This Christmas...And Coming Year

Our Peruvian Christmas tree! Can you spot the llamas?

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all have been enjoying the holiday season and its many celebrations. I have been blessed with family, friends, health, warmth, and yes – some truly wonderful gifts, including some new running shoes:) With 2011 quickly coming to an end, I’ve been thinking a lot about the many blessings the Lord has granted in this past year and about the exciting adventures He has this upcoming year. I can only be grateful and humbled.

  

This December concluded my years of college education.  It’s been a very unique, challenging, and exciting past 5 and a half years. I'm thrilled to be done and looking forward to what the Lord has ahead. 

This new year is a great time to reset your internal clocks, re-calibrate your settings, and re-chart your course. There’s something encouraging and natural about using a fresh calendar page to make new goals in your life, which is why new year’s resolutions are so popular. While I’m not one for new year’s resolutions, I am dedicated to redirection and goal settings, and it seems appropriate this year to set some for the new year.

This January I will be serving in Baja California as an English preschool teacher for one of the missionaries in Tijuana. The preschool will be starting this coming year with hopes of providing an outlet for outreach. I'm excited and nervous, but know the Lord is in control of this journey! Your prayers are greatly anticipated! Once again, Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year from What's New Bird!

Wimzy fabric and yarn necklaces

  Hello y'all! I've been going crazy coming up with gifts for Christmas. Love making them...just so many!

I had seen necklaces made of fabric and decided to try for myself. Over the years I've piled quite a collection of scraps of fabric. From those pieces here and there, these gift were made.  These necklaces are half multi loop and half braided for an unlimited amount of different looks. Hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas Eve!

Craft Sale

A few weeks ago a few friends and I had our first craft sale!  It was a great time to see what others designers had been doing and to do some shopping!! Everything handmade of course!
These are a few pictures I took of my little shop display.

 The wooden frame display was also hand made. I'll be sure to post pictures of the process.

 

 My sister ended up buying this lovely necklace! Thanks Nikki!

In the end, it was a great day spending time together and buying some new treats. The outcome was pretty amazing too. A lot more than I had expected! Thank you all for your support!

Pine cone earrings

  While biking to one of my favorite gardens, I noticed the large pine trees giving off teeny tiny pine cones. I gathered some into my basket and went home to create a bit with my new find.

 

 By using an exacto knife I cut sections of the pine cone to create something in mind. I wanted to make a flower using the cut pieces as the petals. 

 After some experimenting, these discoveries were made along the way. Hope you enjoy!