sisters

Our Princess made this for me for my birthday last year. Isn't it the sweetest? It's also the truth. For the last couple of years, I've wondered if my precious girls will ever be best buds like they used to be, ever again! But I'm recognizing that they are, it's just in different ways. They thrive on being different from each other and work hard to keep their individual uniqueness. But both of them would sacrifice anything for the other and their differences compliment each other.
It makes me think of my sisters and the evolution of our relationships. At this point in my life, they really are the best friends that I have. And I'm afraid I can't say I've always treated them that way. And we are all different and like to be unique. And we would sacrifice anything for each other. And we have found that we have so much more in common than we ever thought we could. And we cherish every rare second that we can spend together.
I can't wait to see where life takes these girls of mine. I know that they need each other to make it through. I hope that they grow to love and appreciate each other the way that I love and appreciate the sisters that I've been blessed to have.


keep smiling!

harvest aroma

I've taken a bit of a break from sewing this week. Not because I'm bored with it by any means, it's just been one of those weeks where as soon as I sit down to start something, something more 'important' comes up. This is something fun that I tried this week, though, and I'm excited to share!
My mom was telling me this idea that she had seen to use a small pumpkin as a sort of built-in potpourri. She can't remember where she saw it so I can give no credit but to her. :o) I found some little sugar pumpkins at the grocery store and got a couple to try out. They ranged in size from a large grapefruit to a pineapple.  I recommend the taller skinny ones more so than the short squatty ones, the lids don't burn. Because burning pumpkin=not good smell...

First thing, you cut the top off and scoop out the insides like a jack-o-lantern. Then you take your handy dandy drill (if Count Studley only knew the 'interesting' projects his power tools have created... shhh! don't tell!) and drill holes all over in the pumpkin. Lots of them. I used a 3/8" bit to make my holes. This was my favorite part, I got a little crazy with it but if you don't make enough holes, the candle can't breathe and will die. But I'm getting ahead of myself. It makes lots of cute little curly things.

Then you take your pumpkin pie spice, I use about a tablespoon, and shake it all over inside the pumpkin. Don't forget the lid! Then you rub it around until it covers the insides evenly.

Then all that's left is the tea light candle.  Put it in the bottom just like a jack-o-lantern and light it.  It doesn't take long for the smell of pumpkin pie to fill your home.  Unless your home is bigger than mine.  But it smells REALLY good. And I have to admit, I've gone through a few of them already...

*safety tips:  Because I was worried about burning my house down, I put it on a candle pedestal.  When using a smaller pumpkin, keep the wick on the candle trimmed pretty short. Remember burning lid? :o)  Just helping you learn from my mistakes. Don't burn it if you aren't close by, the pumpkin actually bakes and shrivels up a little and I guess that could maybe make for a fire hazard...

One pumpkin will make it through a couple of days and a few candles.

Happy Crafting!


Linked it up at:

ghostly pudding cups

Here's another quick and fun Halloween treat!  The other day I found these cuties at the store and thought to myself, "hmmmmm." They seriously are the most darling little things I've ever seen.  So I mixed up a box of instant butterscotch pudding and let it set about half way so it wouldn't make the cones soggy, filled them up (all two bites worth...) with the pudding and finished it off with a ghost from squirty whipped cream with mini chocolate chips for eyes!  Next time I will use Cool Whip because the squirty whipped cream gets melty pretty quick, so these had to be eaten pretty much instantly. And I was the only one home. Too bad for me.

Enjoy!

on being cheerful

 
Do you ever have one of those days where you just can't seem to pull it off? You know, the cheerful thing? I do. Maybe more frequently than I should, and the last couple of days have definitely been that kind of day. I can tell you why, too. It's called Lack Of Sleep and Life Is Hard. So this week I'm digging down deep and finding that happy heart underneath the foggy haze fatigue and discouragement bring and will make the most of every day. For starters, it's good to recognize that there are all kinds of people in our lives and in the world who have so much more reason to be sad! And they aren't! The Lord has blessed my family, and me personally, so very much. There are all kinds of reasons in the world to be glad and I am going to work hard to recognize them. 
Plus I may take a nap.

