Pollyanna Art

Images & Insights On the God Inspired Artful Life… Featuring Cheri Douglas & Her Artful Friends

My most Artful gift from @NixiNoxo

“The gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.” 2Cor 8:12

Lots of people are nervous about Christmas coming and not having money this year because of lost business income, lost jobs, or lowered paychecks. Maybe this can be an opportunity for us to embrace the Artful Life and see what blessings God planted in our hearts, that we can give away without spending much or any money.

You don’t have to consider yourself an “artist” in a worldly sense, in order to live out the Artful Life. If you can find what God placed in your heart of beauty and joy to give away, you will be one of His most incredible artists and everyone around you will be blessed.

My daughter gave me the ultimate Artful gift last year. I’m sharing it here to give you an idea. I think I’ll share more ideas for an Artful Christmas in the days ahead. Nicki has to reach into her Artful self to find ideas to bless everyone, because she has 5 children. Even with good jobs, 5 Children in Christian school can make you feel like a pauper, by the worldly commercial standards.

But the world of commerce can’t begin to touch the beauty of this gift. She couldn’t have bought it anywhere at any price. And to me it is priceless!!! Bingo! That is God’s view of Fine Art!

I have 9 grandchildren and you see each one’s silhouette arranged by age in this framed plaque. Below the cut out silhouettes are written sentiments about us, as grandparents, decorated with scrapbooking stickers. Isn’t this beautiful? Isn’t it an incredible gift? She didn’t just include her own children either. She knew it would mean much more to us if she went to the trouble, of running around getting all of our grandchildren’s silhouettes. Now this is what I call Pollyanna Art! It is uplifting and inspiring every time I look at it. It is straight from the heart of God to us…via our daughter!

Pray for inspirations, or use other people’s ideas to bless your family and friends this Christmas. I’ll give you more ideas here, but this is one of my favorites. You would be amazed at the supplies and potential gifts you have all around you too. Most of us have STUFF! Don’t worry about not being able to go get more stuff!! You and God together have all the stuff you need. And what your family and friends really need is to know how much you love and care for them.

Have an Artful Christmas with your unique ideas and God’s inspirations. Leave a comment and let us all know what inspirations you come up with!!

Live the Pollyanna Artful Life and Be Blessed!!

One of my men followers on Twitter tweeted …”Ever notice how men shop? Run into a store, grab what you came for, pay, then leave. Can’t stand shopping!”

So, my Pollyanna Art campaign to help people survive America’s economic mess and still have a blessed Christmas through Artful gift giving, should be especially attractive to men.  It will save you money and keep you from having to go shopping. That’s the good news!

The bad news is that Artful giving requires a lot more commitment and intention on your part than stopping by the mall to grab something on Christmas Eve. Artful giving requires more heart than money.  But if you commit yourself to this, you are sure to be a hero to your loved ones this Christmas

Art happens when you dig down deep inside and find something of beauty, love and joy that God planted uniquely within you…and you share it in an expression of your love for another.  Now before the gag reflex sets in from reading all these girly words, let me sell the idea a bit and give you some specific suggestions to get you started. See, I am a woman and I was a daughter. I have a pretty good idea about what we want from the men in our lives.

Anyone can grab something from a store, and that’s OK.  But it is the truly rare and special man who does something that shows he really notices what we need and long for.  The themes to keep in mind for women are romance and nurture! So lets think about how God might touch a heart through you. I am going to see if I can come up with 12 ideas for husbands and dads, in the spirit of the 12 Days of Christmas.

ARTFUL Gift Idea #1:

Are you a writer?  If you aren’t, fake it or ask an editor to help you. I’ll help you! This is my very favorite idea of all. Nothing says love more than a personal note that expresses why you appreciate your loved one.  Think about these questions…What is your most precious memory of this person? What makes you most proud to be associated with them? What makes you consider them a gift from God’s heart to you? How do they enrich your life? You can answer these 4 simple questions. But make it a true treasure by getting off your computer. Put these answers in your own handwriting (or printing if your handwriting isn’t legible). Put the letter in a fancy gift box that communicates, ”this is important”, or frame it in a beautiful frame! On Christmas, deliver your note by reading it aloud to your loved one(s).

