Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight. Prov. 3:5-6

First things first:

I am honoring the “Blogland Day of Silence” tomorrow, Tuesday, December 18, in memory of the school shooting victims in Connecticut. It brought back those horrible memories here in Mississippi in 1997 when a crazed gunman shot and killed two students  at Pearl High School and wounded several others. The murderer is incarcerated and turned his life over to the Lord after a group of men involved in prison ministry witnessed to him and others during a weekend retreat. One of those men who witnessed to him was the father of one of the students that was wounded. I hope and pray that all of those families, friends, students, teachers, and others affected will turn to their faith because faith is what carries us through difficult times and faith sees us through.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Today I am posting the last of my Christmas decorating details and the metamorphosis of an old table. It would take too long to tell you why I had gradually over the years become disenchanted with my old tree. It was too large, especially now that our nest is empty, and took up too much room in the house. Two years ago my sweet husband indulged me and moved the completely decorated tree around the living room several times until I finally said that I no longer wanted it, and he undecorated it and took it down. I can only wish that all you ladies out there have or will have husbands as wonderful as this! Anyway, the following cyber Monday, I got online and got a “skinny tree” which was also about two or three feet shorter than the old one.  I also got prelit because I was sick and tired of fooling with the lights.

Amazingly I was able to bless someone with the old tree. A young woman who I worked with at the time was looking for a larger tree, and I gave it to her along with the old lights. She was thrilled and offered to pay me, but I made it a gift. Her kids loved the larger tree as well as the great lights (they were with ones that could be programmed to do a lot of different light patterns-chasing, dimming, etc.).

Since my new tree would also no longer hold all of the ornaments, I decided to limit to a silver and gold color scheme. I had plenty of ornaments in these colors, and I really like the way they all look. I was not satisfied with the tree topper, however. By the way, the search for the right tree topper would be another whole post! I was at the flea market this weekend working on my booth when I saw these ribbon tree toppers in one of the booths. I searched until I found one that had the silver and gold color scheme, purchased it, took it home, and put it on the tree. I don’t think that I will keep this topper forever, but I like it for now and am finally satisfied with the tree for the first time in several years.

Because I put the tree at the living room windows, I had to move the sofa table. I put it in the dining room. It is not the best place for it, but will do fine until I take the tree down later. I have been wanting a manger scene for a while, and was determined not to purchase one until I found the “right” one (kind of like I look for a tree topper).

I finally found one online and purchased it. However, the stable came separate from the characters, and the characters are backordered. They probably won’t be in until after Christmas. Well, I didn’t want to display an empty stable! So I purchased just a few of the Nativity characters at Dollar Tree: Mary & Baby Jesus, Joseph, and angel. I didn’t want to buy all of them since I have the entire set coming. I am pleased with how these three look, but can’t wait to see it when it all gets here!

I also put the pillar candles that you see in my tablescapes and vignettes a lot. In front of them is a pottery Holy Family. It is made by Red Leaf Pottery here in Mississippi.

I am now done with my Christmas decorating, except for the kitchen table, which I will post later. Now permit me to brag a little more on my gifted husband. I wrote of our new business earlier, and I have before and afters to show you of his most recent project. He finished the above table this weekend, and I will move it to the booth tomorrow.

I purchased this oak dining table in terrible condition. It was the old maple stain common in the fifties and sixties. The top was terribly scarred and even looked abused.

But the worst thing about this table was the legs. They had apparently cracked or something-all four of them-, and whoever had “fixed” them had used some sort of product that made them look absolutely horrible.

David never could quite figure out when he stripped the table what it was. We were hoping it was wood putty, but it was not. It was some sort of plastic filler material, awful, awful stuff.

He had to get all of that off the legs and then sand them down and change their shape a little to correct the disservice that had been done to this table.

Didn’t he do a fantastic job! You can’t even tell how bad they looked before. You will notice that he also turned the pedestal facing a different direction when he put it back together, which we like much better!

I cannot even imagine how many hours and hours he put into this table. I will let you know in the future how it pays off!

The veneer was peeling off the edge all the way around. The photo right above this one shows how good the edge looks now.

Another pic of the finished table. I love it!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week and will continue to pray for those affected in the recent shooting.

I am joining: A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday (vignettes, tabletops, tablescapes), Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life (decorating, gardening, recipes, collecting),  Sunny Simple Life (decorating, projects), Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday (tablescapes) and Metamorphosis Monday, Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage (crafts, home decor, thrifty finds),  Cozy Little House for Tweak it Tuesday (deocrating, garden, projects),  Under the Table and Dreaming for Sunday Showcase (any project or idea made by you this week), The Charm of Home for Home Swee Home (home & garden), Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish (tablescapes), Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill (home decor, projects, recipes), Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense (recipes, projects, decorating),  The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday (tablescapes),The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday (thrifty decorating, tablescapes),Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now (recipes, crafts, home décor), Meet Me Monday at You Are Talking Too Much (projects, decorating, recipes),  Spotlight Saturday at Classy Clutter (recipes, crafts, home décor), Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage (decorating, crafts), Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound (anything pink),You’re Gonna Love It Tuesdays at Kathe with an E (recipes, crafts, home décor), Mop it Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor (projects, decor, recipes), Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style (recipes, crafts, home décor), Potpourri Friday at 2805 (decorating, recipes, crafts),  Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House (decor, projects), Flaunt your Fall at Chic on a Shoestring (decor, projects, recipes),  Tuesday’s Treasures at Uncommon Suburbia (projects, decorating, recipes),  Return to Loveliness at A Delightsome Life (home decor, projects), Centerpiece Wednesday at The Style Sisters (centerpieces),Open House Party at No Minimalist Here (crafts, home décor), Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage (memories, projects), Tips and Tidbits at The Stone Gable(projects, home décor, recipes),Thursday Favorite Things at Katherine’s Corner (projects, home décor, recipes), Sizzle into Summer at DIY by Design (home décor, projects)