Going Giftless for Christmas??

It's hard to imagine a Christmas without gifts in the modern day of credit cards and 90 days no-interest offers. Maybe we've heard stories of decades ago people not having a gift to give or maybe have witnessed homeless families who've had nothing to spare for the holidays. But most of us are accustomed to arriving on Christmas morning, bearing gifts for all.

For many of us, our time and energy for the holidays is spent gathering gifts in seemingly equal measure for everyone we know. From baskets of food gifts with a keepsake token to over the top extravagances of the latest, greatest technology, gift giving at the holidays can burden families. Many feel they "should" give a gift to all the people who touch their lives, and for every family member who arrives on Christmas day.

Sure, some families have instituted limits, either monetary, or by drawing names, or playing gift exchange games. In my experiences, these ideas don't work. There is always someone who says, "well, I want to buy a gift for everyone," or they break the rules of the game and buy a gift for YOU while you did not reciprocate. Or the worst situation, trying to find a $20 gift for someone you only see at the holidays and don't really even know what they like. Just talking about it breaks me out in hives.

So this year, I shared an idea with my niece and we're both gung-ho about it. Instead of exchanging purchased gifts this year, we are gifting our time and attention to our extended loved ones. And really, isn't that all that our family wants from us anyway? I was surprised how easily my niece adopted this idea. She's a young college student; so, I thought she might pout when she realized her Christmas loot is not going to be as large as years past. But she embraced the idea readily and even is presenting it in one of her class projects.

It's not really the same as going giftless, as my title suggests. It means putting some thought into how to share of yourself with others. Here are a few ideas I've come up with.

• Spend an afternoon watching Christmas movies.
• Get together and make an easy supper.
• Teach someone how to knit.
• Help decorate someone else's Christmas tree.
• Go caroling.
• Play in the snow.
• Brush up on your scrabble game together.
• Share a glass of wine by the fire.
• Host a reading of your favorite Christmas poems.
• Take family portraits by the hearth.

The idea is to do things that you enjoy and will make memories. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time remembering what I gave everyone last year, and I imagine they have forgotten too. But time together is something that we all really want and is itself, a gift.

Now I realize this idea doesn't work for all. Of course we will still be giving our own children a gift. But we are taking the focus of Christmas off of the gifts and putting it back into sharing our love with each other. And you'd be surprised when the gift buying doesn't take all your time, you suddenly have the luxury to spend it doing these activities together.

How about you? Is this something your family would enjoy? It's a 180 for ours, but I think I like it!

Tips to Spruce Your Porch for Almost Nothing!

Holiday decorations don't have to take a bite out of your wallet. Here are a few easy tips I've used to make our house festive and welcoming without breaking the budget.

Rely on nature's bounty and color. Snip cuttings from your landscape materials to adorn your home. Here are a few plants that make lovely arrangements, particularly outdoors where natural shedding does not make a mess. Gathering can be a fun learning experience for grade school children, too.

• Holly bushes
• Juniper and Cedar
• Magnolia
• Pine cones
• Lantana
• Ornamental Grasses
• Hydrangea Blossoms
• Seed pods of all kinds
• Boxwoods and other waxy evergreens
• Berries of all kinds and colors

You can spray paint your gathered goodies for a more formal appearance, try white instead of silver or gold! Or use them naturally to create a bucolic, festive scene.

Place inexpensive blankets and pillows on porch furniture. I keep my eyes open for inexpensive items at clearance warehouses and resell shops. If they don't withstand the harsh winter weather, they are not a big investment, I can replace them. For example I got this fleece blanket that is an odd color but works with my antique skis at Old Time Pottery for $5. The pillow I got at Goodwill for $2.

Lighted garland can be expensive. But I bought plain garland and twisted light strings into it myself, saving more than half the cost of pre-lit. I store it with the lights on it each year in plastic bins. I've used this garland and lights going on 7 years. If you like a fuller garland, just add some of your natural finds to it with florists wire and then snip the dried material off before storing.

