Thursday, December 27, 2012

Waiting for the Call

I will be taking a break from my blog
to spend the last days and hours 
with my dear Daddy 
who is soon going home to be with Jesus...
he has lived a full and happy life for 92 years
most of that time serving in active ministry
and being a spiritual mentor
to 1000's of people in his life time.
There are no regrets as we face
the final goodbyes, I have had the gift
of his full love, support
and affirmation.
No parent could have done better
in teaching his children to know
and love God's Word
and to seek a very personal walk
with Jesus.
He is a man of great honor and integrity
who can face eternity with full confidence in
the cleansing blood of Christ.

Thank you for your prayers,
Karen

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

It's a Sweet Time of Year Dessert Table

This idea for the dessert table
for Christmas came from Pinterest




Monday, December 24, 2012

Swaddling Clothes

This idea is not original,
but last night it suddenly hit me with
special meaning...
I couldn't fall asleep as my mind raced from 
one worry to another.
 I got my Bible
and decided to see how many 
Old Testament Scriptures
I could find that refer to the 
Birth of Christ.
As the prophets inserted into seemingly oblique
passages glimpses of what was to come
in Bethlehem one Holy night,
I was overwhelmed with the thought
that if you made a strip of cloth and wrote each passage
on it and wrapped it around the Christ Child,
He would be swaddled in the Scriptures!
And if you began to add those references
to His life and death
the manger and stable would be filled with
bolts of Swaddling cloths...
Such a humble place for a King we say?
I say what Rich and Royal Robes
He wore that first Christmas Day.

A blessed and Holy Christmas
filled with joy and peace to All!
Karen
from 
Out in the Fields

Saturday, December 22, 2012

All the Presents are Wrapped

I only enjoy wrapping Christmas
presents if I can do something crafty
while doing it...
weird, I know!
This year I bought plain paper
and bags and used my 
star stamp to add images,
burlap and twine for ties, 
and stamped gift tags.
 Layering papers strips added a nice simple
element also.

 On the bags below I used an idea I saw
on Pinterest for a card and embellished
the bags that way with initials for 
the recipients.


Friday, December 21, 2012

A Wall of Good Wishes

This year to display my Christmas 
cards received,
I used my barn board +chicken wire
wall display
and pinned the cards on with
clothes pins covered in 
old sheet music.
The banner is made of felt

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Sugar...Flour...Butter

Yesterday was baking day.
I always ask my boys which 
Christmas cookies they want me to make
and they all like the same ones
which as I was baking I realized
contain the same 3 main  ingredients
with a slight variation
to added ingredients and shape!

Flour
Sugar
Butter


My forays into GF baking didn't go so well,
the cookies flattened into butter pools
and the tarts fell apart when looked at...

Friday, December 14, 2012

A Bear on my Doorstep

I opened my back door today and
to my great surprise and delight
this is who was sitting there!
I was having a very sad day...
and this was the first thing that made
me break out in a big happy grin.
Thank you to whoever left this for me,
I assume that you know the story of
my stolen bear and blessed me with 
a new one...AND flowers!
If you didn't know that would be 
an amazing thing:)
God bless you for brightening up a 
tear filled day, God knew I needed to be
shown that I am loved:)

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Bits and Pieces

I manage to keep getting things
done despite my tendency to get
distracted by new ideas!


Stockings
 Little Girl Outfits
 Bags

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Bear, "free" to Good Home?

Remember this bear from my 
front porch?
Somebody stole him!
I drove past yesterday and noticed 
something didn't look right
and my heart dropped.

But this is what I hope...
that whoever took it has a child
who was not going to get anything for 
Christmas because there was no money.
That child's parent saw the bear
right there and easy to grab
and took it knowing that their 
little one would squeal with
delight Christmas morning.
I only wish they would have asked...
I would gladly have given it away.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Out in the Fields House Tour

I had already featured my house on
my blog soon after decorating
but I am redoing it into one post
to make it easily accessible to 
those coming from
Holiday House Walk

Thanks for visiting!

