{YEP, A Crafting Spell Came On Me}

Don't you just love that meme?

So this week I decided to share a few pictures and to tell y'all that I actually had a crafting spell come over me during Christmas! LOL! That doesn't happen often. But, first let me just share my gingerbread men with you. They might make you smile today! Or Hungry! 

I made some gingerbread men over the holidays for the grands and they were oh so good! 

Not too shabby for my first time of making gingerbread men. 

 I actually got a little crafty over the holidays which doesn't happen often. 

Took a piece of wood, sanded it and then spray painted it. Found the song "It is Well with my Soul" online for free so saved it to my computer. Then I found this beautiful red bird clip art for free and saved it. I done a little photo shop magic and placed my red bird on my song with a light opacity. I painted about 3-4 layers of modge podge and let it dry.

Added some beads and a Poinsettia that was an old jewelry piece that I had tossed in my craft drawer. Liked how it turned out until.... I went to hang it on my tree! WAY TO HEAVY for my skinny tree. 

So, I took a white gift box and cut it the same size as the wood.

Gave it two coats of spray paint.

Hot glued the song onto the cardboard and I painted one light coat of modge podge to basically seal it. Added some beads, an earring (one earring was missing) that I had tossed in my craft box to the corner and a loop to hang it with.

 Hit the gaps with a tad of gold glitter paint and well, it's not perfect and next time I will use beads that do not have holes in them...but it sure made me smile.

A friend told me that crafting was like a marriage....TRIAL and ERROR! 
I did go back later, (when the mood finally hit me that is) and filled in the gaps better with glitter paint)

I love the song...It is well with my soul. I love the old and newer version. And red birds...well who doesn't like red birds. I've heard the old saying that if you see a red bird in your yard that you have a visitor from heaven. Of course there are a lot of little sayings about the red birds. But, it was a little time of reflecting on those I miss and love.

On the back of the ornament I wrote in memory of Papa, Granny and Nanny. My grandparents and my motherinlove. Yep, it was just one of those moments for me.
My gingerbread men turned out better but hey, I did have fun and had this been for a gift I can assure you it would have looked better.  Dang, next Christmas there is no telling what I might create*

After I had completed that little craft my friend Debby from "My Favorite Things" blog sent me files of some of the prettiest red birds ever! She has taken some of the most beautiful pictures of red birds in her yard. I see a future project using some of her pictures soon.  Here is just one of her images that I know she does not mind me sharing.

*Watermarked for copyrights*

A sweet friend gave me this beautiful Blessed sign for Christmas and I have been needing something to fill a wall behind my dining room table. Well, the sign was perfect but needed a little something else. So, decided to make two wreaths, one for each side of the sign. 

I have been drying out some cotton that I picked from a cotton field in Georgia. Plan on mingling a little cotton with some burlap and a few other things for my wreaths.  Yep, another little craft project. Hey, I gotta do this while I am in the mood! 

And last picture for the day. Isn't she just the cutest? Look at those cheeks! Her little onesie says, "Ain't no Nana like the one I got". YES, I love it and look at her little head band! 

Web image 

I hope that you all have a wonderful week and that you remember; Life is short, live it. Love is rare, grab it. Anger is bad, dump it, Memories are sweet, cherish them. 

P.S. If you get a chance, lift up my friend Debby in prayer...she could sure use a little prayer right now. She is awaiting test results from a biopsy. 
https://debbysfavoritethings.blogspot.com/

Hugs and blessings, Cindy

{My Favorite Blog Photos from 2018 and My Word for 2019}

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope that your New Year has started off great for you and your family. I am trying real hard to get into the swing of things. Since about mid-November I have only worked 2 days a week and I can assure you though I have been busy with all the holiday festivities it sure has made me a tad lazy. Late nights watching Hallmark movies, hanging around in pj's with coffee till mid morning and baking way more than I needed too....I didn't eat  anything I baked though... Well, I have got to get back to a normal schedule. If for no other reason for my waistline! 

 Web Image 

I see where different friends are posting their top blog posts for the year and I love going back and reminiscing with each one. Another sweet blogger decided to post her favorite pictures. I loved that idea. Since I only post once a week I decided to post one picture that was my favorite for the month. 

January 2018: Copper Tablescape
I enjoyed the copper look with the white and gold. It had a winter kind of feel to it. 

February: The little cozy Inn on the Harbor in St. Augustine, Florida that we stayed in for my birthday.
We had an outing in Daytona on a evening dinner cruise and then went back to St. Augustine to stay for a long weekend. I adored this cozy little place. 