Create one pizazz piece for the porch. Mine is the antique ski arrangement. I got them from a friend's antique store that was closing, but you could do a similar arrangement if you have skis in the garage, or a child's sled. They don't have to be old to have charm. You could even use a jig saw and make a pair of "faux skis" from 1 x 4 pine from the lumber store. Then just screw them together in an X shape. Hot glue a green styrofoam block in the center. Cover the block with moss and then add a few florist pics of greenery. I happened to have the metal sign that said Season's Greetings. You probably have something extra in your holiday stash to personalize your arrangement.

The best part about creating your holiday decor instead of purchasing it is your porch can portray your family's unique personality. And you will welcome friends for the holidays without breaking your piggy bank!

7 things you may not know

Vicki at Hogscald Holler, tagged me and well, I usually don't do tags, but you know she is a friend, like in the real world and all, and I love her. So, I'm doing it. Sort of.

She says I'm a Kreative blogger and gave me a logo to post too, but you know it's Christmas and well, I like all my doo-dads to look coordinated, I know, pitiful excuse, still....

I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about me you don't already know. Do you think there are 7 things about me you do not know? I doubt it. But first I will tell you something about Vicki you probably don't know ha ha! She lives in a certain location on Beaver Lake that is well known as a hippie hideout. Not just any hippies, naked hippies. No! I am not kidding. They love to show off their stuff up there on the bluffs (the hippies, not Vicki) and boaters like to drive by and watch them. Okay, well now you know.

And about me:

1. I never was one of those naked hippies up there at Hogscald Holler.

2. But I know a few who did, do, are.

3. I am not telling their names.

4. I would not say they are attractive people.

5. I think that is one thing they enjoy about it.

6. I'm thankful for my sense of modesty

7. Cause I find it all a little unsettling.

Now you will be glad that I also don't follow the rules and tag 7 more people, because now you don't have to tell any secrets about yourself. Unless you just really want to, then by all means, I'm not one to tell you that you can't participate.

Just for heaven's sake, leave your clothes on please. And thank you.

On Creating and Such.

I've been reading a book Steve bought me called "The New Creative Artist, a Guide to Developing your Creative Spirit". I think this is the kind of book which frankly, I would have skipped over in the bookstore. But I've thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

It seems almost like a level one text book for art students. However the "revised expanded edition" is chock full of examples and quotes and sidebars filled with activities and lists to peruse. It's an easy and interesting read for someone who likes to scan the page. Take in the meat as you are able to digest, so to speak.

It goes through a couple of chapters on defining creativity and discussing the merits of practice and observing the world with the eye of an artist. And then the author, Nita Leland, takes us by the hand into the scary world of how to draw. Then on into the principles of design, where she draws from one of my old textbooks, "The Art of Color and Design". It's a book that is excellent for beginning artists and a solid reminder to those who are more advanced. There are more chapters which I haven't read yet, but will.

Mostly, it has ignited my thoughts. And isn't that what any good book should do? And it has helped me further shape my ideas about what it means to be an artist. And now I am going to get on my soap box and tell the world a few of my ideas. Uh hum!

First of all, I've always thought, and now more deeply so, that creativity is not something you are born with or without. I'm sure if you know anyone who does any kind of art or craft, you've heard others say, "Oh you are so creative! I could never do that!" As though they simply are devoid of some supernatural power that others possess. But I have always thought that creativity is something we all have the potential to develop. Creativity is not a special gift, it's the result of practice. To create is an activity. Anyone can create, it just takes the time and willingness to put your hands to the task. And the more you create, the more you learn about creating. You learn how your materials can and cannot perform. You learn more about your own sense of aesthetics. And you learn to solve problems using ingenuity, which develops into deeper creative endeavors.

