Thoughts on what we give away….

It’s the time of year our hearts open up to the idea of giving things away.

We are more likely to share (some of) our money, (some of) our food, (some of) our time during the time of year surrounding Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We feel the empty hollowness of NOT giving, and in some small way, make ourselves feel better by contributing at least something to the spirit of giving.

I want to think a little bit on what we give away….

How many of us stop and buy some extra tins for the food bank bin at our local grocery?

or donate a Saturday afternoon to the local charity gift drive?

or look through our kids old toys and give them away to charity to make room for the new?

All good, well intentioned acts of giving, no doubt about it.

Most of us have plenty more where that comes from….

What would happen in our lives if we gave until it hurt?  What would happen if we gave away our BEST?

What if, instead of half a dozen tins in the bin, we chose instead to take our weekly grocery budget to buy food for another family, and instead, make do with what is still in our cupboards, fridges and freezers?

What would we do with our grumbling attitudes, frazzled thinking when we had to get creative  that week instead of just grabbing the easy solution?

**

What if, instead of going through our closets and giving away the worn, damaged, or out of date clothing, we walked into our favorite store, bought our favorite item and gave it to someone who REALLY needs it because if they don’t get it, they have nothing else to wear?

Does it seem like that would be a ‘waste’ of a perfectly good, brand new sweater/shirt/pants/coat?

Why is second hand ‘good enough’ to give away, but brand new is ‘too good’?

**

What if instead of taking our family out to a movie, we found a movie in our own stashes that we haven’t watched in awhile, pop some popcorn and hang out at home…..and then take the money that we would have spent on such an evening and give it to a single mom or dad with instructions to treat themselves and their family to a movie night.

Would we feel like our $50 was well spent?

**

Our thinking of what it means to give has got to change.  Our thinking that we are ‘rescuing’ someone with our acts of charity has to change.

Instead, we need to count it a privilege to be able to share.  We need to look for opportunities to put ourselves on level ground and see ourselves as the same.

We are all humanity.

We are one.

**  My challenge to you is to try just one of the ideas I listed, or make up one of your own…where you give away your BEST, instead of second best.  Take really careful note of the ugliness that surfaces in your own thinking as you do this…all the reasons it’s a ‘bad’ idea, or how you could never do it.

The junk that you may have to wade through when it comes to your own internal dialogue, will teach you something incredibly valuable if you can just stick with it.

Your life might just never be the same…

No Poo UPDATE

I had a comment asking about my No Poo Experiment, so I thought I would update y’all.

I received the question yesterday, so maybe it’s no co-incidence that it was the day BEFORE yesterday that I shampooed….(gasp!)  In the interest of keepin’-it-real, I knew I’d have to update my blog post anyway.

Two things happened…

#1 – the static is driving me CRAZY.

My hair is too long right now anyways, and even with shampoo and conditioner, when it is -40 with windchill, my hair will always be static-y.   For a few days, I had been considering using some products ‘just to see’, but I really knew that it would be the same, no matter what, so I resisted my urge to go mainstream with products again.

#2 – I colored my hair.

I do not know of any good options to do this, other than to go completely grey, and I’m just not ready for that….so I colored.

After 4 or 5 days, my hair/head just continued to STINK.  I could smell hair color every time I moved my head…and it wasn’t just the ‘freshly colored’ smell, it was kind of taking on the odor of ‘cradle cap’, if you’ve ever had a baby with that…..I really felt like I needed to do something.

Unfortunately, it is the week before Christmas, and I just don’t have time to research all my holistic options…and I will!….so I pulled out my Garnier Fructis and lathered up.

The second day, my hair/head stinks less, but it’s still there….I think I’ll shampoo once more, but then I’ll get right back to the Baking Soda / Apple Cider vinegar and keep going…

…and I was right…the static is just as bad even with shampoo and conditioner.  Fine hair like mine just can’t handle this dry air…..a haircut might help.

Any other suggestions?

Holiday House Tour

I know so many of you have a different philosophy on decorating than I do.

My philosophy = see how little I can spend….( of course, it would be easiest to just spend zero and don’t decorate at all, but there’s no challenge in that!)

Not that there is anything wrong with spending money to make your house beautiful and inviting….me, I just get the heeby jeebies when I think about spending  money on things that once I’m gone, have no value….it’s just the way I roll.  So my little tour will highlight some of the fun, interesting and creative things I’ve done around our home for the holidays!

