A tradition during the Christmas season for many is to be inspired by familiar annual events. I is for Inspiration is the ninth post in a special series from A to Z identifying Christmas traditions. 

If you are just discovering the series and want to read the previous posts, see the Blog Archive in the right hand column for a list of all previous posts. November 1 was the date the series began. Click on the title of the post you want to read. 

is for Inspiration.

During the holidays, inspiration is easily found with several annually occurring events with multiple venues. Many family Christmas traditions are to participate in the same events each year, and families often mark their calendars to insure they do not miss their favorite Christmas activities. 

Inspiration comes from different places for different people, but during the holidays there are three categories of kinds of inspiration we seek. 

Inspiration of the soul, inspiration of the spirit, and inspiration of the heart. 

Bulletin Board Inspiration No. 7 | Conservatories

A Paper Series Post 

The latest bulletin board displays a collection of conservatories that inspired my home's sunspace. Dream rooms are different for different people, and one of my dream rooms has always been a conservatory.  

Conservatories can be formal, rustic, large, small, attached, free-standing, garden rooms, or grand salons. Budgets, gardening zones, and personal styles are the major factors in the ultimate design for each person's dream conservatory. 

Bulletin Board Inspiration No. 5 | French Country Bedroom

A Paper Series Post 

Worn out sheets and quilts inspired the Bulletin Board Inspiration No. 5 with its collage of French Country bedrooms, furniture, and linens. Once again the bulletin board is a functional board for organizing thoughts for a new household project: adding French style with new bed linens.  

New sheets and pillowcases for the master bedroom are high on the to-buy list this fall. Repeated washings created holes in the embroidered top sheet, and a coordinating missing pillowcase has not turned up after weeks of searching. 

Bulletin Board Inspiration No. 1 | Baskets, Eggs, Wreaths

A Paper Series Post

Creating a bulletin board filled with photographs of spring baskets, bird eggs, and wreaths is an inexpensive way to enjoy photographs from magazines, brochures, catalogs, flyers, maps . . .  Plus, seeing collected clippings on a board gives ideas for creating similar arrangements around the house. Take a look at the latest bulletin board arrangement in my house for March, and read my suggestions for creating your own bulletin board arrangements. 

Last fall I rejuvenated an old ordinary bulletin board by painting the cork board ink blue and by applying a gold gel stain to the narrow wooden frame. When I shared the finished look in a post, I promised readers a new series of Bulletin Board Inspiration. Today is the first of several bulletin board inspiration posts, with tutorials included for how I lay out my bulletin boards. The board I created and photographed last November will debut this November. 

Inspiring Creativity | No. 3

With the firm belief creativity can be nurtured, this is a series that features inspiring creativity from bloggers who share their visions and how they create them. With insightful words and images they not only create, they inspire others to create. 

This third part of the Inspiring Creativity series is filled with beautiful ideas for celebrating Fall. And, best of all, you will see HOW this featured 'inspiring mind' creates her works of seasonal decor, cooks delicious Fall recipes, and gathers props, with photography tips, for shooting captivating images of it all. 

Paper Crafting Pumpkin Book Art 

Inspiring Creativity | No. 2

This second part of the series Inspiring Creativity takes you behind-the-scenes to see the process of how a creativity team makes magic come alive in their inspiring decorations, photographs, and space transformations. 

Swans Swimming Tablescape 

While imagination is the spark that begins an idea, a table setting, or a large-scale backdrop, good old-fashioned hard work transforms an idea into creative reality. Along the way, revisions, re-dos, and improvisations bring an evolving creation to its finished state. 

Inspiring Creativity | No. 1

Creativity is within all of us. And there is more than one kind of creativity. Defining creativity is even an exercise in creativity itself since there is more than one aspect to the definition. 

Some people may seem naturally creative, but chances are their creativity was inspired and nurtured over the years and flourished as a result. Where and how is creativity inspired and nurtured? One way is by being around people who share their creativity and who explain their creative process. 

Thus begins a new series. 

Home Renovations | Thoughts About Beautiful Images

While you are mulling over your thoughts about budget wise countertops, or why white is timeless decor, or 7 ways to add French style to a bathroom, may I ask you to mull over something else about home renovations, also? 

Recently I began thinking about what others write about home renovations and how it relates to home decorating and blogging. The whole point of this blog is to share beautiful images and thoughts about beautiful images for our homes and gardens. 

Inspiring Dear Heart Note

D E A R  H E A R T 

A true short story about love, marriage, family, commitment, service, and 

getting priorities right.