Now, let's talk about talent. Unlike creativity, talent is a gift. It is rare. Some have more of it than others. I have always realized that I am a moderately talented person. Now I don't see this as a put down. It's just an honest assessment of myself. I have known many people who were clearly more talented an artist or designer than myself. It was if the work flowed right out of their hands to paper, to canvas, whatever the medium. And it did not necessarily come from more years of practice than my own. I wholeheartedly believe there is a gift from above called talent and it is not given in equal measure. However, I also believe that what a person lacks in talent can be made up for in diligence. To be an artist takes more than talent. I think talent is a very small part of the equation. It also takes determination, education, observation, and a whole host of other characteristics which must be learned and must be exercised, regularly. To have talent and not the other qualities will not take you far in the life of an artist. However you can have the other qualities and less talent and still go far.

I read another book many years ago, titled, "Orbiting the Giant Hairball" and I remember a passage where the author talks to grade school children about being an artist. He said if you ask a very young class of students, "How many of you are artists?" The hands will fly into the air with enthusiasm. But if you ask a group that is just a few years older the same question, they will squeamishly look around the room and see who else is holding their hand up. Only a few will reluctantly hold their hand above their shoulder. Now I forgot what the author attributed this too. But I think it's because humans have an inner need to be accepted into a group. And anything that is not a commonality in the group may get you tossed to the curb. Creativity and talent and the pursuit of art requires individuality. It is the unique essence of the creator manifested into the work we make. And at the age of grade school, we begin to shed those parts of ourselves that we fear will bar us from the acceptance we need. So, if there is a dominant thought in the group that artistic activity is not valued, then children will disassociate themselves as artists.

Of course there are other factors that shape our notions about ourselves also, but I'm asserting that I have seen this play out in my own life and in the lives of others close to me.

So, what can a person do, who might want to embrace their artist within again? I think you start by just creating. Nita Leland suggests the same. Just take whatever materials you have at hand, and begin to make, cut, glue, scribble, and when you finish one, put it aside and do another, and another. And in time you will see a progression of ideas and problem solving and relationships within your work. You will begin to apply new materials, maybe paint or pastel or watercolor. You may even find that you have a drive towards 3-dimensional construction and begin sculpting out of paper, wood, clay, or even styrofoam.

The finished pieces may be work that only you enjoy, or you may find your work speaks to others and display it publicly. There are artists all around us. We are all artists. To be an artist does not mean we have to achieve a certain level of acclaim. It just means we make art.

So let's get our butts in gear and make something, shall we?

Photo at top of story is a group collage piece that several people worked on in a collage class I took a couple years ago.

Never Fail Pumpkin Pie

Here's a pie recipe that has never failed me. It's the one my mom uses and I think my grandma did too.

2 cups of cooked mashed pumpkin, ( I use canned)

1 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup evaporated milk (milnot)

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup water

This will make 1 deep dish pie or 2, 8 inch pies.

Pour into prepared pie crusts and bake at 350, time will vary according to size of pie you make.

Check after 30 minutes and bake until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Now here's a secret or two on me for you new cooks out there. The first time I ever made this pie, I forgot to add the sugar. No amount of whipped cream could make up for this tragic mistake. Another time, I did not have any pumpkin pie spice so I tried to substitute my own mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and clove and let me tell you, Gross, with a capital G. So don't forget to buy some pumpkin pie spice, it really is called that in the spice aisle of the grocery store. So while the recipe never failed me, I failed it a few times.

Most of all, try to relax and enjoy your cooking adventures. But for the holidays, I firmly suggest following recipes to a T, or else you may never hear the end of it.

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!

Have You Ever Lived in a Small Town?

Have you ever lived in a small town?

The kind of town where everyone turns out for Friday night football?

The kind of town where the produce department of the grocery store is also the place you catch up with folks?

The kind of place where you can depend on certain people sitting on their porch every evening?

The kind of place where farmer's sell their vegetables while children and dogs ramble the streets?

The kind of place where they put a nativity in the town square during Christmas and lights across Main street every year?

The kind of town where news of loss travels by phone and by the time the obituaries come out, people have already dropped by bringing food to your door?

