Thrifty Finds

Today I decided to explore the local thrift shops. Some were just too sketchy to enter, but the two that I discovered contained opportunity I simply could not pass up.

Here is what I got:

Bud vases, lots of rustic picture frames, an old tool box (that I absolutely love), a shoe rack, a palm tree shelf (which I will repaint), a kitchen canister, two mini loaf pans, a lace table runner, a sugar shaker and a milk glass vase.

Some I am going to attempt to sell, some I will fix up, and a few lucky items will become the inspiration for the guest room makeover (take two). 

I'll keep you posted.

Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from Him.

2 Samuel 14:14

Sweet Sugar Cookies

Once again, I cant completely take credit for these. The recipe is from my Mom, who got them from a friend. They are very yummy and fun to decorate for any occasion!!!

1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Cream butter, shortening, cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients a little bit at a time. Chill dough in refrigerator for one hour. Roll out dough on a floured surface to 1/4" thickness (or however thick you desire). Punch out cookies in desired shape and place onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes.

Then the fun part....decorating!!!

I wanted to make some Easter Egg cookies to send back home to our families, so here is what I did:

I didn't want to buy an egg cookie cutter, so I improvised with a kitchen knife. In turn they ended up looking sort of rustic, but I like that about them.

Next, I made buttercream frosting for a border around the outside of each cookie.

1 stick butter softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 cups powdered sugar (to desired consistency)

milk (if you need to thin it back out at any point)

Combine all ingredient in large bowl with an electric mixer until desired consistency is achieved. 

I took out 1/3 of the white frosting and put it into a pastry bag fitted with a thin point tip. Then I made a small outline of buttercream frosting around the border of each cookie. [This will ensure that when I fill the cookie with icing it wont run over the edges].

Next, I made the icing to fill each cookie.

2 cups powdered sugar

2-3 Tbsp. milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix all ingredient together in a small bowl with a whisk until silky, about honey consistency.

 I used a kitchen spoon and poured icing into the center of each cookie until covered. For the eggs I used half white icing, and then I mixed in a little bit a green to make a very light green color to finish out the remaining eggs.

And finally I took the remaining buttercream and separated it out into two separate bowls. I made one blue and one green. I used the white, blue and green to decorate my Easter eggs with polka dots, crosses, and other egg designs.

Later in the week I made some for the flight room. Cowboy boots. (as manly as possible)

And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good that we are here."

Matthew 17:4

A Wedding Gift

My Mom is one crafty lady. Any creative-ness that I possess obviously comes from her. So here is one of her latest projects. A wedding gift for a friend at work. J and I actually received an antique chalkboard as a wedding present from my cousin and his wife and we love it! It is such a great thing to hang in a kitchen with a menu or shopping list on it, or to hang anywhere else with favorite quotes or bible verses.

Here is what she did:

The Before

She found this old, wooden chalkboard at an antique shop. It was originally a shiny natural wood frame and the top portion had cork board on it. She removed the cork because it was in bad shape and used chalkboard paint to make it one big chalkboard. Then she sanded and painted the whole frame an antique white color. And then scuffed it up a bit to make it look old.

For the monogram she found the style of letter she wanted to use on a google search, printed it out, and used transfer paper to carry the image perfectly onto the board. She then filled in the letter with paint and decorated the board with her own chalkboard designs.  

And viola.....

I am just so impressed. 

"But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God's unfailing love."

Psalm 52:8

A Thankful Heart

When life hands us a hard day, one of the greatest things we can do is simply give thanks. 

Gratefulness has the potential to change our hearts in a very powerful way.

358... The grace of morning time

359... Warm coffee

360... New opportunities

361... Safety and Peace

362... The beauty of a fluffy tree

363... Late night walks around the neighborhood

364... A fresh start

365... Meeting new people

366... Seeing God's word change people's hearts

367... The smell of fresh paint

368... The sweetness of ripe fruit

369... A gentle breeze 

370... Airplanes buzzing overhead

 

"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."

Psalm 50:23

Cookie Cake

One of our friends made the cutest cookie cake for our engagement party and ever since then, I have wanted to try my hand at it.  J's first solo flight was on Tuesday and I figured this was a perfect opportunity. Here is how I did it:

First thing I did was spray a foil cookie pan (with a lid) with nonstick cooking spray. Then I took store bought cookie dough (the ones that are all ready cut out into little squares) and laid two packages side by side on the cookie sheet. I presses them down and out until the whole sheet was evenly covered. I baked it in a 325 degree oven for 18 minutes. It was slightly golden brown on top but the dough was still a little bit soft. Then I set it on a wire rack until it was completely cooled.

Now the fun part, decorating the cookie cake. I recently picked up one of those cake decorating kits that has icing bags, tips, and colors, as well as directions on how to make the flowers and designs you see on cakes at the bakery. Needles to say I have been dying to use it! 

