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Category Archives: Creativity

Sharing Our Creativity….

23 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by Leanevdp in Creativity, FF Tidbits, Smorgasbord 'n Smidgens

≈ 10 Comments

The following post is for your creative inspiration. It is good to have some kind of craft or hobby going. It lightens the spirit!

Being creative is something that we love to do here!

We all have some sort of creativity within us. Oftentimes it lays dormant because of busy lifestyles, lack of ambition, finances, etc.

This post is meant to encourage you to pick up that needle, that paintbrush, pick that bouquet for the middle of your table, get your camera and go out in nature to take a photo, etc. These things bring joy to the one who is creating and joy to the recipients! It doesn’t have to take a degree, lots of money or tons of time.

I think it is very important to bring back to life the creativity that God has given us! Don’t let your lifestyle get so busy that you don’t squeak in a little something, just a moment or two where you can let those creative juices flow! It is like therapy to a weary soul!

These past few months we have done some creating around here. I love the beauty of such innovative things and so…. I take pictures!!

Some of my girls are not creative in the way you would think of creativity. I tell you this because there are many ways to express ourselves….baking, a lovely dinner, a beautiful garden, etc. It’s not all about a needle and some yarn….Find your niche and begin your innovative path!

Here’s a picture of me with all of my girls. They are all so unique and very special! They have creative streaks, every one of them, expressing  them in different ways. I don’t have pictures of each one’s “streaks” but I have included some of them here.

Rosie has been working on crocheting the Baptismal gown for David and Margy’s new little one that is due in about a week. She finally got it done, down to all the embellishments and waited for a good moment to present it to them. Margy was pleased!

Gin made the slip and crocheted the emblem of Our Lady on it. So sweet!

 

Our daughter-in-law, Sarah, loves to make tallow (rendered from beef) and soap (made with her fresh goat milk). She is very savvy when it comes to matters pertaining to natural healing. So, depending what the person she is giving the gift to is going through, she may add some special essential oil to the lovely tallow that seems to work wonders for many skin conditions!

Dominic is getting ready to cut the soap.

Augustine helps….

Her lovely tallow.

Augustine helps….haha

Here’s Margy’s cute egg for Easter….

She has been into needlework lately, too. Here is what she is working on for someone who is probably looking at these pictures. Namely…me and hubby! Time consuming and detailed, that’s for sure!

 

Gin is busy with many things! Here is a pinafore she made for Emma….

Here is a dress she made for herself. Pretty complicated…..

At a cousin’s wedding….

More projects for Easter…..

Colin and Z’s projects right now include putting up fencing and taking care of their many goats they are raising. Wish I had some photos…but next time! Here are a couple from Easter. Charlotte finds her basket! And the kids are happy!

Jeanette has been busy with many things outside! She has a new greenhouse this year and is excited about starting many plants in it! Her and Mike have been planting trees and flowers and other projects to beautify their home.

I went to Theresa’s to do a photo shoot for her new line of wonderful, completely natural homemade soap! Right now she is selling locally but hopes to expand onto my Etsy Shop eventually. Here’s a peek….

Coffee Cedarwood Exfoliating:

Coffee Cedarwood Exfoliating

Activated Charcoal (very good for drawing impurities out of the skin):

Honey Oatmeal Soap….

Sunrise (Lemon Mint, I think)

Rosemary Mint….

Lavender….

A gift for my birthday….

Here’s a little bit of God’s Handiwork. We had a pretty good snow 3 days ago. It covered the blossoming trees and tulips, etc. The first picture was taken in our yard in the morning. The second one of the same place in the evening….

We must take great care to be encouragers of our children. They will only be with us for a short time. What kind of legacy do we want to leave for our children? ….One of hope, love and inspiration or one of negativity and criticism? Take those moments today to listen to them, to smile at them and to see the wonderful good inside of them. Let’s start the habit today of seeing the positive in our children!

NEW! Blessed Mother Graceful Religious Pendant and Earring Set…Wire-Wrapped, Handcrafted. Available here.

 

Hands Free Mama is the digital society’s answer to finding balance in a media-saturated, perfection-obsessed world. It doesn’t mean giving up all technology forever. It doesn’t mean forgoing our jobs and responsibilities. What it does mean is seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction. It means looking our loved ones in the eye and giving them the gift of our undivided attention, living a present, authentic, and intentional life despite a world full of distractions.

With his facile pen and from the wealth of his nation-wide experience, the well-known author treats anything and everything that might be included under the heading of home education: the pre-marriage training of prospective parents, the problems of the pre-school days down through the years of adolescence. No topic is neglected. “What is most praiseworthy is Fr. Lord’s insistence throughout that no educational agency can supplant the work that must be done by parents.” – Felix M. Kirsch, O.F.M. https://amzn.to/2T06u28 (afflink)

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Recollections and Theresa’s Tea Party for Princesses

14 Friday Aug 2020

Posted by Leanevdp in by Theresa Byrne, Creativity

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

making memories, quality time with children, tea party

by Theresa (VanderPutten) Byrne

Yesterday is gone; Tomorrow may never come; Today is a gift; that is why we call it “The Present.”

Kneeling in front of my little Grandma VanderPutten’s casket, this past week, a flood of good memories fill my mind…

Grandma told us tales of adventure about her childhood. I especially remember the story of the time in the war when her family found refuge in a tiny chicken coop. They lived there for a time, surviving on animal feed that they had picked the mouse droppings out of.

I recollect the times Grandma and I would go out early with our buckets and harvest blueberries. While we worked she told me tales of being a young girl and when she fell in love with my Grandpa.

When I was younger I recall Grandma as a tough woman not prone to emotions or softness. As time passed she mellowed and I remember her often getting teary at another person’s sufferings.

Grandpa and Grandma were blessed with many years together and with thirteen children. Nineteen years ago Grandpa passed away, after a long battle with cancer. Part of Grandma died that day but this feisty little Dutch woman lived on for many years.

In recent years Grandma got to where she loved to visit with the grandchildren and talk of the past and of God.

I remember it was her that got us started saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day.

In 2013 when I was struggling with mono, she would sit and cry with me over my sufferings but also because she was experiencing the onset of dementia…

She told me how scary it felt not to remember things and although she was offering it up, she felt very alone. She suffered much and was blessed much.

I felt a sense of peace kneeling there at her coffin. On a a bouquet of white roses read “Death is not the last sleep, but the final awakening”.

Life is short. We only have our loved ones here for a little while.

I know if I keep this thought ever present in my mind, I would be a much better wife, mother and friend.

It makes me think of a dear friend who always takes time for his nieces….not because they are the prettiest or smartest, simply because they are family and that makes them special to him.

He has inspired me and at the same time made me aware of what I would like to be to my nieces and nephews.

It seems the days fly by and I am so wrapped up in my own immediate duties, that often I don’t even take the time to let my nieces and nephews know I love them and that they are special.

With these thoughts in mind, I planned a TEA PARTY!!

My three nieces were cordially invited, by my daughter Sienna, to a cousin’s Tea Party. We told them to wear their prettiest frocks and to come ready to be served by “Butler Brendan” (my six-year-old son).

It just so happened that my husband was home that day. Being of the same mind… to make lasting memories…. and also being the great guy he is, he dug out his own suit, tie and church shoes! Voila! We had “Butler Devin!”

As the girls started to arrive, our butlers escorted them from their carriages (dusty vans), addressing them as, “Princess Emma, Princess Grace and Princess Agnes.”

Princess Grace:

Princess Emma:

IMG_0122

A couple of the girls looked rather shy but delighted! It was really fun to see the moms’ surprised faces at seeing hubby, dressed up, welcoming the girls to, “Rose Wood Cottage.” 😀

Butlers Devin and Brendan poured tea and served the princesses scones, muffins, sandwiches and plenty of fresh berries. The girls were thrilled and made quite a pretty picture against our white lace tablecloth with a sprinkling of fresh rose petals.

Once our ‘plump princesses’ had their fill of crumpets and tea, they gathered round for story time with “Grammy Rosalie” (a dear and special friend). I cleared and got the table ready for cookie decorating!

We had made each princess a platter of sugar cookies. They each had their own butter cream frosting and sprinkles. We set to decorating… One or two did more eating than decorating, but we all had fun!

 To end the outing we put on fun music and ‘Butler Brendan’ retired his tux and headed up the dancing.

 

The tired but happy princesses were taken home, with platters of cookies for their families and good memories dancing in their heads.

Doing this for the girls made me happy and also makes me want to invest more time in making lasting memories.

I had never heard of someone, at the closing of life, wish they had made more money or spent more time at the office. What I have heard is regrets… sorrow for not spending more time with God and with the people they love.

As the days fly by, I try to remember…..

Yesterday is gone; Tomorrow may never come; Today is a gift, that is why we call it ‘The Present.’

         NOW is where memories start!

“Let us run to Mary, and as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.” – St. Francis de Sales
Happy Feast of the Assumption!

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We live in an age characterized by agitation and lack of peace. This tendency manifests itself in our spiritual as well as our secular life. In our search for God and holiness, in our service to our neighbor, a kind of restlessness and anxiety take the place of the confidence and peace which ought to be ours. What must we do to overcome the moments of fear and distress which assail us? How can we learn to place all our confidence in God and abandon ourselves into his loving care? This is what is taught in this simple, yet profound little treatise on peace of heart. Taking concrete examples from our everyday life, the author invites us to respond in a Gospel fashion to the upsetting situations we must all confront. Since peace of heart is a pure gift of God, it is something we should seek, pursue and ask him for without cease. This book is here to help us in that pursuit.

Reverend Irala here addresses ways to promote mental and emotional well-being to help increase one’s health, efficiency and happiness. He speaks on topics such as how to rest, think, use the will, control feelings, train the sexual instinct, be happy, and choose an ideal. Included are also many practical instructions on dealing with mental struggles of all kinds. This book is most useful in our present times of worldly confusion.

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.

T-Shirt Makeovers – A Look at Revamping T-Shirts!

14 Thursday May 2020

Posted by Leanevdp in Creativity, FF Tidbits, Patterns

≈ 6 Comments

A repost for your Thursday…..

Virginia (Gin) is our seamstress around here.DSC_0071

Virginia has been delving into the art of T-Shirt makeovers! It’s pretty neat that, for pennies on the dollar, you can go to your local Goodwill,  pick out a t-shirt from the multitude hanging on the racks, and transform it into an integral and lovely part of your wardrobe!

There are  ingenious ways to use simple t-shirts that are too tight, too big, too low or just too plain! We want to share with you some links and some photos of  creative ways used to enhance your wardrobes.

Here is Gin’s Pinterest Page if you would like to follow along on her journey.

Here is a tutorial on Shirring. You will see what can be done with this technique in our picture gallery.

This is a Sizzix machine and here is a tutorial on using one. The price is variable on these machines (depending on what quality you want) so one doesn’t have to invest a ton in it. Virginia uses hers to cut shapes out of material (examples in the gallery) and she also uses it on scrapbooking paper to make some lovely flowers on top of my rosary/jewelry boxes.IMG_3637 IMG_3638

Before you look at our little gallery I have one more website to share that I just stumbled on. It is called Tea Rose Home. You may notice that her home page has interior decoration projects but stop and look at some of the side links!! This woman has some wonderful tutorials on makeovers from Thrift Store purchases…tutorials on making a ruffled t-shirt out of two simple t-shirts, a t-shirt makeover with some lovely simple flowers, a pleated pretty shirt with buttons,  a fabric flower and revamping a sweater into a “garden of flowers” cardigan! There is more so have fun with this site…I think you will get much inspiration from it!

Do you have any favorite websites to share to help us along our sewing venture? We’d love to hear about them!

