You’ve seen bits and pieces of my Christmas decorations all month long,
but today The Nester is having a Christmas Open House linky party,
so here is my little nest! Welcome!
Entry…
Hallway…
Living room…
Kitchen…
Dining room…
Stairwell…
Master bedroom…
The Reason for the Season…
Thanks for stopping by!
Elizabeth
My daughter, son in law, oldest granddaughter and only grandson are in Washington D.C. right now with a group of interns from their missions school. We got a cell phone call from them when they were in front of the White House. When our six year old grandson got his turn on the phone, instead of telling Papa they were at the White House or had seen the Capitol Building or some other spectacular sight that day, he reported with excitement that they were going to have pizza for dinner. I love the house decorating, goodie baking, gift giving, card sending, party going, light looking, concert attending, tree fetching, and carol singing that Christmas time brings. But, all of those wonderful things are just the pizza, not the Main Thing.
Thankful above all for the Main Thing this Season…Jesus.
My continuing gratitude list #792-#805
-worship
-prayer
-the Word
-He removes our reproach
-He covers us with grace
-I’m His favorite…and so are you!
-sharing laughter and tears with my siblings
-totally unexpected reduction in our mortgage payment
-Mama’s face when my brother from Africa walked into her hospital room
-Mama got to go back to her cozy little apartment in assisted living instead of having to go to a nursing home
-an unexpected refund on a parking ticket
-helpful friends
-the best lasagna ever
-a sister in law who gifted us with her wonderful Christmas baking
Gratefully yours,
Elizabeth
join the gratitude gatherers here~
What joy to this sin darkened world that Jesus, the Light,
has come and the darkness can never overcome His great light!
Still following,
Elizabeth
First of all welcome to the new followers and the kind commenters who have found my little place in the blogosphere this past couple of weeks. I have not been able to get back to all of you and say hello since my mama has been in the hospital. Hello! I look forward to getting to know you better. I hope visiting here will be something you look forward to as together we follow Jesus. Daily I am reminded that following Him is true joy and true peace. I pray that His great love for you overwhelms you right now dear friends.
To those of you who have been praying for my mama a great big Thank You! Almost three weeks ago she fell and broke her hip which resulted in a whole snowball effect of medical complications. The beginning of this week we thought she was about to meet Jesus…but today she moved back home to her cozy little apartment at her assisted living facility. Can you believe it? I’m telling you, this is a miracle if ever I have seen one. God answers prayer friends!
Well, I thought I would share a few more Christmas photos…I have not done one bit of Christmas baking or shopping, and on the outside of the house there’s not a wreath or Christmas light to be found, but the decorating inside was done before Mama’s fall.
I posted photos of my mantel before and stated that I would probably change it up a bit…something was missing. When I found glitter covered reindeer 2/$1 at the Dollar Tree, they were just the little something it needed.
I also have posted about Mama’s vintage suitcase before, filled with holiday greens, pinecones, and gilded fruit. But the addition of a vintage book and framed Christmas card turned out to be the finishing touch!
On our Thanksgiving trip to Missouri I found an antique milk bottle carrier. Here, on my distressed old blue dresser, it is filled with bottles and Christmas greens.
I love this vintage kitchen scale in my favorite gray color that I found at Camas Antiques. Here it is topped with my Eddie Walker snow couple purchased the year we celebrated our 25th anniversary.
Love to each of you!
Elizabeth
I say it every year.
“I think this is my most favorite tree we’ve ever had.”
When my girls were small, heading out to the tree farm and cutting down our own tree was tradition. With it just being the Hubs and I at home now we toyed with the idea of getting an artificial tree. Our family quickly vetoed that idea…acting as if the very idea was a travesty! So off the two of us went to the tree farm and brought home the perfect tree.
When I saw that the Pottery Barn was decorating one of their trees with jute webbing, and was selling the jute webbing for quite a hefty price, I ran down to Walmart and got 15 yards for 69 cents a yard! I love my homespun tree…it is indeed my most favorite tree ever!
Celebrating His birth!
Elizabeth
this week’s Simple Pleasure~our Christmas tree!
also linking to the ChristmasTree Party at
The week before she fell and broke her hip
I had taken Mama in for her regular check up
Then to my house for family dinner
On the way I had reached out to take her hand
And she wouldn’t let my hand go
The whole way home
Her hands used to bake the best bread I ever tasted
Her hands sewed the fancy little baby dresses
I wore as a wee one
The lace covered nightie with matching robe
She made for me the Christmas after Daddy left us
The wedding dress and veil I wore
As a nineteen year old bride
Her hands are now twisted with arthritis
And lay against white hospital sheets
With I.V. drips going into her veins
My house is decorated for Christmas
But instead of shopping, baking, and the usual holiday preparations
I sit with my siblings and ride the roller coaster
Of the daily ups and downs of Mama’s fragile health
And we take turns holding our Mama’s hand
In the hospital room
And we won’t let Mama’s hand go
The whole way home
Still following,
Elizabeth
update~ As I sit next to Mama’s bed as she naps I am amazed at her improvement over the past two days. I believe this is a direct result of all of your prayers. Thank you kind friends! When she came to the hospital my siblings and I thought she just may be going home to heaven, but she is definitely much improved since then.
I am not fond of detailed crafts that take lots of time and patience. But give me a quick, cute, inexpensive craft/décor project and I’m all over it. Here are three that I have done this season. All three cost under $10, (all three together!), and all three, (together!) took under an hour to make!
For this craft project I bought three glass cylinder candles at the Dollar Tree and then printed some free Christmas sheet music off the internet.
Next I painted some thinned down Elmer’s glue onto the glass, wrapped the sheet music around it, and coated it with another layer of glue. If you have Modge Podge use that instead of the glue. I used the foam brush to try to smooth all bubbles out of the sheet music. As it dries the bubbles and wrinkles get better. After it was dry I added another coat of the glue. Let it dry and that is all there is to it!
This next quick and easy project is my favorite. It hangs on the mirror over our bed to add a little Christmas cheer to our bedroom.
First I took a piece of 1/4 inch jute cord from the fabric store and hot glued on three starfish that I already had.
Next I hand lettered on cardstock N.O.E.L. I used a hole punch on the top and used twine to hang them with. I put a dab of hot glue where the twine hangs on the jute cord, so they don’t slide out of place.
After Christmas I can simply make the letter V, rearrange the L.O.E. and I will have the word LOVE as we head towards Valentine’s Day!
I don’t know if you can technically call this last one a craft project, as it is more a way to display these store bought little birds from Target. (They are only $1 each!) Read more about this project here.
Inexpensive, easy crafts that anyone can do…gotta love it!
Still following,
Elizabeth
linking today to Polly want a Crafter
