Brush Bottles - Ugly Green to Natural Beauty

I  picked these trees up at a yard sale...where else can they picked up for pennies dimes?!

(saw some at a flea market for three bucks a piece! i mean...get real!)

Anyhoo, tooooo green! 
The bottoms were taken off (my imagination doesn't stretch quite far enough to figure out why).

But there you are...

I soaked 'em in Clorox water (approx 1/3 c. to a gal. of water overnight) and used wooden spools for the trunk...

and got this.

Isn't it lovely?

Here they are in all their glory...

- second project -

I didn't really like this look...

again, tooo green.

So i did this...

Much better!

Much, much better!

- third project -

I love cloches! And though kind of expensive there are other things that can work as well.

Like these...

Hurricane shades turned up-side-down and in this case, topped with old door knobs...

Cool!

Pretty!

And yes, better after!

Christmas at our House...

...i wanted to keep christmas decorating simple this year...

...and use what i already have...

...so i scrounged around my collections...

...and used 'naturals' outside which will last...

...ALL! WINTER! LONG!...

(sigh!)

...really...

...january is okay - it's a quiet month...

...a month of new beginnings...

...it's just that i would like to have one month of winter...

...then the rest of the year for the warmer stuff...

...enjoy the tour!

...this is what you see as you step up to our front entrance...

...this is dried limelight hydrangeas w/ rose hips tucked in a topiary...

...my collection of enamelware with pinecones, wood mushrooms and bittersweet...

 

...in the kitchen is the simplicity of creams and red...

...favorite manger scenes...

...i copied this scene from a friend years ago...

...the angel worshipping the baby with all the others standing to the side watching...  

...still love it!

...i liked this so well i kept it up all year but will put it away after the season is over...

...favorite cards and a few old postcards...

...this is really a music box i nabbed at a yard sale for twenty-five cents...

...placed them in a discarded clock frame that i painted and aged...

...day and night...

...may your Christmas be filled with life and serenity...

...and to not forget that...

- JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THIS SEASON!

....blessedness!

ox

Christmas peek

...i hope everyone had a blessed thanksgiving...

- we did!

...had a de-lic-ious meal at L&M's house...

...now, we i can really concentrate on christmas...

...just wanted to whet the appetite...

(so to speak!)

...isn't this adorable?!

...it has a music box behind the mound of snow...

...twenty-five cents at a yard sale...

...and these?

...just wait till you see them the next time!

...blessedness!

ox

Happy Birthday, Honey!

...today is my honey's birthday...

- 62 -

...our fortieth wedding anniversary year...

...WHERE have the years gone?!

happy birthday, honey!

...i love my honey!

...honey, this is for you...

...to acknowledge your person...

...your gifts...

reading to the grandbabies

playing with them

enjoying 'baby'

...though you're not visionary...

- when i give you a picture of what i see -

...you can build my dreams!

...you did this...

...a first time project...

...and this...

...and this...

...you made a special trip to home depot on a saturday night

for a drop cloth so i can make these panels 

to use as a sunshade for sunday lunch when we were hosts at church...

...but more than any of this...
...is the godly example you live...
...to me and to our children...
...you showed us the power of God in a changed life!

...you also share your birthday with our wonderful daughter-in-law...

...who turned forty this year...

(a later post on her birthday party!)

...blessedness!

ox

Week End Musings

...first off, the weather was fabulous!

...last tree in our yard to change in color and drop its leaves...

...second...

...there was this huge indoor yard sale here...

...several 'wishing' bargains...

...i don't have a store or place in my home for these...

...twenty dollars...

...thirty-five dollars...

...the wicker chest was gone on my second round!

...and then there was this...

...a way to get there and take the goodies home...

***********************

...worship ponderings...

...our SS class discussion centered around contentment...

...huge, especially for women!

...but...

...we shared, confessed, were honest, and encouraged each other...

...conclusions...

- contentment is not natural

- where do i find contentment?

- is it wrong to indulge in a 'want?'

- can i be content even when life is upside down?

- have we become cozy and comfortable cohabitating with greed?

...finishing off with a quote from Charles Swindoll...

"The push to achieve and advance in life causes many of us to forego the roles we are best suited for. If we know the true path to contentment,

we are able to resist these pressures and experience freedom."

**************************

...blessedness!

ox

A Tribute to Annie

Annie

Annie moved in with her daughter Rhoda, a dear friend of mine and they had an evening auction for the things she no longer needed. Though it was an evening to sell, it was also a gathering  of  relatives and friends...an evening to socialize...

and eat...

and buy.

  Annie has impacted many lives. For many, many years she taught children's Sunday School class... we have five children and all of them were in her class...thank you, Annie! For many years she has cut and sewn quilt patches together for church sewing circle. 

She is now almost ninety-six and rarely uses her glasses and has good hearing. In the sunset years of her life, her independence and determination allowed her to live by herself, with her daughter standing on the sidelines caring for her. Now their roles are reversed - Rhoda is the 'mother' and Annie is the 'child.' 

Rhoda, I bless you in taking care of your mother...she's in good hands!

Rhoda (r) and her daughters, Marcia, Jana and Carolyn

To Annie, once more I thank you for your service to the people your lives have blessed, especially mine...building a good foundation and teaching our children Jesus when they joined your class at three years old.

...blessedness!

ox