Snow White Morning

As far as the eye can see everything is white. Viewing the snow this morning, I am reminded of John Steinbeck's, The Pearl:

"It was a morning like other mornings and yet perfect among mornings"

Go White…

…and drink warm.

…to ponder the possibilities.

...because you can.

…for good measure.

…to keep moving.

…because it’s hot.

…to feel good about your neck.

Credits: Main Image: Juliet Harrison Photography, White Tea Harney and Sons, Porcelain Skateboard via Dudecraft, Flask via Swissmiss, Ballet Dancer via PVE Design, Pearl Pin via Swissmiss, Glass Tea Pots via Life.Style, Knitted Cowl Jared Flood via Juniper Fiberworks

Living Inside A Snow Globe

There is a simplicity to winter when a snowstorm casts a shadowy blanket of calmness onto the woods around our nests. Its quiet stillness is like the insulated caress of living inside a dome of snow. The storm at my home arrived right after the barreling in of far-flung children, presents and all the holiday festivities. In its wake, the storm left us a winter wonderland, but no chance to fulfill our travel plans to drive to my mom's on Sunday. Instead, the four of us unplugged, unwound and reconnected as a family. It is in this calmness that I hope you also had a moment to step back and enjoy the wonderland of your life.

Make and Shake Snow Globes

I had a small childhood collection of souvenir-type snow globes. They are long gone, but those tiny window wonderlands pop into my thoughts each winter.

When I was a teacher, I created snow globes with the school kids for holiday gifts for their parents from this adapted Martha Stewart project. It was my way of sharing everything I love about winter (which you can read more about here, here and here).

Materials:

A jar (baby food or olive jars work well)

Ceramic figurines

Small evergreen tips or flowers from craft shops

Glitter or fake snow

Distilled water

Glycerin (available in drug or health food stores)

Clear drying waterproof epoxy

Small piece of sandpaper

What to do: 1. Sand the inside of the lid until the surface is rough. 2. Adhere the figurine to the inside of the lid with epoxy and let dry. 3. Fill the jar almost to the top with distilled water. 4. Add a pinch of glitter–not too much or the glitter will stick to the bottom of the jar when it is flipped. 5. Add a dash of glycerin. 6. Screw on the lid tightly, being careful not to dislodge the figurine. 7. Shake the jar and watch it snow!

Photos: Materialicious, LA Times,  Martha Stewart

DIY Eco-Gifts For The Zen Mediator On Your Holiday List

The holidays are busy. Busyness is like an addiction. To shed the stresses of a busy life, it’s good to strike a balance. Many of my friends practice meditation to break the busyness cycle.

The holiday festivities are at their peak. Is there someone on your list whose meditation practice brings them comfort and joy? Slow down the busyness of the season with these 5 spirited and grounded DIY gifts.

5 DIY Gifts for the Zen Mediator

Harmony - Make Bamboo Wind Chimes.

Tranquility - Frame soothing images in Repurposed Windows Frames.

Comfort - Sewing a Meditation Pillow not only gives root to restorative positions, store it can be a meditative act in itself.

Peace - Make Shell Candles to give your practice gentle light.

Stillness - Make a Buddha Snow Globe. Inscribe this Buddhist phrase:

"Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace."

Photo: via Flickr

DIY Eco-Gift For The Traveler On Your Holiday List

It is a nightmarish holiday season for European travelers. A high-octane storm blanketed areas of Europe during the peak of the holiday shopping and travel season. Huffington Post reports that Britain, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark have shut down runways and posted cancellations or delays on many flights.

Scenarios like this can be so stressful for travelers. Stranded for hours and sometimes days, makes packing for the unknown challenging. What do travelers need? Matt Gross, author of the The New York Times blog, The Frugal Traveler believes travelers need to lighten up - "Waste is the antithesis of frugality, and unnecessary belongings can make travel more difficult than it already is."

A gift for a traveler should be: 1. Something that takes up very little space. 2. Something that would be a breeze to get through the scrutiny of airport security. 3. Something easy to carry.

When I asked a master adventure traveler, and the author of Black Smoke, Margaret De Wys what she always takes with her when she travels, her response was, "A journal to write in."

Giving a handmade journal is a thoughtful personalized gift that can be used for the culmination of an eco-globetrotting trip to save the world, or a place to store the utterances and frustrations of a day spent in an airport during a snowstorm.

DIY Travel Journal

Here is a photo journal tutorial from Photojojo (a fabulous resource). It can be made using sugarcane fiber, reclaimed or recycled paper, with inner pockets for storing maps, scraps of fabrics, coins and mementos. I like that the spine opens flat for drawing and writing across the pages.

Here are 10 Reasons To Write In a Journal and for 5 more DIY Journals CLICK HERE.

Photo: Photojojo

First Snow Graffiti

This installation, check by Thomas Voorn via Design Milk portrays all that I love about winter (which is almost everything except shoveling).

This image danced across my computer screen as the flakes began to fall.

Dust of Snow ~ Robert Frost

The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart A change of mood And saved some part Of a day I had rued