Life and a box of crayons

Saturday, February 20, 2010

fun with my new bundt pan

I used my Cricut, a heart stamp and my new mini bundt pan to make little cakes for Valentine's Day. I gave them to friends at church!

I love this! Blessings.

Color with love,

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Valentines Day! (Some retro fun)

"....and the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor 13:13
Valentine's Day, just one day set aside to celebrate love. I think it should be Valentine's Day everyday! I love the hearts, and flowers, and chocolate. Not to mention, red & and pink are my favorite colors! So, February 14th shouldn't be the only day, what if I celebrated on the 14th of every month? Hmmm, I'll think about that.
I dug out some Valentine goodies from the past. Here is one of my first "stamped" craft cards. I remember making this for my husband, giving it to him, then asking for it back! The date was 2/2002!

I made some "containers", too. I used these as gifts for teachers and friends. They were filled with candy and goodies. The box is still one of my favorites. The painted & stamped pot is still in my craft room.

If you want quick and easy, these little cards & stamped tile refrigerator magnets are a fun way to share love!

and a little "pick up" card

This one is probably my all time favorite goody bags for the boy's teachers. Just little hershey nuggets with a topper. I know this has be done over & over, but still so cute.

I found some other really cute Valentine things.

Laurie at http://www.stampingupnorthwithlaurie.blogspot.com/ has some really great Valentine designs! I also found some at HP.com and GoodHousekeeping.com.

This is what I'm working on for this year. I'll post a pic after I've finished them. I'll be giving these to my sweet friends & teachers at church. I can't wait.

Tell those in your life how much you love them. And, remember that "God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him, shall not perish but would have everlasting life." John 3:16

color with love,

Monday, February 8, 2010

Family night = Who Dat?

Sunday is family day for us. We serve and worship the Lord together on Sunday mornings. Lunch is sometimes out, sometimes at home, but we're together most of the time. My children all work, but all told their employers when they hired, that they would need to be off on Sundays (and Wednesday nights, too). Sunday nights are laid back, our church does not have Sunday evening services. Many times, Sunday night means we have our kiddos (and others) hanging out for a sporting event on TV, or game night, movie night, or just hanging out! But, last night was just a little different for us. My husband is from Louisiana, south Louisiana, really south Louisiana. His hometown is between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. This means that it was the Who Dat nation at my house during the super bowl! My children are all AVID Saints fans, and his family keeps them supplied with Saints apparel. I was really even a little afraid to have friends over, they are serious fans, so I didn't know if they could be polite hostesses. Here they are with a half time event (not Who fans).

Brittany made cupcakes & Bryan & Michael were trying out the gel icing - Saints logo, of course!

So much fun! Family means the most to me. Father God has blessed us, and we cherish our time together.

color with love,

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Comfort food day! Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

This is a cold, snowy Saturday and it was just screaming something hot & yummy to eat. Chicken Pot Pie sounded great, but I wasn't sure I had the ingredients in the house, and I didn't want to go get anything. So, time to start digging - found chicken breasts, vegs, etc., but that would mean I'd have to make my own crust! That sounded a bit overwhelming, but I thought "I can do this"!
Simple pot pie ingredients:

3 large chicken breasts
1 small bag of frozen mixed vegs
1 can Healthy Request cream of chicken soup
1 stick of butter or margarine
1 onion-chopped
1 stalk of celery (I didn't have this!)
1 tsp salt

Pie crust:
3/4 cup of Crisco
2 cups of all purpose flour
4-8 T ice cold water

Put the chicken breasts in a 3 qt pot of boiling water while you start the crust.

Use a pastry blender to cut crisco into flour until it is a "mealy" consistency.

Add cold water 4T at a time until the crust will ball. Separate into 2 balls. Flaten into discs and wrap in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator to chill.
While the crust chills, and the chicken is boiling, chop onion & celery. When chicken is done, drain & put aside to cool. Use the same pot to mix the filling. Put butter or margarine in the pot, when melted, add onions & celery. Then add cream of chicken soup. When all is blended and heated through, add chopped chicken breasts.

Take pie crusts out and roll each one into 9" round. Spray 9" glass pie dish and add 1st crust. Add pot pie filling. Top with second crust.
Bake @ 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

So yummy on this cold, snowy day! Enjoy!

color with love,
joyce

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Crochet?

