Valentine Decorating

I love to decorate for the seasons and holidays, but I don’t do too much (compared to some people!) simply because I don’t have a quonset in my back yard to store it all in when it’s not on display.
LOVE is the TIE that {BINDS} this FAMILY TOGETHER
is my newest Valentine decor item – and I love it!!!  I got it from Lazy Daizy Vinyl Lettering.
It’s still the middle of winter so I like to keep those little bits of evergreen, pine cones and berries around for filler.  The pine cones came from the forests in my backyard where I grew up so they’re extra dear to me.  They have sparkly silver edges because we painted the edges for my sisters wedding.  I put the pine cones in her bouquet – check it out here.
On the after Christmas clearance racks I got this evergreen wreath for $0.94.I haven’t done anything with it yet – it just hangs around looking wintery, but I made it a little more Valentinesyish by adding one of my kids hearts – they made these a few years back at Shauna’s kids craft class.
Ahh!  There is my new wicker vase – you can read about it here.Those LOVE blocks are pretty cool because on the back of the L is an H, and on the back of the V is an M.  So if you get tired of LOVE, you can make it say  . . . (did ya figure it out?).  That was another one of Shauna’s creations from a few years ago.
These message blocks are new this year too.  You can read about them here.And I know I have a few more things too, but they’re still in boxes – not out in a quonset, but in my unfinished family room, waiting to someday have a home!!!

I think a holiday to remember the people we love is such a great idea!

Thoughts at Easter Time

The stores would have us believe that Easter is all about the Easter Bunny and gifts and chocolate.  But it really isn’t.  It’s all about the atonement, crucifiction and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Which is why I like to include a picture of my Savior in my little corner of Easter decorating.
This teal frame is the other side of my Framed Shamrock.  The picture is ancient but it matched the frame nicely and was the perfect size.  It actually came from one of my grandma’s old Family Home Evening manuals from 1976, when Spencer W. Kimball was the prophet (do you remember when a new FHE manual would come out every year or am I really dating myself here?).  My parents were downsizing to move into an apartment and gave me some of her old manuals and that’s how I found my perfect picture for this year.
I love the little Willow Tree angel gazing up at the picture.
All I did to decorate this year was add a few pastel flowers.  It’s so refreshing to have some springy colours around, after all the dullness of winter.
Oh, we must not forget the chocolate!!!  We love Easter treats too – they just don’t come from an Easter Bunny.  Luckily my baby hasn’t noticed the treats in the cupboard yet!
Okay, these are my stair railings on my plywood stairs – strangely resembling little Easter Egg trees, paint buckets and pop bottles!  Anything to keep small people away from the edges.
Those are the spindles there on the right – somehow they just have to get into formation in the grooves of the banister!
So Kat spent awhile evenly spacing the eggs and spreading out the colours.  But as soon as Mac woke up and found egg trees, Kat’s work was destroyed.  Now they’re in different arrangements all the time.  Who knew stair railings could be so much fun!
(I haven’t posted any house progress pictures lately because no progress is being made!  The less than flattering picture above is to remind you that we are still living in a construction zone.  But even amidst construction, or lack of, I can still have my corners of prettiness – for my sanity!)
Here’s another Easter corner in the house – I just love this picture of the Salt Lake City Temple!
This magnificent building holds an especially dear place in my heart because I was married here! This is where I was married, and sealed eternally to my sweet guy. It is not a “til death do you part” kind of marriage, but an eternal one – meaning that we truly will be together forever. And our children are sealed to us forever too. Of course they’ll leave us someday and cleave unto their own spouses, but we’re still bound together into the eternities. Isn’t that a glorious plan of our loving Heavenly Father? Families really can be together forever! I find such joy and comfort in knowing this.
In this egg is a carving of our Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before He was betrayed, arrested and crucified.  This is where he truly suffered the most as he atoned for all our sins.
I love the words to the hymn “Reverently and Meekly Now” because it’s written in the first person – as if the Savior is talking to us.  Verses one and four are my favourites:
Rev’rently and meekly now, let thy head most humbly bow.
Think of me, thou ransomed one; think what I for thee have done.
With my blood that dripped like rain, sweat in agony of pain,
With my body on the tree I have ransomed even thee.
At the throne I intercede; for thee ever do I plead.
I have loved thee as a thy friend, with a love that cannot end.
Be obedient, I implore, prayerful, watchful, evermore,
And be constant unto me, that thy Savior I may be.
And that is what Easter is all about!

