ornamentation: the stable

Throughout 2011, I chose a story to highlight each month here on Wild Olive. It seems only fitting that December's story be that of The Stable. Where Christmas all began. And yet, that wasn't really the beginning, and certainly wasn't the end. Before we get too far though, let's make an ornament!



You will need:
Wool felt
Embroidery floss
The Stable pattern PDF
(Oh, and pins are helpful!)



Cut out all of the pattern pieces.



Hold the faces onto the bodies, and stitch french knot eyes through both layers. These will hold the faces on, and no other stitching is needed.



Pin the stable frame onto the backing and stitch around it with running stitch.




Place the remaining pieces in place as shown, then stitch around each item with running stitch. Try to keep the back side of your work as tidy as possible.

Also, even though the star only overlaps with the stable a bit, stitch all the way around. This running stitch is part functional, part decorative.



Knot a length of embroidery floss on as a hanger. It should connect at where the roof and walls meet.



Your Stable ornament is ready to hang!

Now, about this story. We think of Christmas as starting on a wintery night in Bethlehem. And it did...sort of. But you see, long before that, God knew that He would need to send His Son as a baby. He knew from the moment that sin happened. He knew that once people messed up, there would need to be a way to make things right. As humans, we can't fix things to how they were meant to be, but God can.

So long before that first Christmas, God planned to send His Son, and He told His people to be on the look out for this Savior, the Messiah. And Jesus came. He laid in a manger, and then He grew up, and then He died and rose again to fix the problem of sin. To forgive us.

But that's still not the end of the story. We each are given the chance to be a part of this amazing story of Christmas...of Jesus! It's an open invitation for forgiveness and love that will go on until Christ returns. He loves YOU, and He wants you to join His story.

the story of: the december desktop

All this year, I've shared a story each month, and we've reached the last story. I considered a few Christmas-themed stories, but you really can't beat the original. So for December, our story is...



More about The Stable a little later in the month, but for now, you can decorate your computer's desktop with a calendar wallpaper in JPG or PNG formats. They are one-size-fits-most, so be sure to adjust your settings for the best fit.

I'm really looking forward to December, and I hope you are too!

the story of: there's a design

I am someone who believes that God has a plan and a purpose for His people. I believe that there are reasons why our lives follow certain paths, why we meet certain people, and why things happen they way they do. I believe that God writes our stories. I believe that there is a design.

Sufjan Stevens wrote an amazing song for his friend Vito Aiuto, and every time I listen, I'm reminded that God knows us and has plans for us. It's up to us to live those plans. I don't believe that we need to get hung up on little things, but seeking to follow God is undoubtedly a good way to be living in His plan. Living in the fullness of His love, grace, and mercy is a good way to be living in His plan.

When thinking about your story, I invite you to listen to this song, and then tell me...What are some ways that you are purposefully living out your plan, your story?



PS: I know that this post contains views that not all agree with. Not even all Christians agree with all of this! I'm fine with that, but I'm also very fine with sharing what I believe.

the story of: us

This month's story is your story, and in keeping with that, I asked my sponsors to share something about themselves. Some fun little fact that helps us get to know them a little better. Here's mine: I'm not afraid of messes, except when it comes to children helping me in the kitchen. It causes great anxiety!

But this isn't really about me...so here's what my sponsors shared:



Kelsey from Simply Beautiful says: i'm very creative, i love photography, and i'm obsessed with southern accents.



Ashley from After Nine to Five says: I like to take risks and generally stretch myself a little to thin. I feel like I'm missing out on something in life otherwise!



Talia from Number 19 says: I just love Christmas, but my husband is a bit of a grinch. I always win though, and we have a lovely decorated house at Christmas time!



Victoria from Bramble Bird says: I love to organise and plan ahead... I'm a total list freak and have to-do lists coming out of my ears. But despite all of the organisation & planning, I never seem to leave enough time to get anywhere so will almost always be on the verge of being late & in a mad-rush!

