Valentine's Day 2021

 We had a LOVEly Valentine's weekend at our house! This was the one and only year that THREE of our kids would be at a youth retreat for the weekend. Valentine's Day was on Sunday this year. The kids came back home at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night. So we made the best of it, getting to cook delicious food together and having fun.

My Valentine... 💖

Our delicious homemade dinner of cast-iron seared steak, balsamic sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and bread. We also had yummy wine... it was SO good!

On Saturday, we went downtown for breakfast to one of our favorite cafes. Then we walked around, had coffee and shopped a little. There is a HUGE antique store downtown that we like. It is just pure entertainment. I bought three books. We did some cleaning and hung out at home the rest of the day. 

In the evening, we decided to paint. I had some canvases that I bought on sale at Target (under $2.00 each!). I looked on Pinterest and copied mine from a painting that I found there. It was nice to use a different, creative outlet, and we were pleased with the results.

Our completed pieces together...

This one is mine...

This one is not mine...

The kids had a great time but we really enjoyed watching shows and hanging out just the two of us. It was a stay-cation of sorts! We also really loved the quiet! After the kids came home, it was a whirlwind of activity for a solid hour until they went to bed! 

Then on Sunday, we had church, of course. My hubby bought me a long-sleeve, super comfy, red dress to wear with leggings. I wore that to church, and sang on praise team that day too. It was a lovely day! After church, he made pancakes with red hearts in them.They were super cute!

Can you see the pancakes in the background?

I sure love this guy!

Heart-shaped pancakes were fun. His mom frequently made fun things like this for them on holidays. I think we may have green pancakes next month! 💚

What did you do for Valentine's Day this year? Was there anything new or different? I'd love to hear all about it!

Matthew 22:37
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Exodus 34:6

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness...

Deuteronomy 30:16
For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

New wood burning crafts!

 I am in a "Buy Nothing" Facebook group, and sometimes people post a "little ask" or "big ask," where you can ask for things you would like for free. I asked for calligraphy pens (which I got and love!) and for a wood burning kit. Wood burning is a craft that I have been interested in trying for many years. I like the look of it and just wanted to try it out. My older brother had a wood burning kit when we were younger, and he made some Christmas ornaments with it, which hung on our tree for many years.

A woman in my area gave me a wood burning kit, which was barely used. I just had to go and pick it up! I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some birch and bamboo wood pieces. I grabbed a chunk of wood from our wood pile and tried out the wood burner. It is a little like etching, but I liked it! After researching on Pinterest and trying it out, I was ready for my first project... a dishwasher magnet!

I had seen this design on Pinterest and decided to imitate it. It is not perfect, but I like how it turned out. I figured out that making lines are way easier than making corners or curves. I tried different tips on the wood burner, and made a few minor mistakes... oh well!

I decided that my next project would be these little signs for my kids' bedroom doors. My oldest daughter said that she wanted one too, so her roommates' friends would know which room was hers! It was a fun and simple craft where I traced the pencil outline with the burner tool.

Here you can see my tool and some completed projects. Since it was close to Valentine's Day, I made this little "Be Mine" ornament for our home. It was another Pinterest imitation. I painted the hearts red with acrylic paint. I have been enjoying this new craft a lot, and still have a lot to learn. I appreciate the generosity of strangers! 

Have you been learning any new crafts this winter? I love having something new and different to try out! I'd love to hear about your crafting or hobbies too!

Genesis 22: 1-18 Abraham Tested

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.

2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will providethe lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”  “Here I am,” he replied.

12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the skyand as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Candle making

So... I haven't been blogging much this month(s), don't have too many ideas. Anyway, here is a new post! One of my latest crafty hobbies that I have picked up again in the past 6 weeks is candle making. It really is very easy. I used to make candles years ago, along with glycerin soap (that may be next!). I read a post from Pinterest about making your own candles with beeswax and decided to make candles for friends for Christmas.

The blog talked about how many candles are really not safe to burn, the worst ones being scented candles. I did a little of my own research, partly from what one of my friends had posted about them on Facebook. I read that burning a scented candle can have a similar effect on a body as secondhand smoke! WOW!! One of the safest, natural substances to burn is beeswax. It is not harmful to the human body. I have looked into buying beeswax candles and they are not cheap! I found beeswax to be about $15 a pound at my local Hobby Lobby. Using my 40% off coupon on my app made it about $9. I thought that was much better for several candles.

The original blog post that spurred me on talked about using small jars like jelly jars or even baby food jars for the candle holders. I dug through my stash of jars and found several that I used for Christmas gifts. Then all I needed to buy was the wicks, which I also found in various sizes at Hobby Lobby. I think they were like $3.99 for 12... But this last time I went to the store, I decided to buy some tea light holders and make that size. Next time I may try to get a votive holder. When I was looking through my craft supplies, I found that I had a pillar candle mold to use. I did not remember owning that! I decided to use that too.

So all I really had to do was melt the beeswax in a double boiler on the stove. A double boiler is basically another container set in a pot of boiling water. Last time (in December) I used a glass measuring cup with a spout. That was nice because then I could pour right into my molds or jars. I found a metal pitcher that I had used before and used that again this past time. The metal pitcher is lighter so it floated a little at first.

As the beeswax melted on the stove in the double boiler, I prepared my containers. I added spray oil to the tall metal mold and put a wick in it, using a clothespin on the top to keep it up, and a knot on the bottom. The other wicks already had a metal base that I glued into place with a glue dot (also from a craft store). So I just glued one wick into each of the votive holders and into the jar that I used this time. My directions also said that you could use coconut oil and essential oils to stretch the wax and add some scent. I've done that before, but not this time. Some of the candles are a little whiter because of the coconut oil. The wax melted slowly on the stove, in about 30-45 minutes. I stirred it with a wooden chopstick.

