two . . .  :)

Sharing at . . .

Between Naps on the Porch

Homestories A to Z

Cedar Hill Ranch

Alcott Autumn: Wrapping Presents

"Demi, as the oldest grandchild, then presented the queen of the day with various gifts, so numerous that they were transported to the festive scene in a wheelbarrow. Funny presents, some of them, but what would have been defects to other eyes were ornaments to Grandma's—

for the children's gifts were all their own."

Louisa May Alcott, Little Women Chapter 47

I realize that we are well into the Christmas season, and that reading about an Alcott Autumn seems a bit strange when carols are on the radio and people are driving home with trees on the top of their cars, but Miriam and I have an exciting little adventure to share with you that has EVERYTHING to do with Alcott Autumn.  We simply can't move on to our next theme until the story has been told.  

We'll share that tomorrow.

As for today, however, I have had to firmly plant my feet on December ground---even if I'm not quite ready for autumn to be over.  I've decked the halls, trimmed the tree, hung the wreaths on the windows, filled the advent calendar, and eaten enough toffee to feed a small country.

My kids are in the full Christmas swing, too.  They have been saving their chore and dog-walking money for weeks now to buy presents for one another.  

Alas, that also means that they have been wrapping presents for one another.

My 8-year-old came down the stairs yesterday with an enormous mass of gold wrapping paper held together with approximately 37.4 yards of clear packing tape.  He proudly announced that had wrapped his gift to his older brother all by himself.  When I considered the size of the taped paper mound, I thought he might be giving his brother a passenger van for Christmas.  

I was wrong.  

 Apparently it is a shirt and a pack of gum.

At that moment, I made two resolutions:  

1.  I will always have my sons give gifts to each other.

It is the happiest and kindest they have been with one another all year.

2.  I am giving my sons wrapping lessons.  Today.  (We may have to start with the basics like how to fold paper instead of jumping to the furoshiki technique all at once.)

I thought I'd share with you a few of the packages I've wrapped this Christmas, and some of the tips I'm going to give my boys on how to make their presents look "pretty".  I know full-well that my tutoring session with them is going to go over like a lead balloon, but hopefully it will inspire them to use a little less tape, a few more folds, and a gift tag (heaven forbid).

10 Fun Ways to Wrap a Gift

1.  Use two kinds of wrapping paper.  Wrap one half of your gift first, and then wrap the second half so that it overlaps the first half.  Place a bow over the seam, and presto!  (This is also a great way to use up those odd-shaped paper scraps.)

  

2.  Use old sheet music.  I also embellished the front of this musical package with a few paper roses.  (And if you couldn't tell, I am a HUGE fan of using monograms as gift tags.)

 

3.  For a fun, whimsical look, put paper pinwheels or flowers on your packages instead of bows.  Here is an easy tutorial on pinwheels, and here is one on how to make paper poinsettias.

4.  If you are fresh out wrapping paper, or prefer "green" wrapping, go dig through your recyclables.  You can use newspaper as the gift wrap, and you can use a colorful magazine cover to make a bow.  (Click here for the bow tutorial).  To top off the eco-friendly packaging, I used one of my 3,756 paint chips as the gift tag.

5.  Involve your kids!  Have them make snowflakes and use them as a present toppers for a charming, homemade look.  Finish off the ensemble by stamping craft paper for the gift tag.

6.  Make an envelope pocket. Rather than wrestling with tape to get your card to stay on a package, simply make a fold in your wrapping paper before you put it on the package and then slip your envelope inside.  (Click here for a tutorial.)

 

7.   Make it pretty with pleats!  Again, simply fold the paper back and forth (as many times as you want) to make pleats before wrapping your gift.  (You can watch this tutorial for step-by-step instructions.)

8.  Use a hot chocolate or apple cider packet as a bow.  Not only do these little packets make the perfect bows when cinched in the middle, but they will be a warm welcome to any holiday gift.

9.  Make a felt flower bow for your gift.  I always seem to have random pieces of fabric left over from projects, so instead of wasting the scraps, why not use them to make a lovely bow in seconds.  All you need is a glue gun and a pair of scissors.  (Click here for the tutorial.)  You can also use this technique to make fun hair bows, belts, necklaces, or shoe pom-poms.

10.   Don't underestimate the power of a toilet paper tube.  By simply bending the ends of the tube inward and adding a bow, you have the perfect packaging for those small, hard-to-wrap trinkets.

 

Regardless of what you are wrapping this holiday, whether it be passenger vans or packs of gum, I hope they turn out beautifully!

 Sharing at . . .

