Frugal Decor...Burlap and a Bucket

I've been reminded today that bringing beauty, creativity, and order into our lives doesn't always have to be expensive. The above bucket and coffee pot were found here on the farm.  One person's trash became this persons treasure.:)

Of course, I realize beauty is in the eye of the beholder and not everyone would find an old tin bucket beautiful.  But that's part of what makes homemaking so interesting...no two homemakers is exactly alike.  We're free to personalize our homes and surround ourselves and our loved ones with the things which are special to us and which make us feel *at home*.

And have you noticed how doing just one creative thing to bring freshness and beauty and order to your home inspires you to want to do more?  We decided to organize the toys, we prepared a prettier table for dinner, and found we we're reminded that home life is important, and that we desire our home to be a most warm and welcoming place.  The place where children are nurtured and relationships formed.  Where prayers are said, where values and principles are passed to the next generation, where family members want to curl up with a good book, linger long at the table and the place where guests can be refreshed.  Whether a mud hut or a castle or something in between, we have the privilege of imitating, in some small way, the Master Artist who created all things bright and beautiful. And we can do that in our homes. I don't remember her exact words, but I'm reminded that Edith Schaeffer said, in their home, Dr. Schaeffer provided the sermons but she provided the cinnamon rolls.  Both were apparently valued and important and one seems to set the *atmosphere* for the other.:)

My littles and I were looking in outbuildings and discovered several of the old and bent buckets.  Just relics of a former homesteaders life here on this old farm.  But we were smitten.  And we brought them to the house. And we felt a creative streak coming on....

You see, several days before we'd been to a Hobby Lobby store to purchase a finishing crochet needle.  We very much admired some galvanized watering cans we spotted with burlap glued to the front.  But they weren't on sale.  And I resisted a very strong urge to purchase one.  Don't you just love Hobby Lobby?!  So when the buckets were discovered on the property...for free...we got busy gluing burlap to the front of the one for toys.  And we've got a whole roll of burlap left! :)  Happy homemaking, and may God bless you as you seek to glorify Him in all that you do.

"I often advise young brides who are traveling during their first weeks or months of marriage to start "homemaking" in a hotel, even if they are there for only a night, rather than groaning about having to "wait so long to have a home."  How?...Your own cloth, your own candlestick, just one rose or daffodil is enough to make a difference...You will be surprised how much difference it makes to have done something to make a room your home, even for one night."  ~ Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking