What will you be eating on New Year's Day?!

I have spent the day getting ready for my New Years Day Meal.

I am not superstitious,  but why take a chance~wink wink~

I am sure the tradition of eating certain foods isn't only a Southern "Thang", but I do imagine the foods are different in other areas of the country, and, yes, the world.

At my house, Momma always made turnip greens, black eyed peas, hog jowl and cornbread.

A few years back, I was astonished to find that cabbage was an acceptable alternative to turnip greens after all those years of chocking down those yucky greens!

So, can someone explain to me WHY I cooked turnip greens, today!! 🤤

I did buy a head of cabbage,  you know, just in case!

While I don't like turnip greens, I do love cooked turnips, and I cooked some today as my treat!  That is another of those food memories for me.

Surprise,  surprise, right??😉

I cooked a big pan of hog jowl to add to my turnip greens and to the black eyed peas.

On New Year's Day, I will make a skillet of cornbread, and maybe yellow rice to make my peas into hoppin' john...oh yum!!!

I also cooked a few apples, cause Aunt Sybil said to always have apples with Pork, so, I most always do! 😁

I thought I would share a bit of the history of these foods, in case you wondered why these foods are often eaten on January 1.

The tradition of black-eyed peas for Southerners is believed to have originated back during Civil War times when Sherman's soldiers raided Southern homes, taking virtually all of the food and burning the crops, but mostly ignoring the fields of black-eyed peas, because they thought them to be food for the livestock and of no value otherwise. As one of the few food sources left to sustain the people and the southern soldiers, those black-eyed peas came to represent good fortune.

The black eyed peas (any cowpeas, really) represent coins. In olden days 😁😂🤣, a coin was placed in the peas to be found. I don 't think that would be a good idea, in this day and age.

The greens represent paper money, and the cornbread represents gold. Eating these foods is thought to bring prosperity for the year.

I need to see why pork is eaten--maybe another symbol of wealth??...

Y'all hum the JEOPARDY theme while I go look...

Dum dum dum dum....

Ok...pork is thought to symbolize posperiety, because pigs root forward!

Who knew!

But, don't eat chicken, cause they scratch backwards! 😲

Yes, this is fun, and I know we all need some fun in our lives.

Logically, this can't work, but there is, in my opinion, some truth to this belief.

I believe in the power of positive thinking.

I know the feeling of hopelessness.

If eating a certain food can make one BELIEVE something good is going to happen, what does it hurt??

I believe we find what we seek.

So, Y'all know what I will be eating on New Year's Day!

Also, know that I am claiming every blessing that will come my way in 2018.

I wish, for us all, that we will CELEBRATE each day as it comes, and to cherish the moments and the people in our lives.

I hope we will CELEBRATE the things we have in common.

May we offer the same grace that we will be given.

Let's laugh more and whine less.

Let's accept the flaws in others, cause, honey, we ain't no perfect specimen!

Let's help others when we get a chance.

Listen to that small, still voice.

God has given most of us good sense, so Let's use it! We will help the others the best we can --bless their heart! 😉

Let's make time for each other...for the things that matter.

Wipe from your vocabulary, "I don't have time." We do EXACTLY what we want to do!

Practice Random Acts of Kindness.

Think of others and practice kindness and hospitality.

LOVE yourself.

LOVE yourself!!

LOVE yourself, so you can love others!!

You are an awesome creation  molded in the image of God.  That is how special you are.

You ARE LOVED.

Thank YOU for crossing my path. Maybe we don't see eye-to-eye on things, but we can learn from each other...maybe to just cross the street, but that is ok, too. 😉

Thank you for the words of encouragement you have given to me. I hope you know how much it means to me.

I hope to be better, because of YOU.

Now, Let's CELEBRATE LIFE!

Happy New Year!

I am simply blessed to create~charlotte♡

Bloom and PAINT in 2016

I am pretty sure that most people know by now that my word for 2016 is BLOOM.

I  never realize how many people I talk to regularly, until I start to do something like this!  

A few months ago, I started playing with the Mixed Media line that DecoArt introduced a bit ago. I LOVE the colors and techniques I am learning.

I am certain I will never leave my "traditional" painting, but I thought I would try to use the techniques together. 

I painted this small 4 inch square canvas during my learning process and thought that I wanted to keep it.

As I was thinking about my WORD of inspiration for 2016, I looked at the canvas and knew this would be my word--BLOOM.

The crazy idea of painting ornaments happened by accident, and painting 56 in a week was cra-cra and I thought sure I was a "blooming idiot"! I could use at least 50 more! 

But, it has blessed me in ways I never thought. I didn't do it to gain glory, but I really wanted to encourage some close friends to BLOOM! We all have our moments of needing a gentle push sometimes.

SO...here is how YOU can paint this.

Blogger won't load my pictures from the computer, so I had to re-do them...heavy sigh...

Gather your DecoArt Americana paints:
Lamp Black
Snow White
Antique Maroon
Deep Midnight Blue
Avocado
Fresh Foliage
Turquoise Blue
Raw Sienna
Dark Chocolate
Marigold
Ice Crystal Glamour Dust
Gesso
Duraclear Satin Varnish

Base the surface (front and back) with 2 coats of Fresh Foliage

Put the following colors on your pallet:

Fresh foliage, turquoise blue, Antique Maroon, Deep Midnight Blue, Avocado.

Take a small stencil brush and pounce on Avocado

Then Deep Midnight Blue

Turquoise Blue

Antique Maroon...you can pounce your colors together as much as you like...

Take a piece of plastic mesh (used for screen windows) and scrub Fresh Foliage and Turquoise Blue on top...the texture is lovely!

This, to me, is what gives the ornaments much of their beauty.

Shade around the outside with Deep Midnight  Blue. Thin Snow White and add 5 or 6 flowers using a 10/0 liner.

With Gesso (or just white paint, but the gesso gives more texture), draw the center of your flower close to the left edge and add petals--I used a #4 round. When the gesso dries, paint with Snow White.

Shade around the petals with Raw Sienna

Paint the center with 2 coats of Raw sienna. Thin this and add lines on each petal. Shade the left side of the center with Dark Chocolate. Gently dry brush Marigold on the left of the center followed by a tad of Snow white. Outline each petal with thinned Lamp Black using your 10/0 liner. Add dots of Lamp Black and Margold to the center with your stylus.

The lettering is simple. Use the 10/0 liner and write BLOOM. Go back to each letter and add "triangles" to the ends and make one side bigger on your rounded letters...see the picture...color in these triangles/circles. I added a thin line of Snow White to the letters as a highlight.

Shade around the flower with Deep Midnight Blue.

Paint 2 coats of Ice Crystal Glamour Dust on the backs and finish with 2 coats of DuraClear Varnish on the front and back. I will be adding Magnets to these...NOW...who will get the next 2?

I hope that you ALL will live 2016 in FULL BLOOM, but just take each day, one step at a time and do the best you can! If you paint one, let me see it!

I  wish BLESSINGS to you in 2016...~~charlotte♡