Current Web Readings

Over the Door Organizer
You have to see this! :D A great organizer to hang on the door for you OR the kids! :D

DIY All in One Outdoor Oven/Stove/Grill/Smoker!!

How to Make a Tiny Terrarium in a Light Bulb
If nothing else, you have to click JUST to see the picture! LOL! So CUTE! GREAT for homeschooling!

Things to Make
GREAT collection of things for kids to make - great for homeschooling!

FREE Anne of Green Gables Study Guide

Current Web Readings

Paper soliders
Paper dolls - FOR BOYS! SOLDIERS!

Paper Toy Soldiers
These are more for the younger crowd (3yr+)

Civil War Paper Dolls and Toy Soldiers

Grass Fed Recipes

Crockpot Leg of Lamb - this was SOOOO YUMMY!

How Public School Cripples Our Kids

Vegetable Planting Guide

Grow It Yourself Series
an easy series on growing your own food.

Current Web Readings

Bug Farm
A cool game where you are a beneficial bug in your garden. How cool is this? Can I just say I want one?! :D

Plump Stocking
A bit late for Christmas, but not for those after Christmas sales in order to stuff next year's stocking!

Best Books For Girls: 20 Books She Has Loved
From one of my favorite blogs

Can Beans Cure Morning Sickeness??

No Poo Hard Water Epiphny
for those who did not have the wonderful results most of us have with no poo, this read is for you. Tells you what to try if you have hard water.

Homemade Deodorant
Oh this looks SO sweet. I so need to make me some of this!!!

Hairstyles from Yesteryear
Tutorials on beautiful hairstyles. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Doing a little happy dance right now!

Christmas Web Readings

Bible Printables for Christmas

Beautiful Christmas on a Budget
tutorials on inexpensive gifts to make and give! :D

Advent Christmas Unit Study 2007
GREAT collection of links!!!

Hot Chocolate on a Stick
OH YEAH! YUMMO! This blog is GREAT!!! This link is just to hot chocolate on a stick, BUT ....
THE WHOLE BLOG is worth checking out!!! This blog is all about making and giving gifts!! WONDERFUL blog!!!

DIY Therapy Sacks

Tutorial of Felting for Kids
I have NOT seen it done this way before. NO MESS!! This is a mom after my own heart!!! :D :D :D

Patchwork Soup Mix in a Jar
GREAT idea!!!

Tradition
Christmas Traditions of the McDonald Family.

Christmas Readings

Twas The Month Before Christmas
A little late, but still GOOD stuff here!

Fabric Water Bottle Carrier Tutorial
This would make a GREAT gift for anyone living in TX (don't look Katie!) :D LOL!! :D

Current Web Readings

Felt Play House
You could take this even further and make it so they can design their own house and change it around. Or maybe grow different things in their garden at different times. :)

Macho Manly Man POcket Hand Warmers
This is such a cute post. Not only does it have a great tutorial, but a great story behind it!! Why not make some of these for the mail/garbage men (not saying mail men are garbage men, though a lot of what they bring us goes in the garbage, but you know what I mean!). Don't forget to add to the note about keeping these in your pocket to keep there hands warm in their pockets!! :D

Using Old Jeans Up
Martha Stewart does it RIGHT!! GREAT ideas, but I am especially partial to the quilt at the bottom of the page - PERFECT for a boys room!! :D

The above was a link found on this post about ways to use up old jeans. This post is GREAT!! :D

Shutter Cal
This is a GREAT way to organize a photo a day. Then you can print it out (the price is actually pretty good) and get it in a shoebox! The shoe box is designed to hold twelve months of 30/31 photos! WONDERFUL gift idea for the grandparents!

Flickr
This post is a GREAT intro into how and WHY you should use Flickr if you take pictures. It is from Digital Photography School. I just wish I had the time to connect more through groups there. I just don't have the time.

Current Web Readings

This is a GREAT new blog I discovered through another blog. LOL!! :D Every week they have a different themed contest (this coming week is balloons). Every Friday they have a photo fix up challenge (if you do not have Photoshop you can use GIMP - it is a free program that does a LOT of the stuff Photoshop does). Every week they have an inspiration post which either gives you great tips on taking better pictures OR gives you photo editing tips. DEFINITELY worth checking out.

Jar Of Fun
I LOVE this idea!! This idea could be done per season too (change the ideas for the season like a winter one could be make pinecone turkeys, create paper snowflakes, bake cookies for the neighbors). This blog has other great ideas so be sure to check it out.

To The Outskirts
I discovered this blog through her beautiful pictures shared on the Fun For Nothin Flickr group.

