The Seventh Day of Christmas

The end of 2016 is upon us! I hope it’s been a blessed year for everyone!

I wish sewing machines and longarm quilting machines came with something like a vehicle’s trip odometer! I know tractors have hours run time, so why not the machines? I may look into adapting something like this in the coming year! I know I could use a stop watch and write down the time spent, but I’ve been there, done that. It doesn’t work out very well for me!

Sometimes I look around my sewing room, and various fabric and material stash places I have throughout the house and my garden house, and I don’t think I’ve accomplished anything through the year. But, because I’ve kept a daily journal for almost two years now (such a huge help), I can go back and at least indicate the projects I’ve worked on in 2016!

Progress Report for 2016:

27 quilts created –

            10 were for Veterans!

            3 are still WIP (work in progress)!

NOTE:  Only one quilt created and finished was put up for sale in my Artfire shop. At this time, it’s still available.

The others have either been donated,

offered as a raffle fundraiser, 

or in the holding stage waiting for the perfect donation.

11 quilts quilted for others –

8 were for Veterans

2 were for Cancer Patients

1 was to wrap in love and hugs

8 Action Quilts (aka Fidget Quilts)

5 Prayer Flags

3 Pocket Prayer Quilts

An Apron donation for silent auction fundraiser

8 Blessing Bags

4 Kennel Quilts

It has been a busy year!

So much yet to do!

So many more Veterans to cover!

So many things to create!

The Sixth Day of Christmas

Encourage

Another focus within Lanetta’s Creations is to encourage others. 

When reading through the different articles I’ve done over the years, the following aspects are basically the key elements I’ve tried to share:

Pass it on!

Teach someone to sew!

Learn a new technique!

Forget the seam ripper! Turn mistakes into new designs!

Do something creative everyday! 

Simply do! Forget perfecting!

Take a break!

And…

…through it all...
leaving a bit of me within each post.

The Fifth Day of Christmas

Inspire

Over the years, some have asked me, “Why do you write a blog?” That’s a very good question! Sometimes, I wonder the same thing! There are various reasons why, but primarily to leave something behind that I hope will inspire and encourage others to create – something, anything!

It warms my heart when I hear from someone about an article I may have written a few years back, something they had been searching for on how-to do, or if it will work for them as well. A simple comment from someone does make my day!

For some reason, right now, I cannot leave a reply/comment on blogspot – even my own! There’s a glitch somewhere that I hope to get resolved soon!

Creating things – whether it’s quilts, doll clothes, aprons, Action Quilts (aka Fidget Quilts), Prayer Flags, etc. – is such a huge part of my being, my soul. It’s a part of me because everything I do is prayerfully done. I so appreciate this gift I inherited from my mother, and learned from grandmothers, aunts, and others ~ every day. Simply, I want to share with others!

Through this blog, it is my hope and prayer to inspire others… but, how?

1.  Create a virtual environment that cultivates creativity
2.  Promote thinking outside of the box
3.  Facing challenges
4.  Share ideas and methods
5.  Nurture heroes!

The Fourth Day of Christmas

Kindness

When you think about it, showing random acts of kindness without any expectation of gratitude is easy. It takes little effort to give of ourselves.

Can we do more? Certainly! It is as simple as having awareness of others around us ~ near and far. Besides smiling at everyone we see, holding open a door for a stranger, or offering a helping hand to someone, what other ideas are there?

Back in November, I happened across Coffee Cups and Crayons. Megan had put together a Random Acts of Christmas Kindness (RACK) Advent Calendar for December 2016. I went through her website and discovered she has also created Summer Kindness Calendars for us to download ~ all free! Oh, and she provides a list suggesting 100 Acts of Kindness for Kids that I believe are great ideas for adults as well!

There is a Random Acts of Kindness organization. Within the website, beyond their kindness ideas, they have created free lesson plans for teachers to incorporate within the classroom!

Besides doing Random Acts of Kindness (RAK), I will be more aware and will support businesses that also extend RAK’s! I will be looking for signs like these:

While doing Google searches to find fresh ideas, I discovered ~

February 17^th is National Random Acts of Kindness Day!

But, what if I don’t get out into the real world very often? What and how may I show daily Random Act of Kindness to others while I’m here on the ranch?

A few ideas I came up with:

• Write (and get it in the mail) “thinking of you” letters in my own handwriting – not typed or sent electronically!
• Bake cookies and mail to those I rarely see.
• Send “Thank You” cards to people that take my mother shopping and/or out for lunch, or picks up milk for her when they are going to the grocery store anyway.

How do you show Random Acts of Kindness, even from your home?

The Third Day of Christmas

Music, Book, Movie

When celebrating the Christmas season (because it’s not over!), if I had to name a favorite, only one per category, it would be –

Music:

O Holy Night – performed by any artist (as I’ve never heard it sung poorly) is on top of my chart.

