Crafting Supplies

It is getting close to Christmas and if for no other reason I would know that because my mail box starts filling up with catalogs ..., Tis the Season!

 

I received a 20 page catalog in the mail the other day from Consumer Crafts.  It was the first I'd heard about them.  I'm still not sure how they heard about me, but I'm glad they did. It was fun to look through.

 

After looking through their catalog, I searched through their website and, oh my!, what a place.  Just thought I'd share it with you, though I am in no way affiliated with them, nor do I get any sort of pay or credit for sharing. 

 

My favorite was the Washi Tape page (top right corner photo) and the cute way the Chinese take out box was decorated.  SO FUN!  I'm going to have to do that some time.  I also liked the Joy-ful Snowman.  So you see, they are not just selling craft supplies, they share ideas too.  That is always helpful and enjoyable.

 

With Christmas coming up soon, I thought I'd share it with you too.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Stuff

Napkin holders from The Idea Room - notice the burlap place mat and the simple fall colors.

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Place cards from Whisker Graphics

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I might like to remember this idea too - from Celebrating Everyday Life - the colors are simple but beautiful.  Silver is the color here, but if you have gold rim plates, gold would be great too.

 









 

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A yarn ball turned turkey from Someday Crafts

 

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Tailgate Headboard

Here is a cute bed idea from Freddy and Petunia - though I first saw it at Beyond the Picket Fence

 

Flavored Butter Spreads

Recipes for three different butter spreads to use on those yummy leftover Thanksgiving rolls can be found at Cooking Classy.  But really, why wait for Thanksgiving?  :)  Don't they look delicious?!?!?!

 



 

 

 

Consider the Blessings

A great message to consider - always, but especially as we begin this Thanksgiving month

 

Consider the Blessings, by Thomas S. Monson

 

"Our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance.

 

... rather than dwelling on the negative, if we will take a step back and consider the blessings in our lives, including seemingly small, sometimes overlooked blessings, we can find greater happiness.

 

... take an inventory of your life and look specifically for the blessings, large and small, you have received.

 

...  joy comes as we recognize that we can communicate with our Heavenly Father through prayer and that those prayers will be heard and answered ..., by a Heavenly Father who knows and loves us perfectly and who desires our happiness.

 

 ... the Lord’s purposes are often accomplished as we pay heed to the guidance of the Spirit.

 

... never postpone a prompting. 

 

The opportunity to be a blessing in the life of another often comes unexpectedly.

 

... our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance. I believe that no concern of ours is too small or insignificant.

The Lord is in the details of our lives.

 

... the Lord is in all of our lives. He loves us. He wants to bless us. He wants us to seek His help. As He guides us and directs us and as He hears and answers our prayers, we will find the happiness here and now that He desires for us. May we be aware of His blessings in our lives...."



Outdoor Lighting

Outdoor table set up with lighting - from this Pomegranate Farm Wedding at Green Wedding Shoes

 

 



Cocomotion!

It's Show and Tell Time!

This is not a paid advertisement - it's just a review of one of my favorite things.

This in one of those things that I am grateful for, simply because it makes hot chocolate ..., in a simple way.

Cocomotion, by Mr. Coffee ...
At the touch of a button, it mixes and heats hot chocolate for you ...

... and I love hot chocolate to help warm me up on a cold day.
Tis the Season!

These were very hard to find, but eventually (a year after I wanted them) I did find them (on Amazon of course) and gave them to our married children for Christmas, maybe last year or???  My memory doesn't serve me well sometimes. ;)   If you can find them at Wal-Mart they are supposed to be cheaper there ... if they ever have them in stock.
 

Yarn and Pom Decor

This fun look adds warmth to the occasion.  I love this look from Ruffled, but don't need to save it for a wedding. It could be great decor for several occasions and/or seasonal gatherings. 

The yarn and pom door is so fun ...



The covered big balls are awesome...



The yarn pom garland wrapped around the silverware is awesome ...



The pom hanging on the wall and the large pom rug are awesome ...



The table covering, yarn wrapped heart, and scattered poms are awesome ...



There are more photos on their site, take a look to see them all ..., they are awesome.

HaPpy HAllOwEeN!

I think Granny is my favorite costume I've seen on line this year. 

Found on Make it and Love it

Of course, the three together are pretty awesome!

Very Cute!

 

SMILE

 

 

“Peace begins with a smile.”

