Unique Use for a Christmas Tree

A Christmas tree has many cherished functions during the holiday season.

The lights add a shimmering glow to the room,

matching the expectation of the celebration ahead.

Underneath the tree, presents chosen with love are nestled beneath

the pine scented boughs.

Ornaments rich with memories hang from the branches,

marking Christmases past,

but leaving room for future memories.

The scent, the sights, the feel of a Christmas tree

are deeply etched into our hearts and minds.

My kids added one more cherished function for our Christmas

tree this week.

They simply continue to amaze me.

Remind me to not ask the kids to

"quickly pick up the living room"

ever

during the season of the tree.

Remind me not to ask

when I'm not in the room and

don't specify

how

to pick up the living room.

My Amazing Grace decided each branch worked like a shelf.

The living room was very quickly picked up.

I walked in,  rolled my eyes,

grunted in a motherly fashion,

and demanded someone get a picture

while I went down to do yet another load of laundry.

Not sure what happened when I was in the basement,

but the pictures on the camera

told a story their lips didn't.

But, it musta' been funny.

See what a Mom misses when she's always working?

Many years ago, some dear friends of mine shared their

convictions on why they don't have a Christmas tree.

It was a pleasant conversation,

but all I remember is something about

 German soldiers hanging guts on a tree.

Maybe I wasn't listening very well.

Anyway, we made our decision to have a tree

based on American tradition,

not our faith. 

We understand the tree really doesn't have anything to do

with the Lord Jesus.

But we found a way to let our

love for the American traditions

and our love for the Lord Jesus

live together in our home.

And our dear friends don't know what they're missing.

Not only are they missing that wonderful pine scent,

their kids can't clean up the living room in less than 5 minutes.

Lights, Camera, Decorating Action

I won't be putting on the magazine Christmas this year.

It just ain't gunna' happen.

But, I plan on enjoying the family,

eating a few sweets that will for sure give me a tummy ache,

sipping a LOT of coffee,

and enjoying my

very, very, very full house.

We'll be blessed with a lot of family celebrating with us.

One of my main objectives when decorating

is to create atmosphere.

What better way than to use lights?

These vintage bells were an after-Christmas find this year

and look great along the  top of my buffet.

I was thrilled to discover they blink,

right, left, together, right, left, together, right, left, together.

Do you sit and stare like a cat at lights sometimes?

Yea, me, too.

They're mesmerizing.

In a corner vintage candleabra and plastic greenery.

Ya' know the plastic is so tacky, it's cute.

Kinda' like my elves.

It's washable, not fragile, and can be squished in a box.

I know you're all gunna' be looking for ugly plastic garland

at the thrift stores tomorrow.

At night, it lights up the corner of the dining room.

Remember my decorating has to be fast and furious this year?

Lights set the atmosphere quickly and beauifully.

A bubble-light night light makes even the hallway festive.

Another vintage find last year, a star for the top of the tree.

Y'all think you know where I'm going with the lights.

Yea, yer' right.

John 8:12

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying,

“I am the

light of the world.

He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness,

but have the light of life.”

But, instead of just saying to yerself,

"ya', real original anaology, Momma Mindy,"

I want you to meditate on this for a moment.

Meditate comes from the same root as ruminate.

Ruminate is to chew the cud, like a cow.

If you think about a cow

chewing and

chewing and

chewing and

chewing and

chewing,

you'd agree that we really don't

meditate on the Scriptures.

We're too busy.

We're too preoccupied.

Two or three chews, gulp it down, and we're done.

We wouldn't make very good cows, would we?

So as you chew on this thought,

of Jesus being the light of the world,

think more personally.

How can He be the light of your world?

When/why do you need light?

~when you're afraid

~ to see where you're going

~ to work

~ to read

~to guide someone through the dark

~to look for something that's lost

These are a few of the many instances during the day when you need to

turn on a lamp, use a flashlight, or turn the lights on your car.

These are almost the same instances when you need the

light of Jesus.

Make turning to Him,

through His Word and prayer,

as natural as it is to flip a light switch.

