Welcome to 2014

As a teenager the thought of saying Happy New Year 2014 seemed forever away...now it's here!  

I've never been one to make New Year's resolutions.

For years my New's Year Day activity was to be retrospective as I copied important dates like birthdays, anniversaries, deaths, events from the last year's calendar onto the new year's calendar and adding upcoming appointments...well I did not accomplish that yesterday, so it awaits me to do.  I did however, spend the day preparing and sharing a beautiful lunch with beautiful friends.  Snuck in a well-deserved nap and basked in the soft glow of our indoor Christmas lights one more night before they are tucked away to storage.

I believe as I've gotten older, most of my thoughts lean towards being retrospective...

so, whether it is just a natural process or specifically setting New Year's resolutions, I know this year

I want to spend my time, 

in more dedicated prayer and worship with God - 

Rom 12:12 - "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

To strive to be the best wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt...

neighbor, coworker and friend!

To allow more time to nurture my creative soul.

  

To be a better steward of my time and finances.

 To share joy, encouragement and inspire Hope.  

My mother use to tell me true JOY comes from living your live by always putting

J-esus first, O-thers second and Y-ourself last = J O Y.

(I miss you Mom!)

Psalms 62:5 - "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him." 

Blessings of Hope to you!

Happy New Year 2014 ~ Tami

2013 Evening Star Button Club Christmas Party - Button Gifts and Lise's Button Museum in the Making

  We held our Evening Star Button Club Christmas party at Lise's beautiful home.  Lise's home is tucked away in a forest community overlooking a ravine.
Look through these windows, you are looking into the tree tops.  Beautiful!

 We shared a wonderful holiday potluck lunch, giggles, our exchange of handmade button-related gifts and friendship.  

Lise's home was so warm and inviting for Christmas...

 

 Jennifer (top center), Tara (1-R), Pam (2-L), Lori (2-R), Lee (3-L), Tami (3-R) and Lise (bottom center).

Did you notice the AWESOME black & white button fabric scarves we are wearing?

Tara made these wonderful scarves for us!   

Tara also sewed each of us a button motif fabric carrying case that fits button-mounted mat boards with or without a frame   

Here are our other handmade button-related gifts that we exchanged

 Lise used a mirrored craft button and wrote an accompanying poem titled My Mirrored Self.
Very fitting for us button collectors.
 

Lori created each us our own button tin with a snowy outside and buttons inside (below)

 Lee decorated this Christmassy frame with of course BUTTONS! 

Our group photo is being sized to fit these frames for a keepsake ornament.

 Pam created a Friend ornament dazzled with a center rhinestone button.

Jennifer hammered old, slightly damaged buttons, joined them together and fired her own enameled head pin to create a button pendant.  I love it, don't you?

I created a Christmas ornament using the image of the 1953 December

Just Buttons Christmas magazine cover.

Each year I look forward to our button exchange gifts.

I am always delighted by them!

Well you've toured Lise's beautiful Christmas home, seen our button exchange gifts, now it's time to get a peek at Lise's Button Room...

 We are greeted with Christmas-themed buttons & pins as we top the stairs next to the Button Room

Glimpses into Lise's Button Room

Every nook and cranny, bookcase, shelf and wall offer buttons, buttons and more buttons! 

Yes, this is an entire original card of amber glass Tingue buttons! 

Worthy of drooling!!

 Lise hopes one day to have a Button Museum... I'd say her Button Room has a great start towards it.  Take a peek inside her Button Room closet... box after box of categorized buttons!

Too cute

Well it's been a long post, but I do hope you enjoyed it.

Take care, Tami

 

Handmade Christmas Gifts

Happy December 21st... only 4 more days till Christmas! 

I am still working on Belle's stocking, hoping to finish it today!

 Here are some of my handmade 2013 Christmas gifts

 My friend Linda as a little girl all gussied up as a little fairy in her fairy garden... isn't she cute!?

My handmade 1953 December Just Buttons magazine cover stocking ornaments for the

Evening Star Button Club gift exchange.

 One of my recycled, recreated, empty toilet paper roll birdhouses, en route now to someone special for Christmas.  Surprise!

Are you are still creating gifts too????

I hope I am not the only one running this late... Smile!

Christmas! Friends! Food! Crafting!

Christmas! Friends! Food! Crafting! makes for a perfect day... recently I shared my home with DEAR FRIENDS  as we spent the day crafting and enjoying an amazing Christmas Potluck lunch together.  Everyone brought their own project to work; however, I also had some easy peasy Christmas crafts available to make.

We've been working with Belle and her social manners.  She did well this day and 
spent most of it with her new buddies (Belle & Gail)

 

 Funny looking, the pink under Belle's nose is actually her new pink collar not her tongue

 Where was that?

Beth & Nora... Giggles while we work

Which one next, hum?

Oh, that's it!

 

Marj and her sweet baby girl's photo collage

Hello Lee

Karla the Master of Creating

Making pretties

Was it something like this...

My husband questioned why I was saving empty toilet paper rolls and White Oak acorn husk... because I knew they would make darling birdhouses...

Other pretties we made

A sweet hostess gift from Karla made with a doll's shoe

May you have a Merry, Bright, Beautiful, Blessed Christmas ~ Tami