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Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a safe festive season! In the New Year 2008, be sure to:
LIE, CHEAT, DRINK, and STEAL more than you did in 2007.

*LIE* back and relax just a little more this new year. Let a little more
life happen to you without so much worry.

*CHEAT* failure. Don't be afraid to try something new because you think you
may fail. It is through failure that we learn the most valuable lessons.

*DRINK* from the fountain of knowledge. Many people around you have already
been down roads you are about to travel. Learn from mistakes they have made.

*STEAL* a little time for yourself with GOD. Everyday take a little more
time to develop a stronger relationship with the KING of Kings, Almighty God.

So, if you *lie, cheat, drink, and steal* just a little more this coming year, you will have a profitable and enjoyable year ahead

Hope you all have a wonderful year in 2008!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

A Christmas Spectacular!

Last Saturday night was our church's Women's Ministries annual Christmas party. Our ladies always look forward to this party each year, to celebrate the birth of our Savior, and to celebrate the love and friendship we have with one another because of Christ's love for us. Along with my friend Becky from the Pink Chandelier, and my friend Esther from Esther's House of Cards, we worked all week long to decorate and create a beautiful and elegant setting for this year's party. Here's a few pics of how it all turned out.
Remember a couple of months ago I posted about shopping at the Dollar Tree store and found all these great floral items that I was planning to use for making the decorations for this party. So these....


turned into this...
This was the completed project. I "stole" this idea from The ParTea Planner. When I saw it on her blog I thought is was so beautiful and spectacular that I had to do it for this party. Hubs helped engineer and construct the whole pole system going on here...
These were just some of the rest of the decorations in the room...




Remember in a couple of different previous posts, I talked about collecting these jars. Well, this is how I used them. We had several of our ladies bake their favorite cookie recipes and bring them to the party. We put them in these jars and had little bags available for everyone to take a few cookies home to share with their families...Ummm, good!
Then I made these little paper bag albums with all the recipes from the cookies the ladies made, one for each person...
Theses were just Christmas "words" that I printed in gold lettering then framed and made this display with gold tress from the 99 Cent Store...
After working so long and so hard on all these decorations, I didn't have it in me to do anything at my house this year. That's why I just put up the little tree that I showed you in the last post.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

It's A "Bah, humbug!" Sort of Day

Well, here it is, only 6 days before Christmas and I'm totally not ready for it to happen at all this year. It's not just a "Bah, Humbug!" sort of day, but it's been like that since Thanksgiving, which is when I normally kick into high gear and start the Christmas decorations and baking and shopping. Normally I decorate the entire house, inside and out, bake dozens of cookies, plan an elaborate dinner for Christmas day and wrap all the gifts in color-coordinated papers and ribbons and embellishments. Well, this year, none of that is happening. Today I put up a silver table-top tree with pink and blue decorations on it. My kid came home from school and said it looked like a baby shower tree. In all of my nearly 28 years of marriage, I have always had a tall green tree. In the early years we used to get a real tree, but for about the last 10 or 12 years I finally resorted to going artificial, although still green and full height of at least 7 feet. I shot my wad, so to speak, on our church Women's Ministries annual Christmas party. I planned the decorations for that for about the last 3 months now, and it all came together and turned out beautifully this past Saturday nite. So, for me, that was my big Christmas "hurrah", and at home, all we're getting is this little thing.
To me it looks like a Charlie Brown tree. At least it has some handmade ornaments on it that made probably about 15 years ago, and the silver tree, although brand new, is vintage looking. I remember as a kid my mother would always have a silver tree like this and I always hated it. It would get one color of bulbs on it (royal blue) and have one of those color wheels spinning four different colors on it as it went around. I always wanted to have a green tree, but we always had that silver thing. I suppose that's why when I got married I insisted that we have a green tree. Maybe instead of feeling "Bah, humbug!" this year, I'm feeling a little nostalgic. Nah, it's still "Bah Humbug!"

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Hope This Is You All!

Friday, November 30, 2007

It's CHOCOLATE!!!

I did it. I finally talked myself into getting a chocolate fountain. I could never justify the extravagance to myself until a few weeks ago when I went to the baby shower. They had a chocolate fountain there with all kinds of fruity goodness and other dipping pleasures and it was SOOOOOOOO good! That clinched it for me. That made me know that it absolutely was an extravagance that I owed to myself. So tonight, I took my 40% coupon to Michael's and bought that bad boy! Holds 4 lbs. of chocolate!