How about you? What's something fun that would help us get to know you a little better?

the story of: making your story book

This month's story is YOUR story, and to properly tell most stories, you need lots of time. But sometimes, it's more important to just get the story told, even if it's the short version. And that's what this little book does. Each page of the book is an envelope. It can hold a little or a lot, depending on the size of your envelopes and what all you decide to include. However you tell your story, this is a fun way to do so.



Here's what you need:
Envelopes (mine are tiny #1 coin envelopes, but you could use larger)
Fabric
Fusible interfacing
Embroidery floss
Cards or paper



Cut a strip of fabric that will be a little narrower that the envelopes. Iron the fusible interfacing to the back. My strip is wide enough to cut two long strips from this.



Cut the strips to about 2 inches long.



Peel the backing paper off of the interfacing, then fold each strip in half over the sealed end of an envelope, leaving a tab of fabric free from the envelope. Iron the fabric. This will fuse it to the envelope, and itself. Repeat this with each envelope.



Stack all of the envelopes together, making sure that the flaps are going the direction you want. With embroidery floss and a sharp needle, sew through the tabs of fabric. Tie a knot or a cute bow.



On the cards or paper, write down the parts of your story that you want to include.



Slide them into the envelopes.



Add a title, and share your story!



In mine, I'm including some big things, like "When I was 4 days old, I came home to my forever family", "I learned to love Jesus when I was still a little girl", and "I found my love of embroidery while working at the library."

Who will your share your story book with?

share the story of you

This month, I'd like to invite you to tell your story. Write a post on your own blog, then leave the link here in the comments. Or, maybe you have a short story about something in your life. Share it in the comments.

The point is, you have a story, and believe it or not, your story is better than any of the folk and fairy tales that I've featured throughout the year. Seriously.

the story of: the november desktop

This month, our story will be the story of you! (me too...) Throughout the month, I'll have special posts that are about sharing our own stories, and I really can't even express how much I'm looking forward to this.

For now, download the November calendar desktop in PNG or JPG. It's one size fits all, so use your computer's settings to get the best fit. Happy November!

the story of: if we had elves

This month, I chose the story of the Elves and the Shoemaker as a sort of theme for some fun posts. The elves in the story help out the shoemaker, and I thought, wouldn't it be nice if some elves showed up at my house? And so I asked my friends and sponsors what they would like some elves to help with. Here's what they had to say:



kam: If I had elves in my life, I would have them help me with the housework! I feel like I am always running a load of laundry, doing the dishes, cleaning mirrors, finding new cobwebs in corners, and vacuuming the carpet. It never seems to end! I'd much rather spend my time lounging around reading lovely books, on a trail summiting new peaks, traversing a new route at the rock climbing gym, or napping. Quite the life, right? Until I have some elves knocking at my door, I guess I'll just adjust my schedule to include all the things I love.

amy: If I had elves to help me with one thing in my life it would definitely be housework. Definitely. I always feel like I have many more things I would rather be doing than vacuuming or cleaning the toilet. But, of course, housecleaning is one of those things that has to be done anyway. Luckily for me, my husband is more than willing to help in this futile war against dust bunnies.

victoria: I think it would have to be winding skeins of yarn into balls ready to knit with.. it's my least favourite job! (or maybe they could help me get my day job done -- as much as I enjoy it, it takes away from valuable crafty time!)



kerry: If I had elves, I would ask them to do all my work for me so that I could spend my days crafting and making things. It’s tricky trying to fit everything into life so if the elves could take care of the hum drum of day to day work for me, then my creativity would be much better and I would get a lot more done!!

michelle: It would definitely be dishes/chores - in fact, mister husband and I always talk wistfully about how 'the gnomes' forgot to do this and that, or left this thing lying around...lol. We really need help in the chore department! Wouldn't it make life much easier? I mean, my elves would get a comfy place to sleep and some chocolate, so no mistreatment here - I'd sure love some! :)

sécia: If I had elves to help me with one thing in my life it would be to give me more time and energy to do the things I love. Of course, they would have to be magical elves with special powers to stop time and give me an occasional boost of energy.



tara: Housework!! Oh and possibly the occasional sewing project. I can't keep up with the sort of mess 2 little guys and one big guy unleash on this house on a daily basis . . . well maybe I could if I didn't want to have any creative fun of my own! It's all about priorities.