The following gallery has examples of Virginia’s projects that maybe can inspire you to try some yourself. Lately I have been the lucky recipient of most of these makeovers, so my t-shirts that have been sitting too long in my drawer have come to life once again!  Click on the first picture to view gallery.

Virginia took extra material off the bottom of this t-shirt and twisted it to add spice to the collar. Her Sizzix machine was used to make the flowers.
This is called “shirring” and is done with elastic thread. It definitely adds a touch and makes the t-shirts look tailored, don’t you think?
Theresa is modeling her new little jacket. This was a simple t-shirt that was cut down the middle, hemmed and then embellished with the lovely flower.

Just taking a normal t-shirt and cutting it down the middle makes a lovely, light cardigan for that layered look that is so classy!
Shirring at the top adds a decorative touch to a shirt that was too saggy at the neckline.
This t-whirt was too small and now I can wear it again!

This started off as a too-tight button-up shirt.
Shirring for the tailored look (done with elastic thread).
Lace-ups on the front so you can adjust it.

And then gives it that tailored look with a little Shirring.

This was a simple t-shirt, rather box-like (the kind guys wear) and Virginia cut it down the middle and attached a ribbon on the top to tie it together. She used a hook and eye for the closure at the top.
This was a t-shirt I planned on giving away. It was too saggy and too low.
Virginia took 2 plain yellow t-shirts and transformed them into this!

Fabric Flowers!
Shirring on the back.
Lovely, Lovely flowers made with the Sizzix machine. The flowers are cut out in graduated smaller sizes, individually hand-sewn one on top of each other and the pearls added at the last.

Just a simple red t-shirt, cut down themiddle, hemmed, ribbon and frill added. It make such a cute overlay and so easy!
This t-shirt I got at Good will. Once again, it was altered to make a cute jacket.
This was a stained t-shirt that Gin cut off, using the cut-off material for the ruffle. Then she added the skirt by shirring the top of a square piece of material.

My pile of t-shirts awaiting makeovers. It’s up to me now, so they may be waiting a loo-o-ong time as Gin is on to bigger and better things… 🙂

Help Your Child to See Design in the Tempo of Daily Life

15 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by Leanevdp in Creativity, Parenting

≈ 1 Comment

Painting by Alfredo Rodriguez

by Mary Reed Newland, How to Raise Good Catholic Children

Working in many art forms, using talent easily and spontaneously, finding that their creations are respected and useful, slowly children cross the bridge that connects art and work, and bring their sense of creating to bear on the more subtle arts of daily life.

They discover that setting a table — or hanging the wash, folding the sheets, planting the garden — can be a design.

They discover the rhythm for kneading dough, milking a goat, hammering a nail, rocking the baby. There’s a pace for raking, another for sweeping. There’s a pattern for scrubbing the floor, another for ironing a dress.

Kneeling to comfort a child is a reverence, as genuflecting. Praying out loud together is a harmony, just whispering together while the baby sleeps.

Walking with pails of water for the goats is measured and careful; walking back from Holy Communion has another measure.

These things children learn instinctively, but with more alacrity and with willingness to discover the beauty and satisfaction in ordinary acts if they have had many experiences exploring with their own creativeness.

No one is really “all thumbs.” Everyone has special gifts that set him apart from his fellows and make him a special person. But many times they’re never discovered.

It’s not work that’s ugly, nor working that’s unendurable, but the wrong work with the wrong person attempting it that can make it seem ugly and unendurable.

Creative artists we must have, and God provides them abundantly in every generation, but the others are no less creative for the practicality of their arts. And the gifts given to these are no less special; they must be sought just as carefully.

Creativity can be found in all types of work. We’ve committed many sins against man’s creativeness with our modern snobbery about work. We’ve accepted a norm for work that’s based on reward, approval, and selfish gain rather than on motive, integrity, and creative service.

We’ve become confused; we esteem work that’s respected rather than work that’s respectable. Horror is the reaction of most parents to whom it’s suggested that domestic service is appropriate work and training for a young girl looking forward to marriage.

It does not occur to such parents that the creative arts she would practice in so-called menial employment are the same arts she’ll practice (with greater grace for her training) when she’s a wife and mother.

How does sending her to work in a factory, to file papers and stack cards in an office, train her in the art of homemaking? This is how far we have strayed from the recognition and understanding of creativeness.

We respect people for the creativeness of their hobbies, not their lives, and admire the successful fellows who work creatively in wood or paint or whatever on their weekends, more than carpenters, plumbers, and farmers, who work creatively all week along.

For Christian parents who want to help their children find their whole usefulness, how to use their whole lives — not just certain departments— creatively in the service of God, these points need thinking out.

People are not haphazardly created with a dash of this and that added for interest by a Creator who dabbles in variations on the same old theme. Each one was made to serve Him in a special way.

The discovery of how begins when they’re very little and learn to make visible and tangible their own ideas, formed by the knowledge of God, His love for them, and the truths Christ teaches.

In your living room and bedrooms, you should have at least one symbol of your faith–a statue of the Savior and the Blessed Mother, a crucifix, pictures which bring to mind events in the life of Our Lord. -Rev. George Kelly, 1950’s https://amzn.to/2BjwE9x (afflink)

The Catholic Boy’s and Girl’s Traditional 30-Day Journals! Let’s keep our youth engaged in the Faith! Let’s teach them how to be organized, how to prioritize, how to keep on top of, first, the Spiritual things in their lives, and then the other daily duties that God requires of them… Available here.

Beautiful items at Meadows of Grace!

The Catholic Girl’s Traditional 30-Day Journal

Let’s keep our young girls engaged in the Faith! Let’s teach them how to be organized, how to prioritize, how to keep on top of, first, the Spiritual things in their life, and then the other daily duties that God requires of them!

Nothing is more valuable than this type of education…an education for life! That is where this journal comes in! It will give your girls a feel for keeping a To-Do List, with spiritual things at the forefront! What more could you want for them?