Remember that atmosphere we were talkin' about earlier?

That's what we want all year 'round.

A home filled with

light.

Fast and Furious Christmas Decorating

This year I was so busy cleaning my garage,

I didn't really have time to decorate for Christmas.

Ya' know, we all have years like that.

Some years we're Martha Stewart on steroids,

other years we're the Red Neck Mommas

who just do enough to Git 'Er Dun.

This year I dun did the Red Neck Thing.

It was the hubby's year to decorate the tree.

We'll talk about that later.

He got that done a few days after Thanksgiving.

I like to decorate a lot.

Meaning, I like it a lot and I use a lot of decorations.

Since I didn't get the Christmas decorations back up into the attic

until this summer, I'm lame I know,

I didn't feel like hauling them all down a few months later.

This year, I gave myself permission to

relax.

I took down the box of vintage decorations,

my faves, of course,

and starting throwing elves around.

I wasn't furious, but it had to be done fast.

This ladder rests against the wall in the dining room.

Usually, I would replace all the vintage fabrics

with vintage Christmas linens.

Not this year.

This year it was more about just adding a few decorations

to areas of the house that already displayed vintage items.

Usually the doll on the top of the ladder sits on top of the tree.

Not this year.

My kids make fun of her, and I don't know why.

She's so ugly, she's cute.

Who needs that traditional star or angel?

This little guy is using my pastry mixer for a swing.

The heavily bearded elf tucks his arthritic knees into my flour sifter.

The coffee pot at the bottom of the ladder

is now home to a mouse.

The only kinda' mouse I want in my house.

When you can't do everything you wanna' do

and still keep the calm and happy attitude,

something has to go.

This year, the decorating had to go,

the happy attitude stayed.

The Lord tells us to be a cheerful giver.

We shouldn't give so much we resent giving,

nor should we give so little we feel guilty.

I think this is a great principle for many things we do.

This year I'm not doing so much I resent the holidays

and all the demands it puts on Mom,

(or all the demands I put on myself)

nor am I doing so little I feel guilty.

 I need to accomplish each holiday endeavor

fast and furiously,

without getting furious.

Gotta keep that holiday cheer!

Acts 27:25

Be of good cheer:

for I believe God...

 

Clay Pot Nativity

Last December, I found a box of little clay pots at a thrift store.

Thirty for $1.25!

I didn't need them.

I had no idea of what I would use them for.

But, they were SO tiny and SO cute,

I  had to buy them.

A few days later,  I found Jennifer's craft

at Kids on the Grand.

Perfect!

To make it easier for my daughter, I glued the beads on the night before.

For Joseph and Mary and I bought the kind with one flat side.

Beka painted the pots and the basin,

then glued moss down.

Baby Jesus just needed a square of fabric,

some cotton,

pretty sure this is from a bottle of Advil,

'cuz I'm thrifty like that,

and one tiny bead.

A little glue, a little folding, and a little more gluing.

The beard was a little scraggly.

 

Her sister is a cosmetologist, so Beka was very confident

she knew just how to trim a beard.

 

The finishing touch was to set the family on a slice of wood

I had squirreled away in my craft room.

Do you keep things just because you like them

and you think you might need them some day?

A fun, inexpensive craft, a fun memory, and a holiday

decoration we'll use for years.

Jessica from Craftily Ever After had her own version.

I loved her idea of using burlap.

Janet posted this one at Design Dazzle.

Isn't it adorable?

This craft is a good way to inspire your family

to keep

Christ

in

Christmas.

Lights Ya' Leave Up Year 'Round

 Christmas lights are one of my favorite holiday decorations.

They add  feeling to the decorating.

When they're vintage, I like them even better.

(click on any pic to enlarge)

What could be cuter than plastic "candles",

very plastic holly,

and little elves falling all over?

I only had one Bubble Light that fit,

or I would have put them in all the candles.

This is how my dining room glows at night.

My Christmas tree has vintage white tinsel

that really picks up the lights.

What a find!

Each window is topped with greenery and white lights,

decorated differently each year.

