Merry CHRISTmas

May Christmas this year be wonderful for you and your family. Jesus is The Reason for the Season.

Blessings, 

Carol and Family

Christmas

Christmas Day is less than one week away and our family has been busy. Making some real cute felt ornaments and I am unable to currently post. I broke my camera several weeks ago. Hoping to get a new camera by the first of the New Year.

Praying that God is the focus of this Christmas season. Remember He is the Reason for the Season!!!

Merry Christmas,

Carol

Joyful December Everyone!!

In my life there are so many things, people and events to be joyful and thankful about. On November 14th the Lord took my mother to be with him in heaven. Yes, it has been a tough couple of weeks but God gave me some good moments in between. 1) My mom made sure I received her first bible that she received in 1948 from her grandmother. 2) Thanksgiving day was filled with wonderful old friends and a new one we got to know better. 3) We decorated our entire home the day after Thanksgiving with our beautiful Christmas decorations. 4) I have precious friends who checked in on me and have prayed for my family during my mother's funeral. 5) God has blessed me with homeschooling my children.

Matthew 5:1-20 give me such great hope and comfort in this world filled with many troubles and trials. Personally it's not fun but, I would not want it any other way. My God uses these moments to refine me more into his image, as time goes by.

May God give you peace and comfort if you are in the midst of many hardships this day.

Blessings,

Carol

Project for today

Today my kids and I made corn husk dolls. They were alot of fun to make. I found the directions online and then we changed it up a little. I will try to take a photo later then add to this post. Fun project to celebrate the upoming Holiday.

Have a great day.

Blessings,

Carol

Thanksgiving is so much fun for our family

Our family is a non traditional feast family. In the past we have had the following foods; Mexican, Thai, BBQ and some others. This year our feast shall consist of Greek food. We are very excited to try some of the new recipes I found on line. Greek seasoned chickens, Greek salad, Baklava  Greek spice cake, oven roasted potatoes with green beans, and Gluten Free crescent rolls. It all sounds so good that I am getting hungry just writing this.

For our place cards I found a really cute printable project that has squirrels standing on a log. Here is the link to the pdf fild. Just click here. It has been fun putting these together. Find something online to create some super festive decorations. Make them out of items you have at home. That's exactly what I did.

Have a wonderful day.

Blessings,

Carol

October is almost gone

Time definitely has  gotten away from me. School has been in full swing for almost two months and we went on vacation to Disneyland. Being a homeschool, stay at home mom keeps me very busy during the school year. This is what God has for me currently. Not many projects right now.

November is right around the corner and my family is having Greek food this year. Thanksgiving for us is non traditional. The last five or six years it has been this way. We love it!!

My hope is your day is wonderful and blessed. Remember what Thanksgiving is all about this year. Just a suggestion, do a search on the history of Thanksgiving. It's very interesting what this day truly is about.

Have a great day

Blessings, 

Carol

Busy, Busy, Busy

Goodness, time sure flies by quickly when school starts. Five day a week schedule again is just flying by. Homeschooling is a blessing in so many ways for our family. We don't have to worry when we get a colds. We are busy with regular chores and activities during the normal school year. My family is looking forward to our vacation next month though to Disneyland. Our passes do not expire until the day we leave to come home from our trip.

Hoping your all having a great day.



Blessings,

Carol

My New Car

Well, after 8 months of waiting for a car, we found one last week. A super nice used 2011 Kia Soul with lots of upgrades. My kids love this car and so do I. It's nice to be driving a really safe car (tons of safety features). I don't have to worry about the car breaking down. Used is the best way to go. The motor is already broken in and if there were going to be any problems it would have happened when there were few miles on it. My car only has about 21,365 miles on it.

The thing that is really great is the blue tooth program on the car. The car answers the phone via speakers in the car. No ear piece. I praise God for showing us which car to purchase. Here are a few photos on my NEW car. Enjoy!

 

Have a Super Day!!

 

Blessings,

Carol

 

 

 

 

 

 



Nice Bible Bag

With my nice new sewing machine, I have made a nice Bible bag for my son. It actually is a Christmas present. I think he will enjoy having a place to keep his bible in one place. Sometimes he has to search the house for where he left it last.

All the material that I sew with is found at my local thrift store. Why pay full price when you can find it for less. Using the money that God gives my family wisely is very important.

Hope you like the idea of this little bag. It was simple to make. Surf the internet for FREE patterns. That is where I found this one.