March: Our peach trees blooming for the first time.
These trees came up voluntary in my FIL yard and my husband dug up three of them never dreaming that they would live. So far they all three has made it. Fruit trees are so pretty when in bloom.

April: The cross that kids at church placed flowers on for Easter.
At our church the children bring fresh or silk flowers and they flower a bare cross for Easter. The kids love doing this and it is so pretty. 

May: Our sixth grandchild was born. Miss Annaleigh Faith.
There is absolutely nothing like the birth of a  new baby in the family.  

June: Chair makeover and drawer reno.
I know a lot of you remember when I done a makeover on a old chair and a drawer. Since June I have used that cute little drawer for many things. The chair has held dishes, flatware, decorations and more. Guess what is going in that chair next? Well, I will just wait and show you. It's a Valentine decor though....

July: My happy place
We spent a week at the beach with our family in July and I must say it is indeed my Happy Place. We have enjoyed doing this together as a family for quite a few years now.  Give me a good book and a chair and I am good to go.

August: Sunflower and lemon tablescape.
I adore sunflowers and when paired up with lemons and a splash of red it made me SMILE. 

September: Our wedding anniversary. This picture was not taken on our 41st anniversary but I shared it in a post. 
Since September is our wedding anniversary I chose to share this picture in a blog post. It was actually taken at one of our nephews wedding. 

October. We carried the granddaughter to a breakfast with the princesses and it was so much fun to see how she reacted. Which was in awe...Her little eyes would light up with every princess that came out. She loved the music and the singing too.

November: Sunflowers. They actually began to bloom in mid October but by first of November they had bloomed so pretty. As most of you know I plant sunflowers every year in memory of my motherinlove whom loved them so much.

December: Our grandbabies. 
I have quite a few pictures that I love and will treasure but this one just melts this nana's heart. 

Thanks for looking at my favorite monthly pictures for 2018.  
Just looking back has brought about some good memories and fun times for me. If it be in the Lord's Will I surely hope to make lots more memories and fun times for 2019. 

 Each year since 2013 I have chosen aWORD for the new year as I know so many of you do too. There isn't anything magical in choosing a WORD. For me, it gives me something to focus on through the New Year. Whether it be on a sign that I may see in a store, in scripture, used in a sermon preached, or whatever. For me it's my goal to learn from that word, to experience that word, and to take every opportunity when faced or focused with that word to listen. To listen with my heart, to seek God more and to simply enjoy. 

In 2013 my word was PEACE.  In 2014 it was REJOICE. In 2015 it was PRAISE. In 2016 it was REFLECT. In 2017 it was BELIEVE. In 2018 it was HOPE. Each year it has been amazing at how that one word has ministered to me. I could write you a short book. 

My WORD for 2019 is.........................

The dictionary defines DELIGHT:
A high degree of gratification or pleasure 
Something that gives great pleasure 
To take great pleasure or joy 

This is the scripture that clearly showed me my WORD for 2018. And...that's another story  for another day or maybe not.

  Free Farmhouse printable from https://themountainviewcottage.net/farmhouse-inspired-scripture-prints-free-farmhouse-printables/

Delight in the Lord means that our hearts truly find peace and fulfillment in Him. If we truly find satisfaction and worth in Christ, Scripture says He will give us the longings of our hearts. Does that mean, if we go to church every Sunday, God will give us what we ask for? Absolutely not! The idea behind this is that when we truly “delight”  rejoice, be glad in the eternal things of God, things that will make a difference for HIS Kingdom, our desires will begin to parallel His and we will never go unfulfilled. Perfect joy will come from pleasing Him which will bring us DELIGHT! 

He will always provide beyond our beyond when we choose to DELIGHT in His way. 

I am excited about my new WORD and I am anticipating "GREAT and MIGHTY" things by delighting in Him.  

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends. May the Lord bless you beyond your wildest dreams and go beyond your beyond. 

Hugs and blessings, Cindy 

 

{Where Did Christmas Go?}

It seems that Christmas has come and gone and in a blink of an eye all the festivities are over! Christmas reminds me a lot like a wedding. All the planning, buying, preparing and POOF! But just as with a wedding the memories sure are sweet.

 Remember my corner chair in my kitchen? I sure have enjoyed decorating it. 

I realized that with all the Christmas activities that I had not shared with my blogging friends my Christmas decor. Just a word of WARNING...lots of pictures but some sweetness happened at Christmas for our family.

 I found this sweet picture of a red truck on line and bought the file so I could add my own wording. I made an 8x10 picture and framed it for my kitchen.

