I think about my beloved mother, who was my best friend, all the time and are always pleasantly pleased when I find items that say "Joy" as that was my mother's name. She was everything that the word means and was herself "joyful" inside and out.
According to the name definition websites the name "Joy" is taken from the word "joy", meaning delight or great happiness. It is derived from the Old French word "joie" and is a virtuous name like Hope, Faith, Charity and Patience.
Given it's meaning it's no surprise that the word "joy" is seen everywhere at Christmas time. Sometimes I see the word during the year and like to think that when I do it's my mother's way of letting me know she's watching over me from heaven. Thinking of that always makes me smile as that gives me great comfort as an adult in this often crazy world.
When I was a child and did things I shouldn't have, as children always do, she always seemed to know no matter how secretive I thought I was....lol! She always knew when I had been up to something. I always thought she had eyes in the back of her head and everywhere else.
In reflecting on this years later it suddenly dawned on me that she didn't have eyes everywhere or in the back of her head. She was just very intuitive, like mother's always are in regards to their children - she knew just by looking at my face. There was no way to lie to her. If I tried to I ended up smiling when she would give me that look that only a mother can give and say, "Linda."
While shopping at a Paperstore a few weeks ago I saw the "Joy" woodcraft decoration in the picture above. I thought it would look perfect on the top of my kitchen cabinets under one of the recessed lights. So, of course, I bought it.
I can see this decoration from any angle in my kitchen and family room area and love looking at it as it just seems to glow under the recessed light.
In putting up my Christmas decorations this year it dawned on me that I have a lot of "Joy" inside and outside my house and have made a lot of decorations for the holiday season with the word "Joy" in them.
In the picture above you'll notice there is a little red "Joy" pillow. Like everything else in my house it, too, has a story.
Two years ago hubby and I were shopping at a local Michael's store for some Christmas craft supplies I needed. In walking down one of the aisles I spotted a little red miniature velvet pillow that had the word "Joy" on it. I, of course, instantly loved it and when hubby saw it he loved it too. In seeing it we both instantly thought of my mother and the miniature quilted pillows she used to make for our beloved "Bud."
So, we bought it and brought it home and placed it on the right end side of our family room sofa which was our "Bud's" spot. If you were sitting there he quickly let you know you needed to move as that was his spot. After seeing him do this and laughing my mother decided she would make him a miniature pillow for him to lay his head on.
When she brought it over she laid it on the right end side of the family room sofa. He instantly ran over, jumped on the sofa, and laid his head on it. How he knew to do this we'll never know but, after that, when he laid down there he always had his head on his little pillow. He loved this pillow so much she ended up making another one for his bed upstairs. He wasn't spoiled or anything!! Ya think!!!
Back to the story. Our family usually celebrates on Xmas Eve with a big bash at Nana and Grampy's house. Well, after the family left on Xmas Eve two years ago we noticed that the little red miniature "Joy" pillow was missing. We searched all over for it and didn't find it. I thought that perhaps it had accidentally been thrown out in the presents trash. I was really disappointed as I really liked the pillow but figured we could get another one at the store. However, that was not to be.
For the past two years I've been hoping to see a little red miniature "Joy" pillow but haven't been so lucky. I was just about to give up when something happened. A week ago we somehow had a reason to move the sofa in our family roof away from the window it was in front of. Now, mind you, we've never moved the sofa in the 31 years we've been here. Well, low and behold we found the "Joy" pillow. It was stuck way in the back underneath the sofa.
I was thrilled and had to wonder if somehow my mother meant for us to find it this year. I'd like to think so. However, this year, before the family comes over the little red "Joy" pillow is going to be put away for safekeeping....lol!
Several of the decorations I have made and, of course, have written blog posts about. Some I bought but I also wrote blog posts about them. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of them so I've included a picture, link, and opening paragraphs from them below:
Linda's Blog post from July 29, 2019 - As you know I just love creating holiday dolls and crafts utilizing the word "Joy." Well, close to ten years while shopping at BJ's I found a set of adorable 3D type paper Christmas gift tags. One of those was a paper wreath with the word "joy" suspended in the middle of the wreath.
Instead of using this set as gift tags I had decided to save them and use them for my craft purposes. They were really adorable and you just never know what you are going to use when crafting. So, I've been holding on to them and the "joy" wreath seemed perfect for my Santa to hold in his arms.
Linda's Blog post from December 5, 2018 - I know I've mentioned a billion times how much I love finding decorations during the holiday season that say "Joy." It was my mother's name and every time I look at a "Joy" decoration I can't help but think about my beloved and beautiful mother. She was a beautiful person inside and out and always brought such "joy" to everyone she met.
Well, during a recent shopping trip with hubby at a local home decor store we stumbled upon the "Joy" sign shown in the picture above. It was gold and made of some kind of hard plastic with a Victorian type pattern cut onto it. Gold, Victorian and "Joy" - seems like a perfect fit for me.
Unfortunately, it was large and I didn't have any place inside the house to hang it. So, I walked away.
Well, to my surprise, hubby said, "Are you sure? It's really quite nice." He knows me too well and knows I might be thinking about it on the way home and decide I did have a place for it after all - which, of course, would require us to go back to the store.
So, I took a second look and "voila!" it dawned on me it would be perfect as an outside decoration for our farmer's porch. It was quite festive and large enough to be seen from the street and would be a good compliment to my large artificial outdoor Christmas floral decoration, which is placed on the farmer's porch every holiday season.
Linda's Blog post from August 10, 2018 - It's the middle of the summer and sweltering here. More heat and humidity than I would like. So, you're probably wondering why I'm showing you two Christmas cross-stitch ornaments I just finished. Well, when I'm making ornaments for the Christmas holiday season I like to start early. They are a pair of 3" by 3" stocking ornaments by Mill Hill - Sticks line.
I just love to cross-stitch small ornaments with the word "joy" in them because my mother's name was Joy and when I look at them I think of her.
Linda's Blog post from March 1, 2017 - I just love to cross-stitch small ornaments because they don't take a lot of time to complete. I also love Christmas decorations that have the word "Joy" in them because every time I look at them I think of my mother whose name was "Joy." So, when I saw the "Joy Snow Globe Ornament Cross-Stitch Kit" from Dimensions I knew I was going to make it.
Linda's Blog post from October 13, 2015 - I love creating Christmas crafts with the word "Joy" in them because my Mother's name was "Joy" and every time I look at them I smile knowing she's looking down on me. The Christmas Collage - Cross Stitch Kit I completed recently and which I posted about here also had the word "Joy" in it.
Linda's Blog post from January 4, 2014 - It's no secret I love to cross-stitch. I also tend to be a very sentimental and love crafts and handmade goods that have the word "JOY" in them because my Mom's name was Joy. So, it should be no surprise that I was drawn to the Joy To The World Beaded Cross Stitch Kit.
I hope you enjoyed see all the "joy" I have inside and outside my house and hope, it's brought a smile to your face, too. That would certainly make my mother smile.
No comments:
Post a Comment