Preparing for the Season

Yesterday was a special day for our family, it was our day to put up the tree. Now, in thirty five years, I cannot remember a single Christmas that we did not cut down our tree from a tree farm. But the past few years Matt and I have been beginning to ponder the idea of going to an artificial tree because of the growing cost to have a live tree. This year we had both come to the same conclusion and were finally at peace with letting go of tradition. When we approached the subject with the kids, there were mixed reactions. It was split, but the tears that came from the ones who couldn't bare the idea of not hunting down our tree echoed the wrestling Matt and I had gone through in our own hearts. Matt and I huddled up again to try and figure out how to approach this change. We decided to take a drive and talk it out, we also headed to 2 different places to just see if there were real trees for an affordable price. We thought maybe compromise on all of our parts may be the best solution, so we checked our local Menards to see what their precut trees were like. To our pleasant surprise, they were extremely affordable, less than half the cost of a tree farm. So we headed home to scoop up the kiddos. No one seemed to even mind the compromise of them being precut. And the funnier thing was that we could even afford my favorite kind of pine tree-a frasier fur which we have never had before.

We went out to lunch together, which is a real treat for all of us to sit down in a restaurant. We had a good time laughing together, and were treated with free peppermint milkshakes by the manager there which was just such an extra special gift from the Lord.

After lunch we returned home to prepare our snack food for the evening of decorating. This year I was amazed at how much we have grown, almost all of the kiddos made food, making it go so quickly and so smoothly, allowing Matt and I to spend time participating with the kids instead of being buried in the kitchen. We watched our favorite movie-White Christmas-and I could sing and the girls danced while putting ornaments on the tree. It was a magical night which ended with Noah's favorite part-setting up the train under the tree. We have made the old train chug through another year to everyone's delight.

After everyone had gone off to bed, Matt and I were going to watch a show together, but I ended up sick half way through it. My appetite has begun to fade the last few days and I of course was sensing a change due to this. I went straight to bed discouraged, fearing the morning. I had a restless night and woke this morning feeling it. But I got up, did my best to pull it together, Matt set half a bagel aside for me knowing that if I went too long without eating, it would cause more trouble, but as I started a load of laundry, the dog got to it first. By then I was really not feeling like eating anything anyways, but just as Matt was walking out the door, I had to make a dash to the bathroom. The tears just flooded my face as the morning sickness has started. Everyone just kind of stopped and quietly waited for me to come out knowing exactly what was going on. I laid down on the couch to try and gain some composure, Cole very sweetly brought me another bagel for me to attempt. I grabbed my phone to put some worship music on and brought this grief welling in me to the Lord. After resting a bit, and finally eating that bagel, I got up and slowly started back to my morning routine working hard to keep my mind on the Lord instead of allowing my mind to drift into frustration and fear. He is my strength and will be even when I may not be able to rise in the morning to the tasks of the day. Being in this journey again brings refining to my stubborn heart, and a brokenness from not being capable of doing it all myself.

I am up and about now, a bit slower than normal, but very thankful for the ability to rebound from this mornings rough patch.

A Few More Mittens...

I have been restless lately, not sleeping well at night. Which many of you know, while there are real down sides to this, there is always one up side. That means time to sew. Last night was no exception to this and I was able to get some mittens finished. Both of them, I absolutely love for different reasons. One is perfect for Christmas and the other was designed with a wedding in mind. Beautiful, good quality cream wool is hard for me to find, And actually, so is the dark kelly green in the Christmas mittens. So, these two pair of mittens are even more unique due to that.

Time to Start Fresh!!!

Today is the day to start again!!! Time to start sharing....and not worry about where to begin. So a few quick peeks-nothing out of the norm.

First-for my customers who like to check here for sales-I will try to begin daily updates again about each day's sale. TODAY! All bed linens are 20% off. I have recently added quite a bit of new bundles and yardages. Take a peek:)

Mittens have continued to keep me busy at the machine. And I never tire of them or finding "new" old wool sweaters! Here are just a few new pairs that I have made.

On a side note, over Christmas when we were all house bound with the flu-we worked on a project together. We made these mitten stands for drying our mittens. They have been a fun way to display my mittens as well.

Every one pitched in. It was fun to work together on a project.