This year I went from a 4300 sq ft
house to a 1400 sq ft house...
but I love it! 
It's so easy to decorate for a lot less...
(Please click on pictures if you'd like to
view in a larger format)

 Porches

Living Room & Kitchen



 My Bedroom

Most decor and pillows are hand crafted
by me:)
The birds and stars on tree are made
from craft paper and sheet music.
The snow on tree was from a tutorial on

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

A Fool for the sake of Him...

Today at the crowded mall,
with the hustle and bustle 
we associate with 
what we call
Christmas,
I saw a lady walking around,
carrying a 24x30 sign
that said
It stopped me in my tracks...
and I hope it reached the heart of
every one who saw it.
Whoever you are dear lady,
He will not be ashamed of you either!!
Be blessed...

Monday, December 3, 2012

A Fairy Party

Brielle is 4!
I was happy to do whatever my 
princess wanted for her party
and she LOVEs Tinkerbell,
and purple
so it was a fairy party...
 For the flowers I used Dollar Tree
scrubbies and pipe cleaners:)
Cheap and Easy
Isn't she lovely?!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Christmas Home Tour Day 3

We will end the Home Tour
in my bedroom.
The idea is from Pottery Barn
and you may recognize the quilt
from a previous post
Made With Love



I made the shams, pillows (except for the London one)
and stockings.
The shelf has been above my bed with other items
on it so I just changed those out.
It's so cozy when I crawl in here after a busy day
and reach for  "Christmas in Thrush Green"
to read until I fall asleep:)

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Christmas Home Tour Day 2

Day 2 of my home tour is
all about porches...
I have 2 small ones, back and front.
My outdoors decor I like to look
pretty natural, but I do use artificial
greens as they don't dry out.
 My pillows have seen many years of use
and were worth every penny of the
original cost.
Hope you are relishing the season of Joy!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Christmas Home Tour Day 1

This year I absolutely LOVE the
look I went with in my house!
Its so warm and cozy and country.
 Probably helps that I live in a
 little house this year too
so it's easy to do a few things and
have it fill the whole room with
a Christmas feel.
I like a small house...
I always have.
The tree was a plain artificial one
but I saw a tutorial online at
for how to add artificial snow.
I absolutely love how it turned out
& it cost me only a couple $s.
These pics are of my living room
entry and kitchen.



Many of the ideas were found on Pinterest-
you can check my Pins for the sources
if you are interested.
Cost? Low! most of it was hand crafted
with items I had in my stashes
or was used previous years.
 
Tomorrow will be my porches
and then the next day my bedroom,
if you want to come back and join me!
 

Sunday, November 25, 2012

More Christmas Crafts

Here are a few more items I upcycled
for Rusty Glamour, 
Its amazing what a little addition 
of paint or burlap etc can do
to a tired old decoration!



Wednesday, November 21, 2012

First Fudge of the Season

I found an interesting recipe for
fudge in a book called
" A Vintage Christmas"
It is called Mackinaw Island Fudge
However it was not as good as the recipe
promised so I'm back to my old favorite
from the back of the marshmallow creme jar!
Any of you Michigan people tried this famous
fudge while visiting Mackinaw?
Just wondering if it's supposed to be more
like chocolate than fudge?

Monday, November 19, 2012

Spicy and Sweet

I know my grand daughter will soon be too
big (and picky)! to wear this type of an 
outfit so I wanted to make a few more 
before that happens. 
The collar on this was actually off a jr. size
shirt from a g-sale, but it fit 
perfectly into the neck line-Yay!
Collars can be a real pain.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Scrappy Sallie

Here is a doll I made for the shop,
She sold:) 
I painted her hair on this time so a smaller
child could play with her and she
wouldn't get wrecked.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Caramel Crazy Dessert Bar

With all the great ideas on Pinterest
I came up with a dessert bar for
my son's birthday-really for me
to have the fun of crafting it,
cause he could care less!
That was all about caramel, apples
 and sweet stuff...




It was a big hit with old and young:)