He is tired.
He has blood shot eyes.
His hair is really really long.
His beard is even longer than his hair!
He is Santa Claus.
Or Santa's Elf.
But first we have to have Thanksgiving, before we can do the Christmas stuff.
So today I want to share a little of my house with you. I am getting ready for the next holiday.
I taught tole painting about 2,000 years ago. When we moved to Arizona, in 1983, that was one of the first things I did - I took a Tole Painting Class for about 10 weeks. I loved it. I painted all the time. I got my friend Judy to paint with me. I would paint while I was camping in the mountains. I would paint late at night. I would paint while supper cooked and my little kids chattered to me.
I have loved looking at the things I have made. My Pilgrims are one of my favorite centerpieces. That is because my DH and I worked on them together. I bought the pattern, and he cut out the wood. He also made the base for them to be attached to. We make a good team. Yes, I think we do. I am going to keep him around for awhile. He is going to be cutting lots of wood and making sawdust.
I love my holiday decorations cluttering up my home. I love the memories they bring. I enjoy getting them out of the boxes, like seeing old friends and hanging out with them for a few days. They bring back memories of going to Hobby Lobby with my friend Robyn. We would go and over spend and not care a hoot! Because we would get to see the pretty things in our houses. The "Give Thanks" pumpkin is something I bought on one of those days with Robyn. I liked it so much, I bought two of them. I still have the second one. I am troubled with the OCD on occasion and buy duplicates. Just look at my garage and storage and you know how troubled I am with OCD. My craft supplies are just as duplicated. But, that means I have TWICE as much fun! Right? Yeah, that is right. That's my story and I am sticking to it.
Judy and I even took children's coloring books and used those cute simple pictures for patterns for some of the tole painting we did. We made a large set of Pilgrims one year. That was so long ago....back when blue and mauve were all the rage in home decor. So, I painted my little girl Pilgrim with mauve.... if I had it to over again I would stay with the traditional colors, black and gray and white. But, back then I was young and adventurous.
The fireplace mantle is the home of the mauve Pilgrims....and I hide the color as much as possible by surrounding those cute Pilgrims with lots of green and orange. It works. If you look at the entire display and not just her hideous little mauve apron, it works.
These dear little people give my heart joy. The "Give Thanks" gives me joy. They bring back the memories of wonderful times with cherished friends and family. Isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about. Just To Be Thankful! And for my life and the people who have been in my life I am thankful. I am so blessed. Their influence on me has brought me more education than setting in classes could. They taught me to share, to love, to stretch, to try new and different things. To try new things, and to do things on my own. To have the courage to teach tole painting was a stretch for me. It prepared me to be able to do other teaching.
I am so blessed to have my DH with me now. To share this new home with. To make new friends and new memories. But, I will always cherish the past friends and memories I have. To have these familiar decorations around me makes this new environment feel like my/our home. I am so very thankful!
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