Imagine Childhood
Beautiful beautiful blog. I discovered this blog through the blog above.

Homeamde Cloth Napkins
Not just your ordinary ones, but 20 made from a $4 Goodwill twin flat sheet!! YIPPEE!!!

Free Curriculum List
For every subject. This is very well thought out and organized list of links to free curriculum (like Ambleside Online). Well worth your time to check out. You can homeschool for free!

Ebook PDF listing
GREAT collection for free pdf ebooks to help with homeschooling! :D

Bus Songs
There is ajust about every fun kids song you can imagine here! Music and lyrics. AWESOME!!

Current Web Readings

Tutorial on Doily Bun Cover
Ok, if these do not bring up images of Laura Ingalls on the Prairie, I do not know WHAT will. I ADORE these! I need to find some old doilies at the thrift store so I can make each of the girls one for Christmas!!!

Handcrafted Christmas: Homemade Soap"
I just LOVE Monica's Handcrafted Christmas posts!! YEA!!! :D

Online Pilgrim Coloring Book
Print out pages to color this month as you discuss the Pilgrims

White Lie Designs
BEAUTIFUL romantic knit designs

Girl's Simple Openwork Shrug
I am going to have to make these for the girls for Easter. Now to just figure out how to sew Easter dresses and I will be al set!! :D Oh wait. I need headbands too. OH HOW CUTE!!

Notebook - easy to make, easy to use
This is SO CUTE!! I want to make one for myself!

Little Portrait Book
SOOOOO loving this BLOG!!! These would make awesome Christmas gifts for grandparents or Aunt's. :) I would love to make several of these. Now I just need to find TIME!

Current Web Readings

Girlss Simple Openwork Shrug
This ADORABLE pattern would be GREAT to make to go over Easter Dresses! Now I just need the courage to learn to make Easter dresses. :)

How Doing Something Good Can Keep You From Helping Your Children
A REALLY good read.

A Homemade Christmas
This blog is BEAUTIFUL!! And these projects are BEAUTIFUL!! Everything here is just BEAUTIFUL!!!

Japanese Sign For Organic
For those who are shopping at Asian stores and want to know.

HappyBird's Crafting Haven
LOTS of cute ideas here!! WOW!!

Ever Wonder Why Did Indigenous People Had Straight Teeth?
REALLY good read - just a TASTE of what is out there.

The Men and Their Gloves

So the men in the house now have their gloves - and they match!!!




Here are Brian's: They are the pattern FREE DIGITS from CrochetDude.
It is not a free pattern, but I checked out the book from the library.




Here are JJ's: they are a free pattern called Rowan's Wristies.
I found them on Ravelry!

What is cool is 1) that they MATCH! 2)One skein (paid $3) made BOTH sets of fingerless gloves! 3) Brian actually LIKES his and wears them all the time! He is able to type in them very easily 4) JJ loves his and the fact that they match Daddy's.

Of course the first thing Brian had to make sure of was that he could play his video games in them! LOL!! Today he is wearing them for work. I am so happy!!! Now to just figure out this pattern for mine.....

Current Web Readings

Video
You have to have a FB account to view this video, but it is really good.

Storybook Woods
I think I have shared this blog here before. It is wonderful! So with Autumn FINALLY here, this blog is sure to have some great posts and beautiful pictures!

Change Your Facebook Privacy Settings to KEEP PRIVATE

Great idea for organizing!
Clever Ideas to Declutter

The Best Camera iPhone app
This is TOTALLY AWESOME!! I read about it first on Scott Kelby's blog (yeah, I know I am no professional photographer, but still like to learn to be the best I can be). I want me an iPhone SO BAD so I can get me this app!!! :D I am thinking of buying it for my hubby for Christmas! :D

Wraps Per Inch
How to determine the weight of yarn if the label does not say or is missing.

Arm Warmers and Fingerless Gloves

So with the cold winter coming, I have decided to FINALLY get working and try out fingerless gloves. I must admit that when I first saw them, I thought NOT FOR ME!

But then people kept saying they really work. They help to keep your hands warm and still allow you the freedom to do things (like crochet, read a book, do schoolwork, etc.).

So the first pair I made were EE's. She LOVED them! Yellow is SO her!

Sunshine Arm Warmers


Then I made MM's. I added a shell border so it would be easier to tell which way they go on. Pink and princess through and through!

Princess Pink Fingerless Gloves


Finally was AA's. Look at those hands! Not a child anymore!!

Confetti Fingerless Gloves

The pattern is free and WAY easy and FAST. But you do have to be a Ravelry member (which is free) to get the pattern as it is only available on ravelry.