Have you ever lived in a town where people wave and say hello when they pass you on the street, even if they're not sure of your name?

The kind of town where people leave their windows open in summer, even if they're not home?

Have you ever lived in a town where there's only one stop light.

Have you ever lived in a town where people measure how tall the canna's down by the fire house get every year?

The kind of town where homecoming parades stop traffic on main street?

Where your Sunday School teacher is also the cashier at the bank?

And the mayor is also the local grocer?

I was just wondering if you ever lived in a town like that?

Red is the New Pink!

. . . And plaid is back, if you haven't heard. I finished another plaid scarf, by request for my cousin Annie. Annie blogs! And she has the cutest family of wet-nosed, four legged creatures you have ever seen. You must visit her!
Anyway, she saw the other plaid scarf I made, and asked for one also. Of course you know me. I cannot actually do the same thing twice, so I did change the color dominance just a wee bit. I hope she likes it all the same. I learned something very important on this scarf. I learned that just when you think you know a lot about weaving, something will surprise you. So, don't look too closely because there are more than a few mistakes on this scarf. But every row was woven with love, at least that's what I told Annie. Let's just hope she loves it too.
Speaking of love. Yesterday, Steve and I celebrated 7 years of matrimony! And he sent me this lovely bouquet of red roses. He knows pink are my favorite, but well, he just sent me a bouquet of pink ones on my birthday a few weeks ago. So, apparently he doesn't like to do the same thing twice either. See! We're perfect for each other! Happy Anniversary Sweetie! I love you bunches!

It's Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Christmas.

I've been out and about, on my annual quest, in search of the cutest ornaments out there. Have you? Here's my loot so far this year. Notice a theme? I'll be decorating a little tree in the kitchen this year with holiday sweets! Just what this girl needs.
It all started with this guy. Is he about the cutest baker you ever saw? Look! He made us some gingerbread cookies!
And if you could only see how tiny these sweet cupcakes are. I bought them from a friend who was selling them at a craft show. She obviously has OCD, poor thang! But much to my benefit!
This seems to be the year of the cupcake, had you noticed? And Santa and Frosty are certainly willing participants in the cupcake craze. Except for the handmade beaded ornaments, I got all these lovelies at Hobby Lobby. I got them on sale half-price. But look for their online coupon if they are back to regular price this week.
How did this little cupcake get in here? She can hardly wait for the decorating to begin!

Speaking of baked goods. I'm not making them this year. Nope! Not A Gonna Do It! So to make my home smell like Christmas I decided to splurge on some smelly goods from Yankee Candle. How about some Christmas Cookie candles to warm the kitchen? And I like the Apple Wreath Room Spray for that fresh fruit-basket smell. I use a faux tree in my house, but there's no need to miss the aroma of the real one, because I'm stocked up on Cedar and Balsam plug-ins. I got all these goodies at Bed Bath and Beyond, but you can find them anywhere that sells Yankee Candle Goodies. (Some links contain coupons gals!)

That's my plug-in for the day. Now go get your Christmas stuff out of the attic, 'cause the clock is already ticking!

What a Difference a Year Makes

This is the maple on the side of our house in 08.

This is the same maple in 09.
This is the maple in front of our house in o8.
This is 09.
You know I don't have little ones to mark their growth on the door frame, so I record the growth of my trees instead.

I've heard a lot of people say, "Why should I plant a tree, I'm not going to live long enough to see it get big." Or they say something like "We don't plan to live here that long, so it's a waste of our time and resources." Or some even say, "We don't want to mess with the roots in our yard, foundation, sewer, we don't like trees."

Trees add value not only to your property but also to your environment and your quality of life. Planted in the right locations, far enough away from structures and plumbing, and selecting the right species for the location can make trees a non-intrusive, and low maintenance addition to your landscape for years to come.

