The things we value

If you have been following our blog, you will know that for my daughter, Valerie's, 30th birthday, I provided her with 30 gifts that went along with 30 letters to her that I personally wrote about things I have learned over the many years I have lived. These are the things I want her to remember and to pass down to her children and her children's children. It was quite an experience getting this together. There were so many thoughts that I had that I wanted to share so I had to condense them to the really important ones. Perhaps I will ask Valerie to list them for you so you can read down the titles of them to see my thoughts. As I was writing these letters, I really came to think about what it was that I valued. We go along in our lives living every day and not always reflecting on what it is that we value most. So this was a great exercise for me, as well as a marvelous gift for my daughter. I would love to encourage all of you to start a little journal and start writing down your thoughts about life and what YOU value. You may eventually want to share this with your children as a timeless rememberance of who you are and were. You can compile it into a book or even illustrate some of your ideas. For me, I included a gift that represented each thing I valued. One of the most interesting parts of all of this I would like to share with all of you.

On Valentine's Day, I decided to give Valerie a letter about Love. Along with this letter came a small gift, a heartfelt gift. This gift was a small gold locket with a small diamond in the center given to me by my parents when I graduated 8th grade. It is now "vintage" as I guess I am becoming... slowly, I hope. I was really excited to give her this gift but the little voice inside of me kept saying "will she like it? will she think it is just a piece of junk? " As doubts poured through my mind Valerie came over to visit that same day. Unbelievably, she announced upon her arrival "Did you see the February Martha Stewart magazine?" I had it but did not have time to read it yet so she grabbed it an opened the page to an article on "Vintage Lockets." You cannot imagine my shock given that she had no idea of what the gift was that I was preparing to give her. She excitedly showed me the beautiful lockets on each page and announced that she was going to be searching for these lockets because she liked them so much. I was ecstatic, to say the least! I totally agreed with her that we should try to find one and it would be fun looking for it. Inside, I was laughing and praising God that He had revealed to me that when I do something out of love there is no reason to doubt my actions. When love is our motivation there is little that can go wrong. So I waited for the "big day" to offer my gift of love to her along with my letters. She was so surprised and we both had a great laugh and shared a lot of love that day.

The other day I stopped over her house and there she was, wearing the little locket I gave her. At that moment, I realized that the love my parents gave to me was being passed down to the next generation.

P.S.
If you are interested in seeing the Martha Stewart article on vintage lockets, see below:
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/love-tokens-pretty-vintage-lockets

Candle Centerpiece-Thrifty Gifty #5

The holidays are rapidly approaching and if you are like me, you may tend to grab a pencil and paper and start making lists of the people you want to give gifts to. For many on my list, I like to give a handmade item because when you make a handmade item, it speaks to the heart of the recipient telling them that you spent that extra special moment thinking about them personally. The thrifty gifty that I am going to tell you how to make today is a great hostess gift for Thanksgiving or a wonderful Christmas gift for one that you love.

The candle centerpiece shown above is a simple, practical and beautiful handmade item that can be created in any size and on any budget. It can be filled with a beautiful berry garland shown above or stashed with sand and seashells for the beach lover. The great thing about this thrifty gifty is it's ability to be personalized for that special someone as you can fill the base with almost anything you can imagine.

The key to this creation is to make sure that you purchase a candle that burns into itself. A drippy candle is not a good option because the hot wax will melt onto whatever decoration you may have in the base of the jar.

Finding jars is easy and doable on any budget. Pier 1 Imports always has amazing glass containers as does HomeGoods if you are looking for something unique and one-of-a-kind. Find a lightly scented candle at Michaels or AC Moore and the filler for your jar at a local arts and crafts store or a HomeGoods/Marshalls/Walmart/Target-type of place. This thrifty gifty can be put together with a one-stop shop or you can shop around for unique one-of-a-kind pieces and compile them all together. Either way, you will be creating something extraordinary.

Dim the lights, put on some dinner music, light your new candle centerpiece and BE INSPIRED!

Easy Homemade Granola-Thrifty Gifty #4

For a most delicious and healthy "Thrifty Gifty" idea, you can't go wrong with this yummy homemade granola! Whip up a batch or two and put a few scoopfuls into a mason or ball jar with a crafty label and voila! You will be the hit of any breakfast table or ice cream social as you can use this yummy treat over yogurt or ice cream. I personally even like to eat it by the handful!

Here is the secret recipe...that's not so secret anymore!!!

• one 18 oz container of Old Fashioned Oats
• pecans, walnuts, almonds, and/or pumpkin seeds added in accordance to your liking
  (I usually stick to a 2:1 ratio of oats to nuts.)

• Melt 1/2 lb (2 sticks) of butter and add to the mixture of oats and nuts.
• Add 1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the mixture as well.

• Drizzle in some vanilla and REAL maple syrup to taste.
• Add a dash of salt.
• Bake at 250 for 2 hours
• Toss every 20 minutes
• If you would like to add chopped prunes, apricots or craisins, add during the last 10 minutes
  (to prevent the fruit from getting hard enough to crack a tooth!)

Enjoy and BE INSPIRED!