Valentine's Day is coming and I saw these great little crocheted hearts at twocrazycrafters. I loved them and was inspired to try something I hadn't done in years. A trip to Hobby Lobby for yarn and a hook, then to get to work.

I used this pattern:

Directions:

Row 1 - ch 12, hdc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 4 sts, 3 hdc in next st, hdc in next 4 sts, 3 hdc in last st, work around the backside of the chain, hdc in next 4 sts, sk next st, hdc in next 4 sts, 2 hdc in last st, join to top of ch 1 that was the ch skipped in the very beginning.

Row 2 - ch 2, hdc in next 6 sts, 3 hdc in next st, hdc in next 6 sts, (2hdc in next st ) 3 times, hdc in next 3 sts, sk a st, hdc in next 4 sts, 2 hdc in each of the last 2 sts, join with a sl st to top of ch 2

Row 3 - ch 2, hdc in next 7 sts, 3 hdc in next st, , hdc in next 8 sts, ( 2 hdc in next st) 4 times, hdc in next 3 sts, sc in next st, sk a st, sc in next st, hdc in next 3 sts, ( 2 hdc in next st) 3 times, join with a sl st to top of ch 2

Row 4- ch 2, hdc in next 8 sts, 3 hdc in next st, , hdc in next 10 sts, ( 2 hdc in next st) 5 times, hdc in next 3 sts, sc in next st, sl st in next st, sk a st, sl st in next st, sc in next st, hdc in next 4 sst, ( 2 hdc in next st) 4 times, join with a sl st to top of ch 2. Fasten off.
(I added an extra "round"with pink yarn before the fasten off.)

Ta da!!

It took me over an hour, and every stitch is not exactly right, but I am thrilled with my crocheted heart!

color with love,

Friday, January 29, 2010

Hooray! The Fed Ex truck was here!

It was only a couple of weeks, but it seemed much longer! I've been watching the beckyhiggins.com site for the announcement that the new Project Life kits were available. What is it? A VERY simple way to scrapbook, with all the cutting, planning, etc., done for you. The kit is designed to hold pictures that are taken daily. I know, that sounds overwhelming, and I know I won't do that. But, the layout is your own, it can be used for daily, weekly or monthly pictures or a combination of both.

And, look at all the fun stuff inside. The album is large and the color is more beautiful in person. The small boxes are full of fun little cards for journaling. You also get a pack of 12x12 paper if you want to add more stuff. You could add more embelishments, too. But, that sorta defeats the purpose, huh? There's even a little date stamper! (I love little things!)

The page protectors are made of a high quality, photo safe, plastic. They are divided for pictures and cards. Everything fits in it's spot, perfectly. I left a few empty so you can see how easy it would be to change things around or add more cards/less cards, more pictures or not. Fun!

This has to be the easiest way to scrapbook ever!

What a perfect way to document your life, your faith and tell your story. I think I'm going to use mine to remind me to be thankful for the blessings and be thankful in the trials.

"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thess. 5:18).

I may find out what my life focus is, or what I spend the most time doing, who I spend the most time with, or where I am most of the time! I don't think I can keep up daily, in fact, I've already missed some days this month, but I'll do what I can and see what happens!

color with love,

joyce

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

fabulous give away.....

Looking for a new piece of bling? My precious friend, Traci is having a give away!! Go visit Traci at Beneathmyheart.blogspot.com. Comment on Traci's blog to register to win a beautiful piece of jewelry from queenbeedesignsbyamanda.blogspot.com! Go be blessed by Traci's talent and her love for our Father. While you're there, look around at all the inspiring and wonderful "Traci projects" and posts! She is one of the most talented people I've ever known, and there's so much fun goin' on at her place!
color with love,
joyce

"Crayon Cakes"

When I saw these cute "cakes" on the internet one day, of course I had to try them!! I made some tonight and thought I'd share the recipe with you.

2 large eggs
3/4 C water
3T vegetable oil
1 17oz box of cinnamon swirl quick bread
1/2 C M&M candies

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together eggs, water & oil. Stir in bread mix and spice mixes until blended.
Divide batter into muffin pans, and put 1 T M&M's on each muffin. Stir through batter and bake 20-25 minutes.
Enjoy!

color (and bake) with love,
joyce

Friday, January 15, 2010

starting the new year!

I am so happy to have had time to work in my craft room! It feels so much better when you walk in and everything is where it's supposed to be. I am so blessed to have all of the fun things you see in my room. This room has been years in the making. My husband is the best at building and supplying a craft room, take a look........