I have some big news on the sewing front! Something I have longed for, for as long as I can remember has come to live in my studio!!! A SERGER!!!! Thanks to a very special woman from church and my sweet husband, I opened up a big box on Christmas that had my dream in it!! What an amazing treat to have this-it will so bless the work of my hands! I am still just so very overwhelmed with this gift, it is so beyond what I ever expected. Christmas break was pretty fun for the girls and I. I had just got back two of my machines from my Mr Fix It, so we had all four machines set up on a long table in the family room and my three girls and i sat at that table sewing for hours! Even our sweet little Bell just goes to town on my first sewing machine I ever bought. We get such a kick out it.

Barbie clothes were of top priority for the girls-I loved watching their little minds work!

Madison got her cast off!! And her wrist is in excellent condition! Yeah!!!

Last year Matt surprised me with a new set of cross country skiis for my birthday. Back before we were married, I used to cross country ski a lot. I absolutely loved it and moving up to MN for school was perfect for this! But after we got married and soon was expecting Cole, we needed to sell anything of value to survive and finish school! So parting with my skiis was a must-and being that I had an ever growing belly, I was not able to get out to ski very much anyways. But 14 years later, I was beginning to get an itch to start skiing again. And what a blessing to have places like "play it again sports" for the unathletic people who are not making a career out of it!! Well, snow here is not always reliable, so even though my birthday is in February, I didn't get to use them last year. But this past week I finally was able to get out to ski. Matt and Ellie came along with me just in case I broke my neck since it has been so long!!! But wow! I absolutely loved it and wish snow was year round! So we are hoping to get Matt a pair so we can take a few days away over our Anniversary to go skiing.

I know there is more to catch up on-but I need to get to school:) So, I will share more later today hopefully! May your day be rich with the Lord's blessing!

SHOP UPDATE FOR CHRISTMAS...

WELL, THIS CHRISTMAS WAS A BIT UNEXPECTED. A FEW DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS, MY HUSBAND FINALLY TALKED ME INTO GOING INTO THE DOCTOR. HE GRACIOUSLY TOOK ME IN AS MY FEVER WAS TOO DISTRACTING FOR ME TO DRIVE MYSELF. THE DOCTOR TOOK ONE LOOK AT ME AND SAID, THERE IS NO REASON TO CHECK ANYTHING UNTIL WE RUN A FLU TEST. SURE ENOUGH, IT CAME BACK POSITIVE AS THE TYPE"A" FLU-MEANING-HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS. SHE ALSO FOUND THAT I HAD A SINUS INFECTION AND BRONCHITIS ADDING TO THE MESS. AFTER MAKING THE DREADED PHONE CALLS TO FAMILY LETTING THEM KNOW WE WOULD NOT BE LEAVING HOME THIS CHRISTMAS, I GATHERED UP JUST ENOUGH STRENGTH TO BUNDLE UP, SCARF WRAPPED OVER MY FACE, TO MAKE ONE QUICK STOP TO FINISH PICKING UP THE LAST FEW GIFTS I NEEDED FOR MATT AND THE KIDS. I HAVE SINCE THEN, BEEN IN BED TRYING TO SLEEP THIS BUG AWAY. MY POOR LITTLE BELL HAS ALSO NOW CAUGHT IT, SO WE ARE COMISERATING TOGETHER. NOT EXACTLY THE CHRISTMAS WE HAD PLANNED, BUT CERTAINLY TRYING TO REMAIN THANKFUL IN BETWEEN THE MOMENTS OF DISAPPOINTMENT. WE ALL WAVED FROM THE FRONT WINDOW WHEN MOM AND DAD DROPPED OFF GIFTS FROM MY GRANDMA ON OUR DOORSTEP-SO WISHING WE COULD JUST CRACK OPEN THE DOOR AND SNAG A QUICK HUG AT LEAST. BUT THE DOC KINDLY SUGGESTED WE KEEP OUR DISTANCE TO KEEP OTHERS HEALTHY. WE LEARNED HOW TO "SKYPE" SO WE COULD VIDEO CHAT ON LINE TODAY WITH MY FOLKS, SISTER AND BROTHER IN LAW-I WAS THANKFUL FOR THE CONNECTION. WE ARE STILL UP IN THE AIR ABOUT WHEN WE WILL SEE OUR FAMILIES TO CELEBRATE.

