A Golden Afternoon: Simplified Home Living - Page 32 of 54

The End

This year has not been my favorite. 2011…blech. Actually, it’s only one of two years which I can distinctly remember not liking (2000 being the other). A lot of bad things happened this year. What, you say? You had no idea? I don’t tend to talk about negative stuff just as a personal habit to not keep icky things in my thoughts whenever possible. I have definitely learned, this year, that I need to be more real and try to show weakness to you, friends. I’m not trying to pretend my life is perfect on paper, I just am not a “dweller”. In fact, I started this blog, in part, as a distraction from negative things. When I’m frustrated, I clean…or sew…or bake…or organize my closets. It’s not the best way to deal with problems but at least it’s productive, right?

This year I have been hurt by friends, been upset by horrible things that happen in this world EVERY DAY, been disappointed in people and myself, felt emotionally and physically weak, watch marriages fall apart around me, said goodbye to friends, thought a lot about my Grandma who isn’t here with us anymore, counseled a lot of people close to me who are have a difficult time, and then cried over everything I just mentioned along the way.

But, this year I am MOST thankful for our new church. I finally feel like we have a community of people that we love being with and that share a unique bond. I am ecstatic about the new buddies Ed and I have both made there. Mostly, I am excited about the cool things that we can all do together for Jesus. I finally feel like we are where we are meant to be as a family.

So, 2012. I am excited for everything awesome you will bring. I don’t know what kind of year you will be, but I know that God has brought us across some difficult roads to a really cool place that seems way more peaceful. I can think of 3567 things that were awesome about this last year, even with 3568 things that were bad.

You are faithful, God, and I’m thrilled to see how you use me for your good this year.

p.s. I couldn’t leave the year without one last craft to share. If you have any boxwood around your neighborhood or any other long greenery, grab that, some green florist’s wire, and some ribbon. Wrap the wire around the greenery and bend/snap to make your numbers or even letters. I had planned to make a “J O Y” for Christmas but I got sick so I converted it to “2012”. Hang each letter with some ribbon or set them on a shelf. It just took a few minutes!

I kinda like them.

Some people couldn’t help but have a little fun with them, too.

Cheers to you are yours! Happy Awesome New Year!

2011: The End

Twelfth Day: Branch Ornament Display

We have finally come to day 12. It’s sad, true, but that means it’s Christmas, right? I almost had to end on day 11 because a nasty cold came over our household. I even laid down for a bit during daylight hours yesterday which is kind-of a big deal for me. I’m thankful to just have a cold though, as opposed to the stomach flu or something. Ick. I’ve scraped up some late-night energy to bring you this finally piece of Christmas cheer. It’s my favorite of all 12 days so it would be hard to keep me from sharing it.

I love awesome things that don’t cost anything to make. This is that kind of project. I’ve been searching for a way to display my Grandma’s ornaments where my kids can’t ~~throw them around like baseballs~~ accidentally break them. I saw this pin on the very same day I had already decided I wanted to bring some tree branches in from our dead backyard tree. So, I screwed in some hooks to the ceiling, attached some fishing line to the branch and then to the hooks, and shortened or lengthened the fishing line until it was the perfect angle for my taste.

I think vintage ornaments are beautiful, don’t you?

This one’s my favorite. Yellow + polka dots. What could be better?

I can see myself in this shot. This reminds me of those string of Ebay pictures that different people took and posted. The people taking the pictures didn’t realize you could see their reflection and some were naked, hairy, or just weird-looking. Makes a person think twice before posting a photo. Random, yes, but still relevant.

lovely.

I love the mood it sets when we sit down for a meal with it peacefully dangling above us. It’s a an instant mood-changer.

Have any last-minute Christmas projects your working on?

Eleventh Day: Photo Wreath

Whew! It’s Christmastime! It’s been pretty busy around here with Christmas prep and activities. I took a little online break because I think it’s nice to unplug often. Anytime is a good time for unplugging really, but especially during the holidays. Everywhere I look people are on their phones and then the kid’s are on their parent’s phones. I have to admit it makes me feel a little bit like the Grinch. I want to run down the mountain with a big bag and scoop up everyone’s phones for at LEAST the holidays. Maybe I’m the only one that it rubs the wrong way but I’m just so tired of it. If there is a valentine’s version of angry birds, I really might lose it.

Anyway (exit soapbox and the phone Grinch character), there’s been so much going on with us besides Christmas (and a few hitch-hiking colds from recent visitors). We’ve been in the process of doing foster care for a few months which has been so exciting but also a lot of work. I just keep thinking of snuggling those little kids with love which gets me through the harder patches of paperwork during the holidays. We have had a couple of trainings (a 1 day and a 3 hr), our 1st interview, hours and hours of paperwork, fun moments of digging through our past and telling the story of our family and who we are, more paperwork, appointments being made for health check-ups and drug screenings, and various magnetic locks and toolboxes being purchased for our different containment requirements.

With all of this foster care business and talk of our life and past, I’ve been checking out some of our old pictures. Actually, I do this a lot with no reason required but I thought it was a good time to go back and peruse the Nikon archives. I saw this really cute idea on Pinterest involving a display of Christmas cards surrounding an embroidery hoop. I thought I would do something similar but use my Christmas picture archives to surround the hoop. I just took a large embroidery hoop and glued small clothespins around it, alternating which direction they faced (out then in). Then, I selected my pictures (SO HARD TO CHOOSE!) and printed mine with a snazzy vintage action. Accessorize with a bow of your style and hang in the best corner suited for nostalgia.

One of my very favorite pictures of my firstborn and my third-born. They love each other so.

Our almost 8-year-old pug, Leonard, on his very first Christmas. sniff sniff

I love family picture where kids are grabbing at other kids (top). They are so true to the moment. My husband attempting to burn our house and the neighbor’s house down by burning out Christmas tree limb by limb in the fireplace (3rd down). Sweet memories. One of my favorite Family Christmas cookie decorating experiences (towards the bottom).

I’m so thankful to have so many pictures to choose from because I was as crazy-obsessed with photography 10 years ago as I am now. Thank you, Nikon, for some great years in film and now in digital.

Tenth Day: Photo Gift Tags

I saw this idea and immediately pinned it. I thought it was crazy awesome and that’s all there is to it. I added my own twist by printing the pictures onto sticker paper (found here) and just sticking them right on the gifts. I really like the way they turned out once I convinced my printer to print something from Photoshop. I think it’s great for kids who can’t read tags but want to help pass the presents out.

Now…to finish the rest.

Ninth Day: Printer’s Tray Christmas Display

I’ve had a long-time plan for this drawer. Besides being a spool/thread holder in the off-season, this big guy provides a variety of options for year-round display.

I finally pinned the pictures I’ve seen over the years on blogs to my Pinterest to a very creatively named board called “printer’s trays“. I like this one for advent which I’d love to do next year, this one for Lego which has long been on the list, one here for jewelry, and one here as an art display. All quite lovely and I’m excited to keep changing it up.

In the meantime, I threw a few of my vintage treasure up on mine in the form of my Grandma’s ornaments and scrabble tiles. Next year I hope to swap the tiles for a piece of paper representing each day of December before Christmas. I like the idea of marking every single day with some sort of action as a family, hopefully selfless actions.