Sorry the picture is blurry, but I was so excited I was shaking when I took the picture! This is CHOCOLATE, baby, we're talkin' CHOCOLATE! All warm and gooey and dripping with sweet, wonderful, chocolatey goodness! We'll be using it at our Women's Fellowship Christmas party in two weeks. Can I wait that long? I'll try really hard, but I may have to try it out before, you know, just to make sure everything is in proper working order. If you've never tried one of these before, just let me tell you, it is wonderful. Even if you're not a choco-holic, this will corrupt you into becoming one! TTFN :-)

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Persistence Pays Off

You know, sometimes I get really ticked off at people who just seem to be stupid. Case in point, on Monday of this week, I went to Michael's because it was the last day to use a 50% off coupon and I wanted to buy this jar.

I went to the Michael's that is nearest my house. The only jar of this style and size they had left in the entire store had been filled with mini pinecones and other junk that I didn't want, and set at the end of the aisle for display purposes. The regular price for it is $29.99, so you can see why I wanted to use a 50% coupon. Well, I started to find some place to dump out the pinecone junk before going to the checkout. But then I thought the store might not appreciate me just dumping it somewhere, plus I'm prone to clumsiness, and figured I'd end up spilling it all over the floor. So I went up to the register, jar full of pinecones in tow. I stood in line for about 10 minutes, because this particular Michael's is so poorly managed that you always have to stand in long lines because no one works. I finally got up to the register, and I asked the girl working there if she could dump the stuff out, because I didn't want it. So she asked another worker, who said to call the store manager. So she calls the store manager and asks her if she can dump it out. The store manager apparantly told her No, if it was a display, then it's not for sale. So the girls repeats to me what the manager said. I said, But it's the last one you have. You can't sell it to me? So she calls the manager again, and again, the manager says it's not for sale. This fried me. How stupid is that? If it's the last one in the store, what good does it do to have it displayed? Displayed for what? So people like me can see what they can't purchase? A very dear friend of mine, who's now passed away, once told me that ignorance would be the very hardest thing to deal with in dealing with people. Boy, was she ever right about that! So, I took my coupon and left the store in a huff! I went to another Michael's, about 10 miles from my house, and they didn't have that jar, but did have another which I was willing to fork out the $15 bucks for, so I got it.
So today, I got another flyer in the mail from Michael's with another 50% coupon, but it was only good today from noon until 10:00 p.m. Off I go to another Michael's, a little closer to home, but still a putt, and they had NO JARS in any style or size or price range. I decided to go back to my original Michael's, and if they still had the jar I wanted, I would dump the stuff out of it myself, and go to the register and pay for it like a normal person. Not that I'm normal, mind you, but I would act like a normie for the sakc of GETTING MY JAR!!!! Guess what? When I walked to the aisle where the jars are kept, that jar was there, pinecone junk gone, but still showing the dusty residue where they had been, so I grabbed that baby and went like a mad woman to the register and bought it, using my coupon, before anybody had time to think about whether or not it was supposed to be for sale or "just on display". Mission accomplished. People who work in retail just need to learn not to mess with me. When I'm on a mission, I WILL succeed. Maybe later, rather than sooner, but I WILL succeed! TTNT, :=)

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

New Turkey Recipe

Your dinner will be the talk of the TOWN!!
You should try this! Sure to bring smiles from your guests!
Here is a new way to prepare your Thanksgiving Turkey.
1. Cut out aluminum foil in desired shapes.
2. Arrange the turkey in the roasting pan, position the foil carefully. (see picture)
3. Roast according to your own recipe and serve.
4. Watch your guests' faces...



