Snowed In For The Day

Good afternoon, blog friends!

As I sit here by the warm, toasty fire drinking my hot coffee

it's snowing outside creating a world of beautiful white.

It has been snowing since yesterday and there is close to 2 feet of snow outside.

The snow is so beautiful and I am thoroughly enjoying it

plus my darling husband was able to stay home from work for the last two days

so it has been a lovely treat having extra time with him.

My son is having a blast in the snow - here is a picture of him "diving" into the fluffy white stuff.

In the picture below is a large trampoline....can you find it?

The pictures are not very bright since they were taken early this morning so I apologize for that,

but I think you get the idea that we have A LOT of snow here in the Rockies!

Love to you, my friends!

Have a beautiful weekend filled with plenty of joy!

Valentine's Day Heart Toss

Good morning, lovelies!

I truly hope each one of you is doing well :)

I thought I would show you a fun game I made for my son to play on Valentine's Day.

I gathered up 6 cans, felt, rice, and voila!
I had a game ready. . .with some preparation, of course.

Here is what I did. . .

I collected the cans and then I cut strips of felt to wrap around each one.

I glued on hearts since it's for Valentine's Day :)

I cut out 6 squares of felt to make 3 small toss bags which were about 2.5 inches in size 

(small enough to go in the can) and filled each one with rice.

Here is the fun part...

I cut out circles to write something special on them like, "One piece of Valentine's candy"

and glued the circles onto the bottom of the cans.

Now when my son tosses a rice bag into a can 

he will be surprised by the message on the bottom.

This isn't just for kids,

you could always have some fun with your spouse or friends :)

Enjoy, sweet friends!

Linking up with:

The Homemaking Party

Heart Flower Garland

Valentine's Day is just around the corner

and since my family and I are in a new home I thought my dining room needed a little "love."

So I made a pretty garland to hang on the china hutch.

It is quite easy to make, lovely friends, and this is what you will need to make one for your home:

card stock

heart paper punch

circle paper punch

lace

embroidery thread or ribbon

embellishments

glue

Punch out 15 hearts for each heart flower.

Punch out a circle and apply 4 hearts with glue.

And add 4 more.

Next add 5 more hearts.

Then add one heart to the middle and add an embellishment, if you so desire.

Make as many heart flowers as you like - I made 5.

Now cut a strip of lace to the desired length.

Loop a piece of sting through the lace and glue the ends to the back of the heart flower.

And that's it!

Have fun creating :)

Blessings to you!

Linking up with:

Adorned From Above

God Is The Supplier Of Our Needs

"But my God shall supply all your need 

according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

~ Philippians 4:19 ~

This verse crosses my mind often when I am thinking about the "things" that I need,

such as clothes, food, fuel for the car, laundry soap, etc.

I use this verse to remind myself that God will provide each need 

even when it might seem impossible.

But the other day I was struggling with having patience

and this verse popped into my head, "...my God shall supply all your need."

God was gently telling me that He would provide the patience that I needed for that moment.

Contentment, love, joy, patience, strength, gentleness and so on

are all "needs" that will be met by God.

I don't know about you, but there are days I have a hard time living up to these words

yet God promises to "supply all your need."

"When the child of God is in the will of God,

then he will have every need met."

~ Wiersbe Commentary ~

And as I thought about God meeting my particular need for patience the other day,

He also reminded me of  2 Corinthians 12:9,

"...My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

"What is grace?

It is God's provision for our every need when we need it.

There is never a shortage of grace.

God is sufficient for our spiritual ministries and our material needs

as well as our physical needs."

~ Wiersbe Commentary ~

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;

that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things,

may abound to every good work."

~ 2 Corinthians 9:8 ~

My heart is truly thankful for a God who desires and promises to meet every need

and to do so with precious grace.

The patience that I didn't have came and it filled my heart when I surrendered to the Lord 

and pushed myself out of the way to let Him supply my need.

May you have a blessed Lord's Day!

New Items In The Shoppe

Exciting news...I reopened my store (which was closed during the move)

and I have filled it with new items - yay!

I hope you're able to stop by and take a look 

since you just might see something you can't live without :)

Enchanting Rose Creation's

Here is a sneak peak....

New burlap items

Several tea cup pin cushions

Sweet smelling lavender sachets

Fun felt pillows

I hope your day has been extremely nice, blogging friends.

Take care and have a delightful weekend.

Hugs and blessings to you!

"We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives."

~ John F. Kennedy ~

I am SO thankful for each one of you!

Grace's Pictures - Book Review

Grace is an Irish young lady who travels the ocean to find a new life in America.

When Grace arrives to New York she is captured on camera by a gentleman

and so begins her interest in still pictures.

Grace buys her first camera, a Brownie from Kodak, 

to be able to take snapshots of memorable moments.

But when Grace is out in a park one day she happens to point her camera in the wrong direction

and has a run-in with local gangsters called "The Dusters."

Having had a traumatic time with the police force in her home country,

Grace is hesitant to seek help from the New York Police department.

Owen McNulty, a New York Police Officer, is committed to helping those less fortunate

and strives to "clean up" New York from crime,

but Grace has a hard time believing he is genuine.

Owen is quite taken with Grace,

 but is somewhat confused by her cold and disinterested attitude towards him.

