“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” … Jane Austen (Pride & Prejudice)
So while we were in Sioux Falls dropping off my brother at the airport this weekend I also got to do a little bit of shopping. Sioux Falls is the nearest “big” town to us so you’ve got to do some shopping while you can. My first buy was at Hobby Lobby where I picked up a nice piece of artwork for when I makeover my room (someday) and some great fabric that I would like to make some purses out of.
The second stop that I bought stuff at was Savers. Don’t ya all love second hand? I do. I didn’t find any clothes this time but a new fitted sheet for my bed – mine literally wore out recently – and an awesome twin bedspread. Now my bed at home is a full so I can’t use it right now, but I can use it the 5 weeks I’m at camp during the summer and I can use it if I head off to school next fall.
My last stop was Barnes & Nobles. Hands down my favorite store. So many books I would just love to read! I picked up three Jane Austen novels in anticipation of the Jane Austen movie special coming up on PBS. I love the movies and I’m sure I will love the books even more.
2. Ruffled Strapless Cami tutorial from Sharon Sews
3. Corporate Zip tutorial from Brassy Apple
Today was going to be a pretty lazy day hanging out with the family. I have gotten in the habit of the last few years busy up until the last minute finishing up handmade gifts for my mom and grandma. This year I decided I wasn’t going to worry about making gifts and just enjoy Christmas. But then today I started thinking, I can’t not make them something. So I dug out my Christmas craft books and December craft magazines an found this great project. These took me all afternoon but I love how they turned out. So don’t think you can skip Christmas like the Kranks or even one holiday tradition like me. It doesn’t work out so well. You just find that you can’t skip those things that have made past Christmases special.
Anyone want to make some popcorn cake for Christmas? It is one of our family traditions to make popcorn cake and give it to different families at our church. We have to make some for ourselves too of course. Here’s the recipe/tutorial if anyone is interested.
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
2 tsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup of brown sugar
10 oz. pkg miniature marshmallows
5 quarts of popcorn
Melt butter, milk, vanilla, brown sugar, and marshmallows together in a saucepan.
Pour over popcorn and put into angel food cake molds. Let cool.
Popcorn cakes can then be decorated with candy. We have used gumdrops before. This year we forgot to buy gumdrops so we took some of our marshmallow mixture, added food coloring and flavor oils, and drizzled on our cakes. Then find some festive paper plates and some saran wrap to finish them up. They are ready to gift or eat yourselves. Enjoy!
1. Since I got my wisdom teeth pulled today I am exceedingly thankful for pain medication and Tylenol. Couldn’t live without it at the moment.
2. The great Valentine’s Day Placemat (pic above) Niki sent me with the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s great Niki, I love it!
3. Bible Instruction Class – starts on Sunday but I’m already looking forward to it!
4. I’m thankful for books. I love books as evidences by stacks of books in my room and our house.
5. My brother Andrew currently away at Marine Boot Camp and the rest of my awesome family. Love you guys!
Okay, I know it’s just after Thanksgiving but I have to share the Halloween costume I made this year. And plus I only finished it last week. The picture is me on Halloween night. I wore the costume to Awana at our church where I work as a Sparks leader. I thought I was going out with the girls to hang out later but it got too late for the working girls. So I didn’t get to wear it out that much but it was definitely fun to wear. The part I didn’t finish until last week was that I remade the corset piece. It wasn’t long enough for me to be that comfortable wearing. I added 4 inches so now it goes right from the corset into the black lace. I also changed the lining. I was dumb and original made it with white lining which you could see a little bit around the edges. So when I remade it I used the same maroon fabric as on the rest of the dress. It looks great and I can’t wait to wear it again next year.
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