 

 

Easy Valentine Idea

Need an easy but fun Valentine idea for your special someone?  Well, keep reading . . .
My guy enjoys these little red cinnamon hearts.  I find that they burn my tongue and my kids say they’re too ‘spicy’!
But he loves them and so I did this for him for Valentine’s Day.  I got the idea from somewhere, but the poem is my own creation.  (I’ve typed it out after this picture so it’s easier to read.)
Feel free to use it, just give me the credit for my poetic prowess!!!
The simple phrase I LOVE YOU
Is often hard to say,
Or sometimes we just plain forget
To say it every day.
I want you to know that I LOVE YOU
So here’s what I have done:
I’ve taken little red cinnamon hearts
And hidden them one by one.
I’ve put them in your sock drawer
And in your sweaters too;
I’ve put them in your pockets
And probably in your shoes.
I’ve put them in your long johns
And even in your coat.
Why, I’d put them in the bathtub
If I thought that they would float.
So when you find a small red heart
Here’s what you must do:
Suck it slowly in your mouth
And know that I LOVE YOU!
(www.yearningtocreate.com)
He enjoyed it – and it was especially fun when, months after Valentine’s Day, he was still finding little red hearts!

Framed Shamrock

St. Patrick’s Day is just a few days away and I’ve done nothing yet to decorate.  I don’t do much for St. Patrick’s Day – mostly because we have four kids with birthdays in March (yup, four!), and there is also all the basketball playoffs, and the Relief Society Anniversary Party.  So there is no time to celebrate the green day or Pi day.  About all I’ve been known to do for St. P’s day is wear green and put some green food colouring in the milk.  The girls are always a little startled to be pouring green milk on their cereal in the morning!
Anyway, Krystal at Sassy Sanctuary did this cute shamrock craft and I thought to myself, “I can do something like that!”
So I went to my stash of frames, and bingo – found the perfect little chalkboard frame!!!  With moving and building, I hadn’t seen my stash in years.  I have no recollection of ever getting this little chalkboard, but it must have been from a dollar store or sale bins at Michael’s or Walmart, cause that’s how I shop!
I roughly painted the outside edge in a beige, being sure to miss lots of spots!!!
I’m not set up for cutting out wood yet, so I decided to let cardboard be my shamrock base.  I am set up for cutting with an exacto knife!!!  I just traced my pattern onto the cardboard and green paper.
I think the part of this project that took the longest was choosing the green paper – again, from my stash!  Then I distressed the edges and mod podged it together.
I used my Burnt Umber oil colour paint to distress the edges of the frame (after lightly sanding of course!)
Just lightly rub it on with a cloth, after rubbing most of it off on paper first!
Wait, what’s this?  A blue frame?  Well, this is the backside of my chalkboard!  I thought it looked pretty usable too for something else – but that’ll be another post someday!  Stay tuned!
When I did my top layer of mod podge – after letting the bottom layer get really dry (don’t want any bubbles in my shamrock!) I put a piece of fabric on top of the wet mod podge.  Pressed it down firmly and then peeled it off right away.
It gives the top finish a “canvassy” look, which I like better than brush strokes.
The next step was simply to tie the shamock to the frame with some jute and add some words . . .
I love it!  And you can be assured that I’ll be changing out that shamrock for other shapes for different holidays.
You often hear people say, “Oh, you’re so lucky!” but I think the more accurate phrase would be, “Oh, you’re so blessed!”  Hence my words “Lucky means Blessed”.
The St. Patrick’s Day shelf . . .. . . add a few hydrangeas, burn candle wicks so they show up, and voila!  (Oh, and I just added the hooks to my shelf – check out that screaming deal here!)
Thanks for the inspiration Krystal!

Gifts “From the Savior”