jodi: If I were having an elf help me I am strongly leaning towards having them remind me of patience. Their main job would be to sit on my shoulder and remind me to breathe, explore the moment and enjoy everything in that second.

anita: If I had elves to help me with one thing in my life, it would definitely be the day to day housekeeping chores. I dislike an unkempt environment even more than I dislike the chores, but I would LOVE to have that time to pour into my creative work instead!



janee: If I had elves to help me with one thing, it would unquestionably be housework. Bathrooms, dishes, laundry, vacuuming, and dusting - definitely dusting!

liesi: I would love some elves to do my homework for me! I have a hard time balancing my embroidery projects and my school work. I'll stick with the fun stuff, and the elves can do the homework! ...or they could just keep up on my laundry for me, and make my bed. :)

mollie (that's me!): Elves would be nice for lots of things, but the one area where I need the most help is with tidying up. If there were just a few elves to follow me around and clean up my little messes, life would look a lot neater!

Now...how about you? What would like some elves to help you with?

the story of the elves and the shoemaker (and me!)

This month, I chose the story of the Elves and the Shoemaker. This was a favorite of mine growing up, but not because of books with pictures like this:

This is an image from Wikipedia, which was in a book of Grimms Fairy Tales from 1886. No, my first impression of this story was a much cuter, even musical interpretation. But before I get too far, let me tell you a quick summary of the story, in case you've never heard it.

The Elves and the Shoemaker is the story of a poor Shoemaker and his wife. He is never able to make enough money, because he can barely afford the shoe leather, and on top of that, he very generously offers his footwear to those in need. One night, some elves make a beautiful pair of shoes and leave them on the work bench. In the morning, the shoemaker discovers the shoes, sells them and is able to buy leather for making several pairs of shoes. This continues for a few nights, with the elves making more shoes, and the shoemaker selling the shoes, buying more leather, and of course, giving some shoes to those in need.

At last, the shoemaker and his wife stay up all night to spy and see what's going on. They find the elves, make them some little clothes, and they all live happily ever after, helping each other and making lots of shoes.

Now, I do like shoes, and making things, and I certainly like helping people, but it was a sweet little song that got me LOVING this story. You see, as a young child, I watched an episode of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood with a marionette show of this story. I wish I could have found it online, but nothing. Did you ever see the one I'm talking about?

The little elves sang a song that was more like a little rhyme: "Leather together. Leather together. Leather together...we'll make those shoes!" And fittingly, they did a little dance to go with it. I'm pretty sure I sang that song more than my parents ever wanted to hear.

Although this episode is not available anywhere I could find, there are more fun versions of the story that you might enjoy. The Peachy Cobbler is one that I'd never seen before, and I also really like the Muppets version.

However you tell it, I really get into a story that has so much kindness being shown to others!

the story of: the october desktop

October's story is a long time favorite of mine. I'll share more about my childhood experience with this story later in the month, but let's just say that the Elves and the Shoemaker were a story that I love, love, loved to watch.



It makes me very happy that these shoemaking supplies will be gracing the desktop of my family's computer (in our kitchen for all to see!) during October. And I hope they get a spot on your computer too!

Download the October calendar desktop in JPG or PNG.
(One size fits most, with the fill screen setting)

the story of: the coffee mill which grinds salt

Have you ever seen such a pretty little coffee grinder? This one is from Etsy, and sadly, it's sold. But it did inspired the drawing that I made for this month!

This month, the story that I found to share is The Coffee Mill which Grinds Salt. I had never heard of it before, and even when doing some searching, there aren't many results for it. But that makes it even better to me. The story is a Danish folk tale, and it explains why the ocean...wait...let me tell the story first!



There was once a little boy named Hans. His parents died when he was quite young, and so his grandmother raised him. She taught him many things, and loved him very much. When she was very old, and close to death, she called for Hans. She told him that she wanted him to have her only treasure: a coffee mill that would grind anything that he wished. To use it, all he had to say was "Grind a house, little mill," and it would make a house. Saying "Stop little mill" would cause the grinding to cease.

