little glittered chairs

I added some glitter to some little champagne cage chairs . . . they make wonderful ornaments.
Everything is better with glitter!

Skeleton & Elf . . .

I love the idea of the "Elf on the Shelf."  Lily has her own little elf this year, and gets so excited every morning with what her elf has gotten into . . . but I also like my little Christmas Skeleton & Elf shenanigans.  All in fun of course . . . I am very fond of my vintage Christmas elf.  

paper crane ornament

Joy . . . Love . . . Peace . . . Believe . . . Christmas

Ornament Night . . .

I think everyone had a great time . . . and everyone took home some fun ornaments.  I think we may be doing this again next week.

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

Ready to play . . .

Starting a new holiday tradition . . . making ornaments with all the kids.

Ornaments, paint, glue, jewels, button, googly eyes, markers, glitter of course . . . and whatever else I can pull out of my craft room.  It should be a fun night!

Family Journals . . .

I have been thinking about starting these journals for quite some time.  I just kept putting it off, but finally got a start on them.  I am writing in a journal for all my kids and grandkids . .  and Richard.  Eventually I will get around to personalizing the covers . . . but for right now I am just writing.  Just filling them with memories . . . thoughts . . . photos . . . and whatever else comes to my mind.  It has been fun so far,  I have decided not to really have any kind of plan with them other than just writing what comes to mind . . . and what I want to share with them.  This would probably be much easier and faster if I did it on the computer, but I want them to be handwritten.  

old books . . .

I was given a bunch of old books recently.  It was a good day to pull them out, cut them apart, and have some fun.  I am going to fold some more tonight and I want to make the trees different sizes and maybe add some glitter to them.  There is something about folding paper that I enjoy . . . and I love how these look displayed with other items.  I have some leftover pages I am going to use for paper cranes and maybe some envelopes and ornaments.   

Let the FUN begin!

Life has been busy and maybe even a little complicated lately . . . only in the sense that other things have taken me away from doing the things that I like to do and at times I get pulled in directions that I really don't like going.  That seems to get me a little out of balance . . . but I guess life can do that.  So this week . . . I have made the effort to get back to "being Clare".  That is always a good thing.  Even better . . . Thanksgiving Break . . . a whole week off from work!  

Let the fun begin!

Shabby Charlotte Doll . . . Olive

A new little Shabby Charlotte doll . . . to celebrate Autumn!

Olive is a special little doll with an amazing spirit.  She likes to stay busy and finds joy in everything she does.  She loves to be outside . . . she likes a good cup of coffee, homemade cookies and jumping into a big pile of autumn leaves. 

She loves to walk and she picks up little bits of nature wherever she goes, such as acorns, seeds, and dried flowers . . . they remind her that beauty is all around us, to find joy in the simple things, and to take a lesson from nature - it does not hurry, yet everything gets accomplished. 

My favorite day at work . . .

  

Happy Halloween!

Dia de los Muertos

I'm not sure when I became fascinated with this custom.  I'm sure my fascination is tied into how much I enjoy Halloween.  But I have enjoyed Halloween for years . . . for as long as I can remember really.  My interest in Dia de los Muertos has come about more recent.  I love the colors, flower and other decorations, and the whole idea of why people create altars to honor their loved ones.  Last week Richard and I went to see a local Day of the Dead art exhibit.  It was small . . . but we really enjoyed it.  Well, I really enjoyed it . . . I don't think Richard necessarily would have gone without me, but he seemed to enjoy it because I did.  We were lucky enough to have the director walk through part of the exhibit with us and he explained who some of the altars were made for and gave us some more information on some of the artists.  

Day of the Dead