Holiday Home

Subtitle: Say It Outloud!

My sisters and I were recently reminiscing about how we loved playing with Barbies when we were young. Our grandmother made fabulous outfits out of old clothes and beautiful layered gowns out of old sheer curtains. I still remember all the tiny snaps.  Once our dolls were dressed...we used whatever we had around the house to furnish and decorate Barbie rooms in the corners behind the furniture in the living room.....and we visited each other's rooms to check out our creations.  I remember using using encyclopedias for beds, doilies and fabric scraps for bedspreads, spools, blocks, and anything we could find in the kitchen or around the house to furnish and decorate our rooms.

My enjoyment for creative problem solving....and using what I have around me to create something was instilled in me as a child.  And I'm grateful to my mom and my grandmothers for encouraging that.

I wrote recently about Patty's Putz Christmas village.....where she and her husband Reid have collected birdhouses representing places they have lived to display around their tree.

The New Jersey lighthouse when turned to the side looks very much like the street view of their condo unit...just down the street.  

Patty places an extra large green wreath between her windows of her condo every year....decked out with a big bow....and a single red cardinal.  I can see it from my end of the street...and it's simply lovely.

As a matter of fact....Patty has several red cardinals around her holiday home....on her tree...and on her table.

Patty went looking for a small wreath for her putz birdhouse at some local craft stores with no result. All she had to do was say it outloud and I was on it. Surely I could come with a tiny wreath with something from my stash. I love being a creative problem solver....it's in my blood.

I snipped tiny little pieces of green wool felt and threaded them onto a piece of wire.....then added a tiny red bow.  

But it was missing something.

Years and years ago I bought some tiny little birds at a dollhouse show....so look what else I found in my stash. 

Patty and I decided the tiny cardinal got lost in the wreath....so for now it's sitting on the base...the perfect finishing touch on this festive holiday home.  

All she had to do was say it outloud.

The sun was setting as I was walking home from her unit yesterday.....I just love the winter sky.  What creative problem do you have that needs a solution? All you might need to do is say it outloud.