Dia de los muertos .....2014

THIS YEARS ALTAR                                                                  

                                                                                  

 

Celebrating the life of my father..........

                                                                            

 

Harry William Walster

1925-2014

 

 

 

 

Father's Voice

 

"No need to get home early;

the car can see in the dark."

He wanted me to be rich

the only way we could,

easy with what we had.

 

And always that was his gift,

given for me ever since,

easy gift, a wind

that keeps on blowing for flowers

or birds wherever I look.

 

World, I am your slow guest,

one of the common things

that move in the sun and have

close, reliable friends

in the earth, in the air, in the rock.

 

William Stafford

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dia De Los Muetros

ALTAR................2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

In  celebration of.............

 

Jay William Hajek

 

Edith Carolina Walster

 

Rudolf Jay Hajek

 

Steve Dayton

 

 

 

 

Starting My Altar.......

Antique Icon, painted on tin............

Found in Colorado by my mother in law Anna.

I have wanted to make a larger altar  for quite a while.

 My small one is always so jumbled and loaded that

to handle anything on it means moving other 

things around......not good.

With Dio De los Muertos just around the corner

this seemed like a good time to at least get a start on a larger one.

So inspired by all the beautiful ones I have been seeing on 

some of my favorite blogs, I sat down with a list of 

how I wanted to be able to use mine, what I wanted it to  

include, and where I wanted to put it. 

I bought this little cupboard 3 years ago at a citywide garage sale.

It's been sitting in my garage .....waiting.......

I decided it was the perfect size, and will just fit on my buffet

in the dining room. 

First step: Took out the shelf so I can

put in taller objects and have more light.

Second : Painted the inside........the paint is still wet here.

Since my plan is to leave this up year round

I needed to use colors that are somewhat compatible

with the rest of the house. You can see here 

that I toyed briefly with  the idea of turquoise....

Couldn't do it.

So black it is.

This paint was in the garage , left over from another project. 

I also love the two drawers, I think they will be handy to store

incense, candles, photos, etc.

A tin heart I made, surrounded by milagros.

I didn't have enough milagros, but a little visit to Ebay, and now more are on their way. 

I'll add them later.

Starting the fun part...............

At home, sitting on top the buffet.

The old test tube is for flowers.

The flower frog is to hold photos.

(Hey Steph......notice the postcard!!!!!...:)

Still more to do,

I have some religious medals I want to add,

But I like things that are an ongoing process,

(like me!)

I am happy with this first version,

and  will be decorating it next week for

Dia De los Muertos.........

So......to be continued .........:)

BTW: If you want to see some stunning

altars that will take your breath away,

visit Lauries' blog to see some of hers as well

as links to other beautiful altars.

                                                                                   

Dia de los Muertos

Talisman earring.................................................

Working on some

Day Of The Dead jewelry.

I know, rather subdued .

This is a single earring because I find that's

all I seem to be wearing these days.

I will probably make a very short one with 

just a bead and skull to wear with it occasionally.

SO.....................................

I am standing at the jewelry counter at my local Goodwill,

waiting for a "lady"

to get through looking at EVERY single

piece in the counter.

(I go every couple of weeks looking for pieces to take apart)

Finally, realizing she's going to be a very long time,

I asked if I could look with her, after her.

Before long I see her pick up a necklace, and immediately put it down.

I asked the clerk if I could please have a look at it.

I start looking at it, and the lady says VERY loudly, 

"Oh, I could never wear that I am a Christian". 

I realized she thought it had skulls on it. 

I told her....."It's not skulls, it's elephants".

Not listening, not hearing, not caring,

she still went on and on about how she was a Christian and could not wear "it".

I am starting to feel like I have a blinking light

 over my head  flashing HEATHEN!!!!

I turned to the clerk and said "I'll take it please".

                                                                    

This is my new necklace that I am pretty sure is Ivory,

even down to the tiny clasp.

 I now happily own it because she "could never wear that".

I quickly realized that lady had far more problems than I could ever hope to address over

the jewelry counter at the Goodwill.

Cute huh!!

This is my favorite rosary.

It came from a nuns estate in Montreal.

It hangs on my bedpost and when I am particularily

troubled I hold  it in my hands to just feel it.

I am not Catholic but it still comforts me.

I like to think about all the prayers it has heard, and

feel how worn all the many medals are from those prayers.

Oh look..... 

what's that I see at the bottom of the crucifex?

A skull??

I'm pretty sure the nun whose fingers

wore these metals almost smooth was a

CHRISTIAN