A beautiful Tribute

twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38

when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.

their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.

they could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

they were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.

they remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.

"where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.

"this is heaven." declared a small boy. "we're spending Christmas at God's house."

when what to their wondering eyes did appear,

but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.

then He opened His arms and He called them by name.

and in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring

those children all flew into the arms of their King

and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,

one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.

and as if He could read all the questions she had

He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of mom and dad."

then He looked down on earth, the world far below

He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe

then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,

"Let My power and presence re-enter this land!"

"may this country be delivered from the hands of fools"

"I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!"

then He and the children stood up without a sound.

"come now my children, let me show you around."

excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran.

all displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.

and i heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,

"in the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

Written by Cameo Smith, Mt. Wolf, PA

12 Things to do in NYC at Christmas

Going to New York City at Christmas? Well, you are in for a treat! I just recently enjoyed a visit there, I have been many times before at different times of the year, but Christmas time is always the best because the city is dressed in lights and holiday spirit.

There are so many things to do in NYC. You will never get bored. I tried to narrow down some things you would enjoy while you are there.

1. I think one of the best things to see are the magnificent stores that are covered in lights and decorations. The stores are literally wrapped in lights inside and out. It is like being in a winter wonderland.

Shooting in Connecticut

I sit here with my heart breaking as I watch yet another shooting in a school. This horrific act unfolded this morning leaving me saddened with this world I live in. I keep asking myself how something this evil can be around lurking. Killing innocent children. Killing anyone is horrible, but young children, make me sick!

We really need to get a handle on such evil and violence happening in our backyard. When are people going to see that we need to evaluate all of this? I pray. I pray for all these people.

It was just announced that he also killed his mother. Dear God. His mother was a teacher apparently at this school and these children were some of her students.

As I sit in tears, the only thing I can do is pray and ask all of you to hug your children, pray for this world and see what you can do to help change the circumstances we are in to make this world a better place to live in.

 It is a grim day. These children should be celebrating Christmas not going to their friend's funerals.

Please please PRAY! We all need to stick together and pray for this world.

Sorry but this is all I can write today....

Burlap Pillow

Christmas is around the corner! Are you ready? I am not and I have a feeling I won't be as on top of it as I usually am.  I am still trying to keep it simple but when you have a blog you want to keep things fresh too and have projects to show.

Last Christmas I got some great Chocolate covered pretzels from Crate and Barrel. The box was a beautiful laser cut bunch of snowflakes. I loved the box so much I kept it.

Yes, once again I prove I can be a junk collector or in this case trash!

But look at it.... wouldn't you?  Ok don't answer that.

I loved the pretzels....this was a gift that kept on giving. I could reuse it over and over.
I had some leftover burlap and I made a pillowslip. Filled it with a feather insert but it was very plain. It needed a design.

Since I decided on a simple Christmas palette I thought this worked well.

I got some white paint and stenciled the pattern on the pillow and used some letter stencils to write some words.

I love it on the chair near the tree. It is great to find something you can use to create with. I am keeping the pretzel box top. You never know what else will come up in my head. I always said I think outside the box or in this case WITH the box!

Ready for some hot cocoa and....pretzels!

How to make Angel Wings

"Angels we have heard on high"

I love angel wings! They are so popular this year. I have seen them all over trees , walls and dangling from chairs. In an attempt to get rid of some things hanging around, I came up with an out of the box idea.

I have used the ruffle shade for lots of decorating ideas. I had one that got squished from being in bag with other things. Since it hardly cost anything to make I wasn't too upset.

You know how I am! I like being different and doing different.

When I saw the crushed shade, I thought it looked like feathers.
That is how this project started from another one.

Remember my Ruffled Drum Shade?

This is where it all started.

I used the same concept.

I got a mat at the Dollar Store.

and lots of coffee filters....

This time I cut the mat in a shape of wings. The shapes are unlimited though. Think of all the neat things you can do!!

Start filling those holes with your filters. When complete press all the filters down. This is what will give it a feather look.

Just add ribbon to hang on a chair. You can use any color. I like white.
Dangle something in the center and add color or interest.

I think these would look good just hanging on a wall too.

I would add more definition to my wings next time to give them different looks.

What do you think? Angel wings DIY! Would you do it?

Simple Christmas Mantel

I have told you before that the decorations are minimal this year. I have used a lot of things that won't need to be stored again. No sense in having more clutter.

This year I just used some antique molding and spindles with greenery cut from pine trees put in the yard. I had a problem. Since I wanted simple I didn't want to relocate my bee clock. Lets face it, It looked better for my Halloween Mantel If you just clicked that link you could see that not much has changed.

I added some of my wooden letters from my Etsy shop in a clever way to incorporate the clock. Remember, simple.

It always looks better on person to me. Maybe I just can't capture it right.

but I love it along side the tree.....

                    it adds to the charm.

This simple thing is really getting to be fun! 

Did you finish your mantel yet? I am almost ready for my trip to New York. I will take pictures and share soon!

linking here
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2012/10/wow-us-wednesdays-86.html br>
http://thesoutherninstitute.com

Paper Christmas, My Tree and Birthday Begins

Well it is the first of December. Boy the time sure has flown. Today my birthday celebration begins! I plan on it lasting a month. Why not? My kids do! You know all the parties, lunches, dinners and free desserts!! lol

This is the weekend I usually get my tree up but I already did it.Trying to get things done! In a word, simple!

I'm dreaming of a paper Christmas. That is what it seems like. I have made so many paper items this year. Paper ornaments, paper wreaths paper flowers and paper trees. It just seemed fitting to carry that into the tree decor. In the past, I literally had so many Christmas decorations up it looked like Macy's threw up in my house! OK TMI I know! Not this year!

Since I will be leaving soon I just didn't want to take everything out of the attic and, most of all, put everything back!! So not to be too much of a Scrooge, I put up the tree and added a little something to make it fill up the space, as seen HERE!

I started gathering things I had laying around. Most of the bird ornaments that I am selling in my ETSY and to clients so that when they are ordered I just grab them off the tree and while I am gone my hubby can help fill the orders. Keeps me on top of things. The rest is paper roses, branches, vintage lace and numbers. Yes numbers, I told you I picked up what was laying around. I made these from an old vintage game I bought to use for tags.

My favorite thing happens to be an antique chair leg I bought. It looks like a cross so I used it for my tree topper with added branches. I unfortunately only bought two and sold one that I incorporated in some art for the garden. So this is the one I had left. Didn't want the norm and this is something I know I won't see anywhere.

I added some nests I had too. I had to have something on there that was sentimental. Something that reminded me of my kids. So I added my clay eggs I made as a Mother's Day project! Love the touch.

The sun was shining in right on it giving it a glow!

It was the easiest tree ever! The garland is vintage lace I had out for a project. That finished the look. It didn't cost a dime and didn't take long to do. That is the best thing about doing a tree. You can put anything on it!

Funny thing is...I don't miss the other stuff. I guess I will see how it goes next year and maybe I will start getting rid of things!

What about you? Did you change it up or keep the same things in your decor?

Did you see I difference in how people are doing things this year? I would love to know!