The small candles set up pretty quickly. It took about 2 hours for them to cool. I left the pillar candle in the mold overnight. It took a little coaxing to remove it from the mold, but it came out smooth and looks nice! Next time I might add some color, but for now, I just went with the yellow. It is just more natural looking that way! I will enjoy my safer, cleaner-burning candles for the rest of the winter!

Here are a few blog posts about scented candles and making your own:

https://whatgreatgrandmaate.com/how-to-make-beeswax-candles-why-i-dont-buy-scented-candles/

https://www.naturallivingideas.com/homemade-beeswax-candles/

https://www.diynatural.com/how-to-make-beeswax-candles-natural/

Have you ever made your own candles? Do you have any tips? I'd love to hear all about it!

Matthew 5:15
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.


Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.


Leviticus 24:2
“Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually.

Front porch post craft

A few years ago, I asked my husband to make me a post for my porch to hang seasonal plaques and paintings on. It was pretty simple, I think he used some scrap wood. He stained it and hung a hook on it, it turned out so nice! 

I found this plaque at Walmart and I painted it to look like a flag, using stamps for the stars. We hang it every July.

In September, I have some apple paintings I hang up since that is when we harvest our apples. I got the ideas on Pinterest on how to paint them.

I bought this little burlap frame at a craft store and painted a simple pumpkin on it for October.

A few years ago in MOPS, we painted these cross plaques, which is perfect for April!

I tried to paint this "Love grows here" saying, and added stamped flowers around the edges. It was much harder than I anticipated. I am pleased with how it turned out!

I enjoy having time to paint and make crafts. It doesn't come as often these days as it used to. Do you enjoy crafting? Do you ever do any painting?

Psalm 19:14
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.

Exodus 26:31-33
“Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

Nativity cross-stitch

Over the past two months, I made a new cross-stitch project that I've been wanting to make for several years. My mom had made several Nativity scene cross-stitch scenes when I was younger, and I always wanted one for my own home. My mom was going through her craft room this past spring and found the pattern, some fabric, two frames, nails and a hanger for the back. She gave them to me and I intended to begin them over the summer. Well, the time off from school got away from me, and this project did not get pulled out during the summer. After we got into the groove of school this fall, I pulled it out again and began to work on it in October. Cross-stitching makes my back hurt if I work on it too long, so it was a slow process. It seemed like I made Mary, Joseph and Jesus pretty quickly, but the rest came along slowly. 

 I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I am glad that the work is done. There are several mistakes, but I don't mind. That's what makes it my own, right? I found the French knots to be pretty tricky. I don't like to do them, but since I made more than ten on this project I did get better at making them. I'm thankful for videos on YouTube to help when I needed it!

 While I made it, I thought a lot about how Jesus left his kingly home in heaven and came to our lowly, dirty earth, to be welcomed into a cold cow's stable. What a gift His life is to all who truly know Him!

 Here I am showing off the finished product after my hubby helped me frame it!

Here is my mom with her Nativity scene and me with mine... they are slightly different!


Part of the Christmas story from the book of Luke, chapter two...

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (v. 16-20)

So thankful that Christ left His heavenly home for us! Praise be to God for His indescribable gift!

VBS "Submerged" 2016 decorations

If you know me, you know that my time the past three weeks has been filled up with decorating and preparing for our church's VBS. I've had a great crew of friends that have helped me on our decorating nights, taken things home, helped me paint, (even my kids helped me!), hang everything up and more. It all looks really great, I'm so excited for all of the kids to see it tomorrow!

Here is a sneak peek of what we have been doing...

 The beginnings of one of our undersea backgrounds for our auditorium...(two sides of the same one)

 The beginnings of a 2nd one...

 The 3rd one we made a transparency of one in our book, traced it onto our canvas, and painted it... I loved this little grumpy fish!

 The 3rd one getting more painted in...

 (Below) done... before shading!

 The 1st one getting sand put in...

 and water, with shadowy fish!

My friend took the 2nd one home and did LOTS of work to it, it looks SO cool!

 The 4th one began to take shape last week... we painted cardboard boxes, added some shower curtains (like windows), some cool paper, some fish, seaweed and creatures... it's so cute! A little observation aquarium....

My daughter helped me with it, so she wanted her photo on it before it was hung!

 We made some different kinds of coral and roped them together with fishing line...

 Here are the backgrounds all hung up, with my youngest and her friend checking them out. We added the big fish for our different age group names, so the 2nd one became the tiger sharks...

 The first one is for the barracudas...

 The 4th one is for the dolphins...

 And the 3rd one is for the swordfish!

 Pinterest gave us this idea for a door off of our stage, love this octopus!

 Another Pinterest idea... a school of fish in our snacks room...

 with a jellyfish and string of bubbles in the room also...

 Our stage became the submarine helm with lots of yellow paper, an orange stripe, portholes, and the sea scene under it. I hung nets and out the coral in front of it...It makes me smile to see it look so cool! Most of it was hung this morning, and the kids thought it was COOL! I'm relived that the set-up is done, but now we have the VBS beginning! I've been praying for this event for several months, and I know God will do good things while we are Submerged! in His Word this week! "We're diving down, we're going deep, into the Word of God and all it's mysteries..., " One of our songs says.

An extra special THANK YOU to my crew that helped me in the past few weeks! I'm praising God that He helped us get done what He wanted us to do to prepare for VBS. 

Here is our theme verse for the week:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way."
Psalm 139:23-24