This year I'm tired. I didn't add much.

We leave this up for awhile after Christmas.

Sometimes a long while.

I love to sit in the living room,

basking in the cliched glow from the Christmas lights.

It is a cozy, warm feeling, that invokes the

joy of Christmases past,

the love from Christmas present,

and the hope for Christmases future.

The little lights brighten up the room so much,

that's why we leave them up for so long.

We have the same job in the world,

ya' know, 

as those little white Christmas lights.

Philippians 2:15

 that you may become blameless and harmless,

children of God without fault

in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,

among whom you shine

as lights in the world,

May God give us the strength and grace,

to really let our light shine.

Only these lights,

should never be packed away in the attic.

A Few of My Favorite Christmas Things

Anne of Green Gables once said,

 "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

If that's true,

this Christmas,

there's a whole lot of flattery going on.

Bevy did something beautiful I had to copy-cat.

She claims she copied others.

Hop back the blog trail we created for some beautiful decorating ideas.

I also love imitating Bevy's faith and her devotion to her family,

so read more than just her decorating tips.

You'll be blessed.

Jars like this hold my baking supplies,

sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar, and oatmeal.

You get to use beautiful old things,

but you also know instantly when you need to restock.

One jar had to be emptied for this project.

I'll probably be sorry when I start baking.

Great combination.

Vintage Shiny Brites, a score from a thrift store in North Dakota this summer.

They were carefully toted home in a beautiful vintage picnic basket.

Can you see where this is leading?

A few crotcheted snowflakes from my Gramma Geneva were added,

a few doilies tossed around,

and the elves I adore.

Side and top view.

Because there was another box of Shiny Brites

wanting to be used, a canning jar was filled.

These funny non-lightable acrylic candles were found last year.

A week later, the funny acrylic candle holders were found.

They look like they were made for each other.

Sometimes, favorite things are pieced together with patient shopping.

A recent thrift store yielded four metal frogs for flower arranging.

They hold vintage Christmas cards very well, too.

The buffet will probably be reshuffled a few times,

as I enjoy arranging with a few of my

Favorite Christmas Things.

******

(The buffet with gray and red.

The buffet for Thanksgiving.)

******
Linking up with
Show and Tell Friday
on the blog
My Romantic Home

Keeping Christ in Christmas

This is usually a self-righteous slogan

 we Christians fume when we see someone write

Xmas

instead of Christmas

or see more Santa

than Savior.

In all honesty,

 in the midst of the Christmas Chaos,

shopping,

wrapping,

baking,

decorating,

crafting,

sewing and

cooking,

we need to remind ourselves first.

We need to set the example,

of keeping

Christ

in

Christmas.

We are taught to pray about everything in our lives.

Have we ever thought about praying about presents?

Have we ever thought that the Lord might use us

to provide a need in another's life?

Have we ever thought that Christmas might be the perfect time

to encourage believers in their Christian walk?

Gifts of Christian biographies,

 study books and commentaries,

or inspirational Christian music,

might be a nice way to keep

Christ

in

Christmas.

Giving a Gospel tract or booklet with our baked goodies

or in our Christmas cards,

would be a great way to keep

Christ

in

Christmas.

Not getting cranky when we are overwhelmed,

would probably be a great,

and probably the hardest way,

to keep

Christ

in

Christmas.

 

Our tree arranging went something like this episode of

Brady Bunch, but I didn't have laryngitis.

Maybe I should have been inflicted.

It would have helped me keep

Christ

in

Christmas

We have a small living room,

we'll have a lot of company over the holidays,

and needed all the furniture to remain in the room.

We moved the tree to every possible spot,

moving the couch and the loveseat

over 

and over

and over,

before we put everything back in the original spot.

We simply moved my sewing cabinet to the other side of the fireplace,

and tucked the tree into the corner of the room.

The Thanksgiving episode ended with my apology,

 and this Christmas episode ended with my apology,

because the more you set spiritual goals,

the more you will be tested and tried.

But, my heart, mind and soul

keep feasting on the idea of keeping

Christ

in

Christmas.

*****