My random thoughts this morning.....

I have had a very productive week. I had a to do list for my business and I accomplished everything on it. I signed up two new marketing clients. I did a Thirty-One party and got everything ordered. I cleaned out and organized one set of cabinets. Two more sets to go. It may look disorganized to you, but believe me this is very organized compared to how it was. This is the set of cabinets that just gathers all the stuff that won't fit in other cabinets. Two pantry cabinets left to get organized. All the top cabinets and the ones on the other side are done. 

I am still looking for a different desk for my office. I have two I am going to check out from Craig's List. If I get this one, I would need to paint it or something because I am wanting something light and airy looking for my office. 

This one, I could leave white because I am doing the office in white, taupe, turquoise, and some pastels. I might replace the hardware though. 

My Pampered Chef lady shared this on Facebook this morning. It looks delicious. I am going to have to try it: 

• 4sliced bread           • butter         • 4mozzarella, sliced
• pepperoni (cut in half or mini)    • Italian seasoning or basil
• parmesan cheese (optional)         • pizza sauce (for dipping)
1. *Warm a medium/large skillet over medium heat. Butter each piece of bread on one side. When skillet is hot place a piece of bread butter side down on the skillet then add one slice of cheese and small shake of Italian seasoning or basil (add a small shake of parmesan cheese here too if desired). Top with a desired amount of pepperonis (I used about 8 -10 whole regular pepperonis per sandwich) If any other toppings are desired, add now. Add another slice of mozzarella and top with slice bread butter side up.
2. Repeat with second sandwich. When bottom slice is golden brown then flip over carefully. Once both sides are brown remove from pan cut and serve with pizza sauce if desired.

Ms. Missy, the teacher for our Pre-K class, is going to get me if I don't quit coming up with so many ideas for the kids crafts. We are going to be a year trying to do everything I want to do with them. But they love glow sticks and they love glitter so this is a no-brainer to go on our 'to-do' list. But who wouldn't love Fairies in a Jar. 

1. Cut a glow stick and shake the contents into a jar.
2. Add diamond glitter
3. Seal the top
4. Shake hard

Hubby and I need to go to the store this morning to get some ingredients for him to make his pasta salad. He is making it for a wedding shower tomorrow for my daughter's nephew by marriage and his fiance. I'm helping with it so I volunteered him for the pasta salad. It is always a hit.

I also need to pick up some silk spring flowers for my Easter centerpiece for the kitchen table. I used the ones from last year for something else and forgot to replace them. 

Here is another idea for kids crafts. Cute little flowers made from cupcake liners and popsicle sticks. These would be great for Mother's Day. 

I am going to have to design a Craft Calendar to keep up with all the ideas I have of things to make. 

Just some stuff running through my mind

It's a gloomy cold day in our town. We are under a winter weather advisory through 10:00 this morning, but it is supposed to stay breezy and cold with a chance for a wintry mix tonight. How do they expect me to get in a spring decorating mood with all the ups and downs in our weather.



Since it is cold and dreary, I thought I would do some Pinterest prowling. This is an awesome idea for any gathering with children. Who am I kidding, I know some adults who would love to do this as well. Balloon Rockets. Run some string across the room through a straw. Tape the straw to a blown up balloon, untied. Release the balloon and watch it rocket across the room.

Rainy, cold day inside? Cut up some poster board and make "rain puddles". Make a game of jumping from puddle to puddle. This looks like fun. I wonder if I could talk hubby into going through the kitchen that way?

This would be so much fun for summertime out in the yard. Cut a pool noodle down the middle long ways. Hold them up and slide marbles down them into a box. You could make a race out of this really easy. For shorter kids, you could cut them off so they aren't too tall for them to put the marbles in. 

Our Sunday School Pre-K class loves when we make anything that includes pipe cleaners. Of course they get so involved playing with the pipe cleaners that the teachers usually make all their crafts. But it is still fun.

I received my new wristlet yesterday. I am absolutely loving the red polka dots. Red has always been my favorite color.  

I actually had ordered four total for some others. Here are all four of them together. These are just too adorable for words.  

I also received 3 new mini-zipper pouches. I can't decide which one I like the best, but these things come in so handy. 