Here are some insights on being cheerful from Camille Fronk Olson:
(Be of Good Cheer:  Choosing Happiness)
When we experience personal loss in so many ways and on so many days, what is left to be cheerful about?
Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained: “The unimaginable agony of Gethsemane was about to descend upon Jesus; Judas’ betrayal was imminent. Then would come Jesus’ arrest and arraignment; the scattering of the Twelve like sheep; the awful scourging of the Savior; the unjust trial; the mob’s shrill cry for Barabbas instead of Jesus; and then the awful crucifixion on Calvary. What was there to be cheerful about? Just what Jesus said: He had overcome the world! The atonement was about to be a reality. The resurrection of all mankind was assured. Death was to be done away with—Satan had failed to stop the atonement.”
Christ’s enabling power helps us feel happiness and cheer amid mortal gloom and doom. Misfortune and hardship lose their tragedy when viewed through the lens of the Atonement. The process could be explained this way: The more we know the Savior, the longer our view becomes. The more we see His truths, the more we feel His joy.
Cheerfulness in the scriptural context connotes a divinely assured optimism, “a deep trust in God’s unfolding purposes,” a grounded conviction that God will always keep His promises. When Christ proclaims, “Be of good cheer,” He is not requesting a naïve, Pollyanna-like response to life’s cruel twists and turns. Nor is He promising a pain-free life of constant bliss. Trial is no respecter of persons. Tragedy and hardship do not discriminate. Our world sees opposition among rich and poor, men and women, the righteous as well as the wicked. The Savior specifically prayed that God would not take us “out of the world” (John 17:15). “In this world your joy is not full,” He taught, “but in me your joy is full” (DandC 101:36). True happiness and satisfaction are found only by turning away from the world and coming to Christ.
“Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come” (DandC 68:6).
The text for the entire article can be found here.
If you want to listen to the talk that the article was written from, the audio is found here.

And here's a link to my all time favorite talk on being cheerful by Elder Joseph B Wirthlin, Come What May, and Love It

Keep Smiling!

halloween pillows

I don't have a lot of 'halloween-ish' decor in my home these days. I used to, but in my quest for simplification, I let a lot of things go. Which was very healthy for me, by the way... I do love harvest and harvest colors (you know, light brown, dark brown, medium brown) so I've focused more on a harvest theme the last few years. But I'm kind of getting obsessive with pillow covers, because how easy and little are they to store? And how easy to make? And what a difference some fun fabric makes to a room! So I stretched myself this week and went a little wild with the colors and made some halloween pillow covers for the pillows that are normally in my living room. I learned how to applique from a friend a little while ago and thought I would give it some practice this week as well. I discovered that my hands don't really like to applique all that much, (patience?) but my machine loves it.  This is a good thing.
This is what I came up with:

This was a last-minute-throw-together with leftover scraps, Fun, huh?

If anyone is interested in the patterns, contact me, I'd love to share.  I'd have attached them here now but it's a skill that I still need Count Studley's help with, and he (poor fellow) is on a fishing trip.  For work.  And frankly, I'm ready to head out to spend fall break with my girls.

happy crafting!

sugar cone witch hat

OK, this is my new favorite Halloween treat, and not so hard to make. These witch hats would be an absolutely fun addition to any Halloween event!

We'll start with the cookie bottom. This recipe comes from one of our oldest and dearest friends. My Angel used to bat her eyes and we would have a plate of these yummies waiting for us whenever we visited. She's not able to make them anymore so we make them instead. I do have to admit here, that according to My Angel, mine just don't taste quite as good... I'll keep practicing.

Leona's Chocolate Cookies:
3/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
Beat cocoa, oil, sugar, and vanilla, then add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
add:
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
Mix all together until well blended.

The recipe then calls to roll large tablespoons of dough into powdered sugar.  For these hats, I rolled large 'golf ball sized' ones instead.  The easiest way I've found to do this part is to put a cup or so of powdered sugar in a gallon sized plastic bag, scoop a spoonful of dough in, using a couple of spoons, and work it around.  This is a tad bit less messy than just rolling it around in a bowl, as the dough is pretty sticky. After it's coated, you can stick your hand in and form the ball.

I was able to fit 6 cookies per jelly roll pan.  I smashed the balls flatter to make sure that they spread out nice and flat, which they really did.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (These may take closer to 15.)

I made my cookies the day before because I was trying to can tomatoes and grapes at the same time, and couldn't fit the rest into my time or kitchen space. It ended up being a good plan, though. The cookies were nice and set and I'll do it that way again next time I'm sure.

So the next day, I warmed up some chocolate almond bark. Almond bark could definitely be compared to spray paint, it can make anything fabulous in no time!! I used a basting brush to paint it all over the sugar cones, except the very bottom quarter inch, so I'd have somewhere to hold on. I knew I'd be painting that later to attach it to the cookie...