I am currently working on a pair for Brian and then JJ will get his pair. Both are different patterns than this one. I will work on mine after they are taken care of.

I LOVE seeing how excited my girls are about these fingerless gloves! They keep thanking me for them and telling me how it helps to keep them warm. MM has not taken her off since I gave them to her yesterday morning! :D

GREAT ideas for Christmas!

Thanks to the Recaliming The Home group I am on on Ravelry, I got some GREAT ideas for Christmas!!

Heart Photo Ornament tutorial included! (great idea for the grandparents!)

Fairy Houses - AA would LOVE this! I plan on giving her the "kit" to make it - I will be collecting bits and pieces here and there for her to make her own!

How To Make Your Own Waldorf Doll - I have ALWAYS loved these but never had the money to buy one (let alone THREE). :D

How fun for you and hubby to make one of these coloring tables or a play table.

OK.... I am TOTALLY loving this idea for a reading corner for the kids.

Current Web Readings

A New Way To Darn Socks
This is AWESOME!!! :D

October is Scrap Busting Month at Sew Mama Sew

Herbal Roots
This is a GREAT Herbal Magazine for children!!! :D LOVE IT! Wish I could afford a subscription!

Historical Paper Doll Sets

Bento Box Lunch Caddy
Remember my Bento Box adoration?? Well one of my FAVORITE crochet sites (Crochet Liberation Front) has a GREAT FREE online magazine (called Crochet Uncut) and this month is has a MOST ADORABLE pattern for Bento Boxes!!! :D WOOHOO!!!

How To Make Scratch Off Lottery tickets
This is AWESOME!! What a great reward for a job well done - you know, where the kids go above and beyond! :D Give 'em a scratch off ticket with some sort of prize: ice cream with mom or dad, a trip to the $1 store, a toothbrush, a book from Goodwill, etc.

Prayer Shawl

Prayer Shawl
Originally uploaded by lvg4him

My FIL got cancer over ten years ago now. It is amazing to think he was only given 6 months to live. He went through radiation, or chemo ... one of the two. And he was constantly cold. I wish I had know about prayer shawls back then. Of course, I did not even know how to crochet then! :D

A prayer shawl is a shawl that is either knitted or crocheted with a certain person in mind. With each stitch, every time you work on the shawl, you are praying for that person. It could be a recent widow, a mother whose child is dying in the hospital, a recent graduate off to college, or, as in this cute pink and white shawl, for a friend dying of cancer.

I will admit that I started out making this shawl for myself. I was so excited to finally have a shawl that I was going to keep. But as I was making this shawl (and the pattern is for a prayer shawl), God kept bringing a certain friend to mind.

And this shawl is SO HER! very pink and cream and Victorian all over. So as I continued to work, this shawl became hers. I cannot wait to present it to her. And it will all be done in secret! (Thankfully she does not read my blog!)

My daughters cannot understand that quite yet. That when we do something good, that we need to not tell our left hand what our right hand is doing. I am constantly reminding them that there are two types of rewards. One is instant and brings glory to ourselves. It is an earthly reward. The other takes much longer to receive. It brings glory only to God. It is a heavenly reward. I then ask them to consider which reward they want to work towards. Of course they also hang their hand and say "a heavenly one." I have to laugh and tell them that God wants a CHEERFUL giver. Better for them not to give at all if they are going to sulk about it.

But over time, they are learning. It is a hard lesson. And even harder to constantly do. Even Momma likes her earthly praise sometimes. :D

Lion Brand has Ready Made Cards that you can send with your shawl.

I will be including a bookmark (she is an avid reader), which explains what a prayer shawl is and let her know that she is being prayed for. I have included a link here to the bookmark.

All I ask is that you PLEASE do NOT sell the bookmark or distribute it. Please share the link that they can download it from this site. Thank you. You have permission to print it out for personal use (like attaching to prayer shawls).

Click here to goto the image, and for instructions on how to download it.

Catching Up With Projects

So I have been catching up trying to take pictures of projects I have done and posting them to Ravelry. If you have not joined, if you knit or crochet, you NEED to join. It is FREE and WONDERFUL!!! :D :D :D

Baby It's Cowled Outside

I LOVE this picture of AA!! It was REALLY cold outside (cold enough to SNOW) and I grabbed my camera and the cowl and asked AA to go outside and pose for a picture for me. She happily obliged and was freezing! She looks so beautiful in this picture - mostly because her inner beauty just SHINES forth in it.