I KNEW SOMETHING WAS UP TUESDAY NIGHT WHEN WE RETURNED HOME FROM SLEDDING IN THE BEAUTIFUL WINTER STORM WE WERE HAVING, BECAUSE I JUST COULD NOT GET MY HEART TO SLOW DOWN AND SURE ENOUGH, I WOKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WITH A NASTY FEVER. SO-I WAS KEEPING UP WITH ALL THE SHOP'S ORDERS UNITL WEDNESDAY, BUT I AM NOW GOING TO NEED TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE FACT THAT THERE WILL BE A BIT OF A DELAY IN GETTING THEM OUT. I AM HOPING TO SEND MOST TOMORROW, BUT ANY ITEMS MADE TO ORDER MAY TAKE ME A DAY OR TWO TO FINISH. I AM SORRY FOR THIS!! BUT I THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PATIENCE!! I HOPE EACH OF YOU HAD A BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS! WHAT A BLESSING TO HAVE A SAVIOR WHO CAME TO EARTH TO SAVE US!! BLESSINGS !!!

Enjoying the Winter Season!

There is something about the winter that even gives Cole the bug to create. He began on this rug almost a year ago and has picked it back up to finish. He had me hunt down jersey sheets for this one in blues, whites, greens and black. He has now finished the rug and it is in his room. I will have to post a picture later. It is the thickest, softest rug my feet have ever felt!

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Many of you have followed along the adventure we have had fitting 7 of us into a tiny old ranch style house. We have struggled with fitting in a dining space for us and I am always rearranging attempting to find a way to make it work! Having company is always difficult ad usually lands us moving furniture into the garage to fit everyone. Well this year, like every year, we moved our dining table out to the garage to put up a Christmas tree. We end up sitting on the couch for dinner, there is nowhere to have friends over, and we are squeezing past one another everyday in our normal activities. After a good friend and her kiddos left one afternoon, I was struggling with this again but came back to a promise. The Lord knows our needs and has given us all that we have, so I just need to figure out the best way to use it! So I worked a few things out on paper and shared the idea with Matt, and got to work. We decided after 6 years in this house, to let go of the idea that our living room has to be upstairs. I purged and rearranged the basement to prepare it for bring down our living room. With Matt's help then, we moved our entertainment center downstairs and brought the dining room table into what has always been our living room. We split up our couch and loveseat set-moving one of them downstairs. We had always hesitated in this because our basement is not finished-but we let go of the idea that it had to be "just right". This change and the comfort it has brought has been just about as exciting as a new house. The table is always ready for meals-there is plenty of room for all of us to sit and watch a movie together, and when friends come over, we are not crawling over each other to get from one place to another! We left a little TV upstairs for school and weather etc, but it is a new place for us to gather around a table now-so fun.
This is how the "living room" looks now.
This is how the "living room" looks now. And when the tree comes down, I am looking forward to creating a whole new little cozy corner in it's place!

This is our new family room in the basement-we love it!!

The girls and Noah slept downstairs around the tree to celebrate their first night of Christmas break.

We had a beautiful snow last night!
Bell fell asleep watching the snow last night.
The girls and I worked on the Christmas village under the tree and getting the train running more smoothly. Noah is loving it!
We went sledding last night in the crazy snow! The hill was pure ice under the snow which made us all a comedy act attempting to make our way up the hill!

SHOP UPDATE FOR CHRISTMAS...

A FEW LITTLE TIDBITS FOR THE SHOP...

TODAY ONLY(DEC11TH) THERE IS A SPECIAL SALE RUNNING. ANY ORDER OF $100 OR MORE WILL RECEIVE A 25% DISCOUNT. DOES NOT INCLUDE SHIPPING.

THERE IS ALSO A NORMAL WEEKEND SALE GOING ON OF 20% OFF OF YOUR PURCHASE. THESE DISCOUNTS CANNOT BE COMBINED.

I WILL BE SHIPPING OUT ALL ORDERS ON MONDAY THAT WERE PLACED THIS WEEKEND. THEY WILL GO PRIORITY TO INSURE ARRIVAL FOR CHRISTMAS.

I HOPE EVERYONE'S CHRISTMAS SEASON HAS BEEN A BLESSED ONE!