Here is the mini zipper with the zipper pouch. What a cute set. Makes me think of spring. 

Speaking of spring, tomorrow is March 1st and I want to decorate for Easter....even if it is snowing outside. I gathered a few of my things. Check out the wrought iron piece on the bottom. I bought this for $1 at a yard sale last year and it has been in the closet ever since. I just fell in love with it but didn't have a clue what to do with it. Inspiration hit yesterday. Come back tomorrow for a look at how I am going to use it in the kitchen. 

Now that I have a game plan, I'm ready to get started. 

For you....

Thoughts of spring are running through my head. Here are some lovely flowers for my readers today.

Ten Favorite Things on Tuesday

As you know, I love to hop around the internet to find various things that catch my interest. Here are the top 10 things I found this week from various sites.

My favorite Pinterest find: This office layout. I could do this so easily in my office at home. I love the way it all wraps around so I could have a craft area that flows right into the office area. Really loving this. 

My favorite Facebook find:  A vintage dream kitchen that was posted. I love this.

My favorite Etsy find:  This necklace charm for Thirty-One. I absolutely love this and she has a ton of patters to choose from. 

My favorite Pyrex find: I am loving the Golden Scroll Pyrex pieces. I didn't know there was a chip and dip set in it. 

My favorite Ebay find: A cute little vintage Easter bunny pulling an egg. This is just adorable. 

My favorite Craig's List find: A vintage chest of drawers. I love this piece. If I had it I would keep material and craft items in the drawers. 

My favorite Amazon find: I have read the first 8 books in the Lakeshore Chronicles series by Susan Wigg. I was thrilled to find that #9 has been released. I am ordering it. This was such a wonderful series. She writes so good that you feel like you know the characters and like they are real. 

My favorite Walmart find: You may not think of finding wedding rings at Walmart but as I was looking at their necklaces the other day, my eye caught on this gorgeous wedding ring set. 

My favorite Oragami Owl find: I adore this. 

My favorite Estate Sale find: I didn't go to this estate sale, but someone did and found these gorgeous bowls. 

Weekend wrap up

I actually started out my weekend on Thursday since Hubby and I decided to take a four day weekend and get some things done around the house. We made a run to the Dollar Tree and Walmart where I picked up some cute little door prize gifts.

We also bought some clothespins and adding machine tape to make scrolls for our Sunday School lesson about the lost scrolls showing the Laws of God.  I hid them Sunday and the class had to go find the lost scrolls. The we went back to the classroom and unrolled them and read God's Law. Then after the story, we let the kids "get lost" in the room and we had to find them. Basic hide and seek, but they loved it.

We drove up through Gatlinburg just to see the town. It had been awhile since we had been over there. We like to go over there and just get out and walk up and down the sidewalks. There are some neat little stores.

One of my Thirty-One sisters was selling some of her items and I got a good deal on the new cosmetic bag set. I can't wait to go somewhere to use it. This is one of the new spring patterns, Black Floral Brushstrokes.

And I also bought the new Keep It Caddy in the Pink Floral Brushstrokes. This is one of my favorite new bags.

I love the little pocket on the front for notepad and pencils. It also has fishnet pockets on both ends. I am putting in an order this week and I'm going to get me one or two more of these. They are this month's special where you can spend $31 and get one of these in the pattern of your choice for just $5. I love when they have these kind of specials. It's a bargain I just can't pass up. I am just trying to decide what to get for the $31 because there is so much I want. And then I have the dilemma of deciding what other pattern I want for the $5 bag. I love them all. I think this time I'll get the Island Damask.

Saturday was shopping day and I bought some gorgeous material to make some runners for various areas in the kitchen and one for a gift. 

I found some new flip flops at Kohl's that I may go back and get closer to spring. One was coral and one was a turquoise. I didn't buy them yet, but I found some nail polish to match each pair so I did buy the nail polish. Typical me. Buy nail polish THEN buy something to match the nail polish. A little backwards, but that's how I roll.