Here is a picture of the HeadKerchief that I made. Still outside and STILL COLD. My beautiful daughter poses for another picture.

I also made a Wintry Cowl for EE. The plan was to make something that took up little space so that it could be kept in the car so that when cold weather hits (as it does sometimes out of no where here in CO), we could run to the car to get them instead of into a store to buy earmuffs!

I also had FINALLY made a shawl for ME. I love the Seraphina so much I have made five of them. I must admit that I passed over it the first time I saw it (I had searched for "butterfly shawl" because MM was wanting one). But the pictures I saw of it looked so gothic. NOT for us.

Then I found Ravelry and had my daughter AA look through the shawls (as I planned on making her one for her birthday). And of course she picked it. While before it had looked gothic, now on Ravelry, seeing all the other colors, I could see how beautiful it was. STILL I was skeptical.

Then I read the reviews (there is a group on Ravelry dedicated JUST to this shawl it is so popular - and once I made one I realized WHY!) and saw that one of the biggest draws to making this shawl was that it hung so beautifully on the body! It did not need a pin to stay up like most other shawls. That is due to the shape it is - not a regular triangle.

But alas, this one being mine was not to be for long. :) It got passed down to AA who outgrew the first one I made her. This one is big enough to wrap around her and keep her WARM for a LONG time! She loves it and wears it often.

Little Miss MM

I finally finished the Cupcake Cradle Purse for MM.

I had seen a cradle purse (not even knowing what it was) at the local farmer's market a couple years ago. With the WONDERFUL gift of Ravelry, I was able to not only discover what it was called, but find several FREE patterns and variations. This one has been in My Ravelry Queue for quite some time to make for ONE of my girls (of course with MM being a little pinky girl, I was almost certain this would be her's).

And for those of you who remember the pillowcase nightgowns I made all my girls (THANK YOU AGAIN Rebecca!!!), yes that IS the SAME gown I made for MM. It is quite a bit shorter on her now (it comes to her knees instead of her ankles), but she still loves and treasures it (she even told me that I cannot sell it when she outgrows it because she wants to keep it to give to her daughters). :D

Of course she had to put her puppy in it instead of a doll! LOL!!

My Ravelry Link to this project

Current Web Readings

Ruffled Skirt Tutorial
WAY cute! (Although I am STILL waiting for your pillowcase skirt tutorial Rebecca - give her a little encouragement, will ya girls?!?! :D THIS is what we are missing out on?!?!?! :D

Homeschool For Free
This is a new facebook page where everyone can share HOW to homeschool for free (you won't find curriculum here, but instead find HOW to teach your girls spelling using the library or online programs). :D EVERYTHING is FREE!! :D

Homeschooling
I am a HUGE fan of the Bluedorn's!! While there are a LOT of homeschooling pages on facebook, THIS one is my favorite!

Current Web Readings

Finger Puppets
The name of this blog is DOLLAR STORE CRAFTS - need I say ANYMORE?? :D

Front Porch
When it comes to tight finances and food, what do you sacrifice? This is a GREAT and very timely article that is a must read.

Homemade Snack Food
I am thinking of trying my own jerky this year for JJ (and the girls too). And good NON-soy recipes?? :D

Living Frugal Life With Children
GREAT ideas! Most I knew (and currently do). And don't forget about the Green Project - a great way to keep busy enjoying God's creation! :D

Creation Club
LOVING this blog!!!!!!! And especially this part about The Creation Club! GREAT for all the nature stuff we will be doing this year (thanks to some AWESOME gifts we got from Aunt Katie!)

House Guidelines
The Duggar's Household Guidelines

Current Web Readings:

Clothes Pins
these are WAY cute!!!

Two Shirts
He who has two shirts, let him give one .... Are you able to give?

Complete Organizing Solutions
GREAT site!

Organizing Cash
A cloth envelope system! SO CUTE! And it solves the problem of the envelopes TEARING after so much use! I wonder if she has done a tutorial, or if there is a tutorial out there?? Anyone know? HT: Like Merchant Ships
P.S... this blog is GREAT! I am so loving it!!! take a peak around at more than just this post! :D

Parenting Follow Through
I love this! So many times I too wrestle with my laziness in inspecting something I have asked the kids to do. I ration is what they were to do that important. But I love how this author reminds us to look PAST WHAT they are to do to the character trait we are instilling in our children.

Mom's Smile
THIS IS PURE BRILLIANCE!!! It's not long, go and read it. Don't thank me. Thank the author!!! :D

Mom of Littles
Am I the LAST one to know that Crystal (Biblical Womanhood and Money Saving Mom) has another blog?