Preparing for the Season

Years past have come and gone in a blink, most decorating was done in a scurried pace or not done at all, hunting for gifts was bittersweet because we put them off and the rush of grumpy, greedy, or angry shoppers does not exactly inspire joy, there have been so many things we wanted to do at Christmas time but when it showed up we felt unprepared and rushed or the things we did were in a sense meaningless or just added "stuff", not reminding us of why we celebrate.

Four years ago, we went through a very difficult Christmas. I was pregnant with Noah and still very very sick. I was unable to do much preparing for the season. My mom and sister did most of my shopping for gifts, we did not attend most of the regular Christmas parties or get togethers, I had been unable to go to church at all, and we were unable to travel to visit family. I remember the night of our kid's Christmas concert, my nurse came over and spent the time with me while Matt attended the concert, I was so heartbroken that I could not make it, but I had just gotten my picc line removed because of complications and could not have the surgery to replace it until after the weekend, which left me unable to function not having the IV fluid and medication. Mary Beth, my nurse was working with me that evening to help me learn to put in my own catheter in my leg for the medication I was needing and could not keep down orally. I needed to change it every 12 hours from one leg to the other because the medication was so irritating to the tissue in my leg-the bruising was horrible and painful I remember. And this was one thing my husband could not do for me because he has a phobia of needles:) I remember even sending all the kids with my folks, over to my Grandma's without me and Matt stayed with me so I did not have to be alone on Christmas eve. It seemed like there was always this battle waging in my soul, every day decisions had to be made how to allow the kids as normal of a day, and yet somehow learn as a family how to cope with me being ill and certainly needing some interaction even when I was in bed.

But the following year felt like a liberation! I was completely healthy, we had this new little miracle in our lives that was worth every ounce of illness and struggle, and I lost a bit of sense when it came to the Christmas season. I think I was so set on making up for the year before, feeling I had been a disappointment, that I especially got lost in all plans on how to make that year wonderful! I remember being more disappointed that year after it was all over, than ever before. And that was where this season began to change for us. We finally began to "rest and reflect" so much more. My plans for Christmas, begin in January-so there is no more rush and missed reflection. I do love Christmas, the excitement, the cozy, the anticipation (hey-I still can't sleep the night before Christmas!) But I absolutely love how we stop and have the freedom to spend at least a whole month focused on the amazing sacrifice our God made by coming to earth as a baby! Seriously-it is breathtaking! And that is what we are getting better at as a family, attempting to walk through the season and depart form it feeling we did not squander the time on meaningless, unfulfilling things. Call me crazy, but I want to be satisfied when I begin my New Year! And things or perfect plans just aren't going to do it!

And that is why we actually begin early Nov in our decorating. We do want to enjoy the preparation but we do not want the preparation to take over as the purpose-does that make sense?

So with that, we began unpacking the Christmas decorations today, Christmas music and all:) I am having Thanksgiving here, and have enjoyed having the house decorated for that day which seems to compliment and begin the Christmas season so perfectly. What better way to begin Christmas than to start with a heart full of gratitude for the blessings from the Lord. We do a bit every day now. Today we decorated the smaller trees that we have in each room. Here are some of the pictures .

Cole and Madison worked on the tree for the kitchen as well as maybe working out those sibling squabbles too;)

Here is the kitchen tree finished. The kitchen just becomes all the better to bake in!

I was able to get the window lights up around the house while the kids worked on their trees.

Bell wanted to work on the tree by our front door. She hung the pretty "silver bells".

Madi pitched in to help her.

Joslyn got a bit anxious and forgot the lights-but the trees in the girl's room look lovely! We will just need to sneak the lights on later!

Cole helped Noah work on their tree. Berries and Bells for the boys.

And a red glow.....insisted on by Noah! He loves RED!

This tree was my project. it sits on a dresser in our dining nook of the living room. The bulbs are something I found for Christmas last year. They are beautifully hand painted with the 12 days of Christmas. Completely unique and amazing-I will have to get some close ups of them. They are my "treasure" because I found them in a big bag of messy broken ornaments at the thrift store for $.99. They were the only ornaments in the bag intact and spared from the dangers of the thrift store shelves-AND-all twelve were there! Even when I bought the bag(that you cannot open or they will not sell it to you) I figured that I would be able to get a few lovely ornaments out it, never did I expect to have the whole set in such beautiful condition! So, they have a tree of their own!