Have a great day!!

 

Blessings,

Carol

 



School and Happy Labor Day

Well, today is back to school for our family. One thing different we are going is walking three times a week. My daughter is in 6th grade and we need to continue walking. We homeschool and it is started on the right foot. Hoping your Labor Day is a great one.

Blessings,

Carol

My New Sewing Machine!!!!

Ok, I am 45 years old and just received my first ever NEW sewing machine from my precious husband just a few weeks ago. My new machine is a Brother 80 stitch computer machine. It still has a pedal but, you pick the stitches by pressing buttons. I love my Brother sewing machine!! I have worn out the last two Singer machines within the last 24 years.

For as long as I have been married (24 years), I do alot of sewing for Christmas. Handmade gifts are a must in my household. You never know what the holiday time will be like. My husband is self employed. Our children love to see what Mommy has made in the Christmas Shoppe (Scrapbooking Room). Recently a friend had her fifth child and I made her two burp rags. On the internet is where I had found a great simple pattern. Best of all it was FREE!! I love FREE stuff.

Feeling a bit like Fall...........................

My goodness, here is beautiful Northern California it feels like Fall. Yesterday was beautiful too. My family and I attended a baptism for several people from church. It was such a huge blessing to see these people profess their faith and then baptized. My God is doing many wonder things in the lives of others around us and in our family too.

School starts for us next Monday. I am really excited to see what God has planned for the kids and I. Still waiting for a few books to arrive from Ebay. Yes, I am a frugalista. Used books are the only way to go in this economy.

Hoping your day is wonderful and Blessed.

 

Blessings,

Carol

12 X 12 Scrapbooking Page

Most people I know really love Pixie Dust. Yes, this is another great phrase from the Tinkerbell and Friends Cartridge. My setting were about a 5 in and it turned out really great.

12 X 12 Leaf Page

Loving all the fun images on my Tinkerbell and Friends Cartridge!! Even by placing just one large image can really make a difference in the way a page looks neat.



                                     
As you can see our family loves to vacation at Disneyland. Thank goodness for Disney Visa Points.

School is Aproaching Quickly

At our home we homeschool. Our new school year is quickly approaching, a bit faster than we choose. Officially our start date is September 3rd. My daughter will be in 6th grade and my son in 4th grade. It amazes me how quickly the time has flown by and my children are growing up. Seems as if it was not very long ago my daughter was starting kindergarten!! The Lord has been very good to my family through the years regarding purchasing school books. I don't think that many of the books were brand new. You see, I am a major researcher, finding used books at super low prices. Being frugal is a must in our home. My own feelings are these; "I know that I can find it cheaper somewhere else if I just look around".

With the economy the way it is, more families are trying to make their dollars stretch. On average my family of 4 spends less that $300.00 on groceries per month. In fact, there are times where we only have less that $100.00 to spend in a months time. Sometimes life can be hard and the struggles are really rough. This scripture really helps me through those days; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and monehtary troubles are achieving for us and eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

I hope your day is joyful and a blessing.

 

Blessings,

Carol

12 X 12 Scrapbooking Page

This page was made with the Tinkerbell and Friends Cricut Cartridge. I used one of the fun phrases on the cartridge. Using pretty sparklie paper made it even better. Perfect for some of our Disneyland trip photos.

I loved how the letters q and e has the swoosh on the end and the flowered dot for the letter i.

Hoping your day is creative!

Blessings,

Carol

Changes

In life there can be so many different changes. Some are good and some not so good. For my family this year has been interesting. Work was a bit slow for my husband, my van has been having issues, and God continues to take care of our daily needs. Proverbs 3:5-12 is a favorite for me. Trusting when things in my life don't seem to be going how I should think they should. God is completly in control and has only the best for my family. Knowing that there are many others we know and don't know who are experiencing many of the same struggles.

I decided to change my blog not to just have scrapbooking ideas, but include sewing projects, blogging and everyday life things. Changing the background and fonts were a good change too. I really love the FREE backgrounds that are on the internet.

Hoping your day is filled with much joy and thankfulness for a new day.

Blessings,

Carol

12X12 Scrapbooking Page

This scrapbooking page is created using the Pooh and Friends Cricut Cartridge. This Summer has been busy with many activities such as Girl Scout Camp, Scrapbooking (catching up), Sewing on my brand new sewing machine. As of today, I am into my Fall 2011 photos. Hoping to be completely finished and working on 2012 photo's by the end of the year.