Savvy Southern Style
Between Naps on the Porch 
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Cedar Hill Ranch
StoneGable  
From My Front Porch to Yours
Common Ground
French Country Cottage
Stuff and Nonsense
At the Picket Fence 

Lil Luna

The 36th Avenue

Domestically Speaking 

Cozy Little House

It's Overflowing

Funky Junk Interiors
No Minimalist Here

 

Alcott Autumn: Blessed Banner

Then it was that Margaret, sitting alone with tears dropping often on her work, felt how rich she had been in things more precious than any luxuries money could buy in love, protection, peace, and health, the real blessings of life. 
-Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

We are so blessed. I have been trying a different kind of experiment this month. A few years ago, a church leader of ours challenged us to occasionally say a prayer that asked for nothing, but only expressed thanks. I have done that from time to time and it has been a great reminder for me of how truly blessed I am. This month, in honor of Thanksgiving, every night when we kneel down in our family prayer, I only thank a loving Heavenly Father for the many blessings He has bestowed on our family. At first, it was hard to not ask for blessings; particularly for people near us who might need them. But as I thanked Him for those loved ones, I knew that he was mindful of their needs and would pour out whatever blessings he had for them, and it was okay for me to just be thankful for having them in my life. He will take care of the rest.

I highly recommend trying this out from time to time :)

So as a reminder of how blessed we are in "The real blessings of life," I made a simple little banner to that effect. I printed the letters on 8.5X11 paper

 (Here are the image files if you'd like to make your own. Just remember the letters on the left are right side up and the ones on the right are upside down. This is so that you can reverse your triangles and get 4 to a page.)

(I printed on cream colored paper) And then I used some gold acrylic paint and just brushed the edges of the paper to give it an aged look. 

Then I hung it from a frame with jute string and the cutest mini clothespins ever! They are only $1.50 for a pack at Wal Mart in the craft section. 

And that is it. I am also thankful for kids that keep rounding up all our fall themed stuff and sticking it on this table. At least it's consistent. :)

Have a very blessed day!

Alcott Autumn: Gratitude Pumpkins

"With tears and prayers and tender hands, Mother and sisters made her ready for the long sleep that pain would never mar again, seeing with grateful eyes the beautiful serenity that soon replaced the pathetic patience that had wrung their hearts so long, and feeling with reverent joy that to their darling death was a benignant angel, not a phantom full of dread. When morning came, for the first time in many months the fire was out, Jo's place was empty, and the room was very still. But a bird sang blithely on a budding bough, close by, the snowdrops blossomed freshly at the window, and the spring sunshine streamed in like a benediction over the placid face upon the pillow, a face so full of painless peace that those who loved it best smiled through their tears, 

and thanked God that Beth was well at last." 

Louisa May Alcott, Little Women Chapter 40

I can hardly read this passage from Little Women without weeping myself into dehydration.  And it isn't just the sorrow of the scene that gets me---it's the gratitude the March family feels in spite of losing their sweet Beth.

I'm fascinated by gratitude.  It's spiritual, it's polite, and it's practical.  I've read that grateful people even have increased longevity and improved psychological health.  And in a turbulent election year, I'm willing to bet that every American---Republican or Democrat---would shake hands and agree that gratitude is a virtue.  No argument there.

Then why am I not more grateful?  

Why did I find myself grumbling this morning about the half-chewed pickle on the floor when I should have been thankful that I have a floor and jar of pickles in the fridge and children to chew them in the first place? 

Or why did I stand on the scale and moan about my less-than-perfectly-fit body?  Why didn't I say a little prayer of thanks instead that my body is healthy and strong?

It seems like wherever I can find fault, I can also find blessings.  It's as though the holes in my life are really just windows to see the abundant grace that lies quietly behind it all.  

The trick is being willing to see past the holes in the first place.

Gratitude isn't my strength.  But I want it to be.  So I'm taking a page out of Little Women today and looking for the silver lining in my half-chewed, flabby-thighed life.

Rather than regretting my decision to plant so many fertile pumpkin plants in the garden this year, I decided to round up all the pumpkins that didn't get carved for Halloween and put them to grateful use.

After considering what our family's greatest blessings were, I wrote them down on slips of craft paper with a white-out pen and then hung them on the pumpkins with twine.

 

Seeing the blessings all in a beautiful row makes me happy.  And I guess that is the point.

Happiness is there for the taking.  

But sometimes it helps to tie it to a pumpkin stem as a little reminder.

Gratefully Yours Today,

Sharing at . . .

Savvy Southern Style
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Cedar Hill Ranch
StoneGable  
From My Front Porch to Yours
Common Ground
French Country Cottage
Stuff and Nonsense
At the Picket Fence 

Tip Junkie 

Lil Luna

The 36th Avenue

Domestically Speaking 

Cozy Little House

It's Overflowing

Funky Junk Interiors
Mom on Timeout 
House of Hepworths
Between Naps on the Porch
Homestories A to Z 

Alcott Autumn: Pecan Wreath

“Here’s a nut, there’s a nut;    

Hide it quick away,    

In a hole, under leaves,    

To eat some winter day.    

Acorns sweet are plenty,    

We will have them all:    

Skip and scamper lively    

Till the last ones fall.” 

