If you wear a clover today, you might want to make sure it has 3 leaves, instead of 4, if you want to be true to the meaning of St. Patrick’s Day. If you’ve never read about the real Patrick, of whom the day speaks, it is one exciting story. I thought I would share a bit of it here today, by quoting an excerpt from our favorite history book, The Mystery of History (Vol. II): “Patrick was born in England in 389. (He was not Irish as most people would think!) His parents were…
If you ask me, the BEST projects are the ones that take only a LITTLE time and money, but give you a result that you LOVE. That makes this pretty much the best project ever. 🙂 How would you like to make a chalkboard for under $1 in under 1 minute, with no paint involved? I love it when cheap, easy, and beautiful all come together in a project, don’t you? Years ago, a friend gave me this gorgeously framed picture, because she was moving. And while I love old pictures, I just never really fell in love with…
My children are at different ages, different stages but all with one thing in common… they’re growing up and growing up is hard to do. While we would all like to revisit yesteryear once in a while, growing up is something most people wouldn’t want to do over- because it’s hard work… skinned knees broken hearts hurt feelings and tough decisions. That’s the big one. And the bigger you get, so do the decisions. I tell my children that’s the way they know they are getting closer to…
When you choose to be a one income family, for the sake of your family, you learn a lot about being thrifty. Fortunately for me, I can truthfully say that has always been my nature anyway. Practical. Thrifty. Boring. It’s true. One year, when I was 12, I gave my mother rubber gardening shoes for Christmas because the price was right, and it was so very, well…practical. I thought she could use some shoes. Then I accidentally told her what her gift was. I said I needed a box to wrap the shoes in. Then I…
Where we live, we get to experience all the seasons–sometimes in the same week! Winter here is very fickle. We get springlike days, and cold, rainy miserable days, and sometimes… we get snow. But not too often. So we try to thoroughly enjoy it while it’s here. We have a snow day. And what I like about snow days is that everybody gets to be a kid for a day. Which means… no schoolwork, boogie-board sleds, snowball fights, snow cream, and throwing snow at the exact moment the picture is snapped, which…
What’s the perfect way to use the adorable pom poms we’ve been seeing everywhere? Make a birth-announcement-wreath for the front door, of course! (Perfect for my brand new niece xxoo) Here’s how I did it: To make the pom poms: 1.Wrap yarn around and around your fingers, until you’re happy with the thickness of it. (Pulling the yarn from the inside of the roll makes it much easier, by the way!) 2. Tie a piece of yarn around the bundle, in a tight knot. 3. Snip all…
My husband has known forever that I love old things, so he brings me home *treasures* when he finds them. He loves them, too, because they have a story. Right after Christmas, he brought me home this rustic rocker. 🙂 For those of you who liked that, I thought I’d share these… A while back, my husband was walking around where he grew up, and he saw something in the dirt. He unearthed a bunch of these old bottles, which were old Clorox bottles his grandma had used in the 1950’s. He brought them home…
Did you know tinsel grows in fields? And diamonds grow on trees? In winter? I discovered it this week. For the past couple of days, I have been in absolute awe of the beauty of God’s creation. Winter weather can be down-right miserable, but it can also be breathtakingly beautiful. Isn’t it amazing… how God can make the simplest things so amazing… and the most amazing things so simple? How blessed we are to witness His handiwork. “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen…
You know I love books, right? And history. And learning of all kinds. I pretty much try to make a learning experience out of everything. Even holidays. I told you how much I loved connections. Holidays are a perfect opportunity for making connections. In the midst of the candy-buying, valentine-writing, and heart-making, you might just wonder why in the world you’re doing all of this… or more likely, your children ask you something like…Mom, why do we do this anyway? Bam. Instant teaching opportunity. Share with them the story of St. Valentine…
A while back I bought some small burlap canvases on clearance at Michael’s. The pack of four was about $5. Perfect price and perfect for the letters L-O-V-E! I just sketched out the letters with a pencil, using a ruler for straight edges. Glitter is big right now, and I thought it would be fun to use it for this little project. So, I outlined the letters in glue. Then, I added a little glue inside the lines, and spread it with a paintbrush. Next, I sprinkled on glitter…
