All posts by Guest User

Decorate your holiday home with a literal family tree

12/09/2015 Guest User

Aunt Sally is our family’s Martha Stewart. She makes magazine-worthy seven-course meals using artisanal ingredients from her decorative garden of edibles just for fun, and her house is filled with beautiful, handcrafted items that she whips up in her free time. (This is only slightly hyperbolic; she gets her organics from local farmers.)

Last week I was admiring her Christmas decor on Facebook, and one particular piece caught my attention. It was decorated with photos of her ancestors — an actual family tree! I thought it was such a lovely, thoughtful addition to the holiday home, so I asked Aunt Sally to share with us how she made it. And in typical Aunt Sally fashion, she agreed to do just that!

Aunt Sally presents:
How to make an Angel Tree

Aunt Sally's "Angel Tree" — Aunt Sally’s “Angel Tree”

In November 2014, I visited the Over the Moon Vintage Designer Market in Lawrenceburg, Indiana with a friend and saw an issue of Jeanne d’Arc Living magazine. It included an article featuring some lovely handmade, primitive ornaments using vintage “flea market finds” photographs. During the same time period, I was developing a Victorian Christmas Ornament hands-on project for Hillforest Victorian House Museum in Aurora, Indiana. All of a sudden, I knew I wanted to create a vintage-inspired Christmas tree for my personal office that featured “my angels” — all of my grandmothers over time for whom I had photographs — and include Victorian scrap angels and vintage glass ornaments and garland.

I decided to make “my angels” in two different styles. One, inspired by Jeanne D’Arc Living, would include letters and documents on both sides and feature a free-form look with torn photo edges and a simple wire for hanging. The other would be a formal portrait utilizing existing photo frames, scans of Victorian scrapbook frames or photo “carte postale” folios from the craft store. Both styles would be embellished with glitter, ribbon, pearls or crosses as well as a label on the reverse with the grandmother’s name and birth and death dates. A “Family Tree” Angel Christmas tree.

The finished ornaments all range between 3.5 x 4.5 inches or 3 x 4 inches, depending on the photo, document or photo frame.

Suggested Supplies

Jpg/pdf photo files to print or photographs to photocopy

Letters/documents to print or photocopy

Photo paper, matt finish

Glue

Ribbons, cording

Extra Fine Glitters or Microbeads (gold, silver, white)

Decorative ornament hooks

Photo folders, paper photo frames

Decorative papers (scrapbook, wrapping)

Wire

Pearls, beads, crosses, charms

Small pliers

Bead pins (gold or silver, to attach beads)

Labels

Small hole punch

Paper cutter

How to make the Jeanne d’Arc-inspired ornaments

Print the selected background documents, trim to the desired finished size and glue wrong sides together. Print the photo (I used only sepia or black & white images) large enough to yield an image approximately 3-by-2.5 inches when torn. Tear the photo’s edges, and glue the photo to front side of the document square.

Hole punch both top corners for wire and the center of the lower edge if adding a pearl or a cross. Glue glitter or microbeads on all 4 edges, front and back. Set on a cup or glass to dry.

Attach a wire handle by tying each end at the top hole punch. My finished wires are about 4 inches, not including the wire loop knots.

If adding a lower bead embellishment, insert bead pin in bead/pearl and form a small loop at the top of the bead with the pliers; thread wire through hole punch at lower edge of ornament and attach bead. For crosses, just wire directly through hole punch.

How to make the Formal Portrait ornaments

For purchased Carte Postale folder

Print your photo and trim to fit into folio opening. Punch one hole in the center of the top for decorative hook.

For printed Victorian scrapbook frame

Print a Victorian scrapbook frame in color or sepia. Print photo and trim so there is adequate room to glue around portrait image and adhere to back of frame. Print a selected background document or select a decorative paper to trim to the desired finished size, and glue to the back of the scrapbook frame. Punch one hole in the center of the top for decorative hook.

For photo with included frame

Print your photo with frame and trim to appropriate size. Print a selected background document or select a decorative paper to trim to the desired finished size, and glue to the back of the photo. Punch one hole in the center of the top for decorative hook.

Finishing your portrait ornament

Glue glitter, microbeads or cording to Carte Postale or scrapbook frame opening or around the edges of your photocopied picture frame. Glue ribbons and bows on the front as desired, and attach other small items (small photos, pressed flowers, etc) and a label to the back side of your ornament. Attach decorative ornament hook.

Thanks for sharing your crafting wisdom, Aunt Sally! Do you have a favorite DIY holiday decoration? I’d love to feature it here!

blessings, Prayer

Praying for more tomorrows {a guest post}

05/15/2013 Guest User 3 Comments

Hello, lovely readers! I asked my sweet friend Brook to share a little about her son with you today. And here’s what she had to say —

I can hardly describe Gabriel to you. He’s too close to me: My very heart.