Last Saturday, you will recall that I went to my Thirty-One meeting? Well, I couldn't show what my free gift was for attending until all the meetings had been held. The last meetings were Saturday. So I can show my brand new Easy Breezy Tote! I love this bag and had planned to buy it in this very pattern. Imagine how thrilled I was to get it for FREE! Can't wait to take it to the beach or the pool.

What went on in your world this weekend?

Self-Worth

In life, we have so many doubts, so many fears. We have times where we feel so unworthy, used, washed up. We feel like we don't matter or that no one cares. We worry about every little thing and feel like we face the world alone. 

BUT WE DON'T! 

We have One who is always there for us; One who can lift us up and carry us over the troubled waters. 

I worked for a gentlemen who had kept every good thing every written about it. Letters of recommendation from employers. Thank you notes from people who appreciated things he did for them. Notes and comments of his life and the good things that were said about him. When he would get down or depressed or feel bad about himself, he would get out the little folder and read all the good things people had said about him. 

I used to think that was pretty neat until one day I realized that I already had a "folder" that I could go to that would make me feel better about myself when I was feeling down. It's called the BIBLE. 

Psalm 139:14 says "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."

I don't know about you, but as much as I appreciate kinds words and remarks that make me feel good, as much as I thank each and everyone of you who leave such sweet comments for me to read, I still love the fact that by picking up my bible and reading God's beautiful words, I can have HOPE. I can have FAITH. I can receive MERCY. I can be shown GRACE and I can have LOVE. 

For my dear friends who are suffering, who are feeling down, who are going through trials, who are having health issues, I leave you with this video. May God bless you today and may He raise you up to more than you can be. 

I get so mad at myself.....

Why oh why can't I spoil myself once in awhile. We went antique hunting yesterday and I saw a Pyrex bowl I have been longing for. I love the brown Town and Country pattern and rarely see it around here. It was at the first place we stopped and it was only $7.00. But I couldn't decide because I didn't know what I might see in the other stores and I never make snap decisions on Pyrex unless it is a killer deal. So I thought about it. Then I convinced myself that I should just wait, even though I really, really want something in that pattern. So for a lousy seven bucks I walked away and left this beauty setting on a shelf. 

Then to make matters worse, in the same store, I saw these mugs in the original packaging for just $12.00. That isn't really a bad price but I just didn't want to spend that not knowing if I could resell them. Because if I bought them, there is no way I would keep them in the box. I wanted to use them. So I walked away from them as well. Even though this is one of my favorite patterns that I have wanted to own something in and I'm trying to collect an assortment of Pyrex mugs. What is wrong with me?

I was so saddened about passing them up. Here are some other things I saw that caught my eye, but the price was way too high so I didn't feel bad about leaving them on the shelf.  I liked this blue dotted bowl but I couldn't find any markers so I don't now what it was, but don't think it was Pyrex. 

This booth had a lot of great bowls with lids but at great prices so I just admired them from afar.  

At another store, I found this display but the only things I liked in it were on the high side. But I thought it was neat that they had the orange and brown Town and Country bowl. Two T and C's in one day. Very rare for me. 

And these two divided dishes were pretty but pricey as well. This particular store always has some beautiful stuff to window shop with but the prices are way out of my league. This was the first Barbed Wire pattern (white with black) that I have ever seen in person.  

I love this Hazel Atlas egg nog set and it would be awesome to own....but not at $68.00!

I am not sure what brand this was but it was adorable. It resembles the Hazel Atlas except Hazel's has faces on her oranges and some orange blossoms on it. But it does look Federal may have been the maker of the pitcher. 

This is my favorite shelf in this particular booth. She always displays her best pieces on it and the prices always make me say OUCH! No way. The items are ever changing so somebody must be willing to pay the high prices. After seeing the high prices everywhere else, $7 for my little Town and Country Cinderella bowl didn't seem so bad. 

Once we got home and I was regretting not getting anything, hubby surprised me by saying we were going to go back and get the bowl. So we did. And he bought me my first piece of Town and Country and it is in excellent condition. 

As we were leaving, he said "You might as well get these too because you know you want them." And he picked up my cups that I fell in love with. 

Isn't he awesome! I got both things I wanted and because he bought them, I still have my shopping money for more bargains tomorrow. What a guy! I think I'll keep him.