First of all, welcome to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

That is directly north of FARGO, North Dakota.  yup, THAT Fargo.

That’s lookin outside my dining room window, and no, I’m not going outside to get a shot of the house from there….this obligatory front door shot from inside the house will have to do ’cause I’m not going out in the minus-something-freezing cold tonight!

This is a recent acquisition for 99 cents. It is VERY plastic, but for some odd reason, looks oddly 'real'....

I highlighted this beady wreath in last year’s tour….I was even more excited to see a similar one at the Craft Store this week for $24.99.  I paid a buck for the beady stuff at a yard sale last year and just wrapped it into a wreath-sort-of shape.  The bow I added this year….it came on a gift I got last year.

From there, I’m highlighting a new little corner that I’ve set up over my buffet….normally the cat eats on there (because the dog eats all her food if I leave it on the floor, that’s why…) but in recognition that my shots would certainly need to be much more staged, I removed it (the cat food… yes we are a long thought away from that already, I know…).

I found the snowman last spring at a GoodWill store for $4.99, and the smelly sticks were a birthday gift from my sister...( oh, you can probably see some of the cat food on the buffet...oh well...so much for staging!)

Where was I?  oh right…In a previous post about my new mistreatments, I did say that I would get a shot of the dining room all prettied up, so here it is.. (so, the wall color is going to magically become that soft taupe color like you see in the carpet and the bottom of the drapes…mmm that’sa gonna be nice…!)

The sideboard on the right side is adorned with this little Christmassy display

The Santa and his mailbox were in an auction box, so technically, they were 'free', the sled was a gift from my sister-in-law, the Santa Stars I made, the garland was free from my dad when he moved, and I do believe I paid 50 cents each for the votive holders

Moving along, I have had this garland (is that what it  is called?) for years…I hosted a party-lite party and I think I used up some ridiculous hostess ‘credit’ for like 50 bucks on the thing…it found a home this year over our kitchen chalkboard…

(yes, I still need bulbs for the office..now 3 out of 4 are burned out, it is getting dark in here...)

I gone and done did spoil myself this year…..these towels were $6.99 at Home Sense, so I treated myself!

I updated my hallway display this year….

The garland was purchased at Salvation Army for $4.99; I made the two stockings last year; the fishbowl was a 10 cent garage sale acquisition...the fluffy snowman was a secret santa gift. I don't really remember getting the Christmas Tree balls, but in all liklihood they came out of an auction box at some point over the past 10 years...

My previously featured Garland:

has been updated with some gold ribbon, and a couple of feathered birds that I thrifted for $2.99 this week:

I picked up this ceramic carolling family at GoodWill for $2.99

And our tree. …

Every year I pull this tree out of the rubbermaid tub and I HATE it.  But every year, I tell myself that there is no good reason on earth to go spend money on another one when we ALREADY own one.  We start hanging the decorations and the lights and the shiny garland, and bit by bit, OUR tree emerges.

If you squint and turn your head sideways, it does quite nicely!

Notice the REPURPOSED tablecloth being used as a tree skirt; and my Mother in Law was getting rid of some fabric, so FOR FREE, I whipped up a few drawstring gift bags as our first attempt to stop using wrapping paper this year...oh, and we've also wrapped some paper and ribbon around a PRINGLES can, and it's ALREADY holding dad's gift from #1 son!

So, there you have it from WINTERPEG.

If I owned a nicer camera, I would take alot more overall room shots, but I don’t, so this will have to do….

Just a reminder, it’s SO NOT about the gifts, it’s SO NOT about what you spend, it’s about the memories you create and the remembrance of the one who came over 2000 years ago….I’m SO NOT religious, I’m SO NOT into cramming this down anyone’s throat, but I do challenge you to look at the season a little differently this year….

I spent alot of time thinking God wasn’t relevant because RELIGION kept me blinded.

If you don’t believe the documented history of Jesus Christ, is it because RELIGION is in the way?

Don’t let that stop you from exploring a personal relationship with HE WHO CREATED ALL…and that includes you.  He made you, and loves you … in fact he loves you too much to leave you where you are today.  Don’t let me or anyone else get in the way of exploring what that means.

All righty then….in the interest of keepin’ it real, because that’s what we do around here, I need to get off my computer and get back to real life which looks more like this on a regular basis:

Scraping the bottom – my thoughts on wasting less

So, how far do you go when trying to make wiser or simpler choices?

