Day 7 of 12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge

Day 7: Holiday Craft/DIY

My mom, sister and I used to make these when I was younger. We could take toothpicks and poke the orange then put the cloves into the orange. It smells SO good and it's really easy to make. 

 I thought this was a really cute idea. You take foam and trace your kiddo's hand with a pen. You cut out the hand then use pipe cleaners for antlers, puff balls for the nose and googly eyes. You can use pretty much anything to decorate it. 

 This was such a great idea if you have mittens or gloves. You take a meter stick and paint it white. Then you take wooden spoons (like the ones you get to eat ice cream) and paint them with different characters on it like Santa or elves. Once they have dried you hot glue clothes pins to the backs of the spoons then hot glue the clothes pins to the meter stick. Quick and easy and can be decorated SO many different ways. 

My dad, sister, and I used to make these also. My dad was always so good at making paper snow flakes. I on the other hand was terrible. I wound up making a paper circle. Haha.

100 Ways to Avoid Dying

All without giving up any of the stuff you really like to do...or eat.

Housekeeping Hints

1. Don't take ashes out of the fireplace or wood stove between Christmas and New Year's Day.
2. Never place a broom on a bed.
3. Close umbrellas before bringing them into a house.
4. Avoid sweeping after sundown.
5. You mustn't wash clothes on New Year Day.
6. Don't shake out a tablecloth after dark.
7. Never wash a flag.
8. Don't turn a chair on one leg.
9. Keep cats off piano keys.
10. Don't hang a dishcloth on a doorknob.
11. Sweeping under a sick person's bed will kill him or her.
12. Don't ever, ever rock an empty rocking chair.

Renovation and Decorating

13. Never add-on to the back of your house.
14. You mustn't cut a new window in an old house; the only way to avoid fatal consequences is to toss your apron through the new window, and then jump through it yourself.
15. Never drive a nail after sunset.
16. Don't move into an unfinished house.
17. Avoid carrying axes, shovels, and other sharp-edged tools through a house; if you must take one inside, always take it out by the same door.
18. If you move out of a house, don't move back into it for a year.
19. Don't hang your sweetheart's picture upside-down.
20. If a picture falls from the wall, don't pick it up.
21. Never carry a peacock's feather into a house.
22. Keep cut flowers out of bedrooms overnight.
23. Don't ever carry a bouquet of wildflowers indoors before May 1.

Sewing and Fashion

24. If you cut out a new dress on Friday, you must finish it that same day.
25. Don't make new clothes between Christmas and New Year's Day.
26. Never hold a stick in your mouth while sewing.
27. Always sew cross-stitching on your underwear.
28. Don't walk around in one shoe.
29. If you see a will-o'-wisp while out walking at night, turn your coat inside-out.
30. Never wear another's new clothes before they have worn them.
31. A woman who makes her own wedding dress will not live to wear it.

Cooking and Table Manners

32. Never set three lamps on a table at the same time.
33. Don't set the table backwards.
34. Never serve 13 at a table.
35. Avoid drinking coffee at 5 o'clock.
36. You mustn't write on the back of a dish.
37. Never return borrowed salt.
38. Don't ever cross knives while setting the table.
39. Be sure that someone else cooks your birthday dinner.
40. Don't put two forks at one place setting.
41. Never, never turn a loaf of bread upside down.

Sleeping

42. Sleeping with your head at the foot of the bed is surely fatal.
43. Don't sing in bed.
44. If you hear a dog howl at night, reach under the bed and turn over a shoe.
45. Don't count stars.
46. A man should never dream of a naked woman; a woman should never dream of a naked man. (You know who you are...)

Personal Hygiene

47. Never rub soap on your skin on a Friday.
48. Don't look into a mirror over another's shoulder.
49. Avoid combing your hair after dark.
50. Absolutely no haircuts in March.
51. Let a baby's hair and fingernails grow until their 1st birthday.
52. Don't let two people comb your hair at once.
53. Never shave at night.
54. NEVER, EVER share a razor used by a dead man.

