Fa La La La LOVE Duck Tape®!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Duck Brand® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Duck® Brand tape has been around for years and has a million uses as we all know. We also know that they have created awesomely fun prints and colors to really spice up your decorating.

But did you know they now have a Holiday printed Duck Tape®?????

 

Ho, Ho, HO,....Oh Yes they do! They have festive polka dots, whimsical reindeer, and my personal favorite  Candy Cane!

As soon as I saw the candy cane, I imagined me making giant candy canes out of cardboard and wrapping them in the candy cane print. Not only would they look super cute, but they would be weather proof as well and that is a win-win in my book.

 

Here are a few other ideas I came up with for holiday decorating with Duck® Brand Holiday Prints:

1. Cover paper mache ornaments, either entirely or make cut-outs with tape and adhere them to the ornament

2. Make those awesome advent chains we add to and then hang on the tree

3. Wrapping our presents, the ones NOT from Santa! He probably has his own special brand of Duck® Brand prints!

4. Gift Tags-tape two sections together and just add the name in permanent ink.

5. Snow balls! Give each child their own set of non-melting snowballs to use inside or out when they get bored over Christmas break. Just wrap 4-5 paper mache balls  in the Duck® Brand print of thier choice and let them have at it!

6. Cover picture frames in your favorite holiday print and give them as presents.

 

My kids, even my 13 year old boy, love Duck® Brand Duck Tape® because they have choices that make everyone happy. So if you get stuck (hee, hee) on what to buy for stocking stuffers this year, look no further than Duck® Brand!

 

Check out thier Facebook page for fun and ideas. I did and I couldn't help but "Like" them! Plus you will see so many projects you will have to "like" them too.

 

Happy Holidays and happy taping!

 

 

Go Tell it on the Mountains!

Hello my sweet, lovely, FEARLESS women! Yes, today is No Fear Friday, where you can lay your burdens down and get a Pick Me Up from the Lord! He is so good, in so many ways.

When was the last time you told someone how good Jesus has been in your life? Sometimes in all the bustle of life we don't stop to think about the daily miracles that He speaks into our lives.

I woke up this morning. That is a minute-by-minute miracle.

He numbers my days and only He knows when my last breath will be. When I stop to remember that I usually have a more calm and productive day.  If it were my last day, would I want it to be a day where I lived in fear? Heck NO!

 A place to start  realizing God's miracles in your day is to write it down! Start small, like I have a house, food, all of the obvious goodness He bestows. As you exhaust what will seem like obvious goodness, you will have to search deeper to what we think is less obvious but really it will be more rooted in God's goodness woven in His creativity for your life then you ever thought possible.

So once I have my list, wouldn't I want to tell others about the goodness of the Lord? Heck YES! Because really, if the Lord has blessed you, why are we afraid to tell someone? We tell everyone we know about the awesome bargain that we got at Sam's club? Now really, will the 20 rolls of toilet paper for $2.00 change someones life?  I think I can safely say no on that one.  Will being introduced to a saving knowledge of Christ change their entire life and more importantly, their life in eternity?

Profoundly.

The fear of telling someone about the Lord is a fear of not being like everyone else, being called a Jesus Freak or worse. Really it is just plain fear of rejection. Being rejected is being told we are not good enough, not worth hearing, not worth anything.

The Lord has helped me overcome my fear of rejection in small steps. It started with Him making sure that I know my faith. That is the foundation of overcoming any fear. Know what you know! He had people come into my life that have made me have to tackle hard questions and find well-reasoned answers. If you don't know, go find out. Do not be afraid to say, "I don't know all the answers, but I will find out for you if I can." But make sure you find the answer if you can, it benefits you and ultimately them when you pursue the truth.

Ask people if you can pray fro them. This is a great one to open the lines of communication to the others about Christ.  Someone will usually come into my office and start to complain about something. I listen and then I try to find an opportunity to say "How can I pray for you in this?" I have never had anyone say "don't bother praying for me". They are a bit shocked sometimes but ultimately I get a prayer request from them and then I pray about it.  Guess what? God shows up and they will then come into my office, days or weeks later and say "Man, have you really been praying!" and they will proceed to tell me how the situation has changed.

Guess what again? They will now ask me to pray about another situation that has been weighing on them. As I pray for them, I pray that the Lord will provide times when we can go deeper in conversation about Him.

He always obliges.
And a thread of trust begins to form with that person and more of their hurts and life begin to come out and afford more things for me to pray about. That is when I usually ask to pray WITH them. These are my most precious times when I can participate in prayer with someone struggling. I love to pray for people, but there is something intimate about praying WITH someone. I think because when we pray we are put into deep communion with the Lord at that moment. By praying with someone, you have helped intimately link their arm through the Lord's and have started a lifeline to the Savior.

He asks us to participate in telling others about Him because the miracle is not just for the other person. He will work a mighty miracle in your life just because you faced that fear and spoke up for Him.
He will more than be capable of taking care of the rest for that person, but do not be afraid to be the person that starts to thread the needle.  He guides the needle and thread and will make a beautiful piece of artwork with your life.

My challenge to you this season is to start the thread. Study your bible first and foremost. Get into a Bible study if you don't know how to study the bible. Check with churches to find out what is available.

Then ask God for opportunities to tell someone something about what the Lord has done in your life. Ask Him to make you aware of the opportunity (sometimes I was a bit dense in the beginning) when it comes up!

Then pray. Pray for to overcome your own fears. Pray for open hearts to receive.

Pray.

And so continues the tapestry God is weaving to spread His Son Jesus through out the world.