Hans thanked his grandmother, and when she died, he took the mill and set out. As he traveled and became hungry, Hans told the coffee mill, "Grind some bread and butter" and it did. Then he told it to stop, ate his lunch, and continued on his way.

Soon, Hans came to a large seaport and decided to get a job aboard a ship so that he could see the world. A captain on one of the ships needed a boy like Hans, and so he was invited to join the crew. Shortly after setting sail, the sailors began mistreating Hans, and keeping food from him. But Hans didn't mind too much, as he had the coffee mill to feed him.

The sailors couldn't understand why Hans was always contented, and so they watched him through the keyhole of his cabin. They saw the magical coffee mill, and offered Hans a large sum of money for the mill, but he wouldn't part with the treasure. So they grabbed Hans and threw him overboard, keeping the coffee mill for themselves.

They were in need of salt on board, and so they told the mill, "Grind salt, little mill," and it did. But the sailors had not heard the command for making it stop, and so the coffee mill ground salt until the ship was full. Soon the ship began to sink. The mill continued to produce salt, even as the ship was on the bottom of the sea. To this day, the coffee mill grinds salt, which is why the water in the ocean tastes like salt, and it always will.

Kind of a sad story, I think. But kind of charming all at once. What do you think?

the story of: the september desktop

It's time for another month, another desktop, another story. This time around, I went looking for a story that had something to do with coffee. Why? Because later in September, we're gonna have Coffee Week!



The full story of The Coffee Mill that Grinds Salt will come soon, but for now you can download the new September calendar desktop in either JPG or PNG. Set them to fill your desktop, no matter the size.

Are you ready for another great month? Grab some coffee, and let's welcome September!

the story of: wind in the willows colors

As you may remember, this month's story is The Wind in the Willows. Between the movie versions, the characters and the general setting, there's a certain mood that comes to mind when I think of this story. That mood has translated into some color combos, all inspired by The Wind in the Willows!

This first one is called Friends and from left to right, represents Ratty, Toad, Mole, and Badger 

(he gets two colors!)

Riverbed (my favorite combo!)

Toad Hall

Ratty

Wild Wood

Even though the illustrations that I drew use light, bright colors, I think that these floss colors would make some really great embroidered pieces that Kenneth Grahame would find quite fitting for his story.

the story of: blog friends

This month's story of the Wind in the Willows features some animal friends who spend a lot of time together. There have been times in my life that I've had friends like this...we had hours and hours of doing things, laughing, sharing, you name it. These days, it's harder for me to get together with people in person, and more and more, I've met people online who I will never meet in "real life".

It brings up a question, which I asked my sponsors: Do you think that blog friends are real friends? Why or why not? I'd love to hear your answer too, so let us know what you think!


Talia: Yes! If it makes you feel better, imagine they're 'real life' friends that just live far away! Blog friends are great support and understand this unique part of your life that other friends might not!


Amy: Blog friends are ABSOLUTELY real friends! That's part of the magic of the internet, isn't it? Finding new people that you may never have met otherwise and discovering that you have a whole world of things in common. Kam (of CampfireChic) and Justine (of A New Beginning) have been teaming up over the last 8 months to put together 30DaysofLists.com - talking on email every day, meeting all over the SoCal area, and even texting. No one else in my "real life" understands my blogging and #30Lists, but these girls totally do!


Harmony: I absolutely believe that blog friends can become real friends. I have quite a few wonderful people in my life that I met at first through my blog. It's not something that happened automatically though. It's something that I had to work at and put priority on to develop the relationship just like with my "real" friends that I see in person. Checking in with each other, personal emails, following each other's blogs and facebook pages responding genuinely to what they share about their lives and genuinely sharing with them parts of yours. These are the ways that I found true connection and a authentic relationship of friendship develop without ever meeting face to face.


