Our Blessed Mother Display

In honor of Our Blessed Mother during the month of May, we put together a lovely little display in our dining room  to celebrate!  I found many of these wonderful ideas at Catholic Icing.

I included the most beautiful depiction of Our Blessed Mother nursing the baby Jesus.  This is a replica of Nuestra Senora de La Leche y buen parto (Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery), Mission of Nombre de Dios, St. Augustine, Florida  For more information about America's Oldest Marian Shrine, go here.

 

 We wanted to personalize our display, so we made a spiritual bouquet, complete with handprints and photos.  Does your family have any special traditions to honor Mary during the month of  May?

Decorating for St. Patrick's Day

We are seeing a lot of green around here lately, and I am not just talking about the grass under the melting snow! St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays! Here is a peek at some of our decorations:


The Irish Blessing hangs by our front door year round:

I love to collect all things shamrock. Here is my Irish tea set:
A beautiful statue of the Blessed Mother adorned with shamrocks:
And my wedding veil with shamrock appliques. I did this in memory of my wonderful grandmother who was so very proud of her Irish heritage. I hope my girls will wear this veil some day!
We will be wearing lots of green and enjoying corned beef and cabbage, a rainbow fruit tray, and sweet shamrock pretzels tomorrow. How will you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

Valentine's Day Decorating

Even though all we can see are mountains of snow outside our windows, we feel very cozy inside our home. We were very lucky that we did not lose electricity this week! Our house is all decked out for Valentine's Day. While we have a busy weekend of activities planned, we will enjoy a family Valentine party on Saturday. Here is a peek at our decorations:










Happy Valentine's Day!

Preparing Our Hearts and Homes for Christmas, Part 5, Decking the Halls

Decking the Halls

I had most of my Christmas decorating done during Thanksgiving vacation. I wanted to enjoy every minute of the tree and all of the lights and decorations that make our home so cozy during the season. I am , however, not a talented decorator. Thankfully, my kids and husband do not mind a bit. Here are some images of our cozy Christmas home.

My absolute favorite, and the most important, of our Christmas decorations is our beautiful nativity set. It was a gift from my mother-in-law a few years ago. She has the knack for choosing the most perfect and elegant gifts. Our nativity adorns our mantle with some greenery and small white lights. Did you notice the small shamrocks? I love anything with shamrocks - it was something my Grandmother collected and used to decorate her home. I think of her everytime I look at this nativity set. I was not able to get a picture of the full set but I think this picture shows its beauty:

Our Christmas tree. The picture is complete with our little one pulling some decorations off!


I picked up these adorable cups and dessert plates through a school fundraiser. They make me want to sit down every so often and relax with a cup of tea . . . and some cookies.
A craft show find for $10:
I found this on sale after Christmas for $3.00!I hope you enjoyed my little Christmas Home Tour!

Enjoying the Holiday Craft Shows

I have always enjoyed going to craft shows at our local churches. It is a great way to support the church as well as local crafters and artists. It is also an inexpensive and unique way to decorate your home. Here are some decorations I found recently at a craft show:


Old thread spools . . . the possibilities are endless!
A beautiful Christmas candle:
Handmade candles made from a repurposed tea cup and creamer:
Handmade ornaments made from ribbon boxes and a toy tea set:
Another handmade candle made with an old tin measuring cup:

Autumn Crafting with Glitter Pumpkins

I have been inspired to make some new decorations for the house as the weather has gotten drastically colder in the past week and the daylight is getting shorter. I saw the following idea on one of my favorite blogs, http://thehomespunheart.blogspot.com a long time ago. And then this week I received a Martha Stewart daily craft idea in my email that included these lovely glitter pumpkins. I knew it was time to make them!
I purchased (using the weekly sale and a coupon, of course!) five craft pumpkins, some sponge paint brushes, Martha Stewart Glitter Glue, and Martha Stewart Glitter in red, orange and brown. I poured a glass of red wine, put on some jazz, and got to work.
I glittered the stem with brown. If I were to do this again, I would have just painted the stem brown for ease.I worked a little at a time, allowing the glue to dry.I think the end result turned out very well! I placed them on our red hutch in our dining room. My girls were so thrilled when they woke up the next morning - they love anything that sparkles! This was such an easy and relaxing project. I plan to do some more glitter projects for Christmas. The Martha Stewart glitter was so nice to work with. It is definitely not your children's glitter. It had a rich creaminess about it - I could not resist running my fingers through it:

Fall Decorating

Autumn is my favorite time of year. In Western Pennsylvania, the changing trees, crisp air, and farm fresh foods and flowers make these few months so magical. I started my fall decorating on the day after Labor Day. I do not like to decorate for Halloween but my fall decorations make the house so cozy. Pumpkins, autumn leaves, wreaths and candles set the tone in our home. Here is a little peak at what I have been up to.