Crochet Christmas Holiday Light Bulbs

I took a break from my Christmas Stars to work on this new project. It's been fun to make and I have more ideas to make my own version some time in the future. They're easy, don't take a lot of yarn, and can be made to any desired length. I finished mine in two days and they are now hanging in my dining room.

I found the free pattern: Amigurumi Holiday Lights at The Dapper Toad. She put sweet little faces on her lights which I love but I wanted mine to be simply the bulbs.

There is another version by a creative being that I want to try too: Christmas Light Tutorial. It's a free pattern also.

Now, I'm going back to work on my Christmas Stars.

Enjoy!

The Practical Use of Talent

Edith Schaeffer said of the "practical use" of talent:

". . . it may be helpful to consider some of the possibilities all of us have of really living artistically, but which are often ignored. People often look with longing into a daydream future, while ignoring the importance of the present. We are all in danger of thinking, 'Some day I shall be fulfilled. Some day I shall have the courage to start another life which will develop my talent', without ever considering the very practical use of that talent today in a way which will enrich other people's lives, develop the talent, and express the fact of being a creative creature." (The Hidden Art of Homemaking, p33)

My mother and the women of my family were not always aware that they lived creatively everyday, practically using their talent in the day-to-day moments --- but they did in many ways that inspired me while growing up. They were wonderful teachers of the "hidden arts" of everyday homemaking ARTS by their example and by giving wonderful instructions in these arts. They continue to inspire me to this day. I am so proud of them and blessed by them.

My new project "Winter Stars" - once again inspired by my mother's creativity (her vintage crocheted ivory Star she made for me some years ago, my white and gray stars):

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have a WONDERful holiday season and Merry Christmas!

Find my Posts of Christmas Past here!

Beautiful violin by Lindsey Stirling - What Child is This?



"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus,
for he will save his people from their sins."

Matthew 1:21

May You Have A WONDER-filled Christmas Season

It beginning to feel a lot more like winter in our area -- colder with the possibility of snow. I'm adjusting to my new work schedule and I'm finally beginning to feel comfortable with my new job responsibilities -- so much so that my daughters and I are making some hand made items and art. Also working on plans to open our own etsy shop in the Spring. More about that later. Right now, it's beginning to look to look a lot like Christmas!

Here in our home the beginning of Advent turns us towards a time of reminiscing, reflection, anticipation and celebration. I love the Advent season, both the magical side of Christmas with family and friends but also the spiritual, which are inseparable for us.  I enjoy the change of season and bring out special books, music, and decor to point to the "reason" of our holiday season. We've begun our Advent readings for this season which is our way of focusing and meditating on Christ throughout the holidays.

Decorating has started. The day after Thanksgiving we put up the tree, stockings are now hanging by the fireplace, and the wreath is on the front door. A list of our favorite, traditional baked goodies are listed in their special order with home made Peppermint Bark at the top of the list. It was made right after Thanksgiving so we could have a special treat while putting up the decorations. Memories of loved ones and events of the past years are a loved topic of conversation, mingled with both happiness and sadness. Photos and photo Christmas cards are be sorted and organized for display. We have so many that I'm making a new display board this year for our ever growing collection.

While all the excitement builds with the expectation of a brand new holiday season, our minds and hearts yearn for the meaningful, satisfying reasons for celebrating the season. While we can't perfectly, completely understand or explain everything about Christ coming as a baby in the manger, we celebrate because He is THE baby born in a manger that night long ago, He is THE provided sinless, sacrificial Lamb who came to redeem His people from the bondage and guilt of their sin. That God became man to come looking for us so we could be with Him again, to love us when we hated Him, to take away our sin and to give us His righteousness, to set us free from the power and control of sin, to make me His own when He could have rejected me as I deserved -- is a marvelous WONDER far greater than I can fully comprehend. This is a WONDERful time of year!

