fresh picked whimsy

May the force be with you...i mean, Merry Christmas!

We have about 9 Christmas trees in our house.  They vary in size, but all are lit and decorated.  However, there's one in particular that gets a lot of attention.  It's Mark's tree.  It was a gift I gave to him one year for his birthday (which is the week before Christmas).  You see, he's a huge Star Wars fan. 

Over the years, he's been collecting Star Wars Christmas tree ornaments.  They're just lovely.  They were slowly taking over the family tree.  And, because nothing says "Merry Christmas" quite like Darth Mol...

Queen Amadala and the Death Star...

a gun toting Chewy...

and a half naked Princess Leia {I'm sure I'm not spelling them correctly},

I got him his very own tree.  When I turn the tree lights on in the morning, I hear the Star Wars theme song and Emperor Palpatine declaring war...so festive!  (can you hear my sarcasm through your monitor?)

Actually, I will admit, it's pretty cool.  The collection keeps growing and he loves it.  And love him, I do {that's Yoda speak}.

i want to live in Bedford Falls...

 
Hands down, my favorite movie of all time is "It's a Wonderful Life".  I will watch it multiple times over the holidays.  We make a family night out of it at least once before Christmas, in our jammies, by the light of the tree, with popcorn and snuggly blankets.  Can't wait for that.  I'm really a sucker for any and all holiday movies, specials and shows.  I've tried to explain to my kids how special it was when all the classics like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, etc... came on when we were kids.  We didn't have VCRs, DVDs, or DVRs.  There wasn't a kid in America who missed them.  We planned our evenings around them.  You could only see them once a year and if you missed it, you would have to wait until next year.  {the same went for Wizard of Oz and the Sound of Music!}  Now, they show all of those specials many times over the holidays and you can own them on DVD or just record them on the DVR.  It's just not quite the same.  I guess that's why I still get so excited when I see that they are going to be on.  In addition to It's a Wonderful Life, my picks for the BEST holiday movies (movies that instantly give me holiday spirit!)...White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street (the classic, not the remake), Love Actually, Elf, and The Santa Clause.

*New "atta boy, Clarence" print (above) available in the shop! 

Happy Holiday Season!

As you can see, the blog is dressed for the season and we're ready for the holidays here at fresh picked whimsy!  To kick off the season, i would like to thank you for stopping by fpw from time to time, maybe even daily to see and read what i have to show and tell.  This year has been amazing and i want to thank you for being a part of it!  I love my little corner of the blogosphere; and i'm so happy to share it with you.  So, please enjoy this holiday gift tag FREE download* as my gift to you.  I recommend you print them on cardstock and cut along the dotted (and wonky) lines.  Then top your gifts with a little bit of fresh picked whimsy love!  This download is available by clicking here and by clicking the Free stuff just for you button to your left.  You will also find last years FREE downloadable gift tags* there, too!  Happy wrapping and fa la la-ing, friends! xo

 *As always, please enjoy these tags for personal use only. Not for commercial use.  ©Lori McDonough

Are you a lake person or an ocean person?

I'm an ocean girl, myself...having spent my childhood summers at the beach.  So, after I made the Lake Lovers illustration for my cousin, and got such a great response from it here, you know I had to follow it up with the Ocean Lovers version.  Both versions can be customized to include your family name and favorite vacation destination.  Here it is...

I was also recently commissioned to create a fun version of this illustration for my friend, Sue Atkins, author of Raising Happy Children for Dummies.  She is a parenting expert and can be found here for all of your parenting questions.  She's created a club for frazzled Mum's (she's British...love that they call Moms...'Mums'!) to decompress!  This is what I came up with for "The Me Time Mum's Club"...

The original Lake Lovers illustration just keeps inspiring...just received a request for a farm version, too.  Can't wait to get started on that one!  You can find Lake Lovers and Ocean Lovers in the shop!  xo

Thank you, Diet Cherry Coke, I love you...

 Just got this in my mailbox...for FREE:

Like you, I miss so many of the great home decor magazines that have gone out of business this past year.  But the ones I do still get...O, Better Homes & Garden, Country Living, and Seventeen {for K}, I get for for FREE.  Wanna know how?  Well, let me tell you...

I'm a Diet Cherry Coke girl.  Mark's a Minute Maid Lite Lemonade guy.  We collect My Coke Rewards points from all of our Coke products and then we go to www.mycokerewards.com and redeem them for FREE magazine subscriptions.  There's lots of other stuff that you can get, but the magazines float my boat. 

