My new friend Kate messaged me one day last winter asking if I’d like some gumballs from her sweet gum tree to use for a craft project.
Um . . . okay . . . I guess, maybe?
So with visions of gumballs dancing in my head, off I went to meet Kate and her two beautiful babies at TCBY. It was a rainy day much like today and a perfect day for a project, though I didn’t know what I’d do with a bag of gumballs other than eat them. Well of course this turned out to be another one of those “Southern things” that a native Northwesterner like myself would know nothing about!
THIS is the dried fruit of a gumball tree . . .
. . . and this is where a portion of my bag of gumballs ended up until today . . . when the rain came gushing out my gutters . . . and the cloud cover was a dark shroud over the house . . . and I came to the end of myself while trying to write, because I’m always more creative when the sun shines.
Sometimes one gets stuck and needs to take a break from being creative to do something that’s creative in a whole ‘nuther way. So out came my ugly/faithful old glue gun and a tired grapevine wreath wearing remnants of hard glue where I’d torn some previous adornment off. . .
. . . and VOILA, a gumball wreath was born.
I don’t know about you but I think this prickly gumball wreath adds great texture to the mantle in my den and finishes off my Fall mantle display to perfection.
So do you want to hear something funny about these gumballs? I knew you would, because y’all are like that.
Last week, when I shared my post on Southern Etiquette and How to Make Your Neighbors Jealous of Your Front Porch I showed that picture of my Junky Chicken Wire Cloche all filled with gumballs and one of my readers commented saying this:
“I’ve always disliked those things, but I love how you put them to good use. Takes a newcomer into the south to see some of the beauties that we native southerners miss, I suppose. Welcome to the south.”
Isn’t that fantastic?
Sometimes it takes seeing something for the very first time to realize it’s beauty.
It really got me to thinking about how many times I miss out on the beautiful that God puts right in front of me because I’ve grown used to what’s there, and maybe even begun to have a little bit of disdain for the familiar.
Old Things New. Creating beauty out of what others have no use for is a big part of how this blog started, and seeing the beauty that God sees in other people (especially when no one has ever called them beautiful) is the other part of this blog that is becoming ever more important to me. It is what I want my LIFE to be about!
The fruit of the sweet gum tree, when it dries into a pod is given a lot of other names besides sweet gumball. These pods are also called “burr balls”, “space bugs”, “monkey balls”, “bommyknockers” and “sticker balls”. Names that aren’t so nice.
I’m thankful that God gave me eyes to see the beauty in these sweet gumballs. My prayer is for fresh eyes to see His beauty in ALL those He brings my way . . . even those who might be a wee bit prickly. Are you with me?
Gigantic blessings to you my friends,
TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, NiftyThriftyThings, SilverPenniesSundays,SundaysAtHome
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