 Don't you just love my new salad/dessert plate? Simple tablescape but oh so fun. 

It was fun creating this fun tablescape this year and the red truck was actually a cookie jar.

 This cute dish sure held a lot of goodies over the holidays. 

First Yule Log I've ever made. Not too shabby. 

YEP, love me some Santa's. 

 This is the 2nd year I have used my skinny Christmas tree. I do love it because it takes up less space. I am thinking maybe next year I will use my larger tree and put my skinny tree in my kitchen. I inquired several larger ornaments this year and it calls for a bigger tree.

Beautiful ornament with all six of my grandbabies names on it. 

The hubs wasn't too happy that I put bows around their necks. He's lucky I didn't put Santa hats on them!

I won't show you any more pictures of my Santa's because then you will truly know I have ISSUES! And I won't show you the laundry room or the bathrooms. LOL! Love Christmas! 

Our sweet grandbabies has truly got to be the best thing EVER! Why didn't we have them first? 

I get them matching PJ's every year. I am finding that the older they get the harder it is especially when my one and only grandson doesn't care for some of the same kind of PJ's that the girls would love. So this year I found the bottoms at Target and then just bought them regular tops. Ordered the babies PJ outfit from Etsy but it matched great. Hers said, "I'm so cute that even the Grinch would steel me". 

This picture was taken Christmas Eve of my husband's side the of the family. IMMEDIATE FAMILY! Yep, it started out with two people that had four children and went from there. 

The scripture that says, "Be fruitful and multiply" was taken seriously. And...we have two more babies on the way. Two of our nephews and their wives are expecting next year.

This is my sweet family. God surely has blessed us. 

 These beautiful ladies are my daughter's. I surprised them GOOD this year with a special Christmas gift. I have one of those armoire jewelry cabinet's that sits in the floor and then a smaller jewelry box that sits on my dresser. I decided one day back in September to clean out and go through it all. I LOVE costume jewelry but it was time to do some cleaning. As I began to clean and go through I started gathering up the real gold and diamonds that I have had through the years. It is amazing at how much we confiscate and do not even realize it until we start cleaning. Long story short, I decided that I wanted to have each of my girls a necklace made or something. I mean some of my STUFF from the late 80's was so gaughty (not sure if that is a word, Ha!) that none of my girls would wear it! LOL! I truly did not realize how much I had and did not wear until the cleaning was done. A plan went into motion and right before Christmas the project was completed.

I was able to have each girl a white gold heart necklace with diamonds made. I could not have been more happier. 

 After viewing about 8-10 different designs I choose this one and I loved it and they loved it. I told my girls that I did not want to wait til I was DEAD for them to enjoy something that was mine. I want to see them enjoy it while I am living. Needless to say no dry eyes and y'all, I UGLY CRY! 

A sweet friend sent me a message after seeing this picture on facebook. She said, "This is the way we should live daily. Open hands and open hearts". MELTED MY HEART! 

I started a new tradition this year. I had this small Christmas tree and decided to take some of the Christmas cards I had gotten and cut around some of the designs. I cut out nine total. On the back of each one I listed one of the fruits of the spirit.

I then placed the one on top that said "Christmas" most to me.

When my family had opened all of their gifts and we had cleaned up all the trash I took a few minutes and gathered up my grandbabies in a circle. I asked my oldest granddaughter to recite Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I then explained to them what the Fruit of the Spirit meant. I asked them each to pick an ornament off the tree without looking at the back. Once they did I then explained to them how that fruit could be manifested in their life for 2019. Of course our 2 1/2 and 7 month old doesn't understand but all the same I wanted to do this with them. With three being left on the tree my three daughter's each picked one as well. Not only was this a time to reflect on living the fruit of the spirit for 2019 but also to tell the children that these are the fruits that Christians should be producing in their lives. 

And yes, I am all about the fun. I love Christmas. I love to decorate, to bake, to cook, to buy gifts, to wrap presents, and I do love me some Santa's. I love sharing the old family traditions and making new ones. I love my family and my friends. But I love Jesus more! If not for HIM there would be no CHRISTmas. 

And to make a happy ending to our Christmas, our family received the best and sweetest gift that we could ever receive. Our sweet granddaughter asked Jesus to come into her heart!  Our Kyleigh received the best and sweetest gift that she could ever receive. His Name is Jesus! The Name Above All Names". 

I do hope that you and yours had a Merry Christmas and that you felt the love of Jesus. Happy New Year to you all. 

Hugs and blessings, Cindy