Pine Cone Christmas Decor....Naturally!

Ah, nature's wonderful pine cones!

They are perfect decor items when one is going for 
SIMPLE. RUSTIC. NATURAL. EASY. FREE.

Just one? A heaping gob? 

Somewhere in-between?

I really never gave it much thought before;

but apparently I really like to use

PINE CONES

in my winter decor.

I would rather choose pine cones

 over just about anything else that brings winter to mind.

Who knew?

I have just recently noticed how often my eyes rested on

PINE CONE DECOR.

They're happily situated all through the house
so I guess (hopefully) that it isn't  total overkill too much.

I have them tucked here and there

 just quietly bringing the look of the outdoors inside......

....decorating our home with
simple little rustic touches of beauty.

Sometimes they're plain, sometimes they're painted,
sometimes they're gilded, sometimes they're glittered.

Most of the cones I used are our own from our various
 pine trees on our two acres.

(Fun times when accidentally stepping on them barefoot!)
-
We have what our neighbors jokingly refer to as
"The Christmas Tree Farm." 
I've lost count how many evergreens we've planted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just  ♥  how pretty crackle glass looks painted
with pine cones and evergreen boughs!

♫  ♪ 

"You could even say it glows!"

(quoting Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer by R.L. May)

♪   ♫    ♪  

I even have pine cones on a few dishes.

Some candle holders...............

Sometimes they're all dressed up for a special occasion

with fancy bling bling bling!

These pieces work especially well after Christmas in the winter

when it is icy cold with snow and ice outside,
but the red and green of Christmas is all put away.....

    DANCING TREE AND  PINE CONES

    A beautiful breeze touches the branches of the evergreen,
    The branches come to life as if they were dancing.

    The branches a gentle green,
    Clusters of pine cones can be seen.

    On a windy day the pine cones fall from the branches,
    Falling gently on the green grass.

    The pine cones have a delicate perfect structure,
    When you view the pine cone.

    Appears tree like,
    As if God had painted the pine cones.

    An exquisite pattern,
    Simply for humans to enjoy.

                                          ~ Written by G. Meyer-Erlach Schutz

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Mosaic Monday   *   Amaze Me Monday

Do You Hear What I Hear?

  

  Said the night wind to the little lamb,
  "Do you see what I see
  Way up in the sky, little lamb,
  Do you see what I see?
  A star, a star, dancing in the night
  With a tail as big as a kite!"

  Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
  "Do you hear what I hear
  Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
  Do you hear what I hear?
  A song, a song, high above the trees
  With a voice as big as the sea!"

  Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
  "Do you know what I know
  In your palace warm, mighty king,
  Do you know what I know?

  A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
  Let us bring Him silver and gold!"

                                                                   {source}

                

         {source}

  Said the king to the people everywhere,
  "Listen to what I say
  Pray for peace, people everywhere!
  Listen to what I say
  The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night
   He will bring us goodness and light!"

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Comments closed; Sunday devotional 

Amazing Christmas Tea Party

Oh, my word, how does one even explain how awesome

 my friend Sharyn and her Aunt Pat's

afternoon Christmas Tea Party was to attend?

It all started with an invite that came in the mail.

What a joy to have that among the catalogs and bills!

Warning: very heavy pic post

These two are just so danged cute -

 always dress in period maid servers costumes.

This time there was some festive "bling"

 added to their apron fronts!

For starters we were all given a Kir Royal.

Then we were given time for some fellowship,

then a nice bit of history/trivia about

England's Yuletime traditions that Pat read to us.

There was a test afterwards for a prize, and I actually

WON!!  : - )

I won a large Wood Wick (WW) evergreen scented candle with

one of those wood crackle wicks.

If you haven't tried one, you must - such a neat gift!

Sharyn has the most beautiful home -

everywhere one looked was something festive and beautiful!

She is so warm and welcoming.

Being invited to her house is truly special.

I just realized I didn't take a picture of her huge 

red and gold gigantic Christmas tree. Ugh, dang.

This is the gorgeous decorated chandy over the dining table.

They had two tables.

I took these before the food came out because

I was afraid I would forget once the food came.

And I mean to say my poor  pics with the low lights

don't do anything I am sharing justice - it all was

SO pretty!

