Happy Thanksgiving

Blessings to you and yours,

Blue Monday

Hi everyone,
I have the day off today so I thought I would participate with you all for Blue Monday!

Thank you Smiling Sally for organizing this fun event each week. To view other participants hop on over to her blog and join in the fun!

I have some wonderful new blue additions to my home that I would love to share with you - This first picture I have actually shared before...

This is a beautful blue quilt that I bought in Hawaii while we were visiting our daughter at her college in Oahu. I bought it because it reminded me of my mother. To recap the story, my brother and I decided to have a memorial service for my mom on the Big Island where my aunt lives. My mother LOVED Hawaii, so we decided to have a memorial service for her on the beach that she loved. As we were placing Lei's in the water on that special day, a beautiful sea turtle swam by. It is such a heartfelt memory for me that when I saw this quilt a few years later in Hawaii, I wanted to preserve the memory of that special day. It has sea turtles swimming throughout the quilt - It is such a special treasure to me - plus - it is blue - my favorite color that I spread throughout my house!

I have shared this picture of dining room chairs that I recovered, in a past post. To read the full post click here.

I have decided to try using some more of the toile material that I used for my chairs, in some curtains for the big bay window in our dining room.

I just tied the fabric up temporarily with ribbons for now - This is a work in progress that I won't be able to finish until after my classes are done for this quarter. I have been SO busy with schoolwork that I haven't been able do much else. I really should be finishing up homework today- but I needed a break - what better way to fill up my time then sharing a post with you today!

:-)

I wanted to see if the toile fabric would look okay here - or if it would be too busy - what do you think? I am not too sure if I will end up making curtains or just draping it into swathes like you see here - I could add dark blue tassels...any ideas? I would love suggestions!

Sorry that the pictures are so dark -I took them too early this morning.

Recently our neighborhood had a community garage sale and I found this great plate rack for $5.00! I have been looking for plates to use with it at my favorite Goodwill - I knew that if I was patient, I would find just what I was looking for.

Aren't these lovely? I got two of them for .99 cents apiece! I love it when that happens! If you haven't gone to your local thrift store lately I highly recommend it - you will be surprised at the treasures you can find there if you are patient. These are ironstone plates - on the back of them it reads"Johnson Brothers Stoke-On Trent England Coaching Scenes. Made in England."

I am sure that they would have cost more if I would have found them in an antique store. I love me a good bargain - don't you?

Here is another beautiful blue plate that I found at my favorite flea market here in Atlanta called "The Classy