Honoring Your Loved Ones at the Holidays

-

I have always been the family historian and my house is filled with old and new family photos all year long, but when my dad passed away a few months before Christmas in 2016, I wanted to find new ways of honoring and celebrating his memory, which lead me to create several special gifts and ornaments that I wanted to share here in case you are looking for ideas and inspiration.

My first project was the quilt and pillows we are all holding in the photo above.  The idea came to me as I cleaned out my dad's closets and was deciding what to hang onto as a keepsake.  Surrounded by piles of his favorite T-shirts, flannels and corduroys, all worn soft with wear, I realized there were enough to make a quilt for my brother, as well as pillows for myself and the rest of the family.  The following year I was asked to make the pretty pillows shown below for my sister-in-law's family.  They were made out of her mother's favorite cozy robes. I have made quilts and pillows in the past, but am not a professional seamstress by any stretch (and pretty much cobbled them together as I do most crafts), so there are no directions or links for these projects here... but I'm certain that you can find any number of tutorials on Pinterest or Youtube should you need more details on how-to!

Both our main Christmas tree and the one in my office are filled with photo ornaments featuring family members. I found and made the miniature tart tin ornaments the first year.  I ordered most of the supplies from amazon.com, but picked up the ribbon and embellishments at Walmart. I made these ornaments like I bake cookies... in assembly line batches. Printing several photos one page of card stock to save time and money.  These may not be worth the trouble if you are only making one or two, so so I made them for everyone in my family, as well as for special friends who had recently lost a loved one. Here's the link to the directions I used: tart tin photo ornaments


The next year I made more of the same, but also decided to mix it up a bit and found a how-to for the découpaged ornaments shown on the left.  I've seen similar ornaments selling online for $25, but if you are even slightly crafty you can make them yourself using the tutorial below for under $2 a piece!? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y77AbcLMaw0

I made the shadow box (below) for my husband (who is still living) a few years back when I found his Sailor of the Year plaque and medals rotting in our dusty attic, but I think it is an a wonderful way of honoring the memory of any loved one who served in the armed forces. Deciding that it was basically criminal not to have his accomplishments on display, I googled "military shadow boxes" for inspiration, ordered a jersey-sized shadowbox on amazon, and pinned and/or hot-glued everything to the interior fabric.



If you are all thumbs when it comes to crafts, do not despair... you can go straight to etsy.com and have many of the items above (and so much more!) made to order.  I find that although these special  holiday mementos can make me a little emotional each time I pull them out, any sadness is quickly lifted by the wonderful memories of holidays past that follow!


Before becoming a professional psychic medium, Beth taught high school French, Spanish, Italian and ESOL. In addition to conducting mediumship and general psychic readings across the country and abroad, she is also conducts paranormal investigations and offers psychic development mentoring for adults and children. Her book, Madame Medium: Unleash Your Inner Psychic with a French Teacher Turned Psychic Medium , was written to help others uncover and hone their own intuitive abilities. Beth lives just outside of Baltimore, Maryland with her husband, Scott, their dog, Waffle, and their resident house spirit.


To learn more about Beth, her book, and the other services that she offers, visit bethparkermedium.com











































Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

General Psychic FAQs: Answers to Random Questions

-
Image
Different types of readings lend themselves to different FAQs, which is why I have separate posts that deal with common questions that are specific to Mediumship Readings, Romance Readings and Paranormal Investigations. This list of FAQs covers topics that often come up during General Psychic Readings, as well as other random questions that I have been asked since becoming a professional psychic medium. Some of them may help you to decide whether or not to book a reading that focuses on the future, some may enlighten you about the psychic world, and others may simply make you chuckle. GENERAL PSYCHIC READING FAQs: Do you use Tarot cards during readings? No. I read Tarot cards for family and friends for 30-plus years before I became a professional psychic medium, but I no longer use them for one simple reason... my Spirit Guides can simply show me one during a reading to get a message across. I still, however, think they are an incredibly useful tool when it comes to developing your own...
Read more

Mediumship & Life Path Readings: What to Expect from a Combination Reading

-
Image
As a psychic medium I am able to connect directly with loved ones who have crossed over and now act as Guardians watching over us, as well as with the Spirit Guides and Angels who inhabit and guide us from higher planes of existence. A Combination Mediumship & Life Path Reading gives you the opportunity to experience both of these connections; you will hear from any departed loved ones who choose to join us  and  you will receive life path advice from the other loving Spirits who have your best interest at heart. I chose to stop doing general psychic readings that focus solely on the future when I cut back on the number of readings that I do because, although all mediums are psychic, not all psychics are mediums, which means there are a lot fewer mediums than psychics or “intuitives” to choose from. If you are only interested in hearing about your future or love life, you can consult a trusted psychic/intuitive, but only a well-developed evidential medium can reliably conn...
Read more

Afterlife FAQs: What happens When We Die?

-
Image
  For most people, the most anxiety-provoking aspect of death is the fear of the unknown. The many validations that I receive during any given reading do a lot to reassure my clients that our souls survive physical death, but people often leave with unanswered questions about the Afterlife that we simply didn't have time to cover. I created this list of FAQs to answer some of those questions and (hopefully) put more minds at ease, by sharing what I have learned from my friends in the Spirit World about the soul's journey after life on the physical plane. What happens right after we die? Just as cutting the umbilical cord connecting us to our mother at birth ushers us into our new life, when physical death occurs, the ethereal cord connecting our souls to our bodies is cut and we begin our journey back Home. As any Hospice nurse could probably attest, depending on the circumstances surrounding our passing, we may see and hear loved ones who have already departed even before we d...
Read more