May your stuffing be tasty, May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious, And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Christmas Crackers

Last year in December I catered a tea party for a friend's church's Women's Fellowship. I made Christmas Crackers filled with teacup and teapot shaped chocolates that I made, plus little packets of tea. They turned out so cute. So this year, for my church's Women's Fellowship Annual Christmas party, I decided to make the crackers again, only this time I decided to make them be the invitations to the party. So a couple of months ago, Esther and I started saving toilet paper rolls. Then I filled them with little bags of red and green peppermint candies plus a piece of chocolate (no candy stash is complete without chocolate), rolled them in red tissue paper, and tied the ends with gold ribbons.Next, I found these pretty decorated cards that I had left over from several years ago, so I printed all the invitation information on them, and then glued them around the red rolls. They turned out so cute, I think. So here's a close-up of one...And here's a shot of a couple more completed...
Since these will hand-delivered to each lady in our church, I don't have to worry about how to "mail" them.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

This Saturday I will be attending a baby shower for a young lady that I have known since she was just a baby herself. Her parents began attending our church when she was just about 11 months old. So I have literally watched her grow up and now she is about to become a mommy herself. I am so proud of her. She is sweet and beautiful, and very talented, as well. He dad is an associate of ours and has a Motorcycle Ministry. They do outreach services every Friday night at the church, and mom-to-be Kelly, along with her husband, plays guitar and leads worship for her dad's service every week.
I just finished putting together this diaper cake, with Winnie The Pooh "stuff" decorating it. I think these are becoming my "signature" gift for baby showers, as this is the fourth one I've made and given away since June.
Here's a shot of it before I packaged it all up. The little stuffed Pooh Bear on top is also musical. And he's holding a Pooh pacifier, and the teething ring in the center is also Classic Pooh.
I got this little laundry basket at WalMart, then filled it with all kinds of bathing/grooming stuff for baby. There is hooded bath towels, washcloths, baby wash, baby shampoo, lotion, powder, wipes, soap, manicure set, a snot-sucker, bibs, pacifiers, and a cute little pair of "slippers", plus a couple of receiving blankets.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Nobody Believes Old People...Everyone Thinks We Are Senile!

An elderly couple who were childhood sweethearts had married and settled down in their old neighborhood and are celebrating their sixtieth wedding anniversary. They walk down the street to their old school There, they hold hands as they find the old desk they'd shared and where he had carved "I love you, Sally."
On their way back home, a bag of money falls out of an armored car practically at their feet. She quickly picks it up, but they don't know what to do with it so they take it home. There, she counts the money, and it's fifty-thousand dollars.
The husband says, "We've got to give it back." She says, "Finders keepers." And she puts the money back in the bag and hides it up in their attic.
The next day, two FBI men are going door-to-door in the neighborhood looking for the money and show up at their home. They say, "Pardon me, but did either of you find any money that fell out of an armored car yesterday?"
She says, "No."
The husband says, "She's lying. She hid it up in the attic."
She says, "Don't believe him, he's getting senile."
But the agents sit the man down and begin to question him. One says, "Tell us the story from the beginning.
The old man says, "Well, when Sally and I were walking home from school yesterday..."
The FBI guy looks at his partner and says, "We're outta here..."

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Hands Reaching Across The World

Today was our monthly Women's Fellowship at church. This month, as we do each time this year, our focus/theme was World Missions. Our Ladies' group has "adopted" an orphanage in India, and we ask each of our ladies to support with $15 per month. The missionary has told us that amount will feed, clothe, house, and educate one child for one month. We have been supporting this orphanage for three years, now, and today we renewed our pledge for a fourth year. Here's some pics of the day. For the invitations, Esther made these little pocket envelopes with the invitation printed on the outside...
And she cut out the tiny little hands from scrapbook paper and glued them onto bookmarks she made, and slipped them inside the envelopes...We hand deliver these to each of our ladies during the Sunday morning service prior to our Saturday meeting.
Two of our ladies, Regina and Becky, do the decorating each month for our meeting, according to whatever our theme is for that month. Since this month was our Missions focus and our "hands" reaching across the world, they put up lots of maps surrounded by handprints, and a bulletin board of pictures from the orphanage our ladies support...


It's kind of hard to see, but last Sunday in children's church the kids made these banners with their handprints, and Regina & Becky used them as table runners...
I made these little napkin thingies...
And these little coasters...
For our food, we had an "international" potluck. There was enchiladas, taquitos, lasagna, chicken & veggies, yummy spinach. leek, & corn chowder, and my fave salad with cranberries & nuts mixed in with the greens, plus desserts. It definately was a feast!
I made these little handprint cookies...
One of the ladies put her handprint cookie inside her napkin thingy to take it home...
We also did a little craft of painting/decorating little wooden hands, then putting a clothespin and magnet on the back to put on our refrigerators. The clothespins hold twelve little envelopes for our monthly offerings to support the orphanage. I don't have any pics of these, because mine turned out ugly and I didn't get pics of anybody else's. So you'll just have to take my word for it! lol TTNT :)

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Color Is Good!