Inari: I think most of the blog friends are frengers: not quite friends, not quite strangers. Someone you communicate with frequently but don't know that well in the end. However, with more interaction some of them can become real friends, even very good and close ones. With some people you just "click", and that can definitely happen in the blog world as well. I have met lovely girls via blogging, and I know people who've found their soul mates that way. Blogging world is full of possibilities :)


Rebekah: I have only really got back into blogging in the last couple of months and I can honestly say I am overwhelmed by how helpful people are, just but giving some advice and feedback to blog posts or just being introduced to new and exciting blogs. I don’t have any ‘blog friends’ myself, but it is early days as yet. Saying this though, there is quite a lot of blogs I follow, and it is nice to read about people referring to other bloggees, or meeting with other bloggers, especially when I am already a reader of the other persons blog too. It is like a little community of web friends and followers.

I think blog friends can be classed as ‘real friends’ because the way I see it, it is easy to communicate these days; email, texting, skype…and I do this with friends that I do not get to see much anymore because people move away etc; so the principle is quite similar, like a long distance friendship I suppose, except you get to know someone perhaps firstly by reading and following their blog.


Jessica: I think my blog friends are real friends because we obviously have similar interests & we enjoy keeping up with what's happening in each others' lives. Anyone that I like keeping up with & chatting with is a friend in my book!


Kam: I believe that blog friends can be real friends, in fact, one of my favorite quotes is, “Facebook is for friends who have become strangers, and Twitter is for strangers who have become friends”. I think the best example I can give is my friendship with Amy of Lemon and Raspberry and Justine of A New Beginning: We e-met last summer via our blogs and ended up meeting in person this spring after finishing up our collaboration on the first round of 30 Days of Lists. We had a day-long meeting at Amy’s house earlier this summer to plan the second round of 30 Days of Lists and we tweet and text! We worry about one another if there has been radio silence for a few days, have inside jokes, the whole works! I have also gone on a camping trip with another blog friend (who has also met up with Justine a few times!). I know we would’ve been friends had we met in a different way, but meeting online makes the first face-to-face meeting less awkward…it’s like having lunch with a friend you haven’t seen in a while! I also feel like distance doesn’t need to be a factor, I am in contact with people from all over that I would consider my friends…If I was to get married next month, I would be meeting some of the people on the invite list for the first time while in my wedding dress ;)


Claire: No I wouldn't say blog friends.. I consider a friend someone I can sit down and have a cup of tea with! Although I probably could sit down with lots of my readers and chat for ages but there are a lot of people coming and going in blog land and it's hard to keep up! I do have a few blog friends I have been talking too and commenting regularly on their blogs since we started blogging over a year ago and we took the same online course - I would be closer to them but unless I'm conversing regularly or meeting up it's not a true friendship I don't think. The support and kindness in blog land is wonderful and the more friendships the better! If people are close by and can arrange crafty meet ups I think it would be fabulous!


Andee: I think definitely blog friends are real friends! One of the things that's so great in the 'blog world' vs. the 'real world' is how many women I've met who are just like me! Not always the case in the 'real world' (not that blogging isn't real, but you know what I mean.) In 'blog world' I've been blessed to meet so many women who love Jesus, love their husbands, love crafts and being at home. With these women I share who I really am, and they share who they are. We are honest. We are transparent. Friendship. For real.


Anita: I think that blog associations have as much possibility of becoming a genuine friendship as does any other form of social interaction. If you have a positive and honest connection with another person for whom you have regard and respect that is reciprocated, it's a friendship. The vehicle for the exchange; in person over the phone or internet, is irrelevant.


Kerry: I have come to know a number of people through the wonderful world of blogging and social media and although I may never meet them in person, I do think they are becoming my friends. We share common interests, thoughts and ideas about things that interest us and so have formed a friendship based on a mutual respect and admiration for each other. To me, blog friends are real friends, they are just a different type of friend to ‘real life’ friends. I believe you get different things from different people. For example, my ‘real life’ friends don’t share my passion for handmade crafts but they know me better than anyone else and we have some fantastic times together. My blog friends, know my crafty side and will happily talk about what crochet stitch would work best to finish off a blanket, or what type of fabric is best to make a shopping bag with. Different things, from different people and that’s what I love best!

Thanks, Friends! I'm so glad to hear that a whole new community has been formed, and it's making real friends, near and far!