On the ELEVENTH Day of Christmas, Sunday, December 21, 2014

I shared on my Facebook Page today that we don't usually have a White Christmas in Middle Tennessee.  The last one on record was in 1974, but we have had snow on Christmas, just not much!  I laugh because it seems that no matter HOW WARM it is on Christmas Day, the weathermen always put a 30% chance of mixed precipitation...This year is NO different...it is to be 43 and yes, we have a 30% Chance of mixed precipitation...not sure WHAT it will be mixed WITH...

The only kind of snowmen we get are ones we paint, so I decided to show you how to paint a snowman that is VERY quick and Easy...I did the frame and painting in about 30 minutes.  If you are not used to painting, you still should easily be able to do it within one hour.

Burlap is so popular, that I had bought these burlap boards...turns out they are NOT easy to paint on, so this project is perfect.  I used a frame that I had gotten at the thrift store for a couple of bucks, so all in all, this is a CHEAP project also.

I used those CHEAP brushes that you get in CHEAP packets...some call them chip brushes...they will probably shed as you paint, but no worries, when it dries, brush them off.  You will need one fairly decent liner, but if you get one of those cheap packets of brushes for about $5, then there is one in there that will do.  I have gotten some pretty good basecoating brushes out of those cheap packages, so you just never know!

Gather your supplies: I use DecoArt Americana Paints because they are WONDERFUL quality.
 Frame
Burlap Board (or wood or canvas)
candle, optional
Larger flat Brush
2 chip brushes
1 liner Brush
White Paint (I used Warm White)
Orange Paint (I used Canyon Orange)
Brown Paint (I used Milk Chocolate)
Red Paint (I used Santa Red)
Black Paint  (I used Lamp Black)
Treasures Chalky Finish Paint (you can use whatever color you wish for the frame)

A Note before we start:
I used the Chalky Finish Paint in Treasure, which is a Turquoise-type color.  You do NOT have to used Chalky Finish Paint, but I love how easily it sands off and the matte finish it leaves.  Also, I often use BLUE to Shade my snowmen, but you could EASILY use another color such as Brown or Black...There are NO rules...Painting should be a reflection of WHAT YOU LIKE!!

If you choose, place wax  randomly around the frame before you paint it.  This will allow the paint to sand off easily in spots.  Paint with the Treasure Chalky Finish paint.  Set Aside to dry.

This is what the burlap board looks like.  It is 8 x 10.

This is the chip brush that I used.  AS you can see, it is a size four...not too big, not too little...JUST RIGHT!

Load the brush with White and draw your outline...The head is basically a half circle...IF you don't feel comfortable free handing this, then use a plate...a dessert plate would probably be about the right size....Go ahead and do the outline for the nose too...come on...you can do it!!

Paint the nose white.  It will take quite a bit of paint.

 

 Paint the head next.  I just poured a blob of paint on the head and brushed it in because it takes quite a bit of paint...now don't go CRAZY with how much paint you squeeze out...about a quarter size at a time is enough.

Load a VERY SMALL amount of the Treasure on your brush and add it to the edge of the snowman's head and around the nose.  When you have finished this, wipe off as much of the Treasure as you can on a rag and then add more WHITE to the brush and go back over it to blend the blue into the white...

With the same brush, Paint the nose Orange.  I have it turned upside down to paint the bottom side.  I added JUST a tiny bit of Brown to ONE EDGE of the brush and placed THAT EDGE on the edge of the nose and painted around the entire nose...this is called shading.  It does NOT take much paint at all.

I wiped as much paint off of my brush with an old rag as I could and then loaded a TINY bit of Red.  THEN I wiped as much as I could off THAT paint off and then lightly painted in my cheek.

I switched to a little better brush that the bristles didn't flare out so much to paint the eyes and mouth with Black.  If you are new to painting, you might want to use a round brush to do this...it REALLY is easier with a better brush, but this ole gal is tough and liked the challenge...BWAH!!  After I painted the eyes and the mouth, I used my hair dryer to dry the paint because you don't want your eyes to turn GREY when you add the white.

