Whatever

 Chapel of the Transfiguration, Teton National Park

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Colossians 3:17

Love Never Fails Valentine Box

I found this vintage wooden recipe box at the thrift store awhile ago.  And it languished about before until I could decide what to do with it ;) 

I had planned to use it to display some seasonal  decor and finally decided on a Valentine theme.   I left the lid open and put everything in the area where recipe cards would have gone. 

The hearts are sewn from cotton fabric.  After turning right side out and stuffing with poly fill, I hand stitched a smaller heart to the front and then embellished with bits of lace, old buttons, rusty safety pins and rolled felt roses. 

The love bird is my favorite!  I drew him like a hundred times before I got the pattern right.  He’s holding a chocolate brown crochet heart in his beak that has a vintage key pinned to it. 

The tag is tea stained and stamped with “Love Never Fails” from 1Corinthians 13:8.  I put another crochet heart on it and then pinned it to one of the bigger hearts. 

Tucked them all into the box along with some greenery and berries, then tied a strip of red fabric around the box. . .  Now I can’t wait to start decorating for Valentine’s Day!

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The prize

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

1 Corinthians 9:24 (NLT)

A month of snowmen

Seems like time is slipping by as quickly as it did in December.  Before January slips completely away and I decorate for Valentine’s Day, I wanted to be sure to share my Winter Decorating with you.

Our wintry weather is only beginning in January and I like to devote the month to snow and snowmen. 

I left the Christmas garland over my red hutch.  I like the twinkle of the white lights at night. Then added some snowflakes, snowmen and icicles: 

The rag snowman garland hangs from the peg shelf.  

Red homespun stars and a snowman sit in a paper mache light box in this little nook.  Again - love happy white lights in the winter evenings :) 

All the glassware in this centerpiece is from either a thrift store or the Dollar Tree and glued together with E6000.  
 

I made the snowballs by smearing joint compound onto styrofoam balls.  When they dry, paint them white and sprinkle with glitter while the paint is still damp. 

And finally – just in case you don’t know what snowflakes are made of :)  

How do you decorate for winter?

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Cheater Phillies

Simple and easy… what could be better :)

Cheese And Roast Beef Sandwiches

1 tablespoon butter 
1 cup thinly sliced onions
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 (10 oz) can French onion soup, undiluted, or 1 can beef broth
1 lb thinly sliced roast beef
4-6 hoagie or sub rolls, split
4-6 slices provolone or Swiss cheese

• In skillet, melt butter; add onions and mushrooms.  Cook until tender.
• Add soup; bring to a boil. 
• Gently stir in roast beef and allow to heat through; remove from heat.
• Divide beef and onions among 4-6 rolls.
• Top each with a slice of cheese.
• Place under broiler until cheese melts.
• Serve remaining broth for dipping.

If you’re in a hurry or have onion/mushroom haters, they may be omitted without affecting the yumminess.  Simply skip the first step in the recipe. 

We always use beef broth instead of onion soup and find this makes at least 6 sandwiches for us.

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Oh my soul

Psalm 103

Of David.

¹ Praise the LORD, my soul;
   all my inmost being, praise his holy name.                
² Praise the LORD, my soul,
   and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
   and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
   and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

A good mail day

Looking through a few seed catalogs helps me like January just a teensy tiny bit more:     

They offer hope that one day. 

One.Day. 

The temperature will indeed rise above 30. 

Before July.  (Please.Please.Please.)

Amen.

Jambalaya

We love making jambalaya as our new year’s treat.  It’s a yummy one pot meal that is customizable to our family’s tastes. 

Mainly.  I’m the only one who likes shrimp.  So we leave out the shrimp.  Still yummy :)  Feel free to add or subtract ingredients. 

Jambalaya
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced (or chopped if you prefer)
1-2 bell peppers, chopped
2 tablespoons margarine or butter

Place above ingredients in a skillet and cook until vegetables are tender.  

 Add:  
1 pound smoked sausage, sliced
1 cup cooked, cubed chicken
1 can Rotel type tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 cups chicken broth (or 2 cans)
Salt/pepper to taste

Cook slowly, at least 45 minutes.  Can also transfer to a crock pot for all day slow cooking. 

Before serving: 
The original recipe said to add 2 cups instant rice and let stand about 15 minutes.  

I don’t ever have the instant kind, so I cook 2 cups regular rice the traditional way and mix it all together before serving. 

If you do add shrimp to yours, add in the last 10 minutes of simmering time, so it won’t be overcooked. 

Enjoy the tasty. 

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Diligence

In this new year I want my family to give our best in all we do… at homeschool, work, sports or chores… we want to give our best effort, as unto the Lord.

Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. 

1 Timothy 4:15 (NLT) 

The cake that became a quilt

Once upon a time… I happened upon THIS fantabulous cake. 

And: Instead of cake, my brain said quilt.  A rag quilt.  For Nolan’s birthday.

(He loves Spiderman)

(And Batman)

(And approximately 17,642 other super heroes whose names I never manage to keep straight)

 

So I copied redesigned the Spiderman cake into a rag quilt appliqué.

And surrounded him with red and blue rag quilt squares. 

 

I’m not going to give you a full tutorial, cuz there are lots of really good ones already out there in blog land. 

Like HERE.  Or HERE. 

I do love some really fluffy seam allowances.  So to that end, I cut my squares much bigger than most tutorials - 9.5”, with a 1.5” seam allowance when sewing them together. 

The center square is 16” x  21.5” before sewing.

Couldn’t forget a new Spidey pillowcase made from THIS tutorial on Made  :)

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