More quiet little corners

Prayer boxes are a quiet little escape for prayer or meditation where ever you are, at work, traveling, or in a comfy corner of your house. Simply sit in front of your prayer box or shrine, open it up, light the candle, and focus on the icon inside. The icon helps you focus and concentrate. This is not only a wonderful way to nourish your soul but also reduces stress and enhances creativity. 

To see the original post on quiet little corners, please click here:

Enjoy perusing these sacred treasures that help you find the treasure inside you......

 Mary of Guadalupe windowpane cabinet prayer box 

Mary shrine glass prayer cabinet

Small aquamarine desk prayer box

The Nativity wooden prayer cabinet

Faux leather prayer box cabinet

Small Mary icon prayer box

Religious Christ icon frame

Treasure boxes that are treasures on their own

Sometimes an old cigar box is beautiful on its own.....

Vintage clear cigar boxes on Etsy

....or a vintage jewelry box needs no help being fabulous.....

Vintage fabric jewelry box on Etsy

....but sometimes an interesting illustration, some vintage findings and a little glitter takes things up a notch and creates something one of a kind, and the treasure box becomes a treasure on its own. 

Vintage dove illustration embellished cigar box on Etsy 

Sea life vintage illustration embellished cigar box on Etsy 

Aquamarine aquatic life embellished vintage cigar box on Etsy 

Aquatic life embellished vintage jewelry box on Etsy 

Strange deep sea life embellished cigar box on Etsy 

Vintage painted embellished cigar box on Etsy 

Vintage embellished peacock box

Which of your treasures need a place to nestle? 

Here are some fresh Etsy shops with treasure boxes I adore!

Vintage metal treasure box from Mademoiselle Chipotte on Etsy 

Vintage pink vinyl treasure box from WhatGirlsLike on Etsy

Frida Kahlo embellished box by Dulcet Whimsey on Etsy 

Longing for an old-fashioned May Day

As a child, May 1st had a lot different meaning than it does now. There is quite a hullabaloo surrounding May Day in 2012: 


The anniversary of Bin Laden's death....

Image from netglimpse.com

....the traditional worker's rights protests.....

Image from ibtimes.com 

.....and the Occupy movement's hope that their protest to support the 99% will be revitalized. 

Portland, Oregon May Day protests
Image from katu.com

I think back to a time when I didn't know about all that stuff.


Sometimes at school we would have a Maypole, where children gathered around a tall pole that had ribbons attached to the top. Each child would grab a ribbon and they would dance around the pole in one direction until all the ribbons would be wrapped around the pole, and then they would reverse direction and dance the other way so the ribbons unwound. It is a very old traditional folk dance in many countries, including England. 

Another tradition we had on May Day was to make little paper cones, stick candy and flowers in them, hooking them onto our neighbors' doorknobs, and then running away so it was a mysterious surprise who left the gift!  

  

The cones are easy to make- restart an old tradition in your family.


You need:

• Pieces of paper (1 per cone) either solid construction paper, cardstock or scrapbook paper. 12" by 12" works the best, but you can make any size work.
• Scissors
• Clear scotch tape
• Stapler
• Little candies (optional)
• Flowers from your garden
• Plastic bag
• Rubber band 
• Paper towels or napkins

Cut a 1" wide piece off one side of the paper with the scissors for the handle and set aside.

Roll the rest of the paper into a cone, making the bottom hole as small as possible. You can staple or tape the top, and you will have to tape the bottom to keep the cone shape. 

Staple the handle ends into the cone so the tall edge is at the back (to support flowers) making sure the ends are stapled to the inside of the cone to look nice.

Dampen the paper towels or napkins in water, then wrap them around the flowers' stems. (Make sure the flower stems aren't too long so the stems can sit in the cone and not be so heavy and long that they fall out.) Put the plastic bag around the bottom of the flower stems to keep the water from leaking and wrap the rubber band around the top of the plastic bag to keep it in place.

Stick a few wrapped candies into the bottom of the cone (if you want- can leave out) and then stick the flowers in. 

Sneak over to a neighbor's porch and stick the May basket onto the doorknob. Ring the doorbell and run! 

Always nostalgic for childhood. Happy May Day!

Beehive and flowers vintage hat from aVelvetLeaf.etsy.com