ARTFUL Gift Idea #2:

Another great Artful gift is some spoiling quiet time. Fill a basket with new washcloths, bubble bath, shower gel, and body powder (all available in the grocery or dollar store). Enclose a permission slip for a 2-hour bubble bath retreat while you take the kids out somewhere. When time comes for the bubble bath, be prepared, light a candle and place a fresh flower in the bathroom.

ARTFUL Gift Idea #3:

Now here is a little known secret. There is nothing sexier than a man with a vacuum cleaner.  We women all have fantasies of coming home to a clean house. We think about these little miracles especially, during the busy holidays.

So, find out when there is a window of opportunity, make sure you know where all the cleaning supplies are, and go to work like Santa’s elf cleaning before your sweetheart comes home. Make up a note that says something like, “ Home cleaned for my sweetheart ______________, who deserves being treated like a Princess!”

ARTFUL Gift Idea #4:

Are you a gardener? Secretly plant something like an “American Beauty” Rose and put a sign in front, “An American Beauty for my American Beauty “Cheri” (but don’t use my name or you could be in trouble.) Fill in the appropriate name. Then give her a map to follow in a Christmas card to find the flower planted.

ARTFUL Gift Idea #5:

Silhouettes on the wall are always a sweet reminder of loved ones. Take kids silhouette photos and have them take yours. Print them out and use the prints as patterns to cut silhouettes out of nice solid colored paper. Mount them in a frame or on a nice piece of wood. Place this scripture in the middle – Proverbs 31:28-29 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

ARTFUL Gift Idea #6

Write a poem about your life and love for your wife and children. Don’t worry about this being highbrow literature. Put your own personality into it. Just tell the story of your life in limerick form with all the craziness, humor, and feelings.

Include a special line or two for every member of the family to honor each of them. Humor is great!  Print a copy for everyone and sign it. Then perform it as a part of the family festivities on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.

ARTFUL Gift Idea #7

Make an acrostic out of your loved one’s name to show what you see as their best qualities. Kids like these for their rooms and wives like them just because! Print it out in color on some attractive paper and frame it. Below is an example of an acrostic name…

Christian Faith

Heavenly Smile

Eternal Truth

Rich in Love

Inspiring Woman

(Pardon the shameless self-promoting sample. Think I’ll give it to my husband @Boomerjeff)

You don’t have to line it all up either.

Could be…

Charming

SHaply

BEauty

CaRing

Kissable

ARTFUL Gift Idea #7

Create a family prayer journal for 2010. Label a binder and put in a section for every member of the family. Insert an opening page that tells your family that you will be praying for their needs every week of the New Year. Invite them to write the concerns they have in their section so you will know how you can pray for them.

Include a section on Thanks, and have everyone put anything they have to thank God for in that section. Pray as a family each week over all the things you as a family have to be thankful for. Sunday is a great day for this type of family activity. You will be leading your family to build faith and trust in the Lord with this activity. All will be emotionally secure as they see your faith grow too.

ARTFUL Gift Idea #8

Make a Favorite Scripture Poster. Print out your favorite scriptures to let your family know what is important to you, and turn them into a poster. Add some favorite quotes by great leaders too, if you like. Poster frames and decorative stickers are available in Craft Stores. You can also start by reading my favorite scriptures on my blog.

ARTFUL Gift Idea #9

Declare a FIX-IT DAY once a quarter next year. Give the dates as a gift with a binder for listing the things that need fixing. Be sure to put the dates in your calendar and keep track of the list so you will have the supplies you need. This will not be a fun gift if your wife has to organize supplies of hear you stomping around grumbling when FIX-IT DAY arrives.  YOU must take care of the details to make this a worthy gift.  In fact you should write a pledge to take care of all the details and raise your right hand and take the pledge on Christmas! EEEWWWWW! (Remember it was a guy who asked for this list!)

ARTFUL Gift Idea #10

Here is another gift that is no good unless you take care of the details. Wives get very tired of organizing stuff in most families. They will esteem you highly for taking care of everything from time to time and letting them have a vacation from responsibility.

