Felt Flower Rosette Headbands {& BFFs}

My daughter has a friend who is truly her BFF. And her mom just so happens to be my BFF! How neat is that? Well, soon it's little BFFs birthday. The four of us will be together the weekend before her birthday so I thought it would be neat if the girls dressed alike. (My daughter is 8 & her BFF is turning 9.) I found the shirts at Walmart. Yes, I said Walmart!! (Love that place, much to my hubby's dismay.) I wanted to make something to match the shirts & just started playing around. Here is what I came up with.

 I used the tutorial for felt flower rosettes I found at Little Things Bring Smiles.

For each headband I made 1 large rosette & 4 small rosettes. The rosettes were then hot glued onto the headband. I cut a rectangle shape of felt to put on the underside of it all & hot glued it in place so that the felt is between the wearer's head & the headband. (Forgot to take a pic of that. Sorry!) Then I trimmed the excess felt from the underside to the shape of the rosette placement. Easy & pretty quick, too!

(I am by no means a professional crafter or "sentence worder", so I hope the above is understandable!) 

I LOVE PINTEREST!!!!!! Wow! So many great ideas all in one place!!!! Okay, enough swooning. I wanted to show you a few of the things I've pinned.

This rubber mat turned elegant wall decor is from Salvage Dior.

I love this idea from Two Girlz Stuff. I plan to do this in my bedroom!

My kids would love this kitchen from Art 4 Little Hands.

What a super cute wreath for the kitchen at Christmas from Better Homes & Gardens!



Monday Munchies { Easy Chili }

When the weather turns cooler and the days get shorter, I love to warm up my tummy with this delicious chili. What makes it even better is that it's super-duper easy!!!

Easy Chili

1 lb. ground beef

3 cans chili beans

3 cans chili ready tomatoes

2 packets mild (or hot) chili seasoning

Brown meat. Drain. Put all ingredients into a large sauce pan. When you add the beans & tomatoes, fill each can about half way with water to make sure you get all the sauce in your chili. Add to chili. Bring to a boil on medium heat & boil for about 5 minutes.

Delicious served with shredded cheese, a "Dollop of Daisy" (sour cream), and scoops Tortilla chips!

Crafty

See what I did today?

Felt Flower Brooches!!

I have been looking for a red flower brooch & nothing I saw really satisfied me. To be honest, I'm not totally sure about these. I like the first one better than the second, but not sure. What do you think? Please comment & let me know.



Monday Munchies { Poppy Seed Chicken }

This recipe is from Olivia at Livi's Lane. I love it, my kiddies love it, my hubby loves it! A definite keeper!

Poppy Seed Chicken

4 large chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

16 oz. sour cream

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1 stick butter, melted

2 tsp. poppy seeds

1 sleeve Ritz or Clubhouse crackers

Shred boiled chicken, put in 9 x 13 baking dish. Mix together soup, soup cream, & 1 tsp poppy seeds. Mix with chicken. Add salt & pepper to taste. Crumble crackers & mix with melted butter. Spread over chicken mixture. Sprinkle with remaining poppy seeds. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Great served with steamed broccoli!

11 Years

11 years. Where has the time gone? It doesn't seem like it's been that long! 11 years ago today one of the best things of my life happened to me. Andrew Smith promised before God to love me all the days of my life. I became Mrs. Andrew Smith. I've never regreted it. Sure, we've had our tiffs & arguements. There've been many times when apologies have had to be made. But I love him so much more today that I did 11 years ago! I didn't think it was possible to love him more when I married him! He is surely my gift from Heaven! I love you, Andrew!!!

Fat? What fat?



Washington, D.C.

What a great time we had in our Nation's capitol! The leaves were already turning & the air was crisp. We did anything but relax, tho! D.C. is BUSY!! We walked & walked!  So many people crammed in such a small city. Well, small for all that's there. We didn't get to see or do even 1/4 of what we wanted to see & do. There's not enough hours in 2 days. (Or enough energy!)

 The Washington Monument

 United Stated Capitol

 View from the Capitol

 Praying at the Capitol

The White House

Nathanael wanted a picture with the Secret Service Policeman.

Guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

October Book Selection

The Book Club selection for October

"With Endless Sight" by Allison Pittman



Book Club Meeting ~ Unlocked

I loved this book! Thanks, Livi's Lane, for suggesting it.