Book:

I’ll never forget ~ now 15 years ago ~ reading aloud, The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg.

I read it without a microphone across a filled-to-capacity room that doubled as our cafeteria/auditorium in the local public charter school where I served as Director of Library Services. Over 75% of our students were in the CPS system, many with emotional and learning challenges. You could hear a pin drop while this mixed audience of teachers, staff, parents, guardians, and 50-60 Pre-K to 12^th grade students listened to this wonderful story filled with symbolism!

I highly recommend, The Polar Express – the book!

Movie:

It’s not the “traditional” Christmas movie, but I thoroughly enjoy watching year after year, A Christmas Kiss! The writers did a brilliant job showing how good overcomes evil/greed!

What is your favorite music, book, movie when celebrating Christmas?

The Second Day of Christmas

Have you ever wondered why it has been “customary” to use the colors Red and Green during the Christmas season? Certainly blue, white, gold, silver, purple, and really any color can be, and are, used to decorate. I believe most of us celebrating Christmas do look at red and green together and think, Christmas.

What’s the significance?

I went on an Internet search to find out…

Beyond the religious significance, red and green represents nature’s bright colors, the colors predominately remaining in an otherwise cold dreary winter landscape! It brings indoor the vivid colors of evergreens and holly berries and poinsettias…

This Christmas I stepped out of the “customary” box and wrapped 99.9% of the gifts given in this lovely paper, tied with either gold or silver or both wire ribbons…

Next year, I’m going back to the traditional, maybe, we’ll see!

What are your favorite “Christmas” colors?

The First Day of Christmas

Happy Birthday, Sweet Jesus!

He is the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Did you find an orange (or a clementine) in your stocking this morning? I did! It’s a beautiful reminder of the loving childhood my parents gave me! A warm memory as this always brings a smile to my soul.

Until recently, I didn’t realize many others around the world also share this orange, or Clementine, tradition! I happened across the “why” in this article!

What traditions do you carry on with your family?
What new traditions have you started?

Beyond our faith in Jesus, Christmas is about creating memories.

Memories to keep us warm.

Memories to bring a smile to our soul.

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Oh. My. Goodness. It’s Christmas Eve already! Are you ready? I’m trying to get it done!

I hope you have a blessed Merry Christmas!

The Gift to Give

Each year, until last Christmas, I would ask my sister, “What would you like for Christmas?” She would always respond something like, “I am blessed. I don’t want anything. Rather, give to those in need.”

Instead of asking her last Christmas, I simply prepared and gave her “Blessing Bags” for her to pass along to those in need. I don’t think I’ve ever given her anything she liked and appreciated better – ever!

This year, I’m expanding the tradition, to give a Gift to Give.

And, this year, rather than just filling up several gallon size Ziplock bags, I’m creating fabric shoulder bags for the homeless to have as an additional gift. This way they may easily carry and keep items safely stored away.

I grew up with Grandmothers and childless Aunts making us something for Christmas. I so appreciated the time and effort they spent creating something for me. Because I love sewing something, making special one-of-a-kind gifts, I’ve been pondering what I could do to fulfill this “need” I have, I guess, to also give a part of me.

However, I’ve learned many folks don’t like “stuff” or “clutter” and tastes vary from one to the next. For some, their “gift” will be simply a gift card from their favorite store. That way they can get exactly what they want and nothing is re-gifted or tossed or sold in a garage sale.

But, everyone will receive a Gift to Give.

If you’re interested in starting the tradition, know this isn’t an inexpensive endeavor. Just these items alone totaled over $60.00 mostly from Walmart’s “trial size” aisle. 

Oh, and I put the bar of soap and bottle of shampoo inside a freezer strength ziplock bag.

But, to each Blessing Bag I still need to add:

bottle of water

bottle of Special K

toothbrush

toothpaste

gloves

sunscreen

chapstick

Some things I will NOT include:

Hard Granola or Energy bars (many homeless have teeth/gum issues)Trail Mix (same reason)Beef Jerky sticks (same reason)Gum/Hard Candy (same reason) On-the Go coffee or tea – (really? I guess it depends where they “live” because if it’s underneath a bridge ~ which I’ve seen numerous in the Dallas area ~ how will they heat up some coffee or tea? So, know your demographic!)

I’ve decided, the day after Christmas, I will spread out the gathering of these items over the year. So, each time I go shopping, I’m adding a little bit of the needed items to my regular list. I’ll mark a clear plastic tub “Gift to Give” for storage of said items, so it won’t be so costly at Christmas time!

Several sites across the internet offer suggestions of what to include in Blessing Bags. Pinterest (of course my favorite go-to place) has a nice collection.

Will you create one (or 3 or 6) “Gift to Give” this year?