Hello, kids.
Remember those almost-free festive chair decorations I was working on Friday?
They were for the dinner party we had last night.
So....
Yesterday morning I finished making the almost-free centerpiece for the table.
It had the same elements as the chair decor: little pinecones picked up by my good friend, big pinecones picked up on a walk by moi to the local drug store, boughs lopped from the bottom of Chrismas trees and free-for-the-taking from Home Depot, and (larger) paper stars made from the pages of an old hymnal.
It was lovely last night, with just the candle light and the twinking lights in the centerpiece and nearby Christmas tree.
Every year I ask God for inspiration for the decorations for this little dinner party, and He always answers my prayers.
I like to use a handmade ornament, representative of each year's decor theme, as both place marker and take-home favor.
So, yesterday morning found me pulling things out of my Christmas craft box and experimenting at the kitchen counter while the white chocolate mousse was chilling in prep for whipping into dessert.
I found a bundle (just enough pieces!!) of wired greenery stems in the stash and thought I would make some little wreaths.
This is what I started with:
The iPad in the background isn't essential equipment, but it was wonderful to listen to some LifeChurch TV sermons while I worked.
I made a slew of little paper stars to start off with.
I threaded some stars onto the surgical wire (cast offs from the clinic where I work) and formed it into a wreath.
I put dots of glitter glue at each side of the stars to hold them in place...
...because I was too lazy to mess with other glues thought I would put this little wreath inside a wreath made from one of the wired greenery stems...
...and then hang a pine cone in the center and put a bow at the top.
But.
It was really too big and I didn't care for the way it looked ("...like a Cadillac emblem", according to The Prince).
Experiment #2 was more to size and taste.
I just wrapped the wired greenery around the starred wreath.
With a pine cone in the center and a little bow and name banner at the top, it made the cut for the finished ornament favor/place marker.
It was the last decorative detail, fallen into place just in time.
By 6:30, all the candles were lit, the twinkle lights were on, the music was playing, the fresh bread was out of the oven, the beautiful lasagna (The Prince made it this year!) was in the oven, dessert was in the refrigerator, the salad was tossed and the wine was uncorked.
The guests arrived.
We began to talk, to laugh, to pray, to eat.
We were having a wonderful time at this table.
But see that little round ornament hanging from the chandelier?
It has a story to tell.
It was made Friday during a play-time meeting of my D'Art group.
I contemplated making six of them to use as this year's favors, but decided they were too big.
So, I just hung that little ol' single bulb from the chandelier.
And, sometime between the main course and dessert, I looked up and noticed it wasn't looking too round any more.
We had used clear plastic bulbs for this ornament.
We had used real candles, with real fire burning the wicks, on this table.
And we all had a real laugh when we looked up...
...and saw what those two facts meant to one another.
You just never know where the fun will be.
But it's usually where your friends are.