I switched to my liner brush to add the eye details with White.  You will notice that I place a line of the LEFT side of each eye and then just made a CROSS and then an X on top of the cross, and a DOT to the center where the lines intersect...in other words, I made a SNOWFLAKE for the eyes!  I then added a white line to the top of the mouth and 3 dots to the top of the cheek.  I added the snowflakes as described for the eyes to the empty place on the canvas and then just some random dots and NO, mine were NOT round...it doesn't matter!!

The last thing I did was to add JUST a touch of the Treasure under the mouth and on the outside RIGHT side of the eyes...do NOT get this dark...I used a DRY chip brush to do this...

The frame has dried while you we were painting our snowman, so to finish, I just sanded over the paint to remove some of the paint to make it look primitive and wiped it off, place the canvas in the frame and THAT is IT!!  What an EASY and GREAT gift to give to a friend!!  

It may not SNOW at my house, but really, this is the BEST snowman EVER because I was able to paint it in a WARM, DRY home!!

I wish Blessings to YOU today...~charlotte♥

On the TENTH Day of Christmas, Saturday, December 20, 2014

I’ve just about covered all types of Christmas moments…best, favorite, funniest, but I guess I have to share my WORST gift.  I hate to share it and give the impression that I am not GRATEFUL, but I have to share the lesson I learned from it.

I wrote yesterday that my brother went to Vol State and got an apartment with some friends.  I also have to tell that he spent about 3 years at this 2 year junior college…NO, it had nothing to do with bad grades…I just think he was having FUN!  He ended up working with the Basketball team and in turn, started to work with the Nashville Sounds because the Baseball Coach was the groundskeeper.  Brian asked to be introduced to some people at the organization and so he was.  I’m not sure of all the details, but he eventually became the Clubhouse Manager of the Home side and then for the Visiting side also. Brian went on to fulfill a life-long dream of working in Major League Baseball when he became the Visiting Clubhouse Manger of the Seattle Mariners…He was given many opportunities and made many friends, but his family became his focus after a few years and he didn’t want to uproot them to move around the country.

During his years at Vol State, he rented a room with an elderly widow, Miss Emily.  She was a HOOT.  She was a woman of GREAT Faith, and treated my brother as her own.  She became a member of our family as we grew to love her and we would visit and drop by to just say HI to her when we were in the area.  We shared many meals and activities together.  We remained closed until her death.

Miss Emily sent our family individual gifts, which was NOT needed or expected.  I think I was 17, so it has been a LONG time ago.  The gift that Miss Emily gave me was a BOX of Kleenex.  I looked at the package and wondered if it was a mistake or if MAYBE some money or SOMETHING else had been placed with the box, but I could find no mistake.  I WONDERED WHY in the world, someone would give me a box of Kleenex!!  I just sat it aside and didn’t say anything to anyone.

It’s been 35 years and I can still remember the feeling I had getting that box of Kleenex.  I have never been a great tissue girl…I usually will use toilet paper to blow my nose, but Mother and Daddy used them constantly, so I know they did not go to waste. 

  

Over the years, I have come to appreciate the lessons that box taught me.  I have learned to be thankful for all gifts—great and small.  As the recipient of a gift, it is NOT my responsibility to QUESTION WHY a gift is chosen, but to ACCEPT the gift with a grateful heart.  To be remembered is what is important.  Miss Emily, for whatever reason, CHOSE that gift for me.  She found great meaning in it and who was I to question the motives or meaning.  She gave freely and without expectation.

I heard a teacher on TV this week say that she was one who was appreciative for every gift she got.  She loved all the mugs and the handmade ornaments because they were given in love.  I have a friend who is a teacher who PROBABLY has every gift a child gave her and she displays them at Christmas and smiles to recount each gift and who gave it to her.  I have another friend who COMPLAINED about EVERY gift she ever got as a teacher.  She would show me how “hokey” and “cheap” each gift was and she had no idea WHY they bothered because she was simply going to throw it away!