Whenever I tell anyone about it, they always are surprised because they drink Coke products and never knew what the My Coke Rewards was all about.  Now they get free stuff, too.  No, i am not getting a kick-back from Coca-Cola...just a kick out of getting something for free; a rare thing these days.  I wanted to share my freebie tip with you.  So, now you know...start saving your My Coke Rewards points.  Free stuff = happiness, don't ya think? 

Family portrait

Painted this for a friend for her birthday, at her request.  I had such a lovely response from it when she opened it at her party that I am going to offer it in my etsy shop.  I will take custom orders for it.  When purchased, I will need a photo emailed to me to use as a reference.  Just my little take on a family portrait...no need to photoshop out the wrinkles, blemishes and the kids are always smiling! ♥ Looking for something unique and personal for someone for the holidays?  Click here.  Thanks, friends...xo

I'm talking about you...

www.urbandictionary.com defines kajillion as 1,000 bajillion.  Yup, that's about right.  New print in the shop! xo

bliss in a big yellow bag...

a fun time was had by all on...

 

even though the shopping gremlins tried to trip us up first thing in the morning!  We departed the neighborhood at 6:30 a.m. and stopped for coffee about a half hour later.  When we pulled into the parking lot at Starbucks, Stacey's Suburban went kaput on us.  It was just too early and there were no service stations available.  So, we called S's hubby and my hubby to rescue us and then popped into the cozy Starbucks to wait for them.  We weren't going to let this little "bump in the road" rain on our IKEA parade!  Then, we spotted him...

do you see him?

He was just sitting there....going over...his list {and checking it twice}!  Fo' rizzle!!!!  Surely, if our men couldn't get us out of our transporation jam, Santa could hook us up with some reindeer, right?!  Yeah, we had some good chuckles about our brush with greatness....ho ho ho!  Our fellas transferred the roof top carrier and the hillbilly hitch {we were anticipating some large purchases} to another vehicle and we were on the road again!  Thanks, guys!

You know, half the fun is the chit chatting that goes on in the car!  We had home baked goodies, Martha was knitting up a storm,

 
and we solved the world's problems, too.  And then the clouds parted, trumpets sounded, angels sang in chorus and we saw it...

We spied this dandy van in the parking lot and decided maybe we should look into taking one of these next year...

I told you all about our IKEA shopping process last year.  This year was no different.  You gotta love it when your day starts out with a warm welcome like this...{oops, my apologies to the stranger coming out of the stall}

Martha was still trying out the merchandise...

Monica was shopping from our discard pile...

We still salivate over the homey rooms they have set up...seriously, i love this and this and this and that...

Parade of carts lined up while we lunch in the IKEA cafeteria...good deals to be had there, too...99 cent Sweedish meatballs for lunch!

Lovely IKEA sentiments...so true:

Although we had to forfeit our planned trip to Jungle Jim's in the morning due to our technical difficulties, we did make it to the outlet mall after IKEA.  By then it's been a long day, and we're all a little goofy as illustrated by Stacey in the discounted textiles bin at the Pottery Barn Outlet store...

All in all, the day was quite productive with lots of lovelies purchased, a leg up on Christmas, and quality girlfriend time.  Same time next year, ladies! xo

Positivity is contagious...pass it on

♥ Just listed in my etsy shop ♥

Happiness in a shoebox

Do you remember making dioramas for school?  G had to make two for a project last week and it was a lot of fun.  He is studying the history of our hometown.  He had to make one showing what it was like in Pioneer times and one showing what it is like today.  He drew every single thing...i promise.  Everyone always assumes that i will do that for my kids, but i don't...ever.  G is actually a really great artist.  He reminds me a lot of me at his age.  He loves to draw.  I did help him glue it all in there, but he did everything else.  He was so proud of them and i am so proud of him.  He asked me if i would put them on my blog...so here they are!

I also want to share with you a fantastic cause that my family is contributing to this Christmas season, and it also starts with a simple shoebox.  It's called Operation Christmas Child.  It's an organization that collects and delivers shoeboxes filled with small toys, toiletries, books, school supplies and treats to millions of underpriveledged children all over the world. 

It's amazing how such a small and simple gift can impact the life of a child, especially one who may have nothing.  Each of my kids is putting together one of these shoeboxes for a child their own age.  It's a great opportunity to teach compassion and discipleship. 

National Collection Week is Nov. 16-23rd.  You can follow this link to find a shoebox donation site near you, make a monetary donation, or learn how your family can pack a shoebox for a needy child.  You can even track your shoebox to see where it ends up! Cool! A friend of mine is going to be traveling with Franklin Graham (son of Rev. Billy Graham) to deliver some of these shoeboxes.  That's how i found out about it and wanted to pass along the information to you.