a little bit of happy.

Sometimes our lives feel ordinary.

Sometimes they feel mundane, even boring.

Occasionally we walk around with blurry eyes...forgetting to rub them clear
and see the happy that surrounds us.

The little things.

The cute ruffled scarf.

The 100% on the spelling test.

Or the bright orange vest fit for a baby.

God didn't just create the mountains.

Or the vast oceans.

He created the bird that flies over the mountains.

He drew the lines on that striped fish that swims in the sea.

Don't you think we should open our eyes and see the small bits of happy that surround us?

This is my reminder for the day.

I want to see the little bits of happy that God has surrounded me with.

He cares about the details.

He delights in the small joys.

He finds joy in seeing us use the creativity He poured into us.

Coming from someone whose heart sings for pretty things....

I am really happy that God is a creative God...

and that we are created in His image.

Sometimes I forget though that the creator of this beauty, this happy, that surrounds me,
is the One to be worshiped.

Not the happy, pretty things.

And He wants us to remember that He is not ordinary, mundane or boring.

He is quite extraordinary.

Today I am thankful for the small bits of happy.

The cheery polka dots and bright orange gourd.

The leaves in my window reminding me that there is a season for everything.

And a world that is overflowing with beautiful things.

Given to us by a beautiful God.

Sweater weather

A new use for an old sweater.

I don't know about any of you but I have a storage bin stuffed with old sweaters.

Sweaters that were maybe cute ten years ago.

When I was tiny and could pull off horizontal stripes.

Sweaters that have shrunk or pilled.

That have just fallen out of fashion.

I have saved them all this time thinking "one day"....

Well the other day was finally the "one day".

I broke my sewing machine out of it's four month hibernation
to help a friend with a project and thought....well, it's already out.

So we went from this...

To this...

Originally, I had wanted to do the front and back with the sweater but I just didn't have enough material. I grabbed some super soft white fabric I already had for the back.

I love it's softness and squishiness but I don't like the contrast between the light and dark. Next time I will come up with a fabric that coordinates a little better with the sweater.

One down, many more to go!


"Creativity involves breaking out of established
patterns in order to look at hings in a different way." - Edward de Bono

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt

Out with the eggs, in with the....

This used to hold eggs in the fridge...

and it was awfully cute.

But I buy waaay too many eggs at once to make this very practical.

So now it holds my jewels.

A few of my current favorites.

And some of the leftovers go in this cute little jelly jar...

A jar I scored when I visited the Farm Chicks store one. last. time....

before they closed...sniff.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." -Helen Keller

The Wonder Horse

This was our thrifting find of the day...

She really thinks it's something special....

I think it is too...

The gal I bought it from thought it needed a new paint job...

I think it has a certain charm just the way it is....

The Wonder Horse....


"Yesterday is but a dream,
tomorrow is only a vision.
But today, well lived,
makes every yesterday a dream
of happiness, and every tomorrow a
vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day,
for it is life, the very life of life."
-The Sanskrit

A visit from the past.

Let me just give you some numbers.

We've known each other for 28 years.

We were in each others weddings 3 years apart.

We lived in the same town for 12 years of our friendship.

We've lived in different states for 16 years of our friendship.

We have 6 kids between us...3 and 3.

She is exactly 1 year younger than me.

I have seen her in person only 6 times in the last 9 years.

And oh how she is a dear friend.

Most of my memories are tangled up with hers.

We have had so many experiences together.

And most of the time there were four of us and not just two.

These are the friends of my childhood.

I'm so thankful I have gotten to grow up into adulthood with them.

A few weeks ago I got to slip away for a few days with two of the kids.

We traveled across the state and met up with her.

We had about 24 hours together.

Hosted by my sister.

7 kids altogether.

In one house.

One trip to Urgent Care.

One fire.

It was all good.

She brought her three beautiful children with her and silly me -

I mostly took pictures of the baby.

But it really was all about the baby.

These kids were pretty sweet too.

Her oldest was just not feeling well and spent a lot of time sleeping.

She is only three weeks older than my daughter.

It is really special to have girls the same age.

The kids did get some good cousin time too.

And got to have one night at Nama & Papa's house.

"A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily,
adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously,
and continues a friend unchangeably."
- William Penn

Babies...the Dutch ones are best!

Dutch Babies.

Have you ever made one?

Better than pancakes.

Way better than waffles.

And so easy...they don't need to be watched or flipped.

Or even made one by one.

Just one pan,

a lot of butter,

and an oven.

Dutch Babies

6 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/8 t. grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1/3 cup butter

Whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla until creamy.
Stir in grated lemon zest. (I hardly ever have lemon zest!)
Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder and stir into egg mixture.
Allow batter to rest for 30 minutes. (I hardly ever do this either!)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
When pancake batter has rested, place butter in an oven-proof frying pan.
Place pan in oven and allow butter to melt without browning.
Once your butter has melted, remove pan from oven and use pastry brush to coat surface and side of pan evenly with the melted butter.
Pour pancake batter into the hot, buttered pan and return to oven.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden.

I like to serve this with maple syrup and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

"Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; love more, and all good things will be yours." Swedish proverb

....Feeling Stichy.....

There is something special I think for most of us about the Fall and Winter months. Maybe it's the fact that it's cold outside and warm inside. For me, there isn't much to draw me out of doors when the temperature dips below freezing. And even though we have been having unseasonably warm temperatures for October - into the eighties last week! I just want to snuggle in my cozy sweaters and bring out the projects. You know the ones, those hand worked items that were hastily put away when the leaves were budding out in the Spring. When in my hurry to get my hands in the dirt and make runs to the plant nursery I forgot about all the creative ideas swirling in my mind.

I guess you could say they went dormant for summer.

Now the forecast is for temperatures in the fifties and it is raining today. Aaahhh....perfect.

I'm joining the rest of you in pulling out the soup recipes and mixing up cookie dough.

This is my kind of season.

Last year I began a love affair with embroidery. I love that it can be totally modern or very vintage or some of both. There are some fantastic books out there right now that I love - namely
"Embroidered Effects" by Jenny Hart. This is the book that taught me the different stitches and also has great projects to do yourself.

Right now I've revived the pillowcase project. You Seabrook girls out there....maybe by Christmas? So nice to get my hand busy again. And such a good project to do while you chat or watch a show.

I am itching to do an embroidered version of this. Another idea that came from Jenny Hart. Maybe as wall art or for a pillow cover. It is one of my favorite drawings done by my oldest.

And this totally intrigues me....doodle stitching. I saw an example on a stitching blog that was just amazing but now I can't find it....I would love to do a big piece of doodles!

Feeling Stitchy is an incredible blog for getting inspired or just to see the breadth of work people do when it comes to stitching. Really incredible and beyond my imagination!

I also love, love, love these reproduction vintage transfers. I found these at my local fabric store and quickly bought up an armful! I have a bit of a weakness for embroidered flour sack dish towels. I have found a few at estate sales but not enough. I made a set last Spring of cute days of the week dish towels. I made them to sell but may have to get stitchy again this winter for myself!

So embroidery, as with so many other crafts has limitless possibilities. Try it, it's a little bit addictive!

And to start something new....inspired by those books of quotations I picked up this week - I leave you with this...

"Many a friendship - long, loyal, and self-sacrificing - rested upon no
thicker a foundation than a kind word."
Frederick W. Faber