Let this journal help you along the way, Mothers! The girls will have 30 days of checklists, beautiful thoughts to inspire them for the day, some fun things…like drawing their day and other things to keep them focused.

This next 30 days will be invaluable to them…to learn life skills, to have the satisfaction of checking off the activities they finish, to learn to be thankful for the good things God has given us, to offer up their day for someone in need, etc.

This journal is for girls 8 (with the help of Mom) to 16 years of age.

It is a beautiful journal, full of color and loveliness! Your girls will treasure it and be able to look back on it for inspiration and encouragement!

Our attitude changes our life…it’s that simple. Our good attitude greatly affects those that we love, making our homes a more cheerier and peaceful dwelling! To have this control…to be able to turn around our attitude is a tremendous thing to think about!
This Gratitude Journal is here to help you focus on the good, the beautiful, the praiseworthy. “For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8 – Douay Rheims).
Yes, we need to be thinking of these things throughout the day!
You will be disciplined, the next 30 days, to write positive, thankful thoughts down in this journal. You will be thinking about good memories, special moments, things and people you are grateful for, lovely and thought-provoking Catholic quotes, thoughts before bedtime, etc. Saying it, reading it, writing it, all helps to ingrain thankfulness into our hearts…and Our Lord so loves gratefulness! It makes us happier, too!

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.

“Once Upon a Time” – Story-Telling and Feasts by Maria Von Trapp

20 Friday Sep 2019

Posted by Leanevdp in by Maria Von Trapp, Catholic Home Life, Creativity, Family Life

≈ 3 Comments

by Maria von Trapp, Around the Year With the Trapp Family

“ONCE UPON A TIME”

Among the arts that are dying out rapidly in our machine age, the one most in danger is the art of story-telling. In other generations it was quite natural that every mother would tell her little ones a story at bed-time, or when a child didn’t feel well, or on Sundays and feast days.

Those were the times when mothers were really busy, when they had to light a fire in the kitchen stove, to wash their laundry by hand, to shop every morning and carry their marketing home–sometimes over long distances–when they were sewing the children’s clothes and mending and darning in the evening. But there was always time left to tell a story.

There is no substitute for story-telling. The reading of books, privately or aloud, the listening to radio and watching television–all these devices cannot replace one single, live story told around the fireplace or on the front porch on a summer night, or after the bonfire has died down.

Admittedly, it is not an easy art. Many people have found that out and have given up before trying hard enough.

A lot of story-telling has gone on in our house. My husband was a master of it. When he started to tell about his trip around the world in an old-fashioned frigate as a cadet first class, or of his participation in the Boxer Rebellion in China when he was nineteen, or of his adventures in the first newly invented, poorly constructed submarines, we all would sit spellbound, oblivious of time.

Once we spent a delightful summer with Robert Flaherty and his family. He was another master of this forgotten art. Almost every night, on the lawn in front of his Vermont home, he told about his experiences with the Eskimos, or with the South Sea people–again banishing time.

One is always sure of captivating an audience with ghost stories. There are plenty of true ghost stories–one just has to look for them–true because they might tell of an experience with the world beyond.

It isn’t so much what we tell–as long as we are willing to revive this forgotten art. Our Lord gives us an example. Some of the most beautiful stories ever told come from Him–the story of the Prodigal Son, of Lazarus, of the Good Samaritan.

And now we have reached the most important point of all. When sermons or devotional books tell us that the Christian family should fashion itself on the example of the Holy Family, this usually refers to the spiritual life only.

“If there were more mothers like Mary and more fathers like Joseph, there would be more children like Jesus,” it is said, Mary being thought of as the holy handmaid of the Lord, Joseph as the man nearest to God, and the Infant “subject unto them.”

Nowhere have I seen that thought extended to the whole of our family life, calling us to model our recreations, also, on the example of the Holy Family. It is not at all likely that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph would have gone to some of the shows in our movie theatres or into any one of our night clubs or the average Broadway show.

It is quite probable, however, that there was story-telling, singing, and discussion going on in the evenings in the little house in Nazareth; and why shouldn’t they have played games with the little Boy and His friends, or listened to music played on the quaint ancient instruments by some neighbors?

Joseph may have read to his family, and whenever they accepted an invitation to a wedding of one of their kinfolk, they certainly participated in the solemn dancing which formed part of any oriental wedding ceremony.

A word from the Book of Wisdom is often applied to Our Lord or to His Holy Mother: “My joy it is to be with the children of men.” Should we limit this “togetherness” to one hasty half-hour on Sundays, from eleven to eleven-thirty?

Knowing that it means such joy for them, let us invite the Holy Family to stay with us throughout the days of the week, throughout the years of our life when we work or pray and also when we play.

Our Life–A Feast

Everything from booklets to tomes is being written, in alarmingly increasing numbers, on one topic the deterioration of family life and what to do about it. As one looks over those more or less learned treatises, however, one misses one phrase–family feasts–and yet that makes all the difference.

Why have homes more and more turned into places where a group of people merely happen to live under one roof, each member going his separate way, sharing nothing with the others? The answer is that they lack family feasts.

Holy Mother Church knows that in all families, no matter how seriously they strive for perfection, how honestly they all want to become saints, there are times when parents or children alike may lose their temper, may give way to selfishness or possessiveness, when the mother makes imprudent judgments, children give in to self-pity, and everybody gets fed up. That may, and does, happen to all of us. Why? Because we are all created alike. We have inherited original sin and we suffer from the scars of the old wound.

But the Church has given us the feast and has taught us how to celebrate, and it is the hallmark of a feast that it cannot be celebrated by a solitary individual. There has to be a group. It is the feast that helps to keep the family together.

This is true from the very beginning of family life. From the weekly celebration of the Day of the Lord, and from the yearly cycle of feasts of Christmastide and Paschaltide, the young parents have learned how to celebrate.

