Spring Has Sprung

I thought I'd post this photo of the Mothers Day gift I made my mom last year. It may give you an idea for a handmade gift. Mothers day is in 6 weeks so it's plenty of time to come up with something special and lasting. I love flowers but they don't last unless you give some for the yard.
This is a trio of paper mache boxes that I painted in spring colors and with little painted embellishments. The bottom two boxes can be utilized for storage. The top box is filled with soft delicate greens, tiny flowers, and a small electric candle light with a silicone bulb. It has an on/off switch inline so you don't have to plug and unplug the light. Be sure to seal the boxes well to help when you dust it lightly. I think it makes a wonderful accent light for little vignettes. Maybe it could be placed on a night table or inside of a display cupboard.
If your mom likes a particular flower you could incorporate that into the display or a particular color to go with her decor. Inside you could tuck a handwritten note or some vintage family photos for some added memories.
Happy Spring and Have a blessed Easter ♥ Dawn
1 Peter 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...

I have had this wonderful wooden hinged basket lid for a long while. The basket was tattered and is being used to store craft items in. After looking at it and never quite being sure what to do with it I decided to paint it. I woke up about 2 in the morning and drew out my idea. I wanted to do something a little special for the horizon so I added a pineapple. This is my own design. There are a few things I'd do differently the next time I paint this but I'm pleased that I did it. Sometimes those moments early in the morning are the most rewarding. I don't know that anyone else will think it would look nice in a home but I'm looking forward to working on more things like this.
Have a blessed week and thanks so much for looking!!
Dawn

Spring Memories

I love love love to look through the local secondhand stores for unfound treasures. One of the big thrills for me is to find something that invokes special memories. I remember moving things around and seeing these small rainboots in our Goodwill. I quickly picked them up and flashed back to wearing similar rainboots as a little girl.
I remember waking up before school and hearing the rain softly tapping the windows letting me know that I would get to wear my favorite boots. I'd grab my brown lunch bag, my shiny raincoat, my most favorite bubble umbrella and splash my way up the street wearing my boots. During the brief walk to my school on days like that I don't recall hearing the dogs barking, friends voices as they raced hurriedly to school, or really even thought of the day ahead of me. I was insulated a bit from the biting wind that swirled around me snapping the bottom of my raincoat against my legs. I'd watch the condensation form on the inside of my umbrella and wipe a spot to see thru as I walked. It's a wonder I didn't walk into mailboxes or stumble face first into the ditches lining the road because I would study the drops of rain as they slid gently down the umbrella. I thought how lovely it was that something that I believed fell from heaven landed precisely on me. It felt special.
The smells as it rained are still a special memory for me. How would I describe that precious fresh aroma that danced through the air during the rain and give it justice? The newly damp smell of the rain splashing onto the gravel and as it wound between the rocks had it's own unique smell. The unmistakeable lift you would feel as you walked past a yard full of newly blooming lilac bushes and freshly mowed grass. It fills your heart♥ It was a simple time and I look on it so fondly. I'm grateful that despite the many many years since I slid my eager socks into the rainboots...I still smile at the beads of rain streaming down the windows. The fragrance of lilacs even now gives me such joy.
I wanted to share this idea for a display with each of you. I added some pretty flowers inside of each boot. I also want to rejoice and eagerly welcome the spring that is just around the corner. I wish many beautiful new spring memories for you all!!
Blessings, Dawn

Handpainted folkart closet doors & switchplate

I had painted a switchplate years back and had the perfect place for it in my master bathroom. After realizing that I had limited space to paint what I wanted to on the walls, it came to me that I should paint the blank closet doors. I based them in an very light warm yellow and then went to work painting in the panels. I saw a perfect frame for each panel so I gave it a black frame and a medium sage green for the "mat". The panels are not as detailed as I would like so they may be repainted at some point. It seemed like the perfect place to add a little bit of personality on the doors. They are so often overlooked.
I hope you enjoy this and that it inspires you!
Blessings, Dawn

Thanks to my APJ sisters

I wanted to thank some of my APJ sisters who made our Christmas even more special. This fall the bear who frequents our home decided to tear through things behind our home. I had our fall and Christmas decorations stored in large "durable" plastic totes alongside our back deck. For the life of me I can't figure out why on earth the bear tore threw everything. The things in the totes were smashed, chewed, stomped into the wet snow and mud alongside our hillside. I've never experienced anything like it before with the wildlife. Obviously there was no food in it so I can't explain it's behavior.
One of the APJ sisters, Libby... began to gather some other sisters and they in turn sent me some very precious fall decorations and Christmas decorations. It was such a wonderful gesture and I don't have the words to say how special that was. As I was putting up the tree this year and trying to get other decorations up... I would cry when I realized my gingerbread man collection was gone, nutcrackers gone, kids special ornaments.... on and on. I still get sentimental and sad about the losses but when I look over and see the sweetest gifts ... I realize how wonderful people are and how not ever having met me ... they really gave me the best gift of all- love for another person!
I just wish I could hug each of them and for a moment let them feel what I felt when I received their gifts!!! Merry Christmas!!