What crosses the line for you?

What creature comforts are just so not worth giving up?

I would like to think I could give up this:

I’m sure there are cheaper, more healthy choices to use when the need strikes me to cover up my blotchy skin…..I just haven’t looked yet.

So, this time when it was nearing the end of supply and the bottle started to fart, I took that split second moment to question my NEED for this luxury….it’s been about four weeks since I asked myself that question.

Here’s what I’ve done since then…

Can you believe that I have used what is in there for FOUR WEEKS??  When I normally would have just tossed it and went out to buy a new one….I have applied some rational thought and took it upon myself to cut up the neat and pretty packaging that the marketing people make us think is sacred and not to be ’scraped’…

A FOUR WEEK SUPPLY and there is probably still enough for a couple of more weeks…

Makes me wonder what other kinds of things we regularly toss out when there is still life left in them if we only look at it a little differently?  I’d love to hear from you in the comments if you have found ways of applying this same principle to other items….I’ll feature your ideas on a future blog….I think it is just that important to think differently, and take action..!

**

This stuff jazzes me up folks – if you haven’t read my Who Am I ? tab, then you may not know this about me:

(I’m) Currently devoted to redeeming things others have passed by,

passed on, passed over or dismissed.

I am looking at life with a new lens.

FREE Christmas Carol downloads (MP3s)

Free is never a bad thing in my books!

I thought I would share these free Christmas Carol MP3 downloads with you.

Just click on the picture and it will take you right there…

brought to you by

The Blessing of Honor

I attended a brunch last Saturday where each table hostess was asked to ‘decorate’ her own table in a way that reflected her personality and/or in a way to bless those who would be sitting at her table.

I’ll post about my table another time, because to stay true to ‘Notice the Celebrate Small Moments’ at Chatting at the Sky, I took time to notice this table:

This lady had used china that her mother gave her, a tablecloth and napkins that her mother had made, and had various pictures of her parents and other treasured momentos around her table.

Because I love anything ‘old’, I asked her about her table, and she told me how special this table was to her because her and her mother, never really got along… This table was her way of honoring her Mother, even tho’ things had not always gone smoothly, of taking a moment and sharing things that were dear to her mother, of letting by-gones be by-gones and celebrating the hospitality that perhaps, in some way, she wished her own mother had been able to show her.

It was a beautiful display that healed hurts through the simple act of remembering, and choosing to honor and bless instead of curse.

A good reminder for all of us through this holiday season…..who is the hardest person in our life to love?

Who could we ‘do without’ for very personal reasons?

What hurts could heal if you chose to honor and bless them?   

hmmm….something to think about….stay on this post for just a moment and think those questions through for your self.  How could you CHANGE the course of holidays to come by a simple act of blessing?

It is a choice which you have the power to make….

Keepin’ It Real – Laundry Mishaps

Ok, so I’m experimenting….

My duvet was looking a little tired, kind of yellow and it was time to haul it off to the drycleaners again.

ah, what the heck I figured….I’ve been wanting to try washing something with AMMONIA and bluing powder, so why not now?

so yeah…I photographed the French side of the

Ammonia bottle….but I think you get the drift…

I guess the fact that I DO NOT OWN A Front Loading Washing Machine maybe should have made me think this through a little more, but I’m not known for following directions anyway…

So, I tossed it into my top loader, with a cup of ammonia, 1/2 a cup of the bluing powder stuff and let ‘er rip.  When I opened the machine, I was quite pleased…..it really came out very white – woo hoo success!!!

So I tossed it into the dryer to get some of the moisture out before hanging it to dry the rest of the way….it’s when I hung it up that I noticed it….

Have you ever had a dog with an itchy butt?  You know how they drag themselves along the carpet or whatever else is handy?  Well in a coupla places, that’s kind of what THIS looks like….

I’m thinking it was in the places where the water and cleaning agents just never got to do their stuff since the comforter was scrunched into my top loader really, really tight….

Anyways…lesson learned…while I’m pretty sure it’s not ruined, I am going to have to trudge it off to a laundrymat ( I don’t even know where to find one…) and give it a try in a front loader….or maybe I just need to spring for drycleaning it again……not gonna happen.

So, in the meantime, I’ll strategically fold and cover those places with the other blankets on our bed, and look for other things to make white that aren’t so darn big and puffy!

C’est la vie.

Fabulous finds!