And Ellie, well she is just the icing on the cake, making winter seem all the cozier!

Matt came home from running some errands to find the house aglow with Christmas music on. he said, "Alright, winter will not be so bad. This is cozy." We all sat around the table tonight with a wonderful roast Matt had cooked today, and finished the night with hot cocoa and the beginning of our Christmas readings. It was a good day. I look forward to spending time dwelling on the amazing gift you have given to us, Jesus-yourself!

THE MANY SIDES OF LIFE...

So lovelies this is where I am going to begin, I am going to address the many sides of my life in hopes that I will connect with you in some way. We all wear so many hats and isn't that actually such a blessing!? What a wonderful gift to have such a variety in our lives. I think this will be the best way to tell my story over the last few months.

HOSTESS- This past Thanksgiving we were so excited to have Matt's family come and stay for a few days. I absolutely love having house guests! But as our family grew and our house shrunk, it can be a bit interesting:) Let's just say, I deeply appreciate having a family who loves us enough to put up with 11 of us sharing one bathroom, cozying up at the dinner table since we have no dining area or room, and bunking with the kids. It blesses me immensely to be able to host others in our home. I love the busy kitchen as we prepare the meal! Matt and I have set our hopes on taking down the wall between our kitchen and living room so that we are not so separated during the preparation of a meal. the kitchen is just too tiny to have everyone gathered around the table and since we do not get together often, it would be nice to have more time to connect as we work. So, we are praying about that. The picture is of how we manage everyone at dinner when we have guests. We haul out half of our furniture to the garage and bring in a long table to seat everyone. Hey it works! I have even heard my Grandma tell others "She certainly knows how to make great use of her small space":)

PAINTER~
I used to run out and buy a gallon of paint, paint a room, and have it all back together again in one day. But somewhere along the way, I began stalling and not making a decision on a new color for months. Where did the fear come from! Although maybe it is more that I have way too many styles I like, some real furniture to consider and a whole lot more kiddos than I did in those days! Paint used to be the ONLY decoration:)Anyways! I finally made a decision to paint our living room in a burnt orange-whoa-and that was a complete flip from the shabby chic robin's egg it was for the last 3 years! But that color just popped in my mind and I couldn't get rid of it! So, we bought the paint one weekend before Thanksgiving and started bright and early Saturday morning. I do not think I have ever experienced such terror as I painted.Oh my goodness~ I actually contemplated sitting down in the middle of the floor to cry.And I just about quit within the first hour. It was my husband , who originally wasn't too sure of the color but trusted me(what was he thinking!),that ended up being the one who said-"I REALLY LIKE IT, LET'S KEEP GOING!" I cannot tell you how heavy that paint brush felt and how much I was grieving my pretty blue walls! Usually I am just drooling over a new color I am putting up, so this was definitely an interesting experience. I did know, it is only paint and can be redone, but I think I was mad that it would be wasted time. there are so many more important things to do with my time than to repaint over a bad decision! Some friends even dropped by unexpected and I almost considered pawning off the color decision onto Matt-NICE, I KNOW! haha. But-we did finish, and it did take awhile, especially when halloween was right around the corner and all I could see was a big jacolantern when I looked at my walls, but I have really grown to love it-honestly. it ended up being a good change and seemed to warm the house for Christmas. Here are a few pics of the change.

THIS WAS BEFORE...

THIS WAS AFTER...
My cozy booknook.....and my desk
AND HERE WAS OUR CHRISTMAS LOOK...



MAMA...OH, THIS ONE I LOVE!!!

HERE ARE MY BOYS ON OUR 12 HOUR ROAD TRIP BACK FROM MINNESOTA. WHAT A PAIR THEY ARE.
BELL LOVES THIS TUBE!!! JUST TRY AND TAKE A TURN AND IT WILL CRUSH HER. SLEDDING AT MOM AND DAD'S IN MN AT CHRISTMAS. WE SCRAMBLED TO GET ON THE ROAD BRIGHT AND EARLY FOR OUR 12 HOUR ROAD TRIP BECAUSE A STORM WAS ACOMING! AND SURE ENOUGH WE MADE IT JUST AS THE SNOW STORM HIT AND CONTINUED FOR THE NEXT 3 DAYS! IT WAS GORGEOUS! PERFECT TIME TO BE SNOWED IN!
RUN LIKE THE WIND JOSIE GIRL....