Always being renewed,

Please see the link party page to see where I link arms with those blissfully beautiful bloggers that host every week. So gracious they are along with these other sweet ladies!      

 

 

Wood Gift Tags

I told you I was a crafting fool a few days ago, you can see my drop cloth holiday swag and felted sweater trees by clicking on their names. If you have visited, stalked, or dropped by my blog then you should have a sense that I love wood. I like to make things with old wood.

Since I had a few old pieces laying around I decided to make some large, uh GIANT, gift tags out of them.

And then it just kind of morphed into some tiny tags. Too Much Fun, I tell ya'!

Well, here they are. Tell me what you think? 

Holiday decorations

I thought I'd share some photos of how I decorated my house this year for Christmas. I was getting a little tired of the same old decorations and really more tired about the same way I have been decorating for the past few years.

Anybody else get in these ruts????

So I challenged myself to think outside the garland and mix it up a bit. But here is the catch. I only wanted to use what I had or at most spend $30 on new additions.

I know. Tightwad. But I usually do better when I have to use very little money. I don't know, personal challenges get my creative juices going. See my Drop Cloth Holiday Swag for $0! Somehow frugal works for me.

I hope you enjoy. I will try to take you through as if you were visiting me! So first up is the little entrance between the double front doors and the inside door.

 

My son collects Nutcrackers and I got this one on clearance at the end of the 2010 season for $17. So I saved it for a year and gave it to him last year. So worth it to see his face when he got the biggest nutcracker of his life.

               
I sprayed some branches gold from an old tree we took down two years ago and added them in several places around the house this year.  I know crazy to keep branches but I know myself and I knew these would be used in some capacity. And this year they got used! They add lots of needed height here since we have 10-12 foot ceilings in our house. Everywhere. So I usually have to fill up a lot of visual space in a creative way.

Welcome to my Foyer!

My new free mantel! This might be the single greatest addition to the house, especially for decorating purposes. It is so nice and wide and my rustic $5 Goodwill box got some new greenery picks along with the addition of my new $5 felted sweater trees.


I added a grouping of artichokes swags that had been attached to a tiered candle holder to the front of the firebox. It added just the right amount of spark to my candle fireplace

I used pine cones a lot this year since I thought keeping the decorations on the natural side would be easier and less expensive. The gold branches started the theme and I really see why so many people like this look.




My mirror wall got a few pine cones and ribbon

                      
This is the easiest project and only will cost you the price of 3 picks. I did this last year and I still love the look for doorknobs. All I did was lay the picks so they fanned out and then I wove the gold ribbon through the pick end and finished them with a loop to hang.  A few doorknobs got this little decoration.

Lets go to the Living room shall we?

the mantel and an eyesore

Yes you spotted the eyesore! (I hope you thought this was the eyesore and not my mantel!) But hey if you must live with a ceiling fan for a while longer while you get funds to redo the LR, then make it work! Some mercury glass bulbs and chocolaty ribbon make it look delicious.

I found this piece of wood on a stroll to pick up my daughter from school. It has been a great addition to the house. It held tiny white pumpkins for the Fall. 

I couldn't put my vintage fan and camera away for the holidays. I just love them so much that they had to stay and become part of the display.

I love using really well done faux greenery. It holds up from year to year and it looks real. Plus as we head into the Dining Room yo will see that it is useful in filling up your branch mantel.

When we moved into this house it had a mantel piece that clearly was not original to this mantel and must have been added. Why the top piece was missing is beyond me but the piece they added was hideously curvy and did not match. When we repainted the DR and I re-did the mantel, I just never put it back and filled it in with Styrofoam and those branches again. I thought I'd replace the top someday but everyone seems to love these branches so it has never been repaired. I bought 5 picks and then cannibalized (meaning I buy larger picks and then break them apart so I have more to use) two other picks I had in my stash to fill in the base of the branches. I added some green bulbs and love how it turned out. Last year I had hung bulbs all over the branches but I think I am liking this change.

The glitter bulbs look fantastic at night.

 We will return to the LR to see the rest of my son's Nutcracker collection. We are in desperate need of a bigger shelf I can see!

Wire three picks together again and add a ribbon and you have some quick and easy greenery for lamps. 

I do a little bit in the Kitchen but not too much because lets face it, it will just get covered in flour and sugar. Just a pick with some bulbs added on the doors.

To the powder room:

Not too much here but a quick way to highlight art or mirrors is to cut a few sprigs of faux greenery and wire together and yes, you guessed it. Add a little ribbon bow. When I wire the bow to the greenery, I leave long ends of wire that I let hang down behind the frame. This lets it "sit" on the frame without falling off.  

I know it is time to leave but I wanted to show you my sweet twig sleigh that I rescued from the trash man. I just added a berry garland I had laying around and this is where I now keep all of my beautiful Christmas cards

And I could not forget to show my Nativity.....

Where is the baby? Come back on Christmas morning. 

He quietly is born in a manger while the world sleeps....

Before you leave, did you notice this little stocking?

I love this tradition that we started with my kids when Jake was about 18months old.  

Jesus gets a stocking and each of us gives Him a gift each year. 

I have wanted to make Him a stocking that is more befitting a King but then remember that He choose to come to us in a lowly, simple state.  

So this stocking is fitting. 

We have drawn pictures, given stickers, made snowflakes and made some promises of things we want to work on to make our characters more Christ -like. 

I imagine He chuckles and probably gets a big kick out of what we think He might like. 

I am pretty sure He just wants our hearts. 

Always being renewed,

P.S> Happy Birthday, MOM!! I love you!

Please see the link party page to see where I link arms with those blissfully beautiful bloggers that host every week. So gracious they are along with these other sweet ladies!