       

   ― Mother Teresa

 

Image from HERE

 

 

Halloween Food and Fun

Fun idea for Napkin Rings ... or not rings ... from Family Chic

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Here's a Shabby Chic Halloween party look with a lot of fun looks from Kara's Party Ideas



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Halloween Confetti ... Popcorn ... from I Heart Nap Time

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Awesome colors ... Black Velvet Cupcakes from Sweetapolita



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Empty Frames and Paper Bubbles?

I think this look is wonderful - the book pages (music) on the wall, empty frames with scattered flowers, great way to combine white and cream colors, the natural wood on the table, even the style and colors of the desserts, ... it sings a beautiful song!  This look comes from Celebrations at Home

 

 

 

Here is another look found on the same blog, here

These colors are beautiful together, the soft tones are lovely to look at, and the backdrop is flowing with paper bubbles to create a very relaxing feel.  Every little detail helps make this overall look irresistibly inviting.

 

 

 

The Fox Shares a Secret with the Little Prince



Image from HERE

In this story,

"the little prince became friends with a fox. Upon parting, the fox shared a secret with the little prince. He said, “Here is my secret … :

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;

what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

One way to come unto Christ is by seeking to learn essential truths with our hearts. As we do so, impressions that come from God will give us knowledge that we cannot get by any other means.

 

Today, surrounded by so much information, we might think that navigating millions of web pages will give us all that we need to know. We can find good and bad information on the web, but information alone is not enough. God has given us another source for greater knowledge, even knowledge sent from heaven.

Our Heavenly Father can give us such knowledge when we navigate the celestial web in our hearts and minds.

 

Iniquity hampers our ability to see, feel, and love others.

 

Remembering God helps us to feel and live.

 

There is no burden that He (Christ) cannot ease or remove.

 

 

Excerpts from Learning with our Hearts  by Walter F. Gonzalez

Ribbon and Ripped Cloth Veil

Okay, I've seen ribbon and cloth backdrops, even made one myself, but here is a new way to use ribbon and cloth strips - check it out at DIY Bride - she tells how she did it.

 

Paper Mate Clicker Pencil

It's Show and Tell Time!

This is not a paid advertisement - it's just a review of one of my favorite things.

This in one of those things that I am grateful for because it makes writing a whole lot more enjoyable.

Depending upon what the need is, sometimes an old fashioned pencil is the best way to go, but I always love a sharp point.  The dulled led is just too hard on me - I'm a bit OCD that way - if I don't have a sharp point then I just can't use it.  I'm shivering as I write this ;).  I do have a pretty good stash of regular no.2 pencils - for when I need to share with students in a class.  They come in so many great colors and designs now - it's awesome.

My all time favorite pencil is this Paper Mate clicker pencil.  I have a few of these too.

They come in several colors and a couple different led sizes ...

  My favorite is no.5 - I don't do 7 because it's too much like that dull pencil led that drives me crazy. It's one of those scratching on the chalkboard kinda things. euh! - is that how you spell that sound? ewe is pronounced like you, so???   maybe it's oooo! or eooo! since it's pronounce more like in moo???

Okay - enough of that!

Have a great day!

Gable Boxes

I am so excited because I finally learned how to use my Cameo!  I've had it for a while but just had not figured it out until now.  Here are my first creations from that machine.

 

Gable boxes made from cardstock ..., except for the striped box which was light weight scrapbooking paper (which I would not suggest using, but I loved the colors and design it made).

 

 

Cutting and folding them was so easy with the Cameo.  I think I'll really enjoy using it.

I had the sticker runners in my scrapbooking supplies and wrapped them around the boxes to give them a fun look. Then used scrap ribbon to tie together to give the finishing touches.

All I need to do now is fill them with some fun stuff for a few of my friends.

 

 

I made a few with some glitter cardstock and really loved the look they created for a little bit more of a vintage style without the true Halloween look. 

 

 If I changed the decor around they (and the one orange ribbon) I could put them with a Christmas decor quite easily, and even later with Valentine decor.   But for now, I love those glitter boxes with my Halloween/Fall decor.

Happy Day!

Paper crafting can be so much fun - I wonder what I'll create next?

 



Pinteresting Pumpkins

I saw something on Pinterest 

  

 I liked the look and wanted to do something like it, using only things I already had -

I salvaged some 2x8 wood pieces out of a box we save for fire wood, trying to find just the right sizes. I didn't want to do much cutting. :) 

Well ..., I didn't have enough of one color of orange paint, so I used a few colors of browns and oranges and yellow.  This photo doesn't show the true color, but it does show some truth, in that I wish it was a bit brighter, but even then, I like the rustic look.