Think of the feeling you get when you see a large colorful tree lit up by sun in the fall? Or how about the home it provides for birds and the rest from the hot summer sun that a tree can provide. Have you ever walked down a tree-lined neighborhood and felt something peaceful, something steady, something almost magic about the forethought someone had to create a row of majestic trees from just a tiny sprig of a seedling, knowing someday they would tower overhead.

Fall is a great time to plant trees, if you allow them a little time to get their roots settled before the harshest winter months hit. Six weeks ahead of winter is a good amount of time. But I even planted two maples in the dead of winter and they survived nicely. (Granted I live in a fairly mild winter climate area and we had an early spring that year. IE: I wouldn't recommend that if you live in Minnesota.)

And as you can see by my photos of the growth we gained this year, my maples will soon be providing shade and magnificent beauty to the beholder. My dear friend Denny once told me, "It is a noble person who plants a tree today to be enjoyed by others tomorrow." I don't exactly consider myself noble, but I'd say we're not going to have to wait that long to enjoy our trees!

When people used to be closer to the earth, they planted trees a lot. When we worked soil for food and had livestock that grazed, people understood the concept of putting something back in the earth that was lasting. Something that would benefit their children and their grandchildren. I think we tend to forget these ideas as we, as a society, move ourselves further and further from the very source of our sustenance. If you experience a modern day produce department of your grocery super-store, you will understand what I mean. More and more, food is presented in a way that tries to distract us from its origins. It's as though the nature that brings life and nutrition to our vegetables is thought of as dirty and unappealing. Anyway that's a tangent I will have to blog about more another day.

Meanwhile, leave the earth something that lasts. Plant a tree! You'll be surprised to see how it grows, year by year.

Family Ties

I know some of you have missed me in blogland, and some of you hadn't even noticed I've been gone. I have a confession to make. I had grown pretty bored of blogging. I lost my blog mojo. But this week I may have gotten it back.

See, when I started this, I never thought of people I actually know reading it, oh maybe a friend now and then, but my family -- probably not. They just are not the blog reading kind. In fact I figured my parents would think I'm nuts for putting all this out there for the world to see and I might attract other nuts. Of course maybe I have, but ya'll are the nicest nuts a girl will ever meet! ha!

But last week on facebook, I connected with a cousin I have not known very well in my life, Jimmy Daryl. My mom comes from a large family, you may recall, and when there are 60 some odd cousins, it's hard to know all of them. And Jimmy said something to me. In a round about way, he let me know he'd read my blog. And I suddenly remembered, oh yeah, I used to blog with a purpose. There was more to my blogging than just posting pretty pictures and gaining readers. I used to use my blog to be a voice in the world. I used to write about my relatives and the positive influences they were on me... or about the impact of just being a friend to somebody can have on a life. But I somehow got caught up in the desire to become a highly read blog.

And it worked to some degree. My numbers went up, my followers increased. I even got a request from one company to offer discounts on their product on my blog. (I don't care for their product so I said no thank you.) But the thing is, as I gained more readers, I lost my voice. The thing that made me special and unique sort of got lost in Pink Saturdays and Tablescape Thursday's. Both beautiful things to participate in now and then, but it had consumed my blog and I grew tired of it pretty quick!

And so, Jimmy, in his casual way has made me remember the thing that makes me who I am is the thing that I need to be blogging about. And that starts first with family. And of THAT, I have no shortage!

So, hopefully I will have my blog voice back now, and will be using it to spread the messages that some of you may remember me for. Like to be thankful for the family you have. And to remember the lessons of family history, families rich with people who had nothing and made something. Thanks for reminding me of this Jimmy Daryl! And yes, there are a lot of folks in my family with two first names, John Lee, Betty Jane, Rose Berry, Monty Lynn, Robert Earl, Jimmy Daryl... etc. etc. But they always just called me,

Dana

(unless my mom was mad at me and then it was always Dana Elizabeth!!)

Pictured above,

Our grandparents with their ten kids, 6 boys and 4 girls, late 1940's, on their farm in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma. That sweet little girl standing next to my grandma is my Momma!