As the children are coming along and witness how beautifully the father celebrates the feast days of the mother–her birthday, her baptismal day, the feast of her patron saint, their wedding anniversary–and when they see with how much love the mother prepares the great days of the father–then the children come to experience a feeling of security which they will need so greatly in later life–the warmth of the nest which the young bird needs before he can spread his own wings.

This is how it starts. The father draws the attention of the children to the coming feast days of the mother, and the mother does the same for the father. The older sisters and brothers teach the little ones. There is always a lot of secrecy around our house in the days before a feast, a lot of whispering and preparations behind closed doors. “Before a birthday, there’s a prickle in the air like ginger ale,” said one of my children once.

In order to keep a record of all the various feasts–no mean achievement in as large a family as ours–my daughter Rosemary has devised an “Anniversary Calendar,” one page of which is here reproduced. (Anyone with a knack for drawing can attempt something similar as a homemade gift!)

“Every effort we make to forget self, to leave self behind us, and to devote ourselves to the labor of making every person with whom we are bound to live, happy, is rewarded by interior satisfaction and joy. The supreme effort of goodness is,—not alone to do good to others; that is its first and lower effect,—but to make others good.” Rev. Bernard O’Reilly The Mirror of True Womanhood, 1893 (afflink)

Make a statement with this lovely and graceful “Our Lady of Guadalupe” handcrafted apron….fully lined….made with care.

Aprons tell a beautiful story…..a story of love and sacrifice….of baking bread and mopping floors, of planting seeds and household chores. Sadly, many women have tossed the aprons aside and donned their business attire.

Wear your apron with joy….it is a symbol of Femininity….”Finer” Femininity! 🌺 💗 Available here.


In this joyful and charming book, Maria Von Trapp (from The Sound of Music) unveils for you the year-round Christian traditions she loved traditions that created for her large family a warm and inviting Catholic home and will do the same for yours.

Mary Reed Newland wrote numerous beloved books for Catholic families, but The Year and Our Children is her undisputed masterpiece. Read it, cherish it, share it, put it into practice and give your kids the gift of a fully lived faith, every day and in every season.

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.

Provide Material for Young Artists

19 Thursday Sep 2019

Posted by Leanevdp in Creativity, Parenting

≈ 1 Comment

by Mary Reed Newland, How to Raise Good Catholic Children

All a two-year-old needs to have a great time drawing is the want-ad section of the Sunday paper, opened out six or eight sheets thick in the playpen, and a fat, bright crayon. He’ll scribble and crumple for maybe half an hour, and that’s a long time for a two-year-old.

When he’s outdoors, all he needs is a pan of water, a spoon, an old pie plate, and the inevitable dirt, and he will sculpture and model and bake and pour in an orgy of creation.

When he’s older, he needs big paper, lots of room to swing his arms, bright crayons, and big jars of bright paint.

Suitable smocks, aprons, and something for wiping hands on are very important. No one can have any fun trying to splash around with paint if he has to worry about getting dirty — and this applies especially to finger paints. Easels are good if they’re big and sturdy and don’t tip over.

Low, flat tables to which paper can be thumbtacked (low enough to let a child paint standing up) are often better than easels because paint doesn’t drip down so persistently and turn sunny-day pictures into rainy-day pictures. (What else could one do with the blue drips from a cloudless blue sky?)

Powdered poster paints can be bought in bulk in the primary colors — red, yellow, and blue — and mixed for painting sessions in old jars with screw tops. They’re a better investment than children’s paint sets, and all the colors but black can be mixed from the three primaries.

Good brushes, instead of the waggle-ended monstrosities included in paint sets, are important and not very expensive. For little children (or older ones painting mural projects on large paper, wallboard, or wall surfaces) sash brushes from the five-and-ten do very well. They’re narrow enough, they stroke the paint well, and they’re supple, yet stiff enough to hold up under the scrubbing with soap and water afterward.

It’s good to have mats for framing, as everybody knows what glorious things a frame does for a good picture. These are easy to cut from illustration board with a mat knife. Matted, family art can be displayed seriously on any wall, singly or in groups, or on a bulletin board.

A large bulletin board can be the focal point for all these creative activities, as well as for relating displays with school work, catechism lessons, exciting family events, and the continually changing message of the liturgical seasons.

A large blackboard is an equally valuable feature of a house with children and the best incentive of all to get children to “draw big.” Nailed to the wall, it’s an invitation to draw, print, write, number, play games, or scribble for the joy of scribbling — which few children can resist. If there’s a smooth, paintable wall, the whole wall may be covered with blackboard paint, which comes in colors, as well as in black.

Brown wrapping paper, shelving paper, newspaper stock, the backs of old wallpaper rolls, large pads of manila, and even tissue paper (which we print with potato block print and use for gift wrappings) lend themselves to experiment with crayon, paint, hard chalks, pastels, colored inks, India ink and lettering pens, and leftover paint from home decorating projects.

It’s just a step to doing variations of these with pastings, montage techniques, glitter, sequins, tiny beads and buttons, and all sorts of odds and ends families save because “there must be something we can use it for.”

Colored construction paper for cutting and pasting projects, gilt papers, aluminum foil, lace paper doilies, designs or multiple figures cut in folded paper, colored felts to cut and appliqué, fabrics to cut and paste and sew — all such treasures as these can be used to illustrate the mysteries and the feast days, to serve as valentines, Christmas and Easter greetings, gifts, to explain lessons in schoolbooks, in catechism.

We’re working right now on the catechism lesson about the three theological virtues and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit — such meaningless mouthfuls when encountered the first time, but easy to learn when the three theological virtues are three yellow knights, cut on a threefold piece of paper so that they stand hand in hand, each one decorated with a symbol of faith or hope or charity (charity has a gold crown because St. Paul said, “and the greatest of these is charity”).

The gifts are sevenfold doves cut out the same way, flying wing to wing. A child who carefully letters on one dove after the other the words wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord can hardly avoid learning them.

