Not looking back, just moving forward.

2009...the year I'd like to have skipped.

Instead of dwelling on all the negativity, I am making the decision to just move forward.

2010 has got to be a better year than the last!

Nature-made Cross

My daughter came rushing in from playing in the snow....

"Mom!! Look what I found! It's a cross!!"

I was awestruck.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

On the 12th day of Christmas ornaments

I'd like to share with you...

an ornament made by my husband's Grandma. It's hand carved and decorated. We have several of these hearts on our tree.

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Thanks for taking this walk down memory lane with me.

Have a Merry Christmas!!

On the 11th day of Christmas ornaments

I want to share with you...

this train from my childhood tree. It always makes me think of my Uncle Bill. He worked as a brakeman for Burlington Northern for as long as I can remember. I'd wave at every caboose I'd see just in case he was in it! I miss him....he always could make me smile.

On the 10th day of Christmas ornaments

I want to share with you...

a garland the kids and I made. Ok..I know it's not really an ornament and it's not especially pretty but I love it anyway. I have to admit when I decided to do this craft project with them I had no idea how much prep work there would be. I had to dye different kinds of pasta with food coloring then set them aside to dry. Of course, this step took way longer than expected. Truth be told, I was ready to throw the whole project away but the kids were looking forward to it so much that I had to continue. We now have 2 strings of pathetically dyed pasta that grace our tree each year.

On the 9th day of Christmas ornaments

I'd like to share with you...

a laser cut stavkirke. I visited a stavkirke in Rapid City, SD several times. It was stunningly beautiful. Of course I may be a bit biased since I'm 100% Norwegian and my dad was a woodworker.

On the 8th day of Christmas ornaments

I want to share with you...

an early recycling project with a goofy saying. Man alive... I can't believe I thought that was hysterical 15 yrs ago.

On the 7th day of Christmas ornaments

I want to share with you...

an ornament I painted in memory of my dog Smokey. He lived 17.5 years. He was given to me but he always loved my mom the most.

On the 6th day of Christmas ornaments

I'd like to share with you...

my favorite from my childhood tree!!

I'm not really sure why this was my favorite but in it's day it was immensely beautiful. I still hold the memory of its glory in my mind so therefor it retains it beauty there.

On the 5th day of Christmas ornaments

I'd like to share with you....

a hand-painted Rudolph.

This little guy has such a silly face...he makes me giggle. This was another of my ornaments I made around our first Christmas as a married couple.

Coupon caddy

My old plastic accordion coupon file just wasn't working for me anymore.

This tin had sat in an un-altered state for a couple years then with the Alcohol Inks in a haphazard ugly fashion for at least another year.

I was finally inspired enough to do something about the eyesore.

I think it turned out really cute. Just because it's utilitarian doesn't mean it has to be boring.

On the 4th day of Christmas ornaments

I'd like to share with you....

a favorite from my childhood days.

My mom made this one from a kit. My daughter fell in love with it this summer while going through the Christmas boxes from my folks house. I knew then and there it was a keeper!

On the 3rd day of Chirstmas ornaments

I'd like to show to you....

an ornament I painted to celebrate our new white kitten. We got her a couple months after we got married. A short time later we discovered that she was deaf. Her name was Scooter even though she never knew it. She was my baby...I took her everywhere! Seriously! I remember taking her to DQ and sharing an ice cream with her...in the car, of course.

On the 2nd day of Christmas ornaments

I made this recycled CD ornament for my husband 2 years ago as his Chiristmas card. It worked double duty as an ornament.

12 days of Christmas Ornaments

I wanted to share some of the ornaments on our tree. The vast majority of the ornament's I've made, are from my childhood or hold some other significance in our lives. There are a few "filler" pieces but hopefully I'll weed those out over time.

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On the first day of Christmas I'd like to share with you...
the first ornament I ever made. This God's eye ornament was made in VBS (vacation Bible school) MANY, MANY YEARS AGO!

When I got married...nearly 16 years ago, my mom passed along several of my favorite ornaments from my childhood. A couple of these will be shared during this series.

Glass Bead Magnet project

For December, UHU sent me some glass beads, magnets and twist & glue to create some more glass bead magnets.

These glass beads were about 1/2 the size as the ones I had previously used. It was fun finding different words and pictures to use with this size.

Go check out the other design team members magnets as well on the UHU blog.

Simple Christmas cards

These are so easy!! I punched some scrap text that had been painted with various shades of green. I drew a circle around a yogurt cup then ran a bead of UHU twist & glue around the circle. Place the punches around, tie a little bow, attach with more UHU twist & glue and your done!

I think I like the gingham bow the best...

Bracelet for a friend

Not being Catholic, I had to look up what the medal meant when I found it. It's called the Miraculous Metal.
Here's a little blurb from the site I looked it up on.

There is no superstition, nothing of magic, connected with the Miraculous Medal. The Miraculous Medal is not a “good-luck charm”. Rather, it is a great testimony to faith and the power of trusting prayer. Its greatest miracles are those of patience, forgiveness, repentance, and faith.

The hummingbird also has powerful meaning in her life.

I hope she likes the colors I've choosen.