A Hundred Dollar Holiday Tradition

A Hundred Dollar Holiday - How To Create a Homemade Christmas

In December 2008, I started my own tradition of creating a hundred dollar holiday. At the same time, I joined the ranks of Squidoo...it is a fun place to voice your opinion...click the above link to get tons of information on creating a beautiful holiday celebration for less than $100. The tradition continues.

You want to make a memorable Christmas holiday for your family but you have no idea how to do it! We will explore ways to make a beautiful Christmas memory without spending a lot of money.

I have always been a make it, take it kind of person. There will be how-to's, ideas, recipies, videos, and much more. New stuff will be added daily...so chack back often!

Please share a favorite homemade idea, your family holiday traditions, or special things you do on Christmas Eve or Christmas day in the guestbook at the bottom of the page!

"So the reason to change Christmas is not because it damages the earth around us, though surely it does. (Visit a landfill the week after Christmas.) The reason to change Christmas is not because it represents shameful excess in a world of poverty, though perhaps it does. The reason to change Christmas - the reason it might be useful to change Christmas - is because it might help us to get at some of the underlying discontent in our lives. Because it might help us see how to change every other day of the year, in ways that really would make our whole lives, and maybe our entire 365-days-a-year culture, healthier in the long run." Bill McKibbon - see his book below...read the rest of the article here...

angel art by Rebecca E. Parsons (Cre8Tiva) ...to help fund this artist's holiday--cards and matching postage available at Cre8Tiva's Shoppe

wordless wednesday...

the different ways in which needs can be satisfied...

"Besides the earth, man's principle resource is man himself. His intelligence enables him to discover the earth's productive potential and the many different ways in which needs can be satisfied." -- Pope John Paul II

in my dreams there is a banquet...and everybody i love, or ever have loved, or ever will love is there...and it is beautiful...and everyone is happy and there is enough food for each to have their fill...no one is hungry or in pain or sad...

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday...i love to get up early to bake the bread that has risen all night...and cook, and cook, and cook...pumpkin soup in tiny pumpkins i baked to the perfect golden glow...my turkey served with tiny ruffled shoes...homemade gravy and the inner parts turned into a feast for the animals...

this year is different...and i pray:

Lord, continue to fuel me with the desire to be productive...and understand the different ways in which needs can be satisfied...

pictorial essay...all photos taken this morning at sunrise...

for these i am thankful

natures' vignettes

a tiny feather in the sun

my great blue heron muse

a great splash photo

a chubby sanderling

a sunrise portrait session by the sea

rippled sand in the sun

surfers at dawn

pelicans flying low over waves

finding a perfect nautilus shell

a flock of sea gulls

colorful sea foam bubbles

haze over the ocean

watching a thanksgiving family photo session by the sea at sunrise

mostly i am thankful for the beautiful friendships i have found during the past 18 months...they have fueled my energy when i had none and filled my weary spirit with joy...you have given to me knowing that i had nothing to give in return... you know who you are and i hope you know how much i love you...and i say simply...

thanks

please read the post below about food banks and what they need this season...if you can help, please do...

Christmas Reflections and Traditions...

i have joined The Inspired Room's annual Friday Holiday Linkyyou can see other limky by clicking the link...
There is no ideal Christmas;
only the one Christmas you decide
to make as a reflection
of your values, desires, affections, traditions.
Bill McKibben*
This quote really touched something deep in me. I hate to admit it, but 2009 has been a very tough year and I have been feeling really down, disconnected, and not my joyful self...I do not like to whine too much, because I have a beautiful and full life...so when I contemplated the above quote, I realized that it is exactly what I believe and bring that makes a holiday joyful...not feeling sorry for myself...




St. Francis Preaching to the Birds - Giotto
So what am I going to do about my feelings of sadness...what I always do when I am too focused on self...turn outward and think of others:

Your Local Food Bank Needs You

This holiday season, consider the possibility of making your dinner a food drive; you can ask your guests to bring canned goods, in lieu of house gifts...Have a neighborhood food drive with your children - make a flyer and pass around this weekend and pick up Monday and deliver to the food bank...

Food banks are really suffering this year...because of the economy, many more people have had to call on thier local food bank for help...if you have any extra money or canned goods...stories like this abound this year...please help if you can...

Hoffman, 55, is one of the growing number of "nontraditional" food pantry clients across the country. They include more formerly independent senior citizens, more people who own houses and more people who used to call themselves "middle-class" — those who are not used to fretting over the price of milk.

"We're getting calls all the time from people who want to know how to get here," said Kristine Gibson, community outreach manager at the Stockton food pantry. "And when I ask where they live, they give an address of a nice neighborhood, one where you or I would want to live."

No matter what city you live in, and no matter what newspaper you read, you have probably seen a headline that says something like “Local Food Bank Donations Down,” or “Shelves Empty at the Food Bank.”

According to a recent thread on Chowhound, certain items are almost always a good bet:

Canned Chicken
Powdered Milk
Canned Tuna
Saltine Crackers
Soups
Juices
White Rice
Jarred or Canned Spaghetti Sauce
Grape Jelly
Canned Vegetables
Breakfast Cereals
Pork & Beans
Peanut Butter
Macaroni & Cheese
Baby food & formula
Pet food, for companion animals

And, of course, money donations are always welcome as well. To find the nearest food bank to you, check out Second Harvest’s Food Bank locator.

What they’ve got too much of? Kidney beans.