I am so THANKFUL for that gift of a box of Kleenex.  While, at the time, I thought it was an AWFUL gift, it has become one of my most favorite gifts of all time because it TAUGHT me to say THANKS for all gifts that I received that were given in love.  Yes, there are gifts we all get that we have no need for them, but then, SOMETIMES the gift is NOT about us…it is about the GIVER.  The Bible says to LET ALL YOU DO, BE DONE IN LOVE…that means accepting a gift that is freely given and chosen just for us.

I know the feeling of giving a gift to someone and getting a nasty remark and NEVER do I want to make someone feel the way she made me feel.  Yes, she was a teenager, but that is NOT an excuse.  SHE took every ounce of the JOY I had in selecting the gift and she too, taught me a lesson.  As Children of God, we must be kind.  This person made me wonder if everything I had tried to teach her in Sunday School was a waste.  I hope not...

Funny, the lessons we learn in life from such simple moments…

Today, I share with you a symbol of CHRISTMAS memories to me…WHO hasn’t made a REINDEER Candy Cane?  I can remember Mother making them when I was in about the 3^rd grade and I am sure we made them every year…I can’t open a drawer that I don’t find some WIGGLY eyes!  We would put them in gifts of spice tea mix, or hot chocolate mix…with cakes we baked, or to the kids at church, to the elderly at the nursing home…we knew they weren’t GRAND gestures, but they made people smile and it was just a very small something to say, HEY, I TOOK a moment to make something and I think YOU are worth the time I spent on it!!

Isn’t that what Christmas is about?  Spreading the LOVE…it isn’t the expensive gifts wrapped beautifully under a tree, but just the thought that in LOVE, you choose to FREELY give, just as God sent HIS ONLY SON to save us and NOT to condemn us…Pretty awesome, isn’t it!! …I hope at some point in your life that you get a “box of Kleenex-type gift”…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte♥

On the NINTH Day of Christmas...Friday, December 19, 2014

Today is a cautionary tale for those to ALWAYS open a present BEFORE commenting!

My middle Brother went to the University of Tennessee as a member of the Football Team’s Student Managers.  Brian is a BRILLIANT man who has never had to struggle to learn.  He was reading DADDY the comics at a very young age.  He is also extremely personable and is able to make people feel welcomed and important.  Because of his knowledge, he was placed in Advance classes when he attended college for his freshman year.  NORMALLY, that would have been NO PROBLEM, but being on the training staff, he spent most every minute of his spare time in the training room.  He was blessed to be able to experience things like running through the T at the beginning of the game, which is quite impressive, BUT it did little for his academic career.

My oldest Brother, Bob, graduated from UT with a BS in Milk Production.  He was so active in the AG Department and made lifetime friends with many of the staff.  He went with Brian to UT to speak with the Dean of Agriculture and they chatted about Brian’s future and they decided that it would be best for Brian to attend a Junior College to bring up his grades, although the Dean would allow Brian to stay at UT if he so wished.

Brian came back and enrolled in Vol State, the local Junior College and IMMEDIATELY jumped into the sports world, again…SEVERAL of the students from our town were at that school, so one of his friends and some other baseball prayers decided to get an apartment together.  This was BRIAN’s first experience at being in the REAL WORLD.

Up until this time, I am certain that Brian never got a PRACTICAL gift at Christmas that was specifically for setting up a house.  I can still remember the THRILL of getting a microwave for Christmas when I had my first apartment…I’m pretty sure that feeling is different for most men than it is for women…

At my house, I would hand out the Christmas presents since I was the baby of the family and that tradition continued until I no longer had family to celebrate with.  We opened our gifts as we got them, unlike some families that go around and take turns opening gifts so everyone can see them…ICK!  Let me rip into my gifts, BABY!!  LOL  Even though we opened our gifts at the same time, we were all able to see what others got because we would be sitting in a circle in our BIG Living room, which oddly enough was NOT the room we lived in…