The to-die-for exquisite menu:

Halfway through my soup I remembered

 I hadn't taken a picture yet, so see?

 I really DO forget!  Often!

The smoked turkey salad tarts

were topped with pomegranate seeds!

There were two kinds of scones -

plain and chocolate chip!

Everything was sooooooooooooo delicious

and beautifully presented!

But the absolute end-all-be-all surprise of the day

 was this incredibly awesome idea for a specialty dessert!

SNOW GLOBE DELIGHT!

It was a caramel and chocolate cake

 with white frosting that had shimmery dust on it

to make it look like snow,

 and a little "Santa" gnome, trees and a little gingerbread man!

The gloBe had edible snow speckles on it to look like sleet!

ISN'T THIS JUST THE CUTEST THING YOU'VE EVER SEEN?

Then to finish off the meal they provided gorgeous and 

perfectly British party "crackers" for us to break open.

They each had trivia questions, a little prize and a paper crown.

But wait - there's still even  more!

Each guest received a huge party gift bag

 with a theme to "get us started!"

It contained pretty little gift bags, magnetic Shopping List, 

tape, gift tags, ribbons, candy -

 all nice things to help us prepare for Christmas!

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Tea Time Tuesday   *   Tuesday Cuppa Tea   *   Teacup Tuesday 

WOW Us   *   What's It    *   Share Your Cup   *   Tablescape 

Thursday     

The Greatest of These is Love...

One of the most well-known verses from 1 Corinthians,  Paul tells us about the greatest things in life:

"So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 

                                                                                                                   -1 Corinthians 13:13                                                                                                                                                   NAB

When looking at this verse, it is also great to hear other translations of it.  The Douay-Rheims, for instance, goes like this:

"And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity."

                                                                                                               -1 Corinthians 13:13, D-R

Notice the subtle, but huge difference between these two.  The word charity is used interchangeably with love.  Why are these two interchangeable?  Because charity has its roots in love, and love has its roots in charity.  

When we give of ourselves, whether it be to the poor, the sick, or to anyone else, we are giving out of love.  Charity is the ultimate expression of our love for our fellow man.  For our charity to truly have an impact, it must draw its power from the love in our hearts.  If we simply give and support to charities without love in our hearts, then we are not truly giving anything.  While the time and money we give to charity will still support it, it will not have the lasting impact that it would if we were sharing our love, just as Christ did, with the world.

Likewise, love finds its true power in charity.  Charity is the act of giving of one's self without any expectation of anything in return.  When we love, this same principle applies.  Our love should be freely given without anything expected in return.  Our relationships, whether they be husband-wife, mother-daughter, father-son, or between friends, depend on the love that we share. 

Many of these relationships fail because we spend more time thinking about what we are getting out of the relationship, and not enough time on what we are putting into it.

Faith is our belief in an almighty God, and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Hope is our belief in the saving power of grace that comes from Our Lord.  While these are essential parts of our lives, love should be at the center of our lives.  Love is the foundation of our faith in Christ and the hope we find in His sacrifice.  We must share that love He has for us with the rest of the world, whether it be through our charitable giving to those in need or our charitable love to our friends and family. [source]

Remember, charity isn't limited to just giving monetarily -

it is the giving of your time and talents, too.

 It means going out of your way to be extra kind and thoughtful.

 It means swallowing pride to keep peace more often than not,

 remembering those who are hurting, lonely, poor or weak 

 those who may need a smile, need an extra bit of help. 

Just keep your eyes open to opportunities

 to spread good cheer, kindness, and goodwill this holy

 Advent Season.

 Because if you do, you will find that it is

 the greatest gift you may give yourself this year.

Hope is indeed always linked to faith, since one cannot have the faith (at least a living faith) without also having both love and hope. Infused with hope, human beings can endure even the worst of circumstances. Even though hope primarily focuses on the perfect happiness of heaven attained through the help of God, we also have earthly hopes that are related to our great hope of salvation. [source]

As we continue our journey towards the celebration

 of the birth of Jesus on our Advent calenders,

 I pray for peace, love, joy, hope and charity

 to fill your hearts this Christmas Season. 

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Comments closed; devotional