After I finished the cones, I let them sit for a while. Within 30 minutes they were all pretty much set up. Then I filled them with different kinds of fun Halloween candy: cinnamon devils, m-n-m's, candy corns, pumpkins, and gummy worms. I didn't mark which was which because half of the fun was finding out what was inside when you ate it!

After filling it, I put the cookie on top and ever-so-carefully turned it all upside down. It's good to have the cone pretty close to where you want it before you flip it, it can be moved around a little, but not much. Set it down carefully and paint more almond bark around the top of the cone (which has become the bottom...) and down onto the cookie. This will hold it all together when it dries. Make sure that you get the edges where the cone meets cookie really well. After it set, I embellished it with some green frosting and a couple of candy corns around the base of the hat. And that's the end. Aren't they just the cutest things ever???

They end up pretty easy to eat as well, my kids turned them upside down and ate them like ice-cream cones. The vote at my house was unanimous that the chocolate covered cone was the very best part! Try it out and let me know what you think!

         They package up pretty well to give as gifts, also. :o)


enjoy!


If you need a good laugh today, check out my updates on 'front porch looking in'.

linking up:

character

Character is something that is often on the mind of moms with teenagers. It's definitely on this mom's mind.  When my kids were small, I wanted to teach them to be the best that they knew to be, and I did teach, and they did learn, but now it's like they have to put into practice everything that they learned about character and good habits from the time they were little.  It becomes sort of an experimental time and sometimes seems so much easier for them to do rediculously mindless things without using the brain in their heads! But it also becomes a great time for them to see the difference that they can make in the world and in the lives of others and how it makes them feel.  I have also found that these years are bringing me plenty of opportunities to refine my character...

From the first time I saw this quote, I loved it because it reminds us of where our true character comes from.  It also helps us remember the control that we have over who we become. 

I've been doing a little bit of studying about this and came across this talk that made me think.  I've included a few of my favorite parts:

 

Good Habits Develop Good Character

-Delbert L. Stapley

 

"A favorite saying often quoted by the late President David O. McKay was “We sow our thoughts, and we reap our actions; we sow our actions, and we reap our habits; we sow our habits, and we reap our characters; we sow our characters, and we reap our destiny.”

We are not born into this world with fixed habits. Neither do we inherit a noble character. Instead, as children of God, we are given the privilege and opportunity of choosing which way of life we will follow—which habits we will form.

Confucius said that the nature of men is always the same. It is their habits that separate them.

Good habits are not acquired simply by making good resolves, though the thought must precede the action. Good habits are developed in the workshop of our daily lives. It is not in the great moments of test and trial that character is built. That is only when it is displayed. The habits that direct our lives and form our character are fashioned in the often uneventful, commonplace routine of life. They are acquired by practice.

Our great challenge is to learn how to control ourselves. We must learn for ourselves and act for ourselves...
We should become so involved in acquiring good quality traits and participating in character-building activities that there is no time to engage in anything worthless or harmful. Our habits should be those that make us susceptible to faith and testimony.

Let us dare to be different from the ways of the world when its ways are not the ways of God. In a world troubled with selfish greed, dishonesty, and dishonor, let us set ourselves on a higher path, striving to develop and strengthen the qualities of unselfish service with wholehearted effort, dependability, honesty, morality, and every other good attribute that would lead us to integrity of character. We begin, then, with our thoughts and end with our eternal destiny. Our destiny is determined by our character, and our character is the sum and expression of our habits. Character is won by hard work.

Maintaining good personal habits which are pleasing to our Heavenly Father will strengthen our character, increase our influence for good, improve our example, bless our loved ones and friends, enrich our lives, and enable us to accomplish those things that yield true personal satisfaction and build peace and happiness in our hearts. We will have joy eternally, possessing a treasure to be much desired and sought after, for the Lord gives this assurance: “Inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.” (DandC 58:28.)

It all starts with a single step—we decide that we can do it."

If you are interested in reading this talk in its entirety, it can be found here.
For more thoughts on character, read Developing Character- Insights from President David O. McKay (1873–1970)

 keep smiling!

national boss's day

Count Studley brought me home these beautiful yellow roses yesterday.
I said, "Wow, to what do I owe this unexpected surprise?"
His reply, "It's National Boss's Day!"

Should I be mad? Or should I be satisfied that he finally recognizes my influence? ;)

keep smiling!