Here are some of our more recent fabulous finds that have sold on ebay in the past week:

A fabulous retro sparkly green Christmas tree – on it’s way to California!

A super funky metalflake motorcycle helmet – ohsoretro!

and this funky ball shaped transistor radio – LunaLit – the ball glows with a light inside.

Just some of the fun and interesting things popping up in and around snowy, cold and wintery Winnipeg!

What Works for Me Wednesday

Shannon over at Rocks in my Dryer hosts What Works for Me Wednesdays.  Be sure to hop over there and see what other people are up to.

My post is quick and simple this week:

Trying to get off of coffee?  I found BAMBU at my local health food store.  It’s a pretty good coffee subsitute, and some days I’ll add some cocoa for a little something extra.  I’ve also mostly transitioned to STEVIA instead of sugar, and that my friends is what works for me!

My attempt at Mistreatments – the PERFECT PHILOSOPHY!

I love the philosophy over at Nesting Place – she sounds like my kind of gal!

I have been putting off the ‘decorating touches’ in our Dining Room for a few years now, knowing that we are getting closer and closer to a MAJOR renovation, but the windows have been DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!  We have basically been living with a set of sheer panels in there with nothing else for some time now.

I took the time last week to go through the Nesting Place blog and was inspired – inspired to create something from nothing.

Here’s what I’m all about:

- I hate to measure

- I hate to use patterns

- I have a hard time spending money on anything

_ I like to start and finish a project within the same afternoon.

- I do not consider myself at all crafty, however I am creative.

That means that seams don’t always line up, things don’t close the way they should, and generally, I don’t spend any time ripping out seams if they are not right…I just make it work “good-enough”.  I probably would have been diagnosed as ADD had that been a real diagnosis when I was a kid.  I don’t have a long enough attention span for long or complicated projects.

***

I stumbled on a perfectly, good as new flat sheet in the thrift store that I just had to put in my cart based on the colors…I initially thought that I might use it to recover my dining room chairs.

The sheet was $5.99.

However, once I got it home, some new ideas started to perk.

I measured my window and I ripped….ripped strategically of course, but just ripped it.  I hung it over my existing too-skinny drapery pole thingy, and an idea was born!  I scrounged through the fabric store bargain bin on Saturday morning and spent $9.00 on some beady fringe, et voila!

The perfect MISTREAMENT!

I plan to add some brownish colored side panels, but I refuse to pay more than 10 bucks for the two windows in there, so I will have to keep watching and waiting at my local thrift stores and discount shops.

**UPDATE**

I wrote this post a week or so ago, and just hadn’t edited or posted it yet.  Would you believe that my patience and scrounging paid off in a big way?

Lookit this price tag…

Guess what $4.99 bought me???

SIX PANELS   42″ X 100″  - SIX PANELS!!!!

They are only polyester, but I covered BOTH windows and have two panels to spare for under 5 bucks!!

They are actualy more a dark moss / olive green than brown like they look in the photos……and look how they match the rug in the room:

You can see the whole room after I clean up the disaster zone that you can’t see right now…(!)

GRAND TOTAL OF TWO WINDOW MISTREATMENTS:

Original flat sheet:  $5.99

Bead fringe thingys:  $9.00

six panels :  $4.99

and I had to run to The Depot to get some of those white drapery bars….I have given all mine away…$9.00

So for 29 bucks, I have covered TWO windows!

I will be watching for heavier valance poles…I think a nice heavy dark wood will work better than those skinny iron things….but dontcha just love how I was able to mount them so high….my dining room looks so much more elegant now…!

but wait, I’m not done there!  There was a tiny swatch left, that wasn’t quite wide enough for my kitchen window, but that’s no-never-mind to me once I’m on a roll….I whipped out some brown corduroy, ripped off some appropriately sizes pieces and sewed them onto the ends.

And again – voila!  I didn’t even take time to iron these or straighten them out I was just so excited about how they look….quite honestly, the way it goes around here, I probably never will (take them down to iron them…) that’s just the way I roll…!

**

And, with the last little bit of fabric I had left over, I pulled out a painting, covered it up, hung on some ribbon, stitched on a few key rings, and we will also have the perfect accessory to hang fun photos by our entryway!

(and yes…the blue wall will not exist post-reno….but again, I just HAD  to get the photo now…who’s got time to wait????)

whew – that’s enough fun for one day!

later,

V.