This particular Christmas, My Sister-in-law gave my brother a gift that INSTANTLY got our attention.  We were all unwrapping our gifts when we heard Brian say, rather loudly, JUST WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED…We looked at him and wondered what he had, so the room grew quiet as he continued: AN AVOCADO GREEN Chip and DIP Set!!  We just laughed and watched as he opened his gift to find: AN AVOCADO GREEN Chip and Dip Set!  He turned so many shades of red as we all laughed hysterically…There was NO PEACE for Brian THAT Christmas…

We would go through the day and ask, So, have you got any CHIPS…do you know how to make DIP…and on and on…He was so embarrassed, but we LOVED that moment…He kept apologizing, but there was no need, because WE saw the humor!

The next year, Brian received another funny gift.  My sister-in-law had cross-stitched him a lovely wall plaque and had it matted and framed…guess what it said:  JUST WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED!!  That chip and dip set lasted longer than my sister-in-law lasted in the family (ooops….ROFL)!!

Funny...I became a pianist...AND I've had the pleasure to do quite a bit of traveling!!

SO, BE WARNED…NEVER comment UNTIL you open your gift because it MIGHT REALLY BE WHAT IT SAYS it IS!  Oh what a great memory from years gone by!!

My favorite food memory is a Peppermint Candy Cake.  Mother would make a white cake and spread 7 minute frosting (OH YUM) on it and then sprinkle crushed Peppermint Candy on top of the icing.  As it would set, the candy would melt into the icing and become so YUMMY!  IF a LOT of candy was placed on top, it would become ROCK hard, but we would FIGHT over that piece of ooey, gooey candy!!  

The other day, I wondered what would happen IF I bought a pound cake and some icing and put some crushed candy canes on top…would it be good…you know what…YES…the pound cake I got was a lemon pound cake, and I bought the WHIPPED WHITE Icing…crushed those candy canes and sprinkled it on top…and it took me back to being a 4 year old who would sit with BIG EYES and watch Mother pour that hot syrup into the beaten egg whites to make the icing and then BANG on that 3 inch across stick of peppermint to sprinkle it over the icing…I could NOT wait until the Sanford family gathering to get a piece of that CAKE…AND, as was tradition, they would always have a plate of homemade sweet pickles on the dessert table to eat with the cakes…strange, huh!!  LOL (btw...Charcoal APPROVED of the cake, too!  He gave it 2 paws up and SEVERAL licks)

AND served with Peppermint Ice CREAM...oh MAN...

I HOPE that you have some wonderful and funny memories and food memories…this year, sit around your table and ask each member to SHARE their favorite memory…You will be crying and laughing in no time at all…CHERISH it and why not record it also for the next generation!!  I wish BLESSINGS to YOU today…MORE than you can count!...~charlotte♥

On the EIGHTH Day of Christmas, Thursday, December 18, 2014

Being the Baby of the family and the only girl, I probably got more gifts than anyone.  Mother worked SO HARD to be fair and to make sure that she would spend the same amount on each of us and that we would have the same amount of packages to open, but let’s be real…I WAS THEIR Favorite…LOL…

I don’t believe that!  Mother would tell us that she loved BOB the most because He was her first born.  She ALSO loved Brian the most because they waited a long time for him.  She said she loved ME the most because I was her baby girl.  Yes, there is a relationship between a mother and a son, just like there is a special relationship between a daddy and his daughter…I WAS a DADDY’s girl to a fault!

I was telling my friend tonight about finding a piece of OLD wood to paint on and I had better look for more BEFORE the snakes come out again.  A poisonous snake has never been seen on our farm, BUT I have a fear that ONE will get lost or some YOUNG snake whippersnapper will TRY to push the limits~~you know how KIDS can be!  ROFL…I said that I have no idea how Daddy was ever able to walk when I was a child because I was forever grabbing his leg for protection.  I would muster up enough courage to go with him into the hen house, BUT I would be holding onto his leg…I did NOT want to see one of those chicken snakes my MEAN brothers had told me about that would coil up under a chicken and eat the eggs!!  WHEW!!