-"The Skipping Shoes," Louisa May Alcott

When I think of Louisa May Alcott and fall, I just feel the need to have orange and yellow leaves all around me, a warm crackling fire, and crisp air outside. Unfortunately, I don't live in Massachusetts.  There are no autumn leaves where I live. It is lovely weather; too lovely to turn the leaves on the three trees that happen to have foliage here, so I find myself without many options when it comes to natural fall decor. Luckily, I do have access to free pecans that I like to shell while watching tv.  I found a box in the garage from a couple of years ago that I had forgotten about, and figured they would really charm up an old grapevine wreath. 

I just hot glued shelled pecans all over. How's that for a tutorial? :)

I liked it, but wanted to add a little bit of color, so I added a small berry wreath to the inside.

Voila! Super easy craft, and pretty cute, I think. I will say that I wouldn't leave that candle burning past the picture taking because I am pretty sure grapevine wreaths and old pecan shells are both a tad bit flammable... Have a lovely day!

Savvy Southern Style
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Cedar Hill Ranch
StoneGable  
From My Front Porch to Yours
Common Ground
French Country Cottage
Stuff and Nonsense
At the Picket Fence 

Tip Junkie 

Lil Luna

The 36th Avenue

Domestically Speaking 

Cozy Little House

It's Overflowing

Funky Junk Interiors
Mom on Timeout

Edgar Allan Poe October: A Halloween Porch

"I looked upon the scene before me---upon the mere house, 

and the simple landscape features of the domain---

upon the bleak walls---

upon the vacant eye-like windows . . ."

Edgar Allan Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher"

I admit it.

I'm a wimp.  I'm a weak-kneed, yellow-bellied, lily-livered chicken.  I don't do scary.

 I avoid haunted houses, horror movies, ghost stories, and port-a-potties at all costs.

So while other people decorate their front porches with zombies, mummies, and ghouls, I choose to go the safer route.

Today, the safer route began with this.

I found this planter in a cluttered corner of the garage where it was hiding under a bag of potting soil.  With its cracked concrete exterior and chipped foot, I considered tossing it in the garbage.  But one can of black Krylon spray paint later, and it had a new lease on life---this time as the base for a pumpkin topiary (of sorts).

When I started stacking the pumpkins on top of each other to make a normal topiary, I couldn't help but see their "snowman-like" potential.  

After painting a face and some buttons on the pumpkins, I rustled up some sticks from the backyard and gave them a spritz of spray paint before using them as the pumpkin man's arms.

One trick-or-treat bag later, and our front-porch now feels just right---festive but not frightening, with nary a zombie in sight.

The irony is that it all started in corner of the garage---the scariest place in our house . . .

Boo!

Sharing at . . .

Between Naps on the Porch
Thistlewood Farms
Homestories A to Z
Savvy Southern Style
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Cedar Hill Ranch
StoneGable  Stuff and Nonsense
At the Picket Fence

It's Overflowing
Mom on Timeout
Funky Junk Interiors 
 I Heart Naptime 
Skip to My Lou

Tip Junkie

Edgar Allan Poe October: A Frugal Table Runner for Fall

“Deep into the darkness peering,
long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal
ever dared to dream before.” 

Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

Attention Ideal, Patient, and Go-with-the-Flow Parents:  

You may want to avert your eyes from what is about to follow.  

In a moment of exasperation with my toddler, I started calculating what he cost me in repairs this week.  Between broken vases, stained carpets, markered walls, and ruined toilets, I figured that my little man packs at least a $20 daily repair punch.

Most parents wouldn't stoop to actually crunching numbers, but they've never raised "the destroying angel" (as we affectionately call him around here).

So when fall dawned at my house and I started to dress the table, I knew I couldn't invest a lot of money or effort on a seasonal table runner.  Chances were my little man would have the runner off the table and in a light socket within five minutes anyway.

 

So here is what I did.

 

1.  I purchased an inexpensive length (like 2 dollarsish) of felt fabric to span the width of my table.  

2.  I cut notches in the edges of the fabric to give it a squared-scalloped look.

3.  I then scoured my random button collection for all of the orange and orangy-red buttons I could find.

4.  Finally, I hot glued the buttons onto the notched edges of the runner.

Two dollars and ten minutes later I have a frugal runner for fall which may or may not last through Halloween, depending on when my little guy gets a hankering for chewing buttons.

Even if he does, I figure I'm only out two dollars.  

And at the end of the day, I'll just add it to his tab.

It's a good thing he's worth it.

{photo by Samantha Mitchell}

Sharing at . . .

Between Naps on the Porch
Homestories A to Z
Savvy Southern Style
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Cedar Hill Ranch
StoneGable  
From My Front Porch to Yours
Common Ground
French Country Cottage
Stuff and Nonsense
At the Picket Fence 
Tip Junkie