Here are some links about Advent and Jesse Trees for varying age groups and other resources:

List from my home education blog: New Advent & Christmas Resources I've Found
RCA: Jesse Tree Family Devotions Advent 2011
Advent Devotional 2008
Pastor Randy Booth's Advent Readings
Celebrate Meeting Jesus
Mary, Mary Mother of Our Lord by Nancy Wilson Femina blog
Artcyclopedia's Advent Calendar
Go To Bethlehem and See...
Advent Calendar
Full Homely Divinity Advent Calendar
Love Blooms Bright
BBC Radio Bach Christmas Calendar
Medieval Advent Calendar
Simple Mom: A Simple, No Frills Advent Calendar
Half Pint House Jesse Tree PDF
Jesse Tree: Calendar Daily Activities
Jesse Tree: A Christian Family Celebration of Christmas
Our Jesse Tree
Jesse Tree Project 2008
A Big God For Little People Seven Christmas Eve Meditations
Advent Readings: Book Review

Last year I posted a list of of some wonderful, artful Advent calendars to make.

I wanted to share an image of three 1950's vintage Christmas gift tags I've scanned. Each measure 1 x 3 inches.

 

These are free images from my personal collection. They are free to download and you may use them in your art only, NOT for Sale on a Collage Sheet or a CD.

If you use these mini Chrismas tags for any personal art or art projects for sale, please, make a reference back to me here at my altered heART works blog May You Have A WONDER-filled Christmas Season. If you use them I would love to see what you make. :-)

ENJOY!

Our countdown begins. May you have a WONDER-filled Christmas!

Is there anyone there? from FLN on Vimeo.

“Unto Him who loves us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever! Amen."

Revelation 1:5–6

Applesauce Cinnamon Ornaments

Nothing smells like Christmas to me as much as cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. It brings back memories of Christmas at my Aunt's house when our whole family gathered together. Memories of -- the smell of her Pumpkin Pie and the smell of a real pine tree, memories of relatives' voices and chatter of conversations from different rooms (some quiet, some NOT so quiet), decorations glistening in the twinkling lights on her real Christmas Tree, all of us young cousins excited and impatient, and Grandparents to kiss and hug. One special time of the year when my whole family was together. It's been many years since we were all together because not all my family is here any more so memories of those times are important. The aroma of cinnamon filling my kitchen helps bring back those special times and does its magic to create new memories for my own daughters and family today.

In the past years we have made Applesauce Cinnamon Ornaments. I still have a few of the Gingerbread Men ornaments we made a couple of years ago but most have broken and been used in simmering pots so we're going to make more. They make wonderful hand made gifts too or for adding on a package. They can be made into stars, bells, snowmen, Santa, reindeer or any shape. We used cookie cutters to make ours.

The aroma is so good you'd think you could eat them but they are NOT edible. Nothing toxic in them but just not tasty and not good to eat.

Applesauce Cinnamon Dough
4 oz. cinnamon
1 T cloves, ground
1 T pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup applesauce
2 T white glue

Mix all dry ingredients then add to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Depending on the amount of liquid in the applesauce the dough can be too wet or too dry. If too wet, add a Tablespoon at a time of the dry seasonings. If too dry add a Tablespoon of applesauce, a little glue. I found it to be different each time I made the recipe depending on humidity but I usually had to add more dry ingredients rather than adding more applesauce.

Roll out and cut shapes. I used waxed paper (also can be rolled between two pieces of plastic wrap) to roll them on and sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on the wax paper first before putting the dough down. Let dry several days, turning over frequently to prevent curling.

Walk fast in snow,

In frost walk slow;

And still as you go,

Tread on your toe.

When frost and snow are both together,

Sit by the fire, and spare shoe-leather.

~A Devonshire Rhyme~

Enjoy!

Freebies For You - Vintage Christmas Card

Having a new job has certainly limited my time for art and with the Christmas season arriving shortly I wanted to scan and add another "Freebie For You" now while I still had the time. Last year I uploaded three vintage Christmas cards and a post card from my personal collection which can be viewed by clicking on the links below:

Vintage Christmas Card number 1

Vintage Christmas Card number 2

Vintage Christmas Card number 3

Vintage Christmas Post Card

The image below is one of my favorites of the traditional Christmas red and green:

 

A few of the cards have hand written notes on the inside and are dated in the 1950's so these cards are approximately 50 to 60 years old. Click on image to see large version.