AH PEACE!
MY MADI GIRL...

MY GIRLS IN THEIR CHRISTMAS JAMMIES-THEY ARE A TRADITION IN OUR HOUSE. THEY STILL LIKE HAVING MATCHING ONES, WONDER WHEN THAT WILL CHANGE. I WILL SOAK IT IN WHILE I CAN.

WE SURPRISED THE KIDS LATE ONE NIGHT AND GOT THEM OUT OF BED TO JUMP IN THE CAR AND GO SEE THE LIGHTS. ANOTHER FUN TRADITION.

THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN LAYING UNDER THE TREE AT CHRISTMAS. MATT STILL HAS VIVID MEMORIES OF FALLING ASLEEP UNDER THE TREE AS A KID. SO IT IS FUN TO SEE THE KIDS IN THEIR DREAMY STATE.
MY WEE ONES...THE TIME IS PASSING BY AND I JUST WANT TO SLOW IT DOWN. NOAH IS JUST ABOUT 3, IT IS A BIT HARD TO BE AT THE PLACE OF NO BABIES IN OUR HOME. THIS IS A FIRST FOR US. AFTER 5 KIDS IN A 9 YEAR SPAN, DIAPERS AND CRIBS AND ROCKING TO SLEEP, HAS BEEN A NORM, ONE THAT I AM DEEPLY FOND OF. I DO NOT MIND IT A BIT. I WOULD BE EX STATIC TO FIND OUT WE WERE EXPECTING, AND THEN I WOULD CRY KNOWING THE DIFFICULTY THE PREGNANCY WAS GOING TO BRING:) MY PREGNANCY WITH NOAH WAS SO VERY HARD, HARDER THAN THE ONES BEFORE. 6 MONTHS IN BED BECAUSE I WAS SO SICK AND HAD NO STRENGTH, 3 SURGERIES FOR PIC LINES TO MY HEART FOR 24 HOUR IV FLUID, A HOME NURSE TO MONITOR ALL THE MEDICAL SUPPLIES, PIC LINE, BABIES HEALTH AND MEDICATION TO GET NOAH AND I THROUGH IT, LONELINESS BEYOND WORDS, NEVER ENDING VOMITING-SERIOUSLY, AND THEN MIGRAINES. BUT! IF IT MEANT ANOTHER LITTLE LIFE IN OUR HOME-I AM THERE! I TRUST THE LORD AND HAVE SEEN THE MIRACLES OF EACH OF MY LOVELIES THAT HE CREATED AND PLANNED.


QUILT LOVER~

I have loved quilting for as long as i have been working with fabrics. All kinds. Each year I try to find one antique quilt to add to my collection. This year i found my quilt at a little antique/thrift store up in door county when Matt and i went away for our 13th anniversary. It was a white quilt with vintage fabrics. Simple and so charming. Well i did the unthinkable to most quilt collectors, I cut it up!! I just did not want to leave it folded on a shelf, i wanted to look at it every day! What i did was cut it in half and made it into curtains. Originally i had them in my living room but while i loved the look at night of them, I hated them during the day while the sun shown in. See, the quilt is white and old, which completely charmed me until the sun shown through it and spotlighted all it's flaws, stains, etc and made the colors look wrong. So , I put my old curtains back up in the living room and put the quilt up in my bedroom which i have been attempting to find and idea for anyways. I am in love with the result! The curtains are on the side of the window so the sunlight will not fade it or make it look funky. The charm me every time I walk in the room. my other window will have to wait for inspiration, but for now i like the uniqueness of each window, not everything has to match.
CREATOR~
Here are a few things I have been entertaining my creative side with over the past few months....

I just could not pass this one up at Christmas. I found this T-shirt and turned it into a throw pillow for my baby sister who's sense of humor is something I truly enjoy!
Many of you know that I LOVE working with reclaimed wool. I am always on the hunt for wool sweaters that I can felt into fabric. I began making coffee cozies this year for stocking stuffers and have now added them to the shop. These little things are ADDICTIVE! I could almost start drinking coffee just so I could use them!
There are alot in the shop for Valentine's Day too.
I began making wool throw pillows at Christmas for gifts and decided to do some for Valentine's day for the shop.


