The True Beauty of a Pitcher

 

We had the Target store in Canada for two years and they recently closed all their stores.

That meant everything was on sale.

As the closing date for our store got closer, the sales were better.

I had my eye on this pitcher for awhile.

I was waiting and hoping the price would come down. 

 

On my last trip there I got it for $7.61

It is sitting pretty here on the black stool.

Black and white look sharp together.

It's not an antique but it's a pretty good imitation.

I've always been drawn to pitchers.

Not only is the pitcher beautiful in its craftsmanship, just search online and you'll see hundreds),

but there is such beauty in its purpose.

It's purpose is to serve.

Be it water to drink or warm water to fill a bath,

there were hands that filled it and hands that poured it.

Source

The Milk Jug

 

The Gentle Milk Jug blue and white

I love with all my soul,

She pours herself with all her might

To fill my breakfast bowl.

 

All day she sits upon the shelf,

She does not jump or climb--

She only waits to pour herself

When 'tis my supper-time.

 

And when the Jus is empty quite,

I shall not mew in vain,

the Friendly Cow, all red and white,

Will fill her up again.

 

 

I love this picture of the kitten eagerly awaiting  his milk.

There is the hand on the jug pouring out the needed nourishment.

The poem is pretty sweet too.

We are to be vessels who God can use to pour into

so that we can pour into the lives of others to bring hope and healing.

  

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver,

 but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use.

 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter

will be instruments for special purposes,

made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

2 Timothy 2:20-21

 

"And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” Matthew 10:42

 

Have a wonderful weekend,

 and ask God how He can use you to bless someone else.

 

Blessings,

 

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Lilacs in the Bathroom

Finally our lilacs are out here in Southern Ontario.

I've been seeing them on many blogs and was eagerly awaiting their arrival.

We have a large lilac bush in the front yard.

It smells heavenly.

Unfortunately, they don't last long.

So, I got the clippers out and started clipping.

I wanted to fully appreciate this flower while I could.

We recently had Marshall's come to town and this was one of my purchases.

I love the crackly look and that it looked like a coffee cup.

And the price.

$5.99 Cdn.

I had a fake green plant in here but I thought it would look pretty with lilacs in.

The opening of the pot is large so I put water in a smaller container,

which would also give the bouquet a more controlled look.

I decided to put it in the main floor bathroom.

It's a small two piece bathroom so it gets tricky when trying to decorate.

I've had a variety of tables and cabinets here, but when I

saw this corner table at an antique mall I grabbed it.

A perfect fit.

A natural air freshener!

Lilacs in the Bathroom.

I made a few more bouquets.

But, I'll show you those later.

I woke up with this scripture in my head yesterday so I thought I would share it with you.

A good way to start your week.

 

Blessings,

 

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Creating a Vintage Vignette

Putting a vignette together is fun and challenging,

BUT

it can be very time consuming.

At least that is how it is for me.

I have a lot of "stuff"

and that means there is a lot of "stuff" to work with.

Arranging...

  Rearranging...

And rearranging again.

"Does this look good?"

 OR

 "Does this look better?"

 

So, it helps if you have a plan in mind.

Consider the space you have and balancing the space in width and height.

I decided that I was going to utilize an assortment of vintage type pieces.

My "space" was the top of our TV cabinet.

(We still have the big box flat screen TV.)

I also wanted to incorporate a variety of materials

 such as:

 glass, wood, lace, paper, candlelight, tin, and baskets.

This is what I came up with.

After going through a lot of "stuff",

and

Rearranging "several" times.

The first thing I knew I needed was something

 that was tall enough to cover the thermostat on the wall,

but also easy enough to move, (much to my husband's chagrin!)

A stack of vintage baskets are perfect because they are so light.

The clock I found at Giant Tiger (for you Canadians)

It has a vintage look to it and for $10.00 it was a quick purchase.

I placed it on top of a few old books to create more height.

You can't have a vintage look without the old jars.

I chose a smaller green ball jar to add a bit of colour.

I love flowers in vintage bottles and two of them fit perfectly in this old box.

A white rose in one and a candle in the other.

The flowers don't have to be real.

This one isn't.

It looks lovely just the same.





A bit of lace on vintage books.

Again, I used old books to raise the lantern to balance the height on either side of the vignette.

A vintage glass electrical insulator add another "touch of glass"

 

 The lantern is a recent purchase from Ikea.

Even though it is new, lanterns represent another time.

A primitive electric drip candle adds a cozy small light to the vignette.

Here is a small list of suggested items to use to create a vintage vignette.

 

Paper (old photos, books, old scrapbooks, postcards, ephemera)

Glass (mason or crown jars, milk bottles, medicine, elixir,vintage glass electrical insulators)

Tin (oil cans, cookie tin, weigh scale, flour sifter, scoops, toolbox, old maple syrup buckets)

Wood (sewing drawers, cheese box, crates, signs, frames, old spools, old bowls, ladles, game boards)

Light (oil lamp, lantern, candles, multiple tea lights)

Timepiece (clocks, alarm clocks, old pocket watches, vintage cameras)

Fabric (lace, burlap, homespun, doilies, quilts, runners, old samplers, hand stitching, make do's)

Baskets (strawberry, picnic, sewing, lunch, tobacco)
Tarnished Silver (jugs, trays, silverware, ice buckets, goblets, trophies)

 Ceramics (clay pots, transferware, ironstone, crocks)

Vintage Suitcases

and I better stop because I keep thinking of something else!

You get the idea.



With a wide space, you can create smaller vignettes to make one large vignette.

Here I was able to put three groupings together.

I've been creating vignettes long before I knew they were called that.