But back to Christmas stories…I don’t remember a lot of the gifts that I got.  What I remember is being together with my family!  We didn’t have a lot of extra money, but we ALWAYS got plenty.  Many of our gifts were homemade and that is a treasured memory.  I would most every Christmas be sent on a scavenger hunt to FIND what Mother had made me and SELDOM would my present ever be finished…she would work so hard to do so much for so many, that she would just have to wrap up what she was sewing for me and MANY times, I would wrap my own presents…I didn’t mind because I loved to wrap presents.  It became a joke for me to ask WHAT unfinished DRESS I was getting THIS year…she would feel bad, but I thought it was funny…believe me, I NEVER did without and I got WAY more than I deserved!

I guess my favorite Christmas present would be the year I got a diamond ring when I was 21…NO, NOT from some STUPID boy, but from my Parents!  LOL…I’m telling you, IF EVER I kiss the RIGHT FROG, I have all the JEWELRY because I have my Aunt’s engagement/wedding band and Mother’s, AND Aunt Jenny’s too!

I told you that Daddy was raised by his Aunt and Uncle.  Aunt Jenny had always wanted a diamond, and so Daddy bought her one when he was around 21.  It wasn’t big, but it was a keepsake diamond, that is a perfect diamond and was in a pretty setting with hearts on either side.  When Aunt Jenny died, Mother had it put in a ring for Daddy, but he seldom wore it.  

Now, the funny thing to know is that MOTHER was ALWAYS trying to be SNEAKY, BUT she was ALWAYS getting caught!  She bought Daddy a guitar one Christmas ONLY to have him go to the mailbox to retrieve a POSTCARD saying that the guitar was in…AND Mother took my Autoharp to the guitar shop to have it repaired and the broken strings replaced ONLY for me to get the message on the answering machine that it was READY…sigh…Poor Momma!!

The ring was no different.  I had seen the ring in Mother’s jewelry box MANY times, but I never knew the story of it.  One day before Christmas, I caught her with the ring and asked what she was doing!  She told me that she was having it set to give to Brian for Christmas…On Christmas morning, I was so excited, and SOMEHOW Mother had to get this LIE all figured out, so she left a NOTE on the tree for Brian that I THOUGHT told him to go find his gift…he had a really puzzled look as I was SO excited over his NOTE…during all this, Mother, handed me the present that was MEANT for me.  She and Daddy had the ring put back into the original setting that Daddy had given to Aunt Jenny and gave it to ME!  I cried…it is STILL one of my most precious possessions…NOT because of the value, which isn’t THAT much, but because of the STORY…

WOOOOOAA Santa...let's WATCH the HAND!!!

Those are the types of gifts that we got…NOT just THINGS, but MEMORIES…I don’t know how many times I can say this, BUT boy, HOW BLESSED am I!!!

I made this little Santa yesterday and think it turned out really cute and OLD looking.  I copied SANTA CLAUSE IS COMING TO TOWN and reduced the size and used DecoArt’s Decou-page to attach it to the wooden cut-out. I didn’t worry about cutting the paper to size, but instead cut approximately the shape and then SANDED off the edges after it dried. Using Americana Acrylics, I painted the face and the hat.  When everything dried, I used DecoArt’s Staining/Antiquing Medium with Milk Chocolate and I antiqued it!  I LOVED the old world feel it got from that!  MAYBE I will try some ONE STEP CRACKLE to add a bit more interest…

I sure HOPE THIS SANTA has more luck than Mother did at NOT GETTING CAUGHT this Christmas…Don’t worry about the THINGS that you don’t get done…just DO the BEST you can…Make MEMORIES for yourself and for your family and don’t waste money on buying the BIGGEST and BEST of everything…I promise, THAT will NOT be what people remember…Blessings to YOU…~charlotte♥