DYI Easy Ball Jar Lanterns

Well, BY GOLLY,
Thanksgiving is over - so now it's officially
Christmas Season!

♥

I thought I'd start it off sharing an easy DYI project to 

ILLUMINATE THE WAY
 to your holiday season!

EASY BALL JAR HANGING LANTERNS!

          What you need:

         *Wire cutters

         *Short sheperd's hooks

         *Economy Store cheap wire garland

         *Bag of red aquarium stones

         *Economy Store short white pillar candles

         *Extra tall/large canning jars 

          (I found mine at True Value Hardware)

Cut small sections to tightly wrap around the mouth of the jar using your wire cutters. I think mine were 5 or 6 inches - just eyeball it then cut the remainder the same length. Wrap around super securely. Then cut about a foot length and secure each end to either side to make a "handle."

Pour your stones in bottom, place candle on top.

Hang them, and then any leftover garland may be used as the "fence" portion linking them all together.

I usually detest super chintzy garland, but it really works better than the heavier wider ones in this case. Perhaps you could use the cheap garland for the handles portion and then use better fluffier (or even REAL) garland for the "fence" part - though they may not match. Always worth a try.

I burned candles twice last year - once for my annual Christmas Cookie Exchange party and then again for Christmas Eve. Change up the color of the stones after Christmas - light blue or grey/silver for New Year's Eve works nicely - adds a little more festive flair to your entertaining.

When your candles have cooled/hardened put the lids on the jars to 

keep out the snow until next time you use them, if you use your lanterns more than once. 

For safety use only the extra tall jars when burning pillar candles. 
If you choose to use a tea light shorter jars would work - but be sure to keep the flame as far away from the flammable garland as possible.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Heading on over to

 The Cottage Market blog for

  CHRISTMAS IN JARS party!

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Christmas in the Country   *   Show and Tell Friday

Inspire Me Tuesday   *   WOW Us Wednesday

Happy Thanksgiving

A joyous and Happy Thanksgiving
 to you all

We have so very much for which to be

truly and humbly thankful.

Before:

Bless us, oh Lord-  and these Thy gifts,

 which we are about to receive

 from Thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord. 
Amen. 

After:

 We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits,

 Oh Almighty God, who livest and reignest

 world without end.

 Amen.

 May the souls of the faithful departed,

 through the mercy of God, rest in peace. 

Amen.

~~~~~*~~~~~

May peace, joy, and abundant love

 be at your feast table.

God bless you now always.

No comments; devotional.

Thanksgiving Tablescape

THANKSGIVING TABLESCAPE 2014

Relatively wordless.

Hate to see autumn soon behind us,

 but with this snow and time moving fast

Christmas will be upon us in no time.

I wish you ALL the very best Thanksgiving.......

and I shall be back soon with a little bit of 

                                          Christmas cheer!

Linking:

Tablescape Thursday

3 Homemade Cards

I make cards all the time

 and have never thought of posting about them until now.

I wish I would have thought to take pictures of some

of the better ones I have made over the years- 

but I guess it's better late than never to do so.

These are the three that I made yesterday.

~~~~~*~~~~~

This one is to wish a friend a Happy Thanksgiving:

This one is for one of my tea friend's son and his new bride

 just returning from their honeymoon:

And this is for a sick friend:

That's my simple little post for today.

Stay warm, cuz baby it's cold outside!

As always, thanks for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Share Your Cup

Thinking of You....

Thinking of my blogging friends today

wishing I had more time with you and for

more time to post, more time to catch up,

just more TIME to do what I love!

There is never enough time to do all  we wish to do, is there?

But it's ok, right? I'm not complaining.

It's a blessing to have a roof over our heads

and our tummies full of food.....

And getting pretty flowers from a sweet & caring friend.

I have so much in my life to be thankful.

And it is most wonderful
 to have special friends
to enjoy very special moments together....

....And to be surrounded by pretty things
 that bring special memories to mind.

I am tired, and very busy but also very happy, as well....

I'll leave you with this empowering quote I found recently
 and played around with PicMonkey to help it fit this season:

I have a final Autumn/Fall Thanksgiving tablescape
 to share later this week and then it is on
 to bring up the Christmas holiday boxes!

I can't wait! 

We had our first heavy snow yesterday 
(look at yesterday's post to see the beauty.)

That snowfall sure got me into the holiday spirit!
Even if it is too early!

As always, thank you for visiting!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Tea Time Tuesday   *  Teacup Tuesday   *   Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Home and Garden Thursday   *   Friends Sharing Tea

First Snow of 2014!

Look what we woke to this morning!

Isn't it gorgeous?

Here's the back yard -

 all I did was simply open our back door

to take this pic.

It was so warm last week,

 see the forming buds on the bush below? 

Yikes.

By the time I took a pic

 of the front yard it was snowing again.

And the plows had just come through - sure wish I'd have been faster, just moments

before it was pristine and untouched, except for a few tracks on the cul-de-sac of

tires going to work, like my hubs'.

Somehow my Harvest Blessings mailbox flag

 looks out of place now.

It's funny that it and the remaining leaves

 of the little tree in front are the only real bits of color.

Winter leaf-bare trees with clinging snow is a sight to behold.

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Mosaic Monday   *   Amaze Me Monday

Romeo Kitty - Office Assistant

My hubs took this pic from his phone camera this morning

of our patient kitty cat Romeo waiting for the office to open!

Sorry it's so grainy and poorly lit, but he's just so CUTE!

I just had to pop in and share!

♥

Believe it or not this pic it isn't in black and white!

Our home office is light grey, white and black - 

and Romeo matches it perfectly as if I had planned it as such!

I use a large heavy antique white painted wooden dresser

 to hold most of my office supplies.

It has a matching mirror too but I just use this large black one

at this time for the room. We have a modern sleek vibe in here

and the girlie fancy mirror doesn't work as perfectly.

My youngest daughter's fiance gave me this awesome dresser.

I LOVE it and it is deep and wide and holds a ton of stuff!

To the left you get a tiny glimpse of my metal storage boxes

from Decor Steals - perfect for a black and white office

and perfect to hold things like my digital scale!

The huge black box you can only kinda see on the left

is a painted wooden box that houses the kitty litter -

so it have dual function - which is always good.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Rom really likes his new rug from Joss and Main!

He's made it his own, naturally.

Cat fur, life as we know it. : - )

Yes, I really DO share my office with kitty.

(I am lucky he allows it, after all it is his domain he is a CAT!)

Anyway, lots going on to share with you,

 but doing some travelling this weekend - so see you soon!

Have a truly wonderful weekend.

Make it a good one!

♥

As always, thank you for your visit!

~Michele

This Tom Turkey Fits to a TEA!

Hello my sweet friends!

Popping in for a quick visit to share yet another wonderful gift

 I received for my birthday in October.

So now that it is November it is perfect timing

 to share my adorable new turkey teapot!

Isn't he just a CUTIE?!!??

My dear sweet tea sister friend Pam gave him to me

 when I spent my early October birthday weekend in Indy.

(I know I haven't shared all that with you yet but life has been crazy. Sorry)

He is an artisan handmade stoneware 

pumpkin turkey teapot -

talk about a perfect gift!

I cannot believe all the detail on him!

The only other turkey I have is one my  mother gave me

over 20 years ago, the last Thanksgiving she was with us.

Some/most of you may remember I share him last year.

It's a tribute to my sweet Mom. ♥

I had a really cute little turkey tureen last year but I sold it.

This was it's finial on the lid handle.

Downsizing is bitter sweet.

As always, thank you so much for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Tea Time Tuesday