This is from my personal collection. It's free to download and you may use it in your art only, NOT for Sale on a Collage Sheet or a CD.

If you use this card for any personal art or art projects for sale, please, make a reference back to me here at my altered heART works blog Freebies For You - Vintage Christmas Card

If you use it I would love to see what you make. :-)

ENJOY!

Freebies For You - Vintage Christmas Post Card

This is a vintage post card from my personal collection, one my grandfather gave me:

It's free to download and you may use it in your art only, NOT for Sale on a Collage Sheet or a CD.

If you use this vintage post card for any personal art or art projects for sale, please, make a reference back to me here at my altered heART works blog Freebies For You - Vintage Christmas Post Card

If you use it I would love to see what you make. :-)

Merry Christmas!

Freebies For You - Third Vintage Christmas Card

Now, for more traditional red and green, a third Vintage Christmas card freebie from this group:

 

a festive red and white striped Candy Cane with holly and greenery:

This is a free image from my personal collection. It's free to download and you may use it in your art only, NOT for Sale on a Collage Sheet or a CD.

If you use this vintage post card for any personal art or art projects for sale, please, make a reference back to me here at my altered heART works blog Freebies For You - Third Vintage Christmas Card

If you use it I would love to see what you make. :-)

ENJOY!

Freebies For You - Second Vintage Christmas Card

The second image I'm sharing is from the group of soft, pastel blue and pink colors:

A lovely vintage Christmas tree:

I've also included an image of the card's message on the inside:

These are free images from my personal collection. They are free to download and you may use them in your art only, NOT for Sale on a Collage Sheet or a CD.

 If you use this card for any personal art or art projects for sale, please, make a reference back to me here at my altered heART works blog Freebies For You - Second Vintage Christmas Card

If you use them I would love to see what you make. :-)

ENJOY!

Freebie For You - Vintage Christmas Card 1

I selected the first image that I'm sharing from this group of cards that have a soft, pastel mint, celery, aqua, teal, and light gray blue with ivory, gray and brown tone.

This little child with the animals is my first favorite of the group. 

This is a free image from my personal collection. It's free to download and you may use it in your art only, NOT for Sale on a Collage Sheet or a CD.

 If you use this vintage Christmas card image for any personal art or art projects for sale, please, make a reference back to me here at my altered heART works blog Freebie For You - Vintage Christmas Card 1

If you use it I would love to see what you make. :-)

Enjoy!

Vintage Christmas Cards

A couple of summers ago I found and bought a bundle of vintage Christmas cards at a garage sale for fifty cents. They've been stored in a box with some of my old post cards until recently. Now they're spread out all over my dining room table. I've been going through them, sorting them some what by color and I hope to share some of my favorites as "freebies" here at my blog in the next few days. A few I hope to use in some projects if time allows.

Dust of Snow

The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
~Robert Frost~

Applesauce Cinnamon Ornaments

Nothing smells like Christmas to me as much as cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. It brings back memories of Christmas at my Aunt's house when our whole family gathered together. Memories of -- the smell of her Pumpkin Pie and the smell of a real pine tree, memories of relatives' voices and chatter of conversations from different rooms (some quiet, some NOT so quiet), decorations glistening in the twinkling lights on her real Christmas Tree, all of us young cousins excited and impatient, and Grandparents to kiss and hug. One special time of the year when my whole family was together. It's been many years since we were all together because not all my family is here any more so memories of those times are important. The aroma of cinnamon filling my kitchen helps bring back those special times and does its magic to create new memories for my own daughters and family today.

In the past years we have made Applesauce Cinnamon Ornaments. I still have a few of the Gingerbread Men ornaments we made a couple of years ago but most have broken and been used in simmering pots so we're going to make more. They make wonderful hand made gifts too or for adding on a package. They can be made into stars, bells, snowmen, Santa, reindeer or any shape. We used cookie cutters to make ours.

The aroma is so good you'd think you could eat them but they are NOT edible. Nothing toxic in them but just not tasty and not good to eat.