Funeral Etiquette

55. Never hold a funeral on a Friday.
56. When a person dies in a house, you must immediately cover all mirrors and stop all clocks.
57. Children should not pretend to have funerals.
58. Don't ever try on a mourning veil.
59. Always remove a dead body from a house feet first.
60. Never ride in a hearse, unless you are the driver.
61. Don't count the cars in a funeral motorcade.
62. Avoid wearing new clothes to a funeral, especially new shoes.
63. Pull the shades in a room where a funeral service is taking place; if the sun hits a mourner's face, he is the next to die.
64. When walking in a funeral procession, don't look backwards.
65. Never point at a grave.
66. Try not to step across a grave.
67. Never leave a grave open overnight.
68. Don't ever be the first to leave the graveyard after a funeral.
69. If a corpse lies unburied on Sunday, another in town will surely die soon.
70. Wait a year before putting up a tombstone for a family member; if you don't, another family member will go before the year has ended.

General and Miscellaneous

71. Drink May rainwater.
72. When sick, don't look in mirrors.
73. Don't give a person a peony.
74. Never measure your own height.
75. Try not to imagine it's Saturday when it's not.
76. Don't count cars on a passenger train.
77. Never whistle in a coal mine.
78. Avoid measuring a person who is lying down.
79. Don't walk backwards.
80. You mustn't allow a candle to burn itself out.
81. Never sell a dog.
82. Try not to kill a crow; but if you do, be sure to bury it while wearing black.
83. If you transplant a cedar tree, you will die by the time it is big enough to shade a grave.
84. The same is true of a willow tree (as in 83)
85. Don't ever hang your hoe on a tree branch.
86. Don't skip a row when planting corn or beans.
87. If you watch a person out of sight, you'll never see them again.
88. Avoid stepping over a person who is lying down.
89. When your name is called, don't answer the first time-it may be the Devil calling you.
90. Never shake hands through a window or over a fence.
91. Try not to sit with your back to the fire.
92. Don't burn sassafras wood.
93. If you walk with your hands locked behind your head, it will kill your mother.
94. Don't even THINK of mocking an owl.
95. Don't store your shoes above your head.
96. Never kill a locust.
97. Never kill a lizard.
98. If you hear a hen crow, you must kill the hen.
99. If you are on a train when a woman boards, dressed in black, get off.
100.Whatever you do, don't let a lizard count your teeth.

 

16 Folk Remedies for Headaches

1. Put leeches on your forehead.
2. Rub cow dung and molasses on your temples.
3. Tie a buzzard's head around your neck.
4. Use powdered moss as snuff.
5. Have someone else rub your head; the headache will be transferred to that person, but it will be less severe.
6. Have a relative read chapters of the Bible to you.
7. Stand on your head or spin around until you are dizzy.
8. Soak your feet in hot water to draw blood from your head.
9. Run around the house three times.
10. Ask a seventh child to blow in your ear.
11. Put a buckwheat cake on your head.
12. Rub your head with a piece of stone containing iron ore.
13. Wrap damp cloths around your head and burn scented wood.
14. Plait a handful of hair very tightly on top of your head.
15. Lean your head against a tree and have someone else drive a nail into the opposite side of the tree.
16. Tie a leather thong tightly around your head.(If this fails, you may tell your friends, "The thong is over, but the malady lingers on," which will give them headaches

(via here)

19th Annual Parade of Lights

The 19th Annual Parade of Lights headed down Broadway from Capaha Park to Main Street in Cape Girardeau on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010. This year's parade theme was "Christmas Dreams."

Stratton and I went to the parade of lights last night. This was Stratton's FIRST Parade of Lights so it was really special for me to get to take him. I have always loved the Parade of Lights so getting to share this new tradition with Stratton was pretty cool. 

He sat on my lap the entire time we were there and loved watching as all the lights, trucks, and motorcycles went by. It was so cute to see how excited he got when the motorcycles and fire trucks went by. He really enjoyed all the candy being thrown too. We saw Stephanie (my sister-in-law) walking with her work so she stopped and gave us some candy and gave Stratton a hug and kiss. He was so happy to see her.

Here are some pictures from last night. Some are mine the other I got from here. 

I know these aren't the greatest quality but I was more concerned about keeping Stratton warm and happy. 

 My friend Julie (aka Bobbie Soxx) is the red hed on the left.

 Only in Southeast Missouri

 Again only in Southeast Missouri