I sanded it (but it wasn't dry as I would have liked it to be when I did sand it and it added too much of a dusty look to it, but I was in a hurry).

I also rubbed it with some antiquing liquid, wrapped it with some burlap looking ribbon ...,

and glued some berry strands and flowers on it.

Oh yes, I glued a stem (or broken piece of wood I found) on top ...,

with some moss around it to hide where the stem meets the pumpkin.

Other than wishing it was brighter, I like it. 

It's a bit rustic looking and it was fun to make.

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As I was preparing this my husband asked why we didn't stand the boards vertical so that they had ribs like a real pumpkin.  So, I got some spray paint and tried it. 

Again, not true to the color, these really are more orange than they look here, but the spray paint didn't seem to be a great idea to cover them completely, since the wood just soaks it right up, being old weathered pieces, not fresh cut 2x4s.   However, it did give a rustic look that I was looking for, especially after I rubbed it with antiquing liquid.

To add to the rustic look I pounded in a few used and bent nails that came out of all of these pumpkin wood pieces.  They just seemed to look like a fun stem when I picked them up and bunched them together, so they became useful again and added a fun touch.

I wrapped a ribbon around it and wallah!  It's a pumpkin ?  ... a petrified pumpkin !?!

(I think I'm going to cut that ribbon shorter though.)

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Other fun pumpkins found on Pinterest :
(I've added the source site for some, and extra looks to save from those individual sites.)

You Craft Me Up

There are a lot of fun ideas from that blog (You Craft Me Up), like this next BOO!

(There is a cute pumpkin in that too.)

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Now some not found on Pinterest :
(maybe they are there, but I didn't find them there.)

This is a great look - from Perfectly Imperfect

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Great ideas out there!  So many creative people!  Thanks for creating and sharing your ideas with so many others.  

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Pretty Pink Party ...

There are some great looks at this party from Celebrations at Home

I love the colors ...,


the buttons ...,


the tea cup bouquets ...,


and the table setting ...


There are just so many fun things in this party look.

Big Fringe Backdrop

A fun look and great color combo

DIY at Oh Happy Day

Recipes using Leftover Oatmeal and some Oatmeal Recipes

With warmer weather coming up I make oatmeal a little more often. 
It's not really a favorite at our house, and I haven't figured out how to cook exactly what we'll eat, so I always have leftovers.  I have usually just tossed the leftovers out if we have dogs or cats to share with, but - well, we don't have dogs or cats any more and I don't want to encourage other dogs or coyotes to come around, so no more tossing it out. (If cats come around - which we welcome - we want them to eat any mice that might be lurking about.)

It seems such a waste to throw it out, so I searched for recipes to use leftover oatmeal and found a few.  Here are our findings and opinions of each:

Pancakes here

These tasted fine, but seemed a little gluey for our liking.  I don't suppose we will make these again, but we know someone out there likes them.

Cookies here

Some of us really liked these, others not so much. They were nice and soft. I thought they needed some nuts and even Craisins or other dried fruit in them, though I'm not really a fan of raisins.

Muffins here
These were crumbly but the flavor was okay. We thought we'd probably make them again if we had leftover oatmeal we needed to use ..., until we made the next recipe.

Chocolate Cake here

This was very moist (I love moist) and is a heavy cake rather than a light fluffy cake.  Of course the chocolate chips made it delightful. One of our taste testers suggested that this cake reminded them of Costco's chocolate muffins.

The recipe calls for 1/3 cup applesauce, which I didn't have at the time, so I opened a can of pears and mashed them to use instead.  It turned out great and was eaten very quickly. We did not frost it because it didn't seem to need any other sweetness or flavor to distract from what it was on it's own. This wins my vote - it's a great recipe for leftover oatmeal!  We will use it again!

Bread here 

 We didn't make this - don't have the bread flour and just don't want to make this recipe - but I may try to add leftover oatmeal to my own bread recipe ... someday.  We'll see.

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Now, how about some flavored oatmeal cereal recipes?
Check out this site for a few ideas

or HERE for pumpkin oatmeal

And I also like to use apple juice instead of water and add chopped fresh apples and a couple shakes of cinnamon when you are cooking it. Add a bit of cream to your bowl of oatmeal and enjoy (I like cream with any oatmeal).   Maybe someday I'll try some chopped nuts sprinkled on top.