Then, if the figures are posted on the bulletin board, they’re easier to remember and to explain: “Do you know what those men are? Well, they’re three theological virtues — see?”

Then there are the modeling and carving materials. Plasticine, water clays, and soap to carve, salt blocks to sculpture, dough to twist and weave and tie into shapes, plaster of paris and plastic materials to pour into homemade molds, papier-mâché for masks and puppets (made with shredded newspaper and flour paste, wet buckram, gummed brown paper tape), soft woods to whittle, animals to make from vegetables, cookies to cut freehand and decorate — all these and more suggest the variety of media with which children should experiment in order to find which one is particularly theirs and says the best the things they want to say.

The local library is full of books on how to do all these things. As the children learn how to use their heads and hands, slowly they begin to understand that it’s proper and fitting to make rather than merely to buy.

The little boy who once said, “When I grow up, I’m going to buy a statue factory, so I can give my mother all the nice statues she wants,” discovers that making statues requires time, and thought, and love, and that you can do better at this than factories can.

“Children must not feel that because of their littleness, their prayers lack power. Because of their stunning purity and their childlike love, their prayers are probably far more powerful than our own. We should encourage them to pray boldly and should point out all they can accomplish by uniting their prayers to Christ’s prayers for all men. This gives them the soundest, most mature, and most inspiring reason for acquiring habits of prayer.”
-Mary Reed Newland, How to Raise Good Catholic Children http://amzn.to/2p51Nsz (afflink)

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Author Mary Reed Newland here draws on her own experiences as the mother of seven to show how the classic Christian principles of sanctity can be translated into terms easily applied to children even to the very young.

Because it’s rooted in experience, not in theory, nothing that Mrs. Newland suggests is impossible or extraordinary. In fact, as you reflect on your experiences with your own children, you’ll quickly agree that hers is an excellent commonsense approach to raising good Catholic children.

Fr. Lawrence Lovasik, the renowned author of The Hidden Power of Kindness, gives faithful Catholics all the essential ingredients of a stable and loving Catholic marriage and family — ingredients that are in danger of being lost in our turbulent age.

Using Scripture and Church teachings in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step format, Fr. Lovasik helps you understand the proper role of the Catholic father and mother and the blessings of family. He shows you how you can secure happiness in marriage, develop the virtues necessary for a successful marriage, raise children in a truly Catholic way, and much more.

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Show & Tell/Creativity

22 Wednesday May 2019

Posted by Leanevdp in Creativity, Smorgasbord 'n Smidgens

≈ 8 Comments

“Keep a hobby and ride it with enthusiasm. It will keep you out of mischief, to say the least; it will keep you cheerful. Here as in all things you can apply the Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (for the greater glory of God).” – Fr. Lasance, My Prayer Book

Being creative is something that we love to do here!

We all have some sort of creativity within us. Oftentimes it lays dormant because of busy lifestyles, lack of ambition, finances, etc.

This post is meant to encourage you to pick up that needle, that paintbrush, pick that bouquet for the middle of your table, get your camera and go out in nature to take a photo, etc. These things bring joy to the one who is creating and joy to the recipients! It doesn’t take a degree, lots of money or tons of time.

I think it is very important to bring back to life the creativity that God has given us! Don’t let your lifestyle get so busy that you don’t squeak in a little something, just a moment or two where you can let those creative juices flow! It is like therapy to a weary soul!

Some of my girls are not creative in the way you would think of creativity. I tell you this because there are many ways to express ourselves….baking, a lovely dinner, a beautiful garden, etc. It’s not all about a needle and some yarn….Find your niche and begin your innovative path!

All of my daughters and daughters-in-law have creative streaks, every one of them, expressing  them in different ways. I don’t have pictures of each one’s “streaks” but I have included some of them here.

Also, we have been perusing a site called Paint it Beautiful on Facebook where they teach you how to rejuvenate old furniture and turn it into something new with a paintbrush, stencils or maybe a transfer or two. It has been a lot of fun and a cheaper way of brightening up your home without having to buy new things to replace outdated items. (Which we don’t usually do anyway….we wear them out, outdated or not!)

Anyway, these past few months we have done some creating around here. Here is our “Creativity” Gallery….

I needed a new look for these oak cupboard doors. So I painted them bayberry.
Virginia picked up the knobs for me from Hobby Lobby.
And I got this wall print to add to the look.

I wish I had a before picture of this. It was very dark and well, kind of yucky. So I was pleased with the outcome.
This little bench was dark before I got started painting it. I used sharpies to do the doodles on it.
Jeanette did her little bench and used stencils for the butterflies.

Our two wooden doors in the kitchen were very dirty and marked up. So Angelo sanded them. Vincent did a bayberry “wash” on them so it didn’t completely cover the wood.
This stenciling is a little tricky. You have to be careful to have your paintbrush almost dry or it will drip.

Looks nice when it’s done.
Top right is what Gin’s chair looked like. It was still a very nice chair, just dirty.
So…you guessed it! Gin painted it! Looks lovely doesn’t it?

Here’s the next project she is going to tackle.
Vincent is working on a job and the door was replaced. He brought this old door home. Gin and I both agreed it was beautiful! It is now the door on their office and Gin will have fun painting all the intricate parts!
I bought 5 of these chairs (on the right) from a garage sale. After painting and reupholstering (adding a transfer) they transformed into the left picture!

I repainted our old round table that was covered in hard glue (we glued our puzzles on it). It now looks like a brand new set!
I got this little dresser from our lovely little Thrift Shop and asked Virginia if she wanted to redo it.
So she did! And gave it to me for my birthday!

Isn’t it lovely?
The drawers had old, dusty velvet lining them.
Here’s another one of Gin’s lovelies!

I repainted an older baker’s rack.
I used the colors of soapstone and coral.
Then stenciled a flourish.

It’s now our coffee nook.
An old window Vincent brought home from his remodeling job.
I decided to make it into something unique. It sits on top of the cupboard.