SENTIMENTAL CHRISTMAS DECORATING

I was thinking of some decorating ideas that could possibly stir up some ideas of your own. Some ideas are included in an article I submitted in the Dec/Jan issue of the Prim Sisters Gazette. There are usually many momentos that we have of our loved ones that are tucked into the back of a closet or cabinet for safe keeping. Think of the items you have in a new way. You want to have them for sentimental reasons because these may have belonged to loved ones who've passed. Think of these items as small treasures you can share with other family members who will be thrilled with the memories. Wouldn't you rather have them be physically tangible and out there to remember them by than tucked away in a box?
If you have an old tablecloth that was always on your grandmothers table...can you use pieces of it in projects for yourself as well as other family members. The warm winter shirt from your grandfather or tattered wool coat of your favorite aunt can become treasures. I know it may be hard at first to take scissors to them but bring those memories from your closets to the every day living in your homes. Turn those items into long thin stockings, minature tree skirts, table runner & pockets for tucking in decorations. If you make a fabric pocket out of something special...you can prim stain it then fill it with greens, cinnamon sticks, a vintage photo clothespinned onto the edge, a whisk or spoon they used to cook up memorable holiday meals, or maybe sew on a couple of tackle box treasures. Bring out an old tool box of your uncles and set a miniature tree inside it with some pretty Christmas greens and tiny lights. Use the skates that you or your relatives skated with as curtain holders at the top of your windows. Use the small tab at the back of the skate to attach to either side of the top of your windows and slide a long length of stained muslin or warm plaid material through the blade in the space between the blade and the bottom of the skate. Bring out special dishes from loved ones table settings and use them to display ornaments, rag balls, salt dough ornies, etc.
I wish each of you a very blessed Christmas and an extra special wish for some new memories with some old treasures!! Lots of hugs to you all!!! Blessings, Dawn

School Christmas Shoppes/Fair

It has been 9 years since my first booth at the elementary school Christmas shoppe. Generally there has been several tables of trinkets provided by a large vendor for the school district. Things like tiny footballs, plastic paperweights, small stuffed animals, pens for favorite grandpas... the list goes on and on. They have risen in cost over the last few years.
We have some wonderful staff and a sweet lady who has overseen the shoppe for the kids and allowed a few of the parents to set up small tables as well. They have included items like fleece scarves, tiny stockings with candy, carob coated dog biscuits, jewelry,cute holiday pins, hot cocoa mixes, etc. I usually have a large table and a tall picket fence to display my things on. This area is beginning to catch on with some primitive decor and a little bit of folk art so mountain/cabin theme was the general theme. I have made snowman pots, painted muffin tins, snowman and santa pins, glass bead pins with vintage photos,handpainted canvas wallets, canvas cd holders, canvas aprons, handpainted hammers, handpainted combs, fresh wreaths, handpainted signs, small plastic toolboxes with handpainted scenery on them, homemade fudge inside copper cookie cutters wrapped in holiday clear wrap,handpainted glass ornaments with roses, mountains, and cute sayings, small lights, and too many other things to list.
I want something special for the little ones to pick out for their families. The teachers, staff and parents enjoy the variety of things at the shoppe. It's not that I don't love the tiny plastic ship/pencil sharpener that our son gave for Christmas one year. He beamed when we opened it! I just want to put some thought in what is made available for the kids to use their pocket money on. I knock down my prices a lot and make things very reasonable so they can have something special and not stamped made in China on the entire gift. It is without a doubt one of the best weeks I have at the school during the year for me emotionally. Dressing up in Christmas sweaters, wearing santa hats and helping the kids walk around is so fun. I don't think a single year has passed when we haven't seen many children whose parents or guardians have been laid off...they do not have any money to spare for a gift let alone getting one for their little selves. The highlight of the week is when the moms get things together and make a very special store opened only to invited guests during quiet time. We take anything we can spare and display it on the tables for the kids to pick from. They are absolutely free of cost and the children can have as many gifts as they feel they need. They also get to pick out something special all for themselves. As I'm typing this, I can't help but get emotional. These precious little peanuts are not greedy in the least... they are reserved, deliberate in their gift chosing, never one time greedy to get it all, and reluctant to pick out something just for themselves. I saw one little boy who couldn't have been over 3 1/2 feet tall...struggling with two plastic bags full and THE BIGGEST smile I think I've ever seen. He put them down and ran back for hugs and said thank you too many times to count.
I've always counted on making a little bit of Christmas money at this show, but honestly... more than that... I have counted on my heart expanding in size many fold while seeing compassion, relief, joy, and gratitude on the kids faces. Once our littlest girl leaves the elementary school in 3 1/2 years I've asked to have an honorary booth since I won't have a student there anymore. I just can't imagine not being there for years and years to come.
I'm posting a few pics of the items I have sold over the years there. The snowman pots posted earlier are one of them. Maybe your local school doesn't have a Christmas shoppe/fair... but perhaps you could go in and ask the Principal if they know of a couple of families really struggling this year. You could even go to the police dept/ social services and ask. They won't give you specifics but enough to make something personal for their families. People often think of baskets of food for them, but maybe if you make something you could donate it and wrap it for their family as a surprise. Nothing to embarrass them... but quietly "Santa" could bless them with some handmade gifts made with some thought of them and a lot of love! Please consider this and if your heart leads you to do something...how precious of you!
Have an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving and meaningful start to this holiday season! May God bless you and your family richly!