We have two Christmas trees every year.  We refer to one of them as our “Nativity Tree”.  It’s got white lights and lots of gold and silver on it, and all ornaments somehow remind us of the Savior.
Under the tree are some small gold and silver boxes – one for each person in the family.  On Christmas Eve we all take a bit to time to think of what gift we will give the Savior this year – some way to help us grow closer to Him and to improve ourselves.  We write this on a piece of paper that is in our box – and also look back on our past “gifts” to the Savior.  It’s a good time for personal reflection!
One year I thought that it would be neat to receive “gifts from the Savior”.  I didn’t mention it to anyone in my family, so they were a little surprised to wake up on Christmas morning to find gifts under the Nativity Tree!  (All our gifts go under the colourful tree – the tree with the other types of ornaments you collect over the years and that the kids have made!)The gifts under the Nativity Tree are all wrapped in plain paper and they each have a scripture or saying on it that is pertinent to that person, or to the gift.  We always take time to read the scripture before opening the gift.
I usually buy the gifts from a church bookstore, but that can get pretty pricey.  With this year being a house-building year for us with not a lot of extra cash laying around, I decided to make gifts.  We might not have had cash laying around, but we did have plenty of wood laying around!
For example . . .. . . this is what my guys gift started like!  It’s a chunk of solid oak that was cut off the bottom of a newel post on the stairs.  What would you make with that?
Now before I started any projects, I asked everyone what their favourite scriptures or quotes were, and their favourite colours, so I could make something meaningful to them.
My guy likes Mosiah 4:19
“For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”
This is what I came up with for him . . .. . . a candle holder, with his favourite part of the scripture.
It’s simply words stamped onto cardstock, then distressed and mod podged onto the stained piece of oak.  He loves it, even though he wondered if I dulled his drill bit drilling the hole in the top!!!
My gift was thoughtfully made for me by me at my friend’s craft classes – thanks again Kd!!!I love this quote and picture of the temple.  I was going to give it to one of my girls, but then I realized “Hey, I want it!!!” And if I keep it, each one of them will be able to benefit from the message!
Elle’s gift was probably my biggest challenge!  She liked a really long scripture, and the whole thing was so good, I didn’t want to shorten anything.  (You can read it in the pictures!)
Her favourite scripture right now is Doctrine and Covenants 98:1-3.
I decide to make her a candle holder too, but hers was a soft wood and didn’t dull the drill bit!!!I printed out her scripture – one verse per side of the wooden block.  Mod podged on scrapbook paper in her favourite colours and glued on the little clothes pins.  I like the clothes pins because that way she can easily change her scriptures, or add pictures, or anything else inspiring.
Warning:  remove ribbon if you’re going to burn the candle!
Yes – it turned out pretty cute!!!
The next three daughters were easier – they all got long pieces of wood to go over a door or window.
Min got Proverbs 3:5-6 (one of my favourites too!)
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct they paths.”
Jo got Alma 26:12.
“Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak;
therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God,
for in His strength I can do all things . . .”
Lee chose 1 Timothy 4:12.
“Be thou an example of the believers,
 in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
Jen got a picture of the temple too.  I printed hers from this site.Then it was simply mod podged onto a piece of 2×6 with all the cute other little details to match her room.
Laying a piece of cloth over the mod podge while it’s still wet (pressing it down and then peeling it off right away) gives a nice canvassy looking finish.
Kat’s gift was actually made by my mom!  Thanks mom!!!
Six puzzles to keep me her quiet in church!  These are about one inch squares and each side has a picture on it.  It’s pretty challenging!
And finally, Mac got a popsicle stick puzzle.
One side has a picture and the other side has . . .. . . a message!  And again, mod podge is the secret ingredient!
 And the final, finally . . .. . . a picture of the Savior by Liz Lemon Swindle – an amazing artist.
She says of this picture,
 “During His ministry, Christ healed a blind man.  The leaders of the Jews called the man before them and demanded he renounce Christ.  When he refused, they cast him out.
When Jesus heard what the leaders had done, He immediately went looking for this man (John 9:35).  I could see the determination on Christ’s face as He made His way through the crowd.  I draw comfort from knowing that if He will search after him, He will search after me.”
 This 8×10 picture was free during the “Every home should have a picture of Christ” campaign.  All I had to do was frame it!
This tradition that we started a few years ago has quickly become one of my favourite parts of the holidays.  Tears are often shed and the Spirit is felt as we celebrate our Savior’s birth.

My “Word” for 2012

A few years ago I started choosing a “word” for the year.
Making New Year’s resolutions is a wonderful idea, but I found that I was never able to stick with them – probably because we’re still on holidays when the new year begins, and who wants to start exercising or dieting or whatever, when it’s still holidays?  Not me.
So choosing a word to live by for the year seems to work for me.
After some thought, but not too much (the words just seem to pop into my head!), I decided that my word for 2012 would be . . .. . . Courage!
When my daughter saw me making my word block, she commented that courage was a good word for 2012 – you know, for if the world ends!!!
Anyway, the scripture I chose is found in Joshua 1:9
“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.”
I chose “courage” for a few reasons, but I wasn’t really sure how to put it into words.  And some were private and personal reasons that I just wasn’t ready to share on my blog!  Anyway, last night I opened up the January Ensign and read the First Presidency Message.  And WOW!!!  President Monson summed up for me exactly why I choose “courage”.
Let me share a little (or you can read the whole short article by following the link above).
“Ralph Waldo Emerson said:  ‘Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide on, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.’
Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one’s coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve.
Have the determination to make the effort, the single-mindedness to work toward a worthy goal, and the courage not only to face the challenges that inevitably come but also to make a second effort, should such be required. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow.”
And that’s why I chose “Courage”!
Ready for a quick recap of my other words?  This is the third year I’ve chosen a word at New Years.
2011 had the word . . .. . . Delight!
“Let thy soul delight . . .” (Doctrine & Covenants 25:14)
And in 2010, my word was . . .. . . Patience!
“Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten His people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.”
(Mosiah 23:21)
My little word block sits beside my bed as a constant reminder to me of my current and past words (yes, those past words still need work!!!)
I used browns and teal this year to match my king size bedding!
Notice that book under my scriptures?  That is the first word I ever chose . . .
. . . SIMPLIFY . . .
 and it will always be my word.  My mom gave me this book a few years back and it sits by my bed because I refer to it often.  I have this word (Simplify) hanging in a few other spots in my house too.
simplify – a guide to caring for the soul
A Word for the year really works for me!
What’s your Word this year?