Applesauce Cinnamon Dough
4 oz. cinnamon
1 T cloves, ground
1 T pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup applesauce
2 T white glue

Mix all dry ingredients then add to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Depending on the amount of liquid in the applesauce the dough can be too wet or too dry. If too wet, add a Tablespoon at a time of the dry seasonings. If too dry add a Tablespoon of applesauce, a little glue. I found it to be different each time I made the recipe depending on humidity but I usually had to add more dry ingredients rather than adding more applesauce.

Roll out and cut shapes. I used waxed paper (also can be rolled between two pieces of plastic wrap) to roll them on and sprinkled a bit of cinnamon on the wax paper first before putting the dough down. Let dry several days, turning over frequently to prevent curling.

Walk fast in snow,

In frost walk slow;

And still as you go,

Tread on your toe.

When frost and snow are both together,

Sit by the fire, and spare shoe-leather.

~A Devonshire Rhyme~

Lovely Advent Calendars - Inspiring Projects

We've started getting ready for Christmas and are enjoying putting up the treasured decorations, some of which have been around for a long time and the same for years. This year we've started with the indoor decorations first. At last it's snowed, our first real snowy day. It's also got very cold, so cold I don't know if we'll get to any out side other then the wreath on the front door. The tree in the living room is finished and a small Advent tree is on the shelf next to it. Boughs are across the fireplace mantle and stockings are hung. Our olive wood manger from the Holy Land (a gift my my mother-in-law) and Ginger Bear are on the built-in oak hutch in the dining room.  My Gingerbread Man & yo-yo potpourri basket is on the pantry counter. Christmas scented candles warmly glow most evenings and fill the air with delicious aromas. My youngest daughter is making a baking list of what she plans to make this year, starting with Peppermint Bark. Her first batch has disappeared already so she will have to make more. I've been enjoying searching online for Advent calendars. I've a found several that I really like and I'm sharing links to the projects. Nothing that I'll get to this year but they are certainly inspiring and keepers for a future Christmas:

Godelieve of StampingMathilda has made a unique and beautiful Wooden Box Advent Calendar with lovely, hanging tags and ATCs made from scrapping paper, wooden sticks, ribbon and beads. Be sure to click on the link to each day to see close ups of the individual pieces and the detailed stamping, embossing, distressing. So inspiring -- I want to make some thing similar to this some day!

I love yo-yos and scrumdillydilly has made her own yo-yo Advent calendar. She has a great photographed how-to tutorial at craftzine.

A wonderful fabric Advent calendar is made by
Anna of Noodlehead. Get the full, photographed tutorial from her guest blogger post at Gwenny Penny. She's made printable activity cards for inside the pockets and they can be printed in either color or black/white from her PDF file.

This Advent calendar project is made from an item everyone has lots of: empty toilet paper rolls. This is one of my favorites recycled items to use for crafts and art. I've also used empty toilet paper rolls for seed starters for my garden seedlings. Maya's Count Down Calendar 2010 project is made from them. She has two other wonderful Advent projects also made from toilet paper rolls: Count Down Calendar 2008 and Count Down Calendar 2009.

Another beautiful fabric Advent calendar is made by Elizabeth from my crafty mess -- she has a fabric Advent calendar of recycled old lace, bits of sweaters and rick rack -- elegant homespun, another project on my list I'd like to attempt.

Another yo-yo Advent Calendar is from Sunshine Creations with a detailed 26 step photographed tutorial.

This is a great project using everyday items found around the house. Kristy from craftastica has an inexpensive recycle bin Advent calendar made from recycled magazines, catalogs, newspapers, and brown paper grocery bags.



















So many wonderful ideas and inspiration for some thing similar next year!

Free Printable Snowy Village Ornaments

Use cardstock to print out these free templates for making three Snowy Village Ornaments to decorate. Image and template from Better Homes and Garden magazine. Registration is required to download but it is free.

First ATCs: Advent-Christ-Incarnation

I worked on these in November and December of 2006 during the Christmas season. I was thinking particularly about the incarnation and that God became one of us.

ATCs for a friend: Advent-Christ-Incarnation

I worked on these November and December of 2006 and sent to a artist cyber friend.