Celebrate the Light

Keeping up is tough, especially this time of year. It seems like there's just not enough time to do everything. Sometimes you just have to let go and realize you can't do everything. It's just not possible. I always have a running list in my head of all the things I want to accomplish and of course a few written lists around the house. Somehow instead of things getting crossed off, the list just seems to keep growing and getting longer.

I hope that you can take time to slow down and enjoy the gifts that surround you. Not the gifts that you're getting Christmas morning but the gifts that are present in your life everyday. I know this time of year can bring mixed emotions for some people. I pray that you can focus on the Light, that was brought to this dark place, long ago in a lowly manger.

More Chipmunk Fun

That last picture of the flying chipmunk was captured while spending hours watching the critters enjoy the new feeder I put out. I laid the window down and Blanca and I just sat and enjoyed. It was wonderful fun. I couldn't seem to pull myself away and I took a ton of pictures.

Wordless Wednesday (Flying Chipmunk)

Christmas Cards

Have you sent out your Christmas cards? I haven't even come close yet. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do this year. I love to send something handmade or at least cards with a photo I've taken.

I thought I would share what I did last year in case there's someone out there still searching for an idea.

This is a great way to use up scraps of paper or even old cards. You just need pretty patterns and colors. You can choose a theme or go completely random.

1. Cut your paper into long strips. It doesn't matter if it's perfectly even or not. 

2. Apply glue to one side of your strips of paper and overlap them. 

3. Glue them down onto a thick piece of paper or old card.

4. Once all the layers are glued down cut out the shape of a triangle. You should be able to get quite a few out of one piece. 

 5. Keep repeating the steps until you have enough triangles as you do cards you want to send out. 

Finally you just need to attach your triangle to the front of a card and make a tree adding a trunk and a star at the top. You can get as creative as you want with decorating your tree. Have fun with it!

Tidbit Tuesday (for the birds)

Once all the leaves have fallen off the trees things look and feel pretty lifeless. One way to bring life back during this season is to feed the birds. They are in a hurry to prepare for the cold weather. It's so fun to watch them. It always brings a smile to my face when I drive home from work and see a scurry of critters running and flying to hide, leaving the feeders swinging violently behind.

If you don't have a bird feeder or you just want to add another one, use a basket. I got that idea from my husbands Aunt in Vermont. Just look around your house for a basket that you don't use often and get some durable string and tie your basket from a branch or a stand of some sort.

One day I spent hours watching the critters enjoy the basket. Of course every time I would move to take a picture they would fly away. It's been hilarious to watch the squirrels to try figure out how to get up there. This stand was here when we moved in and the previous owners put metal on the bottom to prevent the squirrels from climbing up. It seems to work pretty well. They have resorted to hanging out under the feeder and catching everything that's dropped.