Christmas Jello

This is a pretty jello to have on the table at Christmas time.  And it would be even prettier in something other than a casserole dish!!!
The recipe:
1 small box green jello
1 can crushed pineapple
White marshmallows (you decide how much!)
1 small box red jello
1 can cherry pie filling
Whipped cream for top (optional)
Prepare green jello, but only use 1 cup of water.  Stir in the whole can of crushed pineapple (that means that you don’t drain it!).  Chill.
When it was still a bit soft, I added the marshmallows.  Spread them evenly on top of the green layer. You can make this layer as thick or thin as you want – might depend on the size of your dish!
Prepare the red jello – again only using 1 cup of water.  Stir in the whole can of cherry pie filling.  When your green layer and marshmallows are completely set, add the red layer.  Chill until firm.
If you have room in your dish, you can add whipped cream on top.
I find this jello to be plenty tasty and rich enough without the cream.
This is a never ending battle in my home:  I love things in the jello!!!
But usually my guy and my kids prefer the jello plain.  So as we’re eating our Christmas jello on Christmas day, I’m watching some of my kids not eat the green layer because of the pineapple.  And I’m watching some of my kids pick all their cherries out of the red layer and leave them laying around on their plates looking squished, sad and rejected.
So I made a decision!!!  Next year I’ll make the pretty Christmas jello without any fruit in the layers!
I’ll use the full water measurements, and maybe even do a few layers with marshmallows in between each layer – that would look pretty sweet.  My kids and my guy will eat it all, and I’ll be about $5 richer.
Now I need to keep my eyes open for a trifle bowl – we’ll let the casserole dish hold something else next year!!!
Sure is a pretty jello though!  Maybe someday I’ll get to eat it again with fruit in it!

Christmas Service Star

I think Christmas has more traditions for me than the rest of the year put together!!!  Righteous traditions are wonderful and necessary things for our families.  The Service Star is a tradition we start on the first day of December.  We actually have two of these little wooden stars with our Family Motto (another tradition!) printed on it.  One stays on our Nativity Tree (another tradition!) and the other star is put into action.
So we draw names or do rock, paper, scissors etc. to see who will activate the Service Star.  That person has 24 hours to do a service for someone in the house and leave the star at the place where the service happened.  So dad emptied the dishwasher for Lee and left the star in the dishwasher for Lee to find when she came to do her morning chore.  Lee walked the dog for Jo and left the star with the leash.  Jo found it and made Jen’s bed and left the star on the bed for Jen to find, and so on, and so on . . .  We added a new twist this year:  if you haven’t done a service within the 24 hours, you get to give everyone a back-scratch!  Unfortunately, we didn’t get any back-scratches!!!
This is just a view of some of the ornaments on the Nativity Tree.  In order to be on the Nativity Tree, the ornament must remind us of Christ somehow.  I love this gold one and it’s tag that says Keep Christ in your Christmas.

My Words

I read about this idea somewhere just before New Years 2010.  The idea is to choose a word for the year and let that be your theme word and your motivation.  I loved the idea – so much more likely to succeed than New Year’s Resolutions!
So my word for 2010 was . . .. . . PATIENCE.  And yes, I’m still working on it and probably always will be!!!  I need reminders, so I decorated this little wooden block with my word, the year, and a scripture.  It sits with Mason on my bedside table, reminding me every day of the year about PATIENCE.
My word for 2011 is . . .. . . DELIGHT.  The scripture says “Let thy soul delight . . .” and that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to do this year.  I’m finding it quite DELIGHTful as I look more for the positive in things and what causes me DELIGHT in this journey through life.
My word is just printed off the computer and then mod podged along with scrapbook paper onto the block.  I’ll be able to fit four years worth of words on every block.  What a collection I’ll have at the end of my life – by then I should be absolutely perfect at everything!!!

Autumn/Fall Blocks

Building a house is a great way to accumulate scrap wood!  I made these reversible blocks from building our last house, simply by painting 2×4’s in various seasonal colours and free-handing the letters.  I outlined the letters, leaves and leaf veins with a blade before staining it (helps make them “pop”).  The more banged up and distressed they are, the better they look (in my humble opinion anyway!).
These are great in a window or on a ledge because you can see words from both sides – just be sure to put the letters in the right order so the words are actually legible from each side!
Notice that these letters are raised higher than the Autumn ones?  I was actually thinking ahead and realized that they needed to be higher to be completely visible.  They sat in my window, and I wanted the full letters to be seen from the outside, over the window edge.
Sure glad I was thinking!