This book made me really think about how easy it is to judge another person by their appearance, the way they talk, etc. God made each and every one of us "special"! He sees the end of the road and all the curves and tunnels in between. And, like Holden, even when we can't express ourselves, He already knows. There have been times when things had me so bothered that when I went to pray, I didn't even know how to tell God! I'm so glad I didn't have to. He could already see my heart and the burden that had it so heavy. What an awesome God we serve!

Discussion Questions

1. Do you know anyone on the autism spectrum? Tell us about that person and what you have learned from them.

2. What did you learn about autism by reading this book?

3. Holden's father left his family to work on a fishing boat in Alaska. Why do you think he did that? Have you ever ran or wanted to run from a situation?

4. Suzanne and Randy pulled away from the Harris family after Holden's diagnosis of autism. Have you seen a handicap or disorder seperate friends before?

5. What did you learn from the friendship between Tracy and Suzanne?

6. Have you ever had a broken friendship? What did you learn from the situation? Was there ever resolution?

7. Michael Schwartz was a quiet kid who didn't fit in the way the popular kids did. Do you know anybody like Michael? Did you befriend them? Why or why not?

8. What did you learn from the character of Michael Schwartz?

9. Why do you think people bully other people?

10. What did you learn from the character of Ella?

11. Did Holden's story give you hope for your own life or make you feel hopeful for someone you love? Did it affect your level of faith?



Leave your answers to these questions and any thoughts you have about the book in the comments. 

Rolled Fabric Flowers

I made Abby a couple of jumpers a couple of weeks ago and wanted to make some hair do-dads to match. I saw these EASY rolled fabric flowers on several different blogs. Sugar Bee Crafts has a tutorial. They really are so easy! So I finally got busy making some things for Abby.

Love em!!!

Fall Wreath

A few posts back I shared a photo of a wreath I saw over at In Between Laundry. It looked so easy! Guess what? It was!!! So here's my version.



Happy Fall, Ya'll!!

Fall is finally here! Well, I guess "Autumn" is the proper word, but I ain't proper! ; ) I just love Fall, and nothing says fall to me like pumpkins. Love em! So today I decided that it was time to make some Pumpkin Bread. Yum!!! The smell as it bakes is just as yummy as it tastes, too.

 Pumpkin Bread

 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin

1 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

4 large eggs

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 cups walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 (8x5-inch) loaf pans. In a medium bowl, beat pumpkin, oil, water and eggs at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

In a seperate medium bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Gradually add to pumpkin mixture, mixing to combine. Stir in walnuts.

Pour into pans, bake for approximately 1 hour. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans and enjoy the bread while it's still warm!

God's Grace

In holy pages this truth can be found
A promise to stand on when darkness abounds
Oh, right never loses and wrong never wins
And grace will always be greater than sin

Grace will always be greater than sin
Calvary has proven it time and again
Whatever you’ve done
Wherever you’ve been
God’s grace will always be greater than sin

Broken and bruised from the choices you’ve made
Sin has a price and so often you’ve paid
Oh, but Jesus is waiting
New hope is in Him
And grace will always be greater than sin

Grace will always be greater than sin
Calvary has proven it time and again
Whatever you’ve done
Wherever you’ve been
God’s grace will always be greater than sin

Grace, grace God’s grace
Grace that is greater than all my sin
Whatever you’ve done
Wherever you’ve been
God’s grace will always be greater than sin

Fall on the Brain!!

I've been gathering ideas for some cute crafty fall decor & I came across this idea for a fall wreath at 

In Between Laundry.

Cute, right? I love it! I just got back from Joanne's (hehehehe) where I purchased my supplies. I'll be sure and post a picture of my finished project next week. Wish me luck!!

This is where my mind has been for the last couple of weeks. Something about the changing weather and the sweeties being back in school makes me want to sew and craft. I have been dreaming, dreaming, dreaming!!! My mind is such a jumble of ideas that I decided I better write them down. I just wish there were more hours in a day. Seems like just when I really get into something, I have to stop and fix supper or help with homework. Oh, well. That's life I guess. I want to get out all my Fall decorations sometime this week. Don't know if that's do-able or not. It might have to wait till next week.