...from my front porch looking in... spooky style

I spent this whole week pretty much home alone all day every day. Don't be jealous, but I have had so much fun creating in my newly finished -minus the floor :) - craft room. The biggest project that I finished was my porch swing.
About 5 years ago I painted it red. I kind of had a red thing going for a while... Anyway, it had become a kind of a pinkish color and the paint was peeling off. I've tried to put cushions on it before but I have this darn cat that thinks he owns it, and I couldn't keep the cat hair off of it for the life of me. So it's just been sitting there, kind of blah. I wish that I had taken a before picture, but I didn't. Remember, I'm pretty new to this whole documenting everything thing! Just imagine, pink, peeling, blah. So anyway, right now I kind of have a black thing going, so I decided black would be a nice sharp color to paint it. I used a couple of cans of black flat spray paint to cover it and finished it off with a can of black glossy on top. It covered beautifully and in seriously 20 minutes it was a whole new swing! I LOVE spray paint!!

Now for the pillows:

The pillows on my bed have to be perfect or I am not a happy sleeper, so we tend to change them often. The frugal part of me has the hardest time throwing away a perfectly-fine-little-bit-flat king sized pillow, so I've been saving them. I decided that this would be a perfect time to use them up. So I shook all the stuffing that would fit down to one end and cut the pillow to make a square and sewed it up!

I love the rustic look of burlap so I decided to use it to cover them. These will be staying permanently and burlap doesn't seem to be really washable, so I didn't make it removable. I measured the width of the pillow and added two inches to cut the burlap out. I stitched around 3 sides of the burlap about an inch and a half in, to give me some leeway as it's not really the straightest, easiest thing to sew anyway.

 I decided to leave the seam facing out, because I think it adds to the rustic look I'm going for, so after I finished 3 sides, I stuffed the pillow inside and pushed it as far in as I could so that I could pin the pillow form out of the way for the seam on the last side.  This seam is always the trickiest one, as you're holding a big old monster of a pillow up next to your machine while you stitch through. The key is to pin the pillow back inside as far as you can. I'm sure there is a much easier way to do it, maybe hand-sewing (gasp!) but this works for me.
After you stitch it up, pull the pins out and fluff it up, it looks perfect!

I didn't want such a big border around the edges so when the pillow was finished, I cut about 3/4" off all the way around. The beauty of burlap!

I made 3 of these burlap covered pillows and they couldn't fit more perfect on the swing!

The pillows in front are a different story. I want to be able to change them out depending on the season or holiday, so they needed to be covers that are removable. To make the forms, I used the same technique as above using disposable pillows that we brought home from the hospital after My Angel's last procedure. They aren't as nicely formed as the others because the fluffing wasn't as fluffy but they work great for this look.

Count Studley is not keen on giving me permission to try running fabric through the printer, and I have to admit, I'd be mortified if I ruined the printer, so I'm not really brave enough to try it anyway. So I just picked out some fun fonts and printed the words out on paper the size that I wanted them to be. Since I put them on muslin, which is thin, I was able to just put the paper under the fabric and use acrylic paint to trace the letters through. I was also able to move the template around as I went to put each letter exactly where I wanted it.
(This is why it's probably a good thing the floor is not yet finished...)
I have some of the stuff you add to acrylic paint to make it fabric-worthy, but I never use it. If the pillows aren't being washed over and over, the paint on it's own seems to hold just fine.

I cut out the pillow-front-background fabric one inch bigger than the forms and eyeballed where I wanted the muslin piece to sit. I pinned it and sewed 1/2" in, leaving the raw edges out. That's the front, totally easy, eh?


The back is the same width as the front fabric, but I want to make it removable so it is going to be in two pieces. Take the total width of the front fabric, divide it by two and add two or three inches. That's how big each of the two pieces for one back will be. I then used my serger to finish off one long side on each piece of fabric. I folded it over about 3/4" and sewed with 1/4" seam to make a nice 'hem' for the opening.

 Then you lay it out on top of the front piece, RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER...not that I've ever messed that up, probably especially not with this project... with the bottom and sides matching. The hemmed sides in the middle will be overlapping. Pin it up, sew around all four edges, turn it right side out, stuff in your pillow form, and there you have it!

And, the best part of it all? How in the world is my big old cat going to lay all over that? Bwaahh haaaa haaa!

happy crafting!


UPDATE: Check this out.

Should I laugh or should I cry?

UPDATE #2: It only gets better.

So this is pretty much how it looks all the time.

In fact, I went out this morning to find a different cat climbing on up. I decided to go with the cry. Maybe I'll laugh later...





my first ever try at linking. :)