Christmas Sand Dollar

Every Christmas we get together and decorate the tree and as we decorate we ooh and aah at all the different ornaments that go on the tree. We talk about how we remember when we got this one or that one but a few of our ornament consist of sand dollars we find on the beach each summer.

 

My daughter paints a Christmas picture on them and we will keep them wrapped and bring them out every year to put on the tree.

 

This year while getting out the ornaments, we broke two of the sand dollars. My daughter seemed a little disappointed. It was then that I took on a different approach and the opportunity to tell her about the doves inside each sand dollar.

  

 

She was really amazed and at aw when she saw me break up the already broken sand dollars and the doves flew out. She immediately ran to the computer and found the legend of the sand dollar.

The Legend of the Sand Dollar

There's a lovely little legend
that I would like to tell,
of the birth and death of Jesus,
found in this lowly shell.
If you examine closely,
you'll see that you find here,four nail holes and a fifth one,
made by a Roman's spear.

 

On one side the Easter lily,
its center is the star, that appeared unto the shepherds
and led them from afar.
 

The Christmas Poinsettia
etched on the other side,
reminds us of His birthday,
our happy Christmastide.

Now break the center open,
and here you will release,
the five white doves awaiting,
to spread Good Will and Peace.
 

This simple little symbol,
Christ left for you and me,
to help us spread His Gospel,
through all Eternity.

Author Unknown

 

Ive shared this on:

nifty-thrifty-tuesday at coastalcharm 

DIY Book Pumpkin

I have been seeing these really cute little pumpkins made out of books. I think they are adorable. It cost nothing to make and looks great with all the other fall decorations. When the season is over, you can simply throw them in the recycle bin. So, I decided to make one and I think it turned out nice.

First- I had to get permission from my daughter to cut up one of her old books. She found one from when she was in grade school for me use. It was old and the pages were yellowed, but that's good because I think that gave it the pumpkin glow it needed.

 

 

Second- I drew out on the first page of the shape I needed. Then cut all the pages to the pattern.

Third- I tore off the front and back cover, glued an old stick in the book spine.
I just used an old stick found in the yard.

Fourth- I glued the front and back pages together around the stick and let it dry.

For the finishing touch, I fanned out the pages and added some ribbon and twine.

There I have it. A book pumpkin. 

A few that inspired me to do this are at www.craftberrybush.com-fall-in-love-with-fall and ewehooo.blogspot.com- paper-pumpkin. You can find alot of different shapes and sizes that other crafters have shared by searching "book page pumpkins". There are also many different options of decorating them.

I've shared this on:
nifty-thrifty-tuesday at coastal charm
made-by-me-53-linky-party-and-features at jaqsstudio [Featured]

Dad and I

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there! I just want to say I think I have the best dad ever. He is a great christian man and is very special to me. My dad always set a godly example for me and my siblings and I am thankful for that. Ive learned alot from him and we are same in many ways. Here are just a few ways I am like him.

•  We are funny and share the same humor.
•  We like quick cars
•   I have his nose
•  We both suffer hay fever and allergies
•  I have his knees
•  We like blue grass music
•  We are emotional
•  Impatient
•  If I'm not mistaking, I think we have the same birthmark
•  and neither one of us will turn down a piece of chocolate cake.

I will be heading to church today and honor not only my father here on earth but also my heavenly father.

After church I will be spending time with my husband and daughter as we celebrate his well deserved fathers Day and later we will be celebrating all the dads in the family with a cookout at my house.
I smell the grill already!

Happy Fathers Day .

Crochet using a T-shirt

My daughter was fixing to throw away some old t-shirts but I told her to save them because I wanted to try cutting them up and making some t-shirt yarn. I wanted to try and crochet it and see if it worked, Then I was just going to crochet a small rug just to see if I could do it.

Well, I got to cutting, stretching and rolling the tshirt string into a ball. Then I began crocheting.
Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. I was not expecting anything pretty. This was just an experiment to see what it would do.

As I began crocheting an oval, the rug began to make a bowl. I was a disappointed and then thought, well, I'll just keep on with this and then I will have a bowl. The first colors in the yarn just so happened to be patriotic looking so it goes along with this weekends Memorial Day.

So, I kept on and then I noticed, the bottom was not round enough to be a basket and held it up and my husband said, it looked like a purse. So, I decided, that's what it will be.
Its not the best looking thing, just unique, no way would I use this for a purse but will display it for now.

It just amazed me how it turned out to be bag instead of a rug. This was all purely by accident. Now, I have and idea how to make a purse if I really wanted to get my mind to it.


Linked on make-it-yourself-monday at anoriginalbelle. , make-scene-monday at alderberryhill., todayscreativeblog , nifty-thrifty-tuesday at linda-coastalcharm

Happy Easter

Hope everyone is having a Happy Easter. I have been so busy this weekend through today that I have not had time to write a new post and if I did, It would be a book. So not to bore my readers, Here is just a small photo run down.