So what happens when your hobby turns into your job? Naturally you pick up a new hobby! I was so excited to open up Amanda' Soule's books for Christmas from my sweetie. And after reading through them over our Christmas break, I decided to begin working on a braided rug for our living room. My mom makes the most gorgeous crocheted rag rugs and my son does as well, but I have not taken the time to learn to crochet and actually fear learning a bit because I already have so many projects going on! But I thought doing a braided rug would be good for me. I need something to do with my hands when I sit down. The kids always wish I would sit still and watch a movie with them, but I cannot sit still very long. This is my solution. I am using a stack of jersey cotton fabric and also have found that jersey sheets work fabulous. Here is the start of it....
I did actually find that those large balls of fabric were too difficult to braid with, I would need to take up juggling as well. So I am working in smaller strips now. My Coleman has taken the balls and started his own rug and plans on making it to fit his room. He is already way ahead of me!! The jersey fabric goes a long way! I did find that the hand stitching is a bit difficult on my hands but I can do it on and off throughout the day.


Not only do I love wool sweaters, I love working with wool skirts and suit coats. I have used them before for iPOD cozies and such, but I have begun using them for messenger bags as well. I did this one for one of our sweet students that works with our Josie Bug at church.

THRIFTER~

i FOUND SOME VERY FUN NEW VINTAGE CLOTHING FOR THE SHOP .
THIS IS THE CUTEST WOOL TOP EVER! AND IT IS STILL AVAILABLE IN THE SHOP!
AND THIS CUTE SUNDRESS IN TIME FOR SUMMER

I ALSO FOUND THIS CHARMING VINTAGE BLANKET. IT HAS A PRIMITIVE PRINT ON IT AND MAKES THE MOST LOVELY BED THROW. IT IS ALL COTTON AND HAS BEEN HAND QUILTED. IT IS ALSO IN THE SHOP.
NOW THIS IS A TREASURE I FOUND FOR US AND I AM JSUT SO THANKFUL FOR THIS. FOR 2 YEARS, MATT AND I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO FIND A TV CABINET FOR OUR LIVING ROOM, SOMETHING THAT WE COULD CLOSE THE TV AWAY. AND OF COURSE, IT HAD TO BE EXTREMELY INEXPENSIVE. IT HAS TO HAVE CHARM, FIT EVERYTHING, BE FOUND AT A TIME THAT WE COULD TRANSPORT IT,ETC ETC-NOT TOO MANY REQUIREMENTS RIGHT? WELL, LIKE I SAID, IT TOOK 2 YEARS AND IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH WAITING! I FOUND THIS WARDROBE FOR $25.00. ORIGINALLY I THOUGHT I WOULD PAINT IT, BUT ONCE WE BROUGHT IT IN THE ROOM, WE REALIZED HOW NICELY IT MATCHED OUR OTHER FURNTIURE. THANKYOU LORD SO MUCH! THE ONLY HARD THING FOR US WAS PUTTING EVERYTHING IN IT INSTEAD OF THE KIDS USING IT TO GET TO NARNIA:)

LOVER OF JESUS....

I Have probably shared this before. I have really been challenged by john Piper. Whether it is a book he has written or a conference i have sat through. It is a challenge to really understand my purpose in life. And I have come to firmly believe my purpose is to bring glory to God. Matt shared a video with me recently that really hit home with things I have laid witness to this past month. An 11 year old little boy from our church died after falling through the ice while walking his dog. You may have even seen this on the news. Ryan was a boy full of life and he just loved people. I watched his mother attempt to grasp the fact that he was gone during his funeral. And as we drove to the burial I struggled to understand how a mother closes that tiny coffin and says goodbye to their child and continues to still breathe. I have cried to the Lord because is there anything else to do!? No words can soothe such a deep loss, every minute seems an eternity. We were just not meant to experience such loss, the Lord never intended us for that and that is why we need Him so desperately during these times! Is it not better to walk through it with Him than to go it alone? This clip from John Piper is something I long for. Will I bring Him glory no matter what happens in my life? It is a tough question. So when you see this video, you will understand why it hit home so closely. HERE IS THE LINK
And with that I will close my friends...