Our prie-dieu needed an overhaul….
We were exchanging project pictures via text. This is the picture Theresa sent with the caption: If you think you’re crafty, you need to take a look at what I did! Two weeks ago I painted half a crate yellow, then got pooped out and never finished it. I call it “lacrate ombre.” I’m thinking of giving classes, if anyone’s interested.

Vincent is building a shade garden for Grandma.
This picture doesn’t do it justice….it is so lovely!
And this is what it looks like at night.

We often pray our rosary up at her apartment, with the frogs jumping about. Quite lovely!
Rosie and Angelo have been the landscapers. They built this rock wall beside the Knockout roses.
They tilled and reseeded this grass that Vincent is mowing.

Jeanette’s sourdough bread.
Theresa painted their little rocker.
And their plant stand to match.

This is Z’s wreath…with an old window as the stage.
Theresa made this wreath…

And this one.
This is the center of Jeanette’s table with one of Rosie’s doilies part of the display.
The Knockout roses right now are, well… knock outs! This is the middle of our table with lots of lovely flowers and Rosie’s pretty doily that she gave me for Mother’s Day. (St. Anne graces the middle of the table, too) ❤️

Jeanette took this beautiful picture last night after the storm…
And last but not least, Agnes has something for show and tell, too! She’s growing up! 🙂


Sharing Our Creativity

28 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by Leanevdp in Creativity

≈ 11 Comments

The following post is for your creative inspiration. It is good to have some kind of craft or hobby going. It lightens the spirit!

Here are some of the things going on here lately that can whet the creative appetite:

Not able to do much, Rosie CAN crochet! Her lovely doilies will make wonderful gifts!

Continue reading →

Surrounded By Beauty

17 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by Leanevdp in by Emilie Barnes, Creativity

≈ 2 Comments

First…thank you, dear ones, for your prayers for our little guys yesterday. We were all exhausted fighting thoughts of what could have happened to them…and were so grateful that all turned out well! God is good.

(For those wondering…look on this post.)

A little throwback for some inspiration today….

Emilie Barnes has always been an inspiration to me through the years. She has taught me that our environment, its “ambiance” is important for our own healthy outlook and also for those around us.

We show we care by making our homes comfortable, homey and lovely. It doesn’t take a lot of money…..and now with so many helps, like Pinterest, or the internet in general, we can figure out ways to make our environment special that is cost-effective! Our loved ones will appreciate it! And so will we!

It took us many years to get to where we are now. We lived in a little one-bedroom home with seven kids for 10 years on this property (adding a couple of bedrooms as big as boxes 🙂 )!! But it was always “home” and I did my best to add touches to that little “shack”. The kids were sad to leave it….

So don’t get discouraged. Do what you can where you are….bloom where you are planted!

In this article Mrs. Barnes talks about surrounding ourselves with the things that we love and making it part of our home’s decor. I guess you can tell what we love around here. 🙂

IMG_9201IMG_9202

Home Warming by Emilie Barnes

Beauty is as necessary to the spirit as food and clothing are to the body. Fortunately, beauty is easy to invite into any home, for beauty has many faces. Beauty can be found in a hand-colored photograph or a hand-stitched quilt, or in shelves lined with bright-hued jelly jars. A pot of graceful ivy can be beautiful and so can a sweet potato vine growing in a jar.

Even the arrangement of a home can be beautiful. When furniture and objects, whatever the cost of the style, are combined with care and attention, the result can be warmly beautiful, even if the individual pieces are less than lovely.

What is beautiful to you? What makes you smile or your spirit soar? That is the beauty that should surround you in your home, and it will be shared with all who come to visit.

Seek out beauty in whatever form it speaks to you. Surround yourself with beauty. In the process, you will be creating something truly beautiful as well: a lovely home graced with a happy, welcoming spirit.

Personal Touches

I feel immediately at home in houses where people have surrounded themselves with what they love. I like to walk into a house and immediately have a sense of what they read, what they collect, what they like to cook, how they like spend their time. (This gives me something to talk about as well.) I enjoy meeting well-behaved pets and seeing evidence that there are children in the home.

Our home overflows with objects that remind me of who I am and what I love. Clusters of family photos – on a wall of our great room, on a table in the bedroom, on my desk, and on the refrigerator – fill the spaces of our home with smiling, familiar faces.

Teacups from my long-time collection retell their stories to me each time I look at them. My mother’s secretary and my auntie’s crystal build a bridge for my memories. Books and signs and plaques collected on our trips fit together like pieces that make up the puzzle of our lives.

Somehow, it all manages to come together in a homey atmosphere that says, “This is who we are. This is what we love. Please have a seat and let us get to know you, too.”

Cleanliness Creates Hominess

Bob used to tease me that I would die with a broom in my hand. And it’s true that the first thing I usually want to do when I come home from a trip is grab a broom and sweep off the front step. I love that sense of getting my home in order. To me, it’s hard to feel comfortable and at home in a house that is dirty, cluttered, or disorganized.

Create a comfortable nest where people you love, including yourself, can work and play and relax and visit without worrying about whether they will step on a toy or be faced with a discouraging pile of undone chores.

It Takes a Lifetime

It takes a lifetime, this process of making yourself at home.

Homes grow and change just as people do. But these simple secrets of “at-homeness” hold steady through the ongoing homemaking process.

Make yourself comfortable – and create a comfortable environment for yourself and others.

Add the little touches that make a house feel like a home.

Surround yourself with beauty.

Surround yourself with you.

Create peace by ordering your environment.

Above all else, listen to your dreams of home. Allow them to guide you as you learn to make yourself and others happily at home.

home

“It will not then matter to us what our work is; the smallest action will be performed as carefully as the greatest, and our life will be beautiful in the sight of God. Yes; it is not always what appears to us to be grand actions that are grand in the sight of God.” -Mother Mary Potter, Our Lady’s Love of Domestic Life

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A Walk Through the Flowers…

08 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by Leanevdp in by Leane Vdp, Creativity, FF Tidbits

≈ 5 Comments

Ladies, I want you, today, to compare yourselves to the rays of soft, warm and  glowing sunshine that sifts through the windows of your home to make it a brighter and more cheerful and pleasant atmosphere. Because that is what you are…

You brighten the home, first, by your attitude. This is most important because, as we know, beauty comes from within.