Yesterday I went to the doctor for my yearly physical. My blood pressure was high, my cholesterol was high, I'd gained some weight, and I didn't feel so hot. My doctor said eating right doesn't have to be complicated and it would solve my physical problems. He said just think in colors...Fill your plate with bright colors... greens, yellows, reds, etc.

I went right home and ate an entire bowl of :
And sure enough, I felt better immediately. I never knew eating right could be so easy.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Wedding Woes!

This past Saturday, I was the wedding coordinator for a wedding at my church. It was, how would one put it, different, to say the least. I was asked on Friday to put up some decorations. Quote: "If you have any flowers or anything, just throw them out there". Our church does have a wedding arch and white tuelle for draping from the pews along the center aisle. But I had no decorations for the arch, nor did I have any kind of color scheme information from the bride or groom. I was told that there would be only one attendant each for the bride and groom, and I knew that this wouldn't be a really formal wedding, so I put up the arch and went to Michaels' for some white silk florals and did these three arrangements for it.
This is the floral spray I did for the top of the wedding arch.
I made these little bouquets and put them on each side of the arch.
Here's the arch and surrounding greenery once I got it all decorated.
We have a lot of silk trees and plants in the church, so I pulled them around the arch and lit the trees with white mini christmas lights. It actually came together and looked pretty good. O, and when the groom arrived 20 minutes before the wedding time, he handed me a unity candle set, with one fat candle for the center and 2 tapers for the sides. I didn't know they were going to have it, and so at the very last minute we had to move the communion table up onto the stage and then I had to find candle holders for the candles. I was a bit flustered at this point, but, okay, this wasn't a major thing, so I could roll with it. Got it all set up and now we're ready to begin the wedding. Except, the bride hasn't arrived yet. She ended up being almost an hour late. Guests who had been there since about 15 minutes before the original start time were beginning to get very restless. Children were running amuck, and by this time, I was getting very upset. I was also informed at the last minute that there would be one person added to the bridal party. Okay, it's their wedding, if that's what they want, okay. Again, not that big of a deal, so I can deal. Finally the bride arrived, and we're ready to begin the wedding. As I'm opening the doors to the sanctuary to start the wedding party down the aisle, the bride's teenage daughter decideds that she wants to be in the wedding, too. So she and the extra "matron of honor" walked down the aisle together. So there ended up being a maid of honor and best man, a matron of honor, and a bridesmaid.
Well, finally we got everyone down the aisle, the ceremony was concluded, they took some pics and finally everyone was out of there! What a day! Here's a pic of the bride and groom...

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

84 Days 'Til Christmas!

I know it's only the beginning of October and everyone else is thinking about Halloween and Thanksgiving and all the Fall-ish decorations that go with this time of year. I like all that too, but I'm getting a jump on Christmas. Every year our Women's Fellowship at church has a Christmas party, and this year I'll be doing all the decorations for it. So I was on my way to Michael's cause I have a 40% coupon and they have a sale going on this week anyhow, and I decided to stop in at the Dollar Tree first. I haven't been there in a while, so imagine my surprise when I walked in and found they have begun stocking Christmas floral items!
I got these, which will be in bunches in vases sitting on the tables (each bunch has 6 flowers and I got 8 bunches)...
And these...they are like the kind you pay $4 - $5 each for at Michael's...
And these...
This ribbon is so pretty. The gold is actually a mesh, and the red has a brocade pattern in it. The foam rings are the perfect size to fit in the bowls to do the florals.
I got these at WalMart and I'll spray paint them gold. They will go into the floral arrangements, too.
I got these at the 99 cent store the other day. I'll spray paint them gold and do the florals in them.
These are the little napkin envelope thingies that I've been obsessed with making lately. These will also be for our Christmas party, with each containing a red napkin and gold eating utensils.
I can't for the life of me figure out why, but I have become obsessed with collecting these jars. I just think they're so beautiful, and all the different shapes and sizes look so great together. It is very unlike me to like things that are not symetrical, but no two of these are the same size or shape, and I just love the look of them grouped together.

Monday, October 1, 2007