Ingredients:

Pooh and Friends Cricut Cartridge

Cricut Expression Machine

I decided to make a huge log to be the focal point decoration. Make sure to do a large inch choice. I always cut the first part out of a piece of scrap writing paper to make sure it is the size I like. Then I proceed to cut the image from my cardstock.

There are times when simple pages are better for me. I really like the printed papers from KI paper mats 12X12 size. I purchase 4-6 large packs of paper at Michaels when they are on sale. That way it last me a long time. Hoping you enjoy this project.

Have a great Day!!

Blessings, Carol

Easter Chick Table Decoration

When I sat down in my scrapbooking room to create an Easter Craft, my mind began to swirl with creation. This cute little chick emerged in a flash. Super easy to make and my kids love it. I think you will enjoy this idea too.


Ingredients;

Cricut Cartridge Simply Charmed

Cut 2 each of the following at 5 inches; Chick, Chick Layer 2.

Cut 1 - 9 inch Rainbow Layer 3

Cardstock

Black Pen

My ATG Pink Tape Gun

Instructions:
 Make sure to cut all the parts of the Chick. Before putting all parts on the chick, you must make sure to line up the body back with the front. The back needs to be facing the same direction as the front. Now place all the parts on the chick.

Cut a strip of paper (cardstock) 1 1/2 in wide by 5 in long. Then use something to make a crease at the ends about 1 1/2 in from the edge. Attach one folded end to the front of the chick at the bottom inside. See the photos below. Glue the top of the head together.

Now cut the cloud from Rainbow Layer 3.

Set your cute little chick on the cloud. Lovely little center piece.

Happy Creative Day!!

Blessings,

Carol

March Updates

Seems like life has thrown it's wrench to the workings of our family lately. Since I last posted, my family has gotten bad chest and sinus colds that lasted two  and a half weeks then came back. My precious children are getting better as of the last couple of days. In all this I have not gotten sick. Also, Girl Scout season has been full swing. I was the cookie mom for our troop. Talk about a ton of cookies that were at my home. We all are glad the cookie season has just wrapped up at of last weekend. My hope is to have something fun posted for Easter which is just right around the corner. Thanks for following and sorry for the large gap in postings. Enjoy the projects that have been posted.

Blessings,
Carol

Valentines Day Mouse

Super cute Valentine that my kids are giving away to their friends My daughter found this idea in one of our craft books. Accept it shows you need to cut everything out by hand. Not so with our Cricut Expression Machines. I loved the fact that making so many is a breeze. Using the auto fill button makes it all go quite fast. Enjoy this great project. More to come.

Ingredients;

Cricut Cartridge Simply Charmed

Solid Cardstock

Black Marker

Stapler

Glue Tape

Lollipops

Instructions:
Cut 3 1/4 in Hearts Layer (Larger heart) Hearts 1 3/4 for mouse face and pull tab
Small circles are cut out of Tie, Layer 3.

For the body just use the larger heart and fold length wise. The mouse head is made by cutting the bottom tip of the heart to about half way up the middle. Overlap the ends till it has an oval shape and nose is pointy. I used my ATG tape runner to adhere together. Add details to face then adhere to body. Make sure you used one staple at the top of the big heart so the lollipop stays inside it. For the pull heart on the stick, use your tape runner on the back of the heart, then adhere to stick. Super fun and easy.


Blessings,
Carol

February Already???

January completly flew be a little too quickly. Posting a wonderful and super cute Valentines Day project today. Just have to download the photos. Hoping everyone is doing well and creating super fun projects of your own. See ya all later today.

Blessings,
Carol

Happy New Year

Well good morning everyone. I hope your day is a great one. Very busy in our household. Just a recap of what has been going on in our family.

Christmas was wonderful. New Year's was super too. Helping serve others in our church. Back to homeschooling. Getting ready for Girl Scout Cookie selling season. Helping friends unpack at their new home. Witnessing God doing miracles in a precious family who is adopting 3 little girls from the foster care system, all the while saving the lives of the family while in Montana. The family hit black ice in their van and started to fall down a 50 foot embankment. They cried out to Jesus and He saved their lives. Our God is amazing!!

Valentines Day is coming up next month and I have fun projects on that theme coming soon. Stop back by and check them out in the next couple of days.


Blessings,
Carol