As he continues to be there for Grace during her struggles 

she begins to wonder if Owen is truly different from the other selfish policemen

that she's had to deal with all of her life.

As Grace lives each day she must learn to place her faith and trust in unlikely sources

to learn the true meaning of courage and forgiveness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Thoughts:

I had such high hopes for this book - the cover alone caught my attention

and then when I read the back cover I thought for sure this would be a great read.

Unfortunately, by the time I got to the middle of the book all I could think of was 

"Will I ever finish this?"

The first part of the book seem to move at a good pace telling the story of Grace

and sharing her pain and heartaches from working in a poor house

and having to deal with dishonest cops.

Then when she gets to New York we find that most of the policemen there 

are just as crooked as they were in Ireland which gives Grace a low-view of men in general.

She meets Owen McNulty, the honest Police Officer, and has a hard time letting her guard down with him, but when he is always there for her when she is in trouble 

it seems like maybe some romance will ignite,

but then throughout the book they begin to have less and less contact with each other

so that by the time they do realize their feelings for each other it seems a little forced.

Grace is offered a position with a family, the Parker's, that has many "issues" 

from the mother not feeling like a mother and giving her children no love or interest 

to the father wanting his family to not be failures and not show emotion. 

Grace comes alongside this family as a nanny

and begins to discover herself; she begins to see that she can be strong when she is scared.

On to the gangsters called "The Dusters"...

For me, they were not quite believable.

The characters just didn't quite add up to what a gangster would have been like back then.

All in all, I would give this book 3.5 stars out of 5.

For me, the story fell flat.

** I was given a free copy of this book from Tyndale Publishers for an honest review.

All thoughts are my own. No other compensation was received. **

Mmm, Mmm Good.....Blackberry Cobbler

So blackberries may not be in season right now,

but they are still available in the grocery stores...at least they are here :)

They can be tart right now, but sometimes they can be fairly tasty.

Besides, just a little bit of sugar makes everything sweet, right?

That's what my darling hubby thinks since he always adds extra sugar to my coffee in the mornings

when I'm a little cranky...at least he thinks I'm cranky 

(maybe I just want an excuse for extra sweetness) - haha

Okay, how about the recipe for this very yummy blackberry cobbler...

Ingredients needed:

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups fresh blackberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9 x 9-inch baking dish.

Stir 1/2 cups of sugar with the flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl.

Stir in the milk, butter, and vanilla until a batter forms.

Pour into the prepared baking dish.

Add the blackberries and sprinkle with 1/2 cups of sugar.

Pour in the water.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour 

or until the batter has risen and the top is golden brown.

Cool before serving and ENJOY!

I made this cobbler for Thanksgiving and it was quite the yummy treat.

I've also made a few different blackberry cobbler recipes and so far this one is my favorite :)

Have a beautiful and blessed day, lovelies!

Holy Bible, Book Divine

"Holy Bible, Book divine, precious treasure, thou art mine;

Mine to tell me whence I came, mine to teach me what I am;

Mine to chide me when I rove, mine to show a Savior's love;

mine thou art to guide and guard, mine to punish or reward;

Mine to comfort in distress - suffering in this wilderness;

Mind to show, by living faith, man can triumph over death;

Mine to tell of joys to come and the rebel sinner's doom:

O thou holy Book divine, precious treasure, thou art mine.

~ John Burton, SR. ~

"Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; 

the Book widens and deepens with our years."

~ Charles H. Spurgeon ~

"The Bible is the only book whose Author is always present

when one reads it."

~ Unknown ~

"For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,

piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,

and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

~ Hebrews 4:12 ~

Have a blessed Lord's Day, my dear friends!

Toasty Hand Warmers

Hello lovely friends!

I trust your week is going well - the weekend is just around the corner :)

Today my sweet hubby and I rejoice in the fact that we have been in our new home 

for a whole week - hallelujah!

We are certainly enjoying it

and I am definitely having fun "fluffin' and featherin'" as a dear friend of mine would say.

I finally managed to get the Internet working

and I thought it was high time for a post on the blog.

I have seen these charming hand warmers around

and thought I would make my son and myself some since I am always cold!

They work like a charm and are just too cute :)

They are also a cinch to put together.

Here is what you will need to make some for yourself or a little one...

scrap fabric

rice

thread

sewing machine or needle

scissors

measuring tape

Cut four pieces of fabric that is 4 x 4 inches.

Place right sides together and sew along the edge (I used a 1/4 inch seam allowance)

Leave a small opening for turning the square right side out.

Before you turn the square right side out, you may want to trim the corners.

Now turn the square right side out and press with an iron.

Fill the square with rice.

~*~ I added a few drops of orange citrus essential oil to my rice 

for a calming scent when I heat the warmers up ~*~

Sew the opening closed.

Normally I would hand sew it closed so that the seam wouldn't show, 

but for this I am just using the machine.

Heat the hand warmers in the microwave for about 45 seconds to 1 minute

and you're ready to keep your hands cozy and warm.

Or according to my son, you can keep your face warm by holding them on your cheeks :)

Cute giraffes for my little man :)

May each one of you have a beautiful weekend.

It's a joy to my heart to read your kind comments - thank you for being a blessing!

Linking up with:
Adorned From Above