31 May 2010
There is a price for freedom.
The fight and battle for this very dear prize has taken the lives of many. But they gave their lives willingly, so that we could live free.
How thankful I am for all the men who have fought and died for our freedom!
29 May 2010
These elegant fabric flowers are very simple to make . . . and only take a few basic supplies. The finished product is delightfully lovely, and at times can look like a real flower! Every flower will turn out differently and that is part of the beauty!
If you haven’t used those tea lights in a while, now’s the time! I hope you enjoy making these as much as we do . . . below are instructions with pictures on how to make your own.
Supplies:
· Synthetic Silky Fabric
· Scissors
· Candle (preferably a tea light)
Additional supplies:
· Needle and Thread, Glue Dots or Glue Gun
· Buttons and/or Beads
Directions:
1. Cut circle patterns out of card stock.
Make the largest one’s diameter about half an inch larger than you want the diameter of the flower, as the petals will end up shrinking a bit. Create a few of these, lessening the diameter bit by bit so that the end result has smaller petals in the center and larger ones around the outside. You can also use a pattern here, which works very nice!
2. Trace around the pattern onto the silk fabric (using a pen).
You can also cut around the pattern and skip the drawing part, it just might not be as uniform . . . but with these, uniform isn’t necessary. And if it’s not uniform, it adds character. And character is good.
3. Take the scissors and cut out the circle and petals.
Cut just inside the drawn lines to make a circle out of the fabric. Carefully cut only about a third of the way into the circles to create the petals. You can do as many or few petals as you would like, or even add some variety to them. I cut five times, making five medium-sized petals. You can also round the corners of the petals, if you so desire.
4. Use the lit candle to melt and crinkle the edges.
Be very careful (please have adult supervision, this is rather dangerous), as it is very easy to get burnt. Hold the cut petals about one to two inches above the flame, making sure to keep the circle rotating so that it does not overheat and catch fire. Continue to gently melt the edges of each petal until you have gone all the way around. Do this with each layer.
5. Sew (or glue) the petal layers together.
Using a needle and thread, create a beginning knot and then sew the layers together. You can come up through the top because the center of the top layer can be covered by a button or bead. To finish the flower, sew (or glue) the button or bead on top.
If you would like to add extra stability to the flower, you can sew or glue a piece of felt onto the back (make sure it is large enough to give good stability, but small enough so that it won’t be seen from the top).
For a hair accessory, you can sew or glue the back of the flower to the back of a bobby pin, ponytail holder, or snap-clip.
For a broach, you can sew or glue them onto a broach pin or even a safety pin.
And the list could go on of how these flowers can add extra beauty!
What are some of your ideas?
And remember: every flower will turn out differently and that is part of the beauty!
(Thank you, Breezy (my artist sister), for being such a wonderful hair and hand model!)
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28 May 2010
My deepest apologies . . . if you have left me a comment and it did not appear on my blog.
If that happened, most likely I never even had the opportunity to read it. It seems that my spam-blocker has pretended that several (if not many) of your comments were spam. Of course they were not, but sometimes technology just doesn’t understand the difference.
Therefore, comments have disappeared as “spam” which were in all reality kind, encouraging comments from you, my dear readers. Hopefully this will clear up in the future (and I’ll do my best to keep it from happening again), but the ones blocked in the past are irretrievable.
Please do not think that I would take any of your sweet words for granted. I don’t.
Thank you for understanding!
P.S. The tutorial for the lovely fabric flowers should be up this weekend!
27 May 2010
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” —Philippians 4:4-8
22 May 2010
“One does not need to have a degree, nor even a tremendous talent, to enjoy and bring enjoyment to others through the medium of gardening. God’s planted garden was both pleasant to look at and its produce was good to eat! There should be something of both these aspects in every person’s garden.“
This reminds me of playing with a little friend and going to the garden to gather things for “tea” . . . in the garden we found the perfect ingredients for our teapot as well as some lovely flowers for decoration.
“There is great satisfaction in . . . restoring some old cast-off to a place of usefulness and beauty, or rescuing some discarded piece of wood, stone or metal from the dump and turning it into an object that has purpose and charm in your home.“
Just like making flowers out of fabric, we can create things and express the creativity that the Lord has given us. (By the way, the tutorial is coming next week!)
“We foolish mortals sometime live through years of not realizing how short life is, and that TODAY is our life.“
Today is our life. Let us spend every moment with wisdom and in the fear of the Lord!
“People so often look with longing into a daydream future, while ignoring the importance of the present.“
We must live everyday to its fullest in serving our God. We need to be passionate about tomorrow and today, so that we can be prepared for the future and not miss the opportunities that the Lord gives us here and now.
All italicized quotations are from the book “Hidden Art” by Edith Schaeffer.
18 May 2010
It included a tea party made perfect with leaves and flowers from the garden . . .
. . . building a tent . . .
. . . and plenty of smiles.
14 May 2010
These little fabric flowers add such a delightful touch to any lady’s attire! They are feminine, delicate, and oh-so-lovely!
One of the best things about them is that they are especially easy to create! You need only three main items to make them (+ some embellishments, for extra beauty). Would you care to guess the needed supplies?
Looking for a tutorial? It’s right here!
9 May 2010
“An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels.” – Proverbs 31:10
Her spiritual beauty and loveliness makes her diligently sought after, but only a chosen few actually succeed in their mission to find her. Yet those who do succeed realize that they did not find her, but were rather given a gift from the Lord.
The Lord took pleasure in saving my father and mother, by His amazing grace, and transformed them into the righteous man and the virtuous woman.
My mother is that rare and precious gift.
She is a godly wife, a wonderful mother and a precious friend. I do not know what I would do without her. She is there to encourage, to edify, to talk with and to listen, to teach and train, to laugh with, to cry with, to dream with, and to share my heart with. She is a faithful wife and mother who is always finding ways to encourage and bless her family.
I could not ask for a better mother. I consider myself blessed to be given such a wonderful and precious gift from the Lord: a god-fearing mother.
She is a gift I do not deserve. But in God’s perfect will, He has made her my mother and I her daughter. Thank you, Lord!
3 May 2010
Time flies by so quickly. And there are many, many battles to fight.
This world would like you to think it’s a playground. But it’s not. It’s a battleground. We don’t have time to waste our lives on frivolities (although sometimes we may try to convince ourselves that we do).
There is a long list of cultural battles that we can take part in overcoming for God’s glory, by His grace, and for the expansion of His kingdom. At times I am overwhelmed when thinking about the many things needing to be accomplished and taken captive to the obedience of Christ . . . especially when it seems there is so “little” time to do them all.
Yes, life is short, but . . .
God gave us twenty-four hour days for a reason. If I don’t think there’s enough time in a day, that problem lies with how I’m spending my time. It’s a battle we all face.
Maybe I’ve spent time doing something that really didn’t need to be done. Maybe I could’ve been doing something better with my time. Time is a blessed gift from the Lord that He has given us stewardship over. My lifetime is short and the time I have on this earth lasts just for the moment in all of eternity.
By God’s grace I can change and correct.
Correcting these areas is not always an easy task—it includes weeding out things in my life and schedule that are unnecessary and take up valuable time that can be used for working not just on the good things, but on the best things!
Would you like to join me?