 I made Bunny Bark to give away. Note: Look what I did with an old peanut can.

Easter Bark
M&Ms , pretzels, sprinkles and broken white oreos (can use chocolate too).
lay in a cookie sheet or shallow pan, and pour melted chocolate to cover.
Cool then break apart.
Get creative with it ther are no rules.

How my daughter dyes eggs.

 6:30 am Easter Morning

6:45 Easter Morning Sunrise service begins. The sun turned the clouds to a fire red.
It was soooo pretty!!!

 at the same time, my friend Ann texted me a picture of the Sunrise service at Myrtle Beach.
Thanks Ann, wish I could have been there!!

Me with my beautiful daughter.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Yarn Egg

With Easter approaching, I have been having experimenting with making different types of Easter decorations with things I already have around the house. The other day I made an egg out of yarn.

I used a paste made out of flour and water.

1 large balloon

and yarn.

I dipped yard strands into the paste, wrapped it around and around the balloon and let it set over night to harden.

This is the first time I've tried doing this. I seriously didn't think the idea would work but it did and it sat on my mantel for a week before I decided what to do with it.

I cut out an opening, I thought was too big, so it sat a few more day until I found some old ribbon and began experimenting until I come up with some idea that would hide the choppy look around the cutout.

.

Then finally I  put some things in it. I was going to fill it with all chocolate because the only ribbon I could find around the house was brown and it reminded me of chocolate. I threw a few foil eggs in to complete the look.

Oh and did I mention, I saw God today?

Linked on craftomaniac monday , m-i-y-monday at anoriginalbelle , made-by-monday at skiptomylou , make-scene-monday at alderberryhill ,nifty-thrifty-tuesday at coastal charm , creative-projects at todayscreativeblog , made-by-me-25-linky-party-and-features at jaqsstudi  , spring-easter-categorically-crafting at somedaycrafts , simply-link-party at simplydesigning

Twig Necklace

I have seen several of these cute little branch/twig necklaces. I tried to make my own. Since its near Easter, I used a branch from a dogwood tree. The dogwood is said to be the tree used to build the cross that Jesus was crucified on.

First I will show you the twig necklace that inspired me to make one.

$60.00 from cursive design.com .

 And below are the ones I made and it cost me nothing.

This was my first attempt at this. I think they turned out to pretty good, kinda, and I think the green one will go with my Easter dress the best.

Linked on under-100-linky-party at beyond the picket fence ,simply-link-party at simply designing ,made-by-monday at skiptomylou , lil-luna-link-party-71 , friday-fun-party-features at craftionary

Paper eggs and Dogwood

I really love spring and Easter is one of my favorite times.
Me and my daughter used to do an Easter tree in my front yard but I no longer have any trees and I miss doing that. I have seen the indoor Easter trees in the stores but it would cost a small fortune by the time you buy one and decorate it.

I decided to make my own (for free) to place in my bay window of my living room, but first things first. I had to come up with some decorations so I made paper eggs. I started by printing some pattern colors to use. I decided I'd do them in honor of my daughter. I used her school colors and some Kappa Delta prints along with some Lilly Pulitzer prints.

 

For one egg,  I cut 4 or 5 egg shapes, fold them in half longways and glue them together by halves. Don't forget the string or ribbon. I really like the way they turned out.

 

The ornaments can be flattened for mailing or storing if you really want to but they are so easy to make, you can just make new ones next year.

Then I used a cutting off of a dogwood as my tree.

EASTER TREE!

Note: Make sure you add water to the vase. I didn't think it would last but the flowers actually bloomed all the way as it sits in my window. 

Linked on made by you monday at skiptomylou ,
craft-o-maniac monday at craftomaniac ,
make-it-yourself-monday at an original belle ,
How to craft at todays creative blog,
Whatever-goes-wednesday at some day Crafts ,
friday-fun-party-and-features at craftionary

Corned Beef Brisket/Cabbage

We have made it a tradition around or on St. Patricks Day to make corn beef & cabbage. We have done it different ways in the past using canned corn beef and cabbage leaves. But, no more!

I found a more delicious way. I now cook a corn beef brisket with a horseradish dipping sauce. Its AWESOME and Its really easy. Here is how you do it:

•  cut a sweet onion in half and lay it in the bottom of the crock pot.
•  rinse a 3 to 3 1/2 lbs brisket and place it in the crock pot on top of the onion.
•  add 1 can of chicken broth, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
•  add the seasoning pack that comes with the brisket if you like but not necessary.
•  cook on low for about 8 hours.

It will turn out so tender that it will practically fall apart.

As a side, I cut fresh cabbage into wedges and steamed them in my Tupperware steamer.