I got so many ideas from shops,

and then more and more home magazines were available,

and now of course we have so many wonderful blogs and pinterest to help our creativity.



 Not sure how long this will last, but I have a few other spaces to tend to first.

Stay tuned.

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

 

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Three Generations of Mothers

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

 

 

I hope you're having or had a wonderful day today.

My day was quiet and nice.

Beautiful flowers from my son.

 

I chose to go to an outdoor burger and ice cream place.

Nothing fancy for me. I love sitting outside.

The open sky, grass, flowers, birds beat any restaurant.

It was the perfect day.

 

A lovely phone call to my Mother.

I live three hours away.

I'm glad to be able to still call.

I'm dreading the day when I won't be able to anymore.

I'm sure that for some of you that is the case already.

That's when we draw on those cherished memories we have stored in our hearts.

 

I'm working on a project for my Mom.

While working on it, I thought to create a collage of  three generations on their wedding day.

Genealogies and family history fascinate me.

Our genetic make up.

Who we get our looks from.

These three photos were cropped.

I tried to find pictures where my Mom wasn't smiling or myself but couldn't find any!

It's hard to imagine that they did not smile when getting their pictures taken back then.

These are about all the pictures I have of my grandmother

Doetje Zondervan -Veenstra

They lived in a small town called Nijland in Friesland, Netherlands.

Here she is with seven children and she is pregnant with the second set of twins.

My mom is the only girl in the picture (kind of obvious)

The twins born were two girls so she was blessed with sisters after all those boys!

She had nine children.

 My Mom and uncle were the first set of twins.

My grandmother died three weeks after giving birth to my aunts.

She was 35 years young.

This is the only picture I have of just my Mom and Grandmother together.

Here Mom is already learning about work.

Her hands were never idle.

Here is the next generation in the bassinette (me!)

And this is my one and only child, my son, Joshua.

 (So no fourth picture in the collage)

 

I am honoured to be his mother.

Such a gift from God.

 

Blessings,

 

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Is any thing too hard for the Lord?

Talk on Tuesday

 

One of my recent devotions with the ladies at WLC was about Sarah.

The life story of Abraham and Sarah is so amazing to me.

There are so many gems to find.

 

In Genesis 11:27-29 we first find out about Abram and Sarai.

But verse 30 packs a huge statement.

 

"But Sarai was barren; she had no child."

 

This is the first thing we know about them.

 

What is the statement that is standing out in your life right now?

What is the thing that seems IMPOSSIBLE?

(Front of the postcard)

Source 

Just a few verses later, in Genesis 12:2 God says to Abram,

 

"...And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great,

so that you will be a blessing..."

 

God immediately addresses the impossibility with a promise!

And God reiterated that promise many times.

Each time God spoke about the promise He was more specific.

The problem for Abram and Sarai was that it was taking longer than they cared for.

Sound familiar?

 

 God had an amazing plan for this couple

 that went so far beyond what they could humanly comprehend.

Sound familiar?

 

They decided that they would help God a bit.

Sarai thought it would be a good idea for her husband to have a baby with her maid.

Abram obliged.

The birth of their child caused bitterness between Sarai and Hagar.

 

Fast forward a few years.

Abram is 99 and Sarai is 90.

The promise is about to come to pass.

 

But just before that happens God does something really cool.

He changes their names!

In Genesis 17:5 God says,

  ^"No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations."

vs 15

“As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai,

 but Sarah shall be her name.

And I will bless her and also give you a son by her;

 then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations;

kings of peoples shall be from her.”

 

Shortly after this the Lord says to Abraham that He will be paying a visit in the spring,

and Sarah will have a son.

Sarah laughs cause she is really old.

 

God says,

"Is any thing too hard for the Lord?"

 

Whatever you think is impossible is possible if God has spoken His promise to you.

 

We all know what happened

Sarah had a son.

They named him Isaac.

Abraham and Sarah were the mother and father of nations.

Just like God said.

(back of the postcard)

 

Don't give up.

Don't lose heart.

When the promise comes, only God can get the glory and it will be amazing!

 

This song is by Don Moen and it's called,

"God will make a way"

It's an older song but the words are still true.

 

 

 Blessings, 

 

 



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Tulips and the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands

We didn't plant any bulbs last Fall, but we did get a few

tulip stragglers.

I decided to bring them in the house to enjoy.

As I was deciding on where to put them, I remembered that it is

 the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands.

Source

The Dutch celebrate the anniversary every year on May 5.

They are so grateful to the Canadians for coming.

Thousands died the winter before to starvation.

Many died just because they were Jews.

Many died for trying to help the Jews, or trying to save their country.

Source

The children are taught about this in school and join in on the celebration with appreciation.

Source



There are still some veterans who travel to the Netherlands for the annual celebration,

but there may not be any for the next big one.

Every time my father met a veteran he would offer his sincere gratitude.

Children learn by watching and hearing.

The Queen fled to Canada and stayed in Ottawa during the war.

Princess Margriet was born in Ottawa

 and as a show of appreciation to the Canadians for taking them in and looking after them,

they send hundreds of tulip bulbs each year.

You can read the story here.

They come in so many beautiful colours.

I've noticed that since having a more neutral colour in my home,

flowers stand out a whole lot more.

And it doesn't matter what colour your flowers are cause they will always work.

 

Flowers look lovely together or on their own.

I think I mentioned in another post, but I'll say it again.

Flowers make my heart smile.

We had a beautiful day today.

 Warm sunshine.

Smell of cut grass.

Wearing sandals.

Good deal at the thrift shop.

 

Have a beautiful week!

 

Blessings,

 

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