home decor

A Few More Favorite Christmas Gifts From the Hubby

| marandarussell

Hi everyone! I already showed you my adorable stuffed Scar, but thought I would share a few other favorite gifts from my husband (Steve) this year.

First, we have this Halloween wreath that he actually made for me (for years I have been telling him I wanted a Halloween wreath):

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The best thing about this wreath is that all the decorations are removable, so you can redecorate it or swap stuff out whenever you want. He got me a bunch of other decorations (skull lights, creepy flowers, more spiders/cutouts/etc.) to use with it if I so wish.

He also got me this Anubis prayer bead necklace and Anubis & mummy statue set (the mummy actually goes inside the Anubis sarcophagus):

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Steve bought me several books, all of which I like, but my favorites are these two:

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Both of these books are very thorough reference materials for two of my favorite subjects – world mythology and world literature! I especially like that both of these do not just center on Greek/European/American history, but are more expansive than that.

So there you have a further peek into my Christmas haul 🙂

 

Yule Colors This Year

| marandarussell

For Yule/Christmas this year, I’ve decided to do a black, white, and red color scheme. Here is the first bit of decorating I’ve done:

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I’ve always wanted a black Christmas tree, so I bought a two foot one, and then decorated it with white lights, red tinsel/star, and bulbs/ornaments in all three colors. Now I need to find some other things that match to display around it!

Cute Anubis and Bastet Figures

| marandarussell

Aren’t these Anubis and Bastet figures (the two in the back) I got at Indianapolis Children’s Museum adorable? I put together a cute little display featuring them (along with their more traditional figures), a raven/wolf candle made by Tamed Wild, and some feathers and seedpods. I think my next display will be unicorn inspired. I enjoy doing these little seasonal (or just random) decorations.

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Original Art from My JRR Tolkien Adult Coloring Book

| marandarussell

The past couple days I’ve been in the mood to do some adult coloring. Using my Tolkien’s World adult coloring book that I received from a friend, I used my art markers and other art supplies to finish these two pictures of a raven and a vampire bat, which I felt would fit the Halloween season well:

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If I remember right, I think the raven picture is from The Hobbit series, and the vampire bat is from Tolkien’s lesser known work, The Silmarillion. I like the way both of them turned out and they are listed for sale on My Ebay store if you are interested in them.

Gratitude and Positivity Only!

| marandarussell

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Aren’t these “namaste/praying” skeleton and black cat figurines I found at Michael’s cute? They had an entire line of both skeletons and black cats doing various yoga poses and I had to pick up a couple of them. I picked these two because I love how this pose represents gratitude and a peaceful heart. Some people might think the skeleton one is kind of creepy (which makes sense considering these were part of a Halloween display), but I think there is something beautiful about the simplicity of a human skeleton doing yoga.

I used these figures on my altar the other night while I was doing a gratitude ritual. I decided to do an impromptu meditation/prayer session, focusing ONLY on feeling and expressing gratitude and thankfulness for anything I could think of which makes my life (or the world in general) better. I specifically chose to NOT ask for anything, request divine help, or focus on any problems or pains I am currently wrestling with. ONLY GRATITUDE. ONLY POSITIVITY.

So, how did it go? Well, it definitely improved my frame of mind and sense of well-being that night. No, it didn’t cure the deep depression I have been fighting with, and it didn’t open the floodgates to riches or worldly success (at least not yet!), but it did make me feel good at the time, and it is something I would recommend to anyone (including myself) who tends to become weighed down with negativity and pessimism.