Here is my recipe for the butter cream icing:

1 stick softened butter 

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 cups powdered sugar

Beat the butter in an electric mixer until creamy. Add the milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Set the mixer on medium speed and add the powdered sugar a little bit at a time (you may want to sift out the lumps) until the desired consistency is reached. This is a pretty sweet icing, but the whole cake it not covered, so I think it works well.

  I decided to use two different colors of blue for this Air Force cake. So I mixed together a light blue, removed half of the frosting into a pastry bag, and then mixed together the darker color and placed it in a bag.

I used the thin tip to write the word CONGRATS and outline the Air Force emblem. *When writing a word I would advise starting with the center letter in the center of the cake and work out from there.*I would also practice, because its harder than it seems.

Then I put the small star tip on the dark blue and filled in the emblem and added some detail to the wording. Then I put the large star tip on and started the border, leaving space in between each to come back in with the same tip and the lighter colored frosting.

I thought it was a great success for a first try. I cant wait to do another one!

Love the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, obey His commands, hold firmly to Him, and serve Him with all your heart and soul

Joshua 22:5

The Easter Tree

I think Easter Egg trees are really cute, full of sparkly pastel colored eggs hanging on a whimsical tree. This year I wanted to make one of my own, but I wanted it to portray the real reason we Celebrate. Not bunnies and baskets full of chocolate overload, but LIFE. Jesus' Life. And the reason why He lived, died, and rose again!!!! Easter is a season to remember what Jesus did for us and to Celebrate the fact that He lives again! So I wanted my Easter tree to take me through Jesus' journey to the cross. Here is what I did:

I cut down the top of a branch from the wooded trail nearby, one that remotely resembled a tree. I spray painted the tips of the branches with some cream spray paint to give it a little bit of a softer look. Then I stabilized it in a small mason jar full of rocks.

Next, I bought 12 eggs.

I used brown, but any kind will do.

To drain the eggs I poked holes through the top and the bottom of each egg using a safety pin. I poked around a little more inside each egg to insure that the yolk was broken. Then I blew out the inside of the eggs into the sink. Once empty I rinsed them each out with water and set them back in the carton to dry overnight.

I decided to paint the eggs to give them that Easter egg look. For the colors, I mixed together all sorts pastels: blue, yellow, green, purple, pink, and then added some gold and silver. After going through this process with about 16 eggs, I was finally left with 10 beautifully colored intact eggs to hang on the tree.
I used twine and a small needle to create a hanger for each egg by making a loop at the top of the egg and a larger knot at the bottom to hold it in place.

Now I had to portray the Easter story through the eggs, so I decided to write (with a sharpie) one word on each egg that described that section of the story followed by the corresponding bible verse that depicts the whole story. 

ANNOINTED (Matthew 26:6-13)

BETRAYED (Matthew 26:14-16)

HOMECOMING (Matthew 21:1-11)

THE LAST SUPPER (Matthew 26:26-29)

ARRESTED (Luke 22:39-46, 54)

MOCKED (John 19:1-7)

THE CROSS (John 19:16-17)

CRUCIFIED* (John 19:18)

PIERCED (John 19:33-35)

BURIED (Matthew 27:57-60)

RISEN* (Mark 16:1-3)

BELIEVE (John 20:1-8)

*I chose a golden cross to represent CRUCIFIED instead of using an egg. And for RISEN I put the egg up in a little nest I created at the top of the tree with shrubbery stacked on top of each other and glued together.

The sharpie writing ended up being too bold on top of these delicately colored eggs so I took a can of silver spray paint and lightly misted the finished eggs to give them a lighter look. 

And here it is.....

I love this tree and everything that it means. So as this Easter season approaches we will give thanks for Jesus' journey to the cross where He gave His life for us, and remember that death CANNOT defeat our God. He Still Lives.

"He saw and he believed."

John 20:8b

A (Yet to Be Determined Color) Thumb

I needed a new project, and the weather has been wonderful lately... so I decided to give gardening a try. This area was previously populated by two bushes (one of which was dead) and a ground covering combination of half dirt and half grown over grass. So I decided to spruce it up a bit. I dug out a nice curved flower bed area with a garden shovel we found in the woods near our house (creepy). My foot was sore all week from stomping on the sharp edges of the shovel, which I was told was the wrong type of shovel for the job. I do'nt know what I expected from a free shovel. 

First, I transplanted the one live bush to the other side of bed (which fingers crossed will bounce back), then I planted two green bushed with red tips, two Asiatic lilies, and a bunch of those little bright colored cone shaped flowers in between. It is very colorful, coordinates well with the cowboy boot planter outside the front door. The last thing I did was fill it in with some Cyprus mulch.

Here is the masterpiece.....intricately created by the Master Craftsman and arranged by me.

 

I never imagined I would be one to "garden," but I have to say I enjoyed being 'hands on' with the creations of my Creator.

Teach us to realize the brevity of Life so that we may grow in wisdom

Psalms 90:12