WHAT IS BEAUTY?

You do not have to be tall to be beautiful.
You do not have to be thin or long-limbed.
You do not have to have long, straight, shiny hair.
You do not have to be an hourglass or a string bean or a pear.
You do not have to be blemish-free, without freckles, scars, or tattoos.
You do not have to fit or demolish certain physical paradigms

You do not have to be buxom to be beautiful.
You do not have to possess va-va-voom curves or full lips.
You do not have to resemble a movie star, or a lingerie model, or a porn star.
You do not have to sexualize your exterior to be beautiful.
You do not have to neuter your exterior to be beautiful.

You do not have to wear makeup to be beautiful.
You do not have to wear skirts and heels.
You do not have to cover your grays or disguise your cellulite.
You do not have to shun or accept practices of dressing or personal presentation.

Those who quantify beauty as genetic makeup, symmetry, mathematical ratios are, to me, as wrong as those who accept beauty as a set of societally-imposed ideals and standards. To rank beauty, classify it, assign it biological markers and geometric requirements is to say to some people, “No, you cannot have this. It is not for you.” And although many will disagree with me, I believe that beauty is a feeling, a freedom, a pulse from within that says, “I am worthy, lovely, strong.” And I believe every single human being has a right to feel it.

Beauty is not definite, it is relative.
Beauty is not exclusive, it is infinite.
Beauty is not for others, it is for you.

And to be beautiful, all you have to be is you, you, you. 

Sally McGraw 

PAPER CUT DOLLS

 

The Gold Wrapping Paper - An Inspiring, Short Christmas Story

Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family's only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.

As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!"

As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her.

But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young lady," he said harshly, "when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside the package!"

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full."

The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there. 


In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

 

DOLLS DUNGAREES PATTERN

 

Celtic Thunder - 'Christmas 1915'

BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE AND SELF-WORTH.

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” – Helen Keller

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have.” – Brian Tracy

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” – Marie Curie

“Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” – Peter T. McIntyre

“If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” – T. Harv Eker

 

SPICY CHRISTMAS JAM

RECIPE
Ingredients
4 cups sliced strawberries (I used fresh strawberries I previously froze)
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 tsp. butter (to prevent foaming)
1 tbls. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 box Sure Jell (powdered pectin)
8 cups sugar

Method
Turn stove-top on to high heat. Place a large stock pot on burner and add butter, strawberries, cranberries, all spices and Sure Jell.

Bring mixture to a boil, stirring to prevent sticking.

Add sugar all at once and return to a rolling boil (one that doesn't stop while stirring), stirring constantly. Boil hard 1 minute.

Remove stock pot from heat and ladle jam into canning jars leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Cover jars with lids and bands and tighten just until finger tight.

Process jars 10 minutes in a boiling water bath or steam canner. Let sit on your kitchen counter-top undisturbed for 24 hours.  Store in pantry.

Yield:  10 - 8 oz. jelly jars