Candle Stick Holders

 I love candles. Every time I visit my local secondhand store I always check for some cool candlestick holders. They sell them for about 75 cents each. I finally decided to do something with my little stash.

 I started with a can of flat black spray paint and an old towel.

Sprayed a few layers and that was it! Some of the holders were wood and some were ceramic. Both did really well with the spray paint.

 Beauty for my table.

That same day I happened to go back to that secondhand store and I scored one more holder. So now I have an even six.

I think it would be cool to get a bunch more and do some of them in a shiny black. I am going to need a bigger dinner table if I get anymore though.

Sewing Machine Cozy

My mother-in-law bought this beautiful fabric for me last year so that I could make myself a sewing machine cover. I found several designs online and then decided to just make up my own. Well then the project sat around until I saw this cute idea.

I didn't actually follow the directions since it looked pretty straight forward and I was starting with pre-quilted fabric anyway. I think I started with about 1/2 yard of this fabric from JoAnns, cut out a rectangle, sewed exactly 3 yards of bias tape around the edges, and attached some green ribbon for ties. I meant to attach the ties underneath the bias tape, but got carried away with sewing and forgot. I ended up just sewing the ties directly to the bias tape afterwards with a zigzag stitch.

I love how it turned out. So easy. It is already brightening up my dark sewing room.

Feeling Renewed

There's something about fall. I get giddy every year just thinking about this special time of year. I feel renewed. I feel energetic and ready to just do more. I get the itch to craft, fill my freezer full of food, and make warm things for my family to wear. This year has been no different. I have already crocheted several hats and completed some projects I had been putting off.

One of my first projects was something to beautify my front door.

I started with a straw wreath from JoAnn's for less than $3. I left the plastic wrap on the wreath and then covered it with strips of muslin about 3 inches thick. I didn't tie or glue anything. Just kept wrapping and tucking the ends under itself. Then I ripped up some old t-shirts and hot glued together the rosettes in random sizes. I used one little pin inserted in the middle of each of them to secure to the wreath so that it would be easy to change up with the different seasons.

The only thing I bought was the wreath (I'm trying to use up my mountain of crafting supplies) and the whole project was so quick and easy to do even with the distraction of the little one.

I am so glad it is fall.

What I'm Reading

God Gave Us Two

by Lisa Tawn Bergren

God Gave Us Two is a children’s book meant to help the first child in a family understand why his/her parents are having a second child. I like the idea of having books around to help my own first child handle the uncertainties that come with a new baby on the way, but I didn’t necessarily like how this book went about it. The main character brought up a lot of insecurities and worries which may come with having a new sibling join the family, but I feel it would be more productive to just focus on all the joys of a new baby rather than addressing all of the possible negative feelings. I also thought the wording was just plain awkward in many places. I did really enjoy the beautiful illustrations the book had to offer though.

***I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

What I'm Reading

The Bridge of Peace

It took me awhile to get into this story mainly because I was so confused at all the character names being thrown at me from the very beginning. Only later did I realize that The Bridge of Peace is the second in a series and that also there is a handy little character glossary in the back of the book. Once I was able to get into the story and get a grip on who each of the characters were, I really started to enjoy the plot. By the end of the novel I surprised myself with how much I actually was enjoying it and couldn't put it down until I had finished it completely.

The novel is not mainly about one Amish school teacher as I had previously thought given the description; it is about a whole community of Amish people and all of the complicated relationships that go into a tight-knit community such as this one. Because of this storyline, Woodsmall was able to delve into all of the interesting parts of human emotion: hope, despair, love, friendship, hatred, even psychopathy.

This was a great "feel good" novel. One that brought me up, down, and back up again. I can't wait to go back and read The Hope of Refuge and then to read the third in the series when it comes out this fall

***I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

a Dog Pillow

My dog has this terrible bed we bought for her after we first got her. And she loves it. I do not. It is brown and lifeless and never looks clean. We also had this HUGE cuddle bag I bought my hubby secondhand for really cheap made out of foam bits...

Big huh? She also loved that bag. But it turned out way too big to fit into our apartment and so we decided to dismantle it. Most of the foam we threw away, but a lot of it we kept for ourselves in trash bags. And that eight foot long cuddle bag became a perfect sized pillow for our little puppy.

I made this pillow by first sewing a simple square pillow out of a cheap sheet and filled it with the foam. Then I sewed an envelope pillow using the fabric from the original cuddle bag. I wanted it to be easily removed for washing and that fabric is great because it really is heavy duty and cleans beautifully. And if ever I get tired of the fabric I'll just make another cover for the pillow. easy peasy. And almost completely free (I think I spent 3 dollars for the sheet at walmart and didn't even use half of the material).

And you know what? She loves it just as much as the ugly one.

Indoor Frisbees

What to make for a cousins gift exchange for my five-year-old nephew for under $5? Why not some fabric frisbees?! Genius. These were so quick to make and yes, they actually do fly. It's a good thing too because I did not have a backup plan.

**About the pattern: I played around with the stabilizing stitch in the middle and instead of only doing the circle, I also tried a spiral and a star design. In the end I think the circle design was probably best because the more stitching I did in the middle, the wonkier the entire shape of the frisbee became. It is nice to mix things up a little though.

Turkey Divan

Mix the following ingredients:

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. lemon juice

Set mixture aside.

Cook and drain 32 ounce package frozen broccoli

Place in flat dish (one 10x14 or two 9x9)

Top with one package (2 lbs.) sliced and baked turkey loaf or left over turkey

than top with soup mixture

than top with buttered bread crumbs (I rip up a couple of slices of bread and mix it with about 1/2 a stick of melted butter)

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Serves about 8

Here's the turkey I use. It comes in white meat or white and dark meat. Either one is fine to use. In Walmart you can find it in the open-air freezers kind of in the middle of the hallway. (Does that make any sense?)

I stretched this recipe to make 3 dishes in disposable, aluminum containers about 8x8 each. It was a stretch, but still works and I got one more meal for my money.

*To prepare in order to freeze, I followed the directions up until you put on the bread crumbs and I froze it like that, uncooked. On the day I want to use this for supper, I will thaw it out in the refrigerator and top with the bread crumbs right before cooking. Cook as directed.

*If you are going to half this recipe, just use one can of cream of chicken soup instead of both soups.

This is SO good.