I like to pull mine in shreds with my fingers, one bite at a time and dip it in the dipping sauce which consist of a mixture of sour cream, horseradish sauce and fresh parsley.



♣"May your blessings out number the shamrocks that grow"♣

Linked on full-plate-thursday at mizhelenscountrycottage

Far-Sight 20/20

I had a wonderful Valentines Day with only one minor interruption. Well, two if you want to count work. After work I had an appointment to have my eyes examined. This was not my first time (even though its been ten years). I knew I would need a driver. My husband was more than happy to take me. The exam took an hour and for that whole hour I sat behind some big eye machine answering to either "1 or 2, 2 or 3, 3 or 4"....you get what I'm talking about.

web photo

Then the doctor dilates my eye balls and we go through the whole thing again.
The result are in, I am far-sighted, have astigmatism and presbyopia. In other words, I'm getting old and I need reading glasses, but I can see perfectly fine from far away.

Here I am being silly and embarrasing my husband with diposable sunglasses.

After my appointment, my sweet husband surprised me by taking me to Logan's Roadhouse for dinner. I really needed this. I got me a big sour apple Logan's tea and a small steak with potato and salad. It hit the spot. It was pretty funny because my eyes were blurry and could not see good. My husband had fun with that by taking pictures of me with his cell phone and sending them to my daughter. He said he was even making funny faces at me and I did not even notice. Every one walking around me looked like ghost figures but I had no problem eating my dinner. I think I played if off pretty good. After about 2 hours, I was fine. We headed back home to complete our Valentines evening. Oh and did I mention, He did get me candy after all. "Jelly Bellys". I love those things.

Cupid, Love and Valentines

Eros: The Greek God of love. Romans refer to him as Cupid (meaning desire).
He was born to Aprodite Goddess of Love and Ares the God of war. Imagine that. If you think about it, put all that together and you got todays world. Erotic, desire, God, love, war..etc.

Ok, that was my little Greek Mythology lesson for today. Sorry Dad.
I remember my Dad used to hate it when we would study Greek Mythology at school. Little did he know, I loved this subject. I found it interesting but only Myths (like fairy tales) and knew it had no biblical reference. 

Back to cupid....
Cupid, as we call him, is a well known imaginary half naked angel that comes around on Valentines Day and shoots people with his arrow and makes them fall in love. Silly isnt it? Even though Valentines is not a religious day, its a day to show kindness and love with chocolate, candy, flowers, cards, doughnuts.......opps. Ok I got carried away.
Anyway, Since we really don't have a little Cupid around now days, I try to spread the love myself. I do all kinds of little things in the days leading up to Valentines Day. Here are just a few things.

One of favorite things during this time of year is my heart shaped muffin pan.

 I like to bake heart shaped muffins.

Its always been a tradition that I make my daughter heart shaped pancakes on Valentines morning.

She is away at college and will miss them this year. However, I did send her a Valentine care package. I ate these heart shaped pancakes myself.

Thanks to Reese's.......

I could not resist the temptation of this Peanut Butter Heart. Yes, I actually do put it on a plate and eat it with a fork. Its that good.

Me and my husband do not do alot on Valentines day since we spend every day showing our love for each other. But we will usually give each other a love note and go out out to dinner. I asked him not to get me candy this year since Im trying to diet, and im not to much of a flower girl. However, I did make some of this.....

Lemon Chex Buddies. I found the idea on Pinterest and the recipe HERE . I thought my husband would like them and couldn't wait til Valentines Day. They were easy and delicious and they are gone.

I ended up giving almost all of it away.

ok, I ate alot of it myself too. If it calls for powdered sugar then I got to have some. I mean, just give me a spoon!

I hope eveyone has a good day and make sure you show some love one way or another. And if your on a diet, let it go this once. I mean, Everyone needs a day to eat chocolate and not feel guilty about it. Until the morning anyway.

                                                           ♥♥Happy Valentines Day!♥♥
.

Give Thanks

This time of year its so easy to get caught in all the rush of getting the Halloween decorations down and getting the Christmas decorations up. Rarely do we think of Thanksgiving being more than just a day for a big dinner with family and friends, a day off from school and work, or the day before a big shopping spree.
Then, sadly there are those that make Thanksgiving the only day to give thanks.

Right now while the economy is slow and more people are out of work, more homeless on the street and more crimes being committed, we feel like we have nothing to be thankful for, especially those who are victims of these cases. But we have a lot of things to be thankful for. We just take alot for granted. I mean, just imagine not having a family, a car, a house or friends. You may hate your job but imagine loosing it tomorrow. You may not have any of those things right now but if your reading this then you have a computer or a fancy cell phone and be thankful you have eye sight and the ability to read.

So as we enter into this Thanksgiving holiday, remember the meaning of Thanksgiving and be grateful. Wake up everyday for now on thinking about what you have, not what you don't have and always give thanks to God. Waking up is the first blessing you get each day.