I will repeat my tradition a la St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis loved animals because they, too, were God's creatures. He extended special kindness to animals at Christmas. He urged farmers to provide their oxen and donkeys with extra rations of corn and hay "for the reverence of the Son of God, whom on such a night the Blessed Virgin did lay down in the stall between the ox and the donkey." At Christmastide, St. Francis scattered crumbs of bread under the trees, so the tiny creatures could feast and be happy. I am going to scatter bird seed around my tiny island on Christmas eve so that the birds, too, can celebrate...




Saint Francis' birds are fed on Christmas Eve 2007 - a new tradition launched
Read about other Christmas traditions here...

See my Hundred Dollar Holiday ideas and Hundred Dollar Holiday post....to learn more...

* Bill McKibben, author, Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For a More Joyful Christmassays, "The Christmas we now celebrate grew up at a time when Americans were mostly poor ... mostly working with their hands and backs. If we now feel burdened and unsatisfied by the piles of gifts and over consuming, it is not because Christmas has changed all that much. It's because we have." ...read article here...

metallic moods of the sea...

as an artist i am sensitive to the changes in color around me...last week the atmosphere was very blue...and the temperature was very cold...my morning photos were very blue...consequently my mood was blue...but this week the temperature warmed as did the colors and my spirit shines...the atmosphere took on a metallic glow and the following are the photos i captured...

platinum morn

golden morn

silver morn

bronze morn

copper morn

i can feel the change about my world at this time...this shining aura surrounds me and my spirit is brightened...i carry this out into the world...

Meister Eckhart wrote, "As thou art in church or cell, that same frame of mind carry out into the world, into its turmoil and its fitfulness."

ghosts and panic attacks do not make for a good night's sleep...

ghosts and panic attacks interrupted my sleep last night...yuk!!! at 1:50 am i awoke terrified, with a full-blown panic attack...have not had one for a long time now...then at 5:50 am, i was awake petting the dog, my kitchen light came on and went off...and the motion detector light came on...for some time now the light in my bathroom will turn on when nobody is in there...i joke about there being a ghost...is it a joke? or is it my guardian angel?

so i was on the beach by 6:30 this morning...it was still very dark and i walked in the light of the moon...my reflection on the wet sand beneath my feet...

6:30 am walk

the great blue heron was the only other being on the beach at this moment

i walked on in silent prayer...wanting some comfort...and i remember...when life seems to be 'falling apart' things could actually be 'falling together'...

i keep reminding myself that i am safe, and my situation is under the perfect control of Divine providence and universal order...i try to only infuse loving thoughts and emotions into the situation to ensure that the highest possible outcome flows effortlessly to and through me...adapted from Dorren Virtue

the sunrise

how big you 'perceive' a problem to be may be actually BE the problem...

When fear comes, expect the opposite...faith to rise up. When symptoms attack your body, expect the opposite-God's healing power. When sadness attaches itself to you, expect the opposite-joy to flood your being. When lack comes in, expect the opposite-God's provision. When confusion comes, expect the opposite-God's peace. When darkness covers you, expect the opposite-God's light on you. -Martin Riding

the heron on my way back down the beach...my companion in the first light of day

"In the words of an old Irish prayer: Three wishes I ask of the King when I part from my body: May I have nothing to confess, may I have no enemy, may I own nothing! Three wishes I ask this day of the King, ruler of suns: May I have no dignity or honours that lead me into torment! May I not work without reward before Christ! May God take my soul when it is most pure!" -Sacred Space

a surprise when i looked at my pictures

i had captured a dragonfly purely by Divine accident

a gift to remind me that even when i feel alone...i am not alone...

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i am expecting a miracle...

i joined the FUN-ellenge with Heather Picken

join us here:

http://summitforwomen.ning.com/page/i-create-miracles-funellenge

the journey...

dragon fly in bottom right

i awoke this morning hearing something very clearly...as if a voice was whispering "pack...for it is time to go...." i heard it...what does it mean? who was speaking to me? i am always about questions...

this morning at 6:30 am

so i went to the ocean as i do when i am off center...for i find balance there among the sounds of the waves...as i walked and prayed and allowed myself to be open to the possibilities...i felt sad, for i do not want to go...but if i must i bow to God's will...and will continue my journey with hope...

just before sunrise

i love the seconds just before sunrise when the sky and the sea have a pinkish, golden glow...i stand and face the horizon in awe...

after the sun rise

this morning clouds hung low over the horizon...and the sun played peek-a-boo with me...

a shrimp boat with the morning sun

the colors changed to purples and mauves as the sun made its way higher in the sky...my mood lifted as it rose...for how can one remain sad when you are in the midst of such splendor?

i do not want to go...but if i must...i must...i have been blessed to be in this magical place for nearly 10 years now...truly blessed...

happy birthday aimee at creative flutter ...she is having a birthday giveaway to celebrate...today is the last day to enter...this little fellow is for her...

wings...

"Find the wind that takes you where you want to go and your wings will take you there." -Arturo Mancheno (a comment on facebook)

i have been working on feather-inspired angels this week...this is the progress of the trio...these are part of my spiritual explorations as i believe the artist is a spiritual explorer...these angel paintings and prints will be available in my etsy shop soon...

hope (detail) - 2009 12 x 23-1/2" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

faith (detail) - 2009 12 x 23-1/2" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

love (detail) - 2009 12 x 23-1/2" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

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i just had to share this morning's sunrise with you...it was magical...the colors divine...these and the angel paintings will be available in my etsy shop soon...

lila tueller is having a fab giveaway here... one of her jelly rolls...