But, there are other ways to brighten the home, too. This is an external brightness that adds to the overall picture of what you are portraying to those who live in your dwelling and to those who enter its doors.

Vincent and I bought these 6 acres that we live on now when we were young parents. There was a little home on it our relatives called a “shack” – (maybe they said it with an endearing inflection in their voices…but probably not). 😛  It was a small, one-bedroom home that, when you entered, you thought you were on the waves of the Great River of Narnia!

But it was home. And it was home for us for 10 years! We moved in with two small children and by the time we moved out we had seven children! Vincent had tacked on two little rooms (more like boxes..hehe), big enough to hold two small, homemade bunkbeds… one for the boys, one for the girls.

By the time we moved out, we could see the outdoors through the floor, the kitchen sink was caving in and we had to pump the septic out every day!

If you were to ask my kids, they would tell you those were the best years of their lives! And I didn’t mind either. We made it a home…yes, we did.

I had read Emilie Barnes books and I knew that it is not the dwelling that makes the home….it is the spirit within! So we proceeded to add our touches to our little home.

A central place for Our Lady was established and adorned with flowers whenever we could (many times from the fields around us). The little old lady who had lived there before us had many perennials planted and two lovely, blossoming crabapple trees! We also planted our own annuals each year. We used these blossoms to adorn the table and Our Lady’s altar.

I would use a lot of tablecloths to make things look prettier and more homey. I didn’t do many candles at that time since my children were quite young. I did have candles up by Our Lady since it was high enough to divert little fingers.

Every little bit helps to make a home look loved….and welcoming.

So don’t ever give up, no matter what circumstances you are in, to beautify your home. It doesn’t have to be extravagant. Little things mean a lot!

I’d like to give you a little “tour” of our home this year. Hubby built the home we are in but it has taken time to get established….lots of time. Now we are enjoying the fruits of our labor.

The Tour:

This is our table, generously adorned with our summer flowers. In the winter, we lean heavily on silk flowers, but sometimes we get fresh ones from our local market.

Notice my lovely St. Anne statue (my patron saint and the patron saint of Finer Femininity). It was given to me by a friend just lately.

I love zinnias! They make great cut flowers. I call these two particular colors together my “bouquet of sunshine”!

The following bouquet is kind of the wild, woodsy look. If you want a flower that will be profuse and quite hearty, coming up each year, then choose the double Knock-Out Roses! They are lovely all summer long! This bouquet also has what we call “Hawaiian Peas” (the long stems with purple flowers on them). They are actually called Hyacinth Bean. They are a quick-growing vine that can cover a trellis quickly and become so heavy with leaves, it may topple it!

One of our many Hyacinth Beans that we planted this year.

This is our Infant of Prague Statue on top of our covered wood stove. In the winter, He will be moved to another prominent spot so we can use the stove. The little door on the left is the wood shed. I bet you thought it was where the hobbits slept!

I recently purchased this vintage St. Anne statue from the online local garage sale. All these years I have not had a St. Anne statue and then I get two in one season! The relic of St. Anthony is behind her.

Our round table is awaiting a bouquet. Rosie crocheted the lovely doily adorning it. Underneath the lace tablecloth is a puzzle that is half done. Whenever the kids have a chance or get the urge, they will tear off everything and continue working on the puzzle. It will then be glued and added to a wall in our “Play Room”. Last week one of the kids spilled the flowers in the vase and water went all over the puzzle! We whipped everything off and it seemed to dry ok. 😀

And now we go outdoors to take a peek at what is blooming out there! Vincent has his own greenhouse this year. One of the plants we love is called purslane. We bought one plant and he took many cuttings from it to produce lots and lots of vibrant colored flowers. They close early each day so in order to enjoy them you have to be home during the day. Vincent appreciates it on the weekends when he can see their bright faces smiling at him! 🙂

The following are pictures of the swing Vincent made when he was working for the railroad. All the materials that he used were ones off of the railroad including the insulators that decorate the top of it (not pictured).

Margy’s so silly! 😀

Mandevilas are our favorite climbing flower! They are just annuals, though, so have to be purchased each year. Maybe this year Vincent can carry them through in his greenhouse…

A few years ago, I received this lovely little statue/fountain of the boy and girl. Rosie spearheaded the building of this rock planter around it. Lovely.

Some of our rock gardens….

This is the new rock wall and steps that Vincent built this year. We can now bound up to Grandma’s apartment if there is an emergency….or if we just want a lollipop really bad! 😀

The following are two types of hibiscus. The first is a hibiscus tree that we snag when they are on sale at Sam’s. The second picture is the hearty hibiscus that comes up every year. Their blooms are huge and profuse…usually. The Japanese Beetles have taken their toll this year.

Normally, all these lovely flowers stick around until at least October. But it has been a very dry year and we only have a well….that is too low to water too many plants. So we shall see if they last for the whole season.

Thanks for hanging out with me as I meander through our flowers. I hope it has inspired you to grow some yourself! Start small…but start. 🙂

“Where flowers, these emblems of purity are found, you may rest assured that they represent a hope, and speak of a goodness of heart not to be found where they are absent.” -Fr. Lasance

“I have always noticed that wherever you find flowers, no matter whether in a garret or in a palace, it is a pretty sure sign that there is an inner refinement of which the world is not cognizant. I have seen flowers cultivated and cherished by some of the lowest and poorest of people. Where these emblems of purity are found, you may rest assured that they represent a hope, and speak of a goodness of heart not to be found where they are absent.” -Fr. Lasance, My Prayer Book http://amzn.to/2peMnkT (afflink) Illustration by genevievegodboutillustration.com

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