So how about a picnic basket with a written promise inside that you will fill the basket, arrange all child care, and take her on a scenic drive and picnic day for just the two of you. Invite her to bring a book or nail polish or just herself to have a day totally devoted to relaxation with you serving her every need and requiring nothing in return. I promise you will get something in return. The key is your don’t require anything.  You will be a hero for sure!!

ARTFUL Gift Idea #11

Pull out a wedding photo and/or marriage license no one has looked at in a long time…maybe even a picture of your first Christmas. Get it a new frame and use some letter stickers from a craft store to spell out something like, “I’d marry you again in a heartbeat!” around the edges of the glass in the frame or on the frame itself.

ARTFUL Gift Idea #12 …Finally !!

I have saved the grand finale for number #12. On my site, under the “Inspirations” section, I have posted something special, just for you. It is a page of Christmas Gift Coupons. Just print copies and fill them out with services, favors, or privileges you promise to various members of your family. They can then cash them in during the year.

Here are a variety of ideas to get you started thinking:

Back rub

Body massage

Cooking & cleaning up dinner

Breakfast in bed

Taking a child to an event

Coming to watch a child’s event

Coaching a child’s sport

Child care, while wife goes shopping

House cleaning

Carpet scrubbing

Picture hanging

An evening of games

An evening our bowling or paintball

Playing dress-up with a daughter

An afternoon of football or going to the gym

Cooking and serving dinner to an evening for girlfriends

A weekend away and you take care of all detail organizing.

…you get the picture

I hope you have found something here to try this year for Christmas that will not only save you money, but will make your family the envy of families everywhere. Being Artful is simply taking time to find what God invested in your heart that turns into a work of beauty when you find it and give it away. Be artful! Be blessed!!

We want so much for our children to have a wonderful Christmas season! Sometimes we might get ourselves so busy trying to make that happen that we miss what they really want most. Children want the adults in their lives to make time for them and play with them.  It really doesn’t take much.  They are most excited about the Christmas gifts that will get you to sit down and play with them.  What children really want most for Christmas is YOU!

Arrange your time to have nothing to do but be a kid again on Christmas and you will make memories your children will never forget.  Long after the toys have lost their luster and broken down completely, memories of your love and attention will linger in the most treasured corner of your child’s heart.  If you do not take this time to be a kid again for a few short hours now and then with your child, there will remain an empty spot in the heart that no one else can fill. And you too will lose out on a blessing and memory that is priceless and never again to offer itself as an opportunity in just the same way.

I often caution young parent who struggle with the stress of very young children that a time will come when they long for a sticky  kiss, or a sleepy child with whom they can snuggle. These little ones are are on loan to us for such a short time and it is our honor to shape their memories and character.  The beautiful thing is that God placed within them a powerful desire to spend time with us! If we miss that opportunity…well…we miss it!

Sometimes people do not reach out to try to play with kids because they don’t know what to do. The internet has a vast database on free activities to do at home with kids. Just Google it and see what looks like fun. Better yet let you kids look with you and pick a fun activitie you both like.

Here are a few I have learned never fail…

• Play board games they like.
• Teach them board or card games you like.
• Cook and bake with kids.
• Have a window, balcony, or backyard campout with hot dogs, camp songs, flashlights, and story telling.
• Make notes and cards for others with kids art.
• Go for a walk, skate, or bike ride.
• Exercise together with kids…Wii fit is great if you have one!
• Sing and dance.
• Go on a picture taking scavenger hunt.
• Make stuff…any stuff!
• Make up skits and vidoe shoots.
• Read the same book and talk about it(In fact make sure you read what they read) I even learned to play the same video games so I could know their lingo and what the game makers might be sneaking into their heads.
• Go lay down outside in the dark and study the stars.
• Chase them around with spray string!
• Set up an new blocks game, or train, or anything!
• Take them Christmas shopping at the dollar store.
• Put on a special theme party or banquet with them.

The key, as you can see is that you set aside time and make it a #1 priority on your calendar to build memories with your children. Artful relationships are built as you connect, listen, laugh(or cry), and pray together for the things most important in their world. One day they will be grown with children of their own and you will long for this kind of time. Don’t miss the chance to be significant NOW! Give the gift of YOURSELF…the gift that keeps on giving! HUGS!