I can tell you that close friends say he’s a spitfire and too smart for my good. I can also say he’s persistent, perceptive, funny and full of energy. He has his mama’s eyes and his papa’s smile.

He also has Cystic Fibrosis — a genetic, life-shortening, chronic illness.

We put a lot of work into keeping Gabe as healthy as possible. He eats six high-fat, high-calorie meals a day accompanied by pancreatic enzyme replacements because his body doesn’t absorb fats and other nutrients properly. He does chest clearance twice a day to keep the mucous in his lungs from settling in and creating inflammation and scar tissue. He uses a nebulizer and inhaler to thin that mucous and dilate his airways. And when he gets a cough, we ramp into overdrive to keep everything moving.

So far, so good. He’s almost exactly two-and-a-half years old.

I know that over time the symptoms will take a toll. It’s pretty likely he’ll develop CF-related diabetes. He’ll always have to focus to keep his weight up. Eventually, his lungs will have borne the burden of too many coughs, too much inflammation, too much scar tissue, and they won’t be able to support him. Whether this happens when he’s 20 or 50 is anyone’s guess. The median life expectancy for someone with Cystic Fibrosis right now is in the late-30s.

Which is amazing, really. Thirty years ago, CF kids didn’t make it through elementary school. Newborn screening leads to early diagnosis and early intervention. Modern therapies have made it possible to keep patients healthier longer. And there is amazing research being done right now to treat the disease at a cellular level, helping the CFTR protein function as it should, which keeps that mucous from getting all sticky and problematic in the first place. I’m hopeful.

And I worry. He’s my baby; how could I not? I pray (and pray) for more tomorrows. But I know he’s not mine to hold onto, not really. So in the between-times, I cherish him. He really is amazing.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation uses donations effectively and efficiently to support promising research on a number of fronts. Please consider donating. Please consider Gabriel.

May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness month, and Brook would like to see at least 30 people to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in honor of Gabe. This family is so dear to my heart. I wish you could all meet them; I know you’d love them, too. If you have a few (or several) dollars to spare this month, I hope you’ll send it to CFF.

– Nichole

National Blog Posting Month, Screen time

Let’s go out to the movies!

11/10/2012 Guest User

"Take Me to the Drive-In" by Joe Penniston. — “Take Me to the Drive-In” by Joe Penniston.

Every now and then, when I am dragging my tired bones to bed having just watched a movie that was on much too late for me to watch the whole thing, I find myself saying, “Boy, I wish I had seen that in the theater.”

Maybe it’s just me. But there are movies that I feel would have been better experienced on the big screen.

This also works in reverse. There have been times that I left the theater thinking, “Who do I contact about getting those two hours back?” And there have been times I have dragged my bones to bed thinking “I sure am glad I didn’t buy a ticket for that cinematic disaster.”

So on that note, I have a list of “Five Movies I Wish I Had Seen In The Theater.” These are in no particular order, so don’t assume what occupies spot number one is the one I most wish I had seen in the theater. Also, some of these I never could have seen in the theater since they came out before I was born, but just bear with me.

Five Movies I Wish I Had Seen in the Theater

8 Mile: Nichole and I thought about seeing this when it came out, but I was not really interested in watching a movie starring a hip-hop artist whose CD I wouldn’t even buy. That was a mistake. I caught this on FX a few weeks ago and was really impressed. I would have liked to see the dilapidation of Detroit and the final rap battle on the big screen
Blade Runner: This is by far one my favorite movies of all time, but I was just a wee lad when it came out. I had some “Blade Runner” Hot Wheels to play with when it was first released (one of which I still have) but I was probably 8 or 9 before I finally saw the movie. I can’t imagine how fantastic the whole vision would look in a theater, particularly the last 15 minutes.
Donnie Darko: I remember reading amazing reviews of this when it came out, but for some reason we decided against seeing it in the theater. Mistake. What an amazing film, and perhaps the best use a Tears For Fears song — first scene of the high school, panning from person to person while “Head Over Heels” overlays the action. That alone would have been a pleasure to see in the theater
Vanishing Point: I first saw this movie on TBS about 18 years ago. It was one of those late night/early morning viewings on a Friday night. I remember sitting there watching it; I hadn’t even checked the TV guide to see what it was. I just caught it as it was starting and had no idea what it even was until it ended. And man, what an ending. In my opinion, one of the best ever. And that car: 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T. I think I laughed out loud at the theater when I saw “Death Proof” because of the references to the car. “Vanishing Point” hits the same pleasure point as last year’s “Drive,” which leads me to the next one on my list.
Drive: The elevator scene; the fork scene; the entire first five minutes; the soundtrack. I love this movie, and someday when a theater near me shows it as a late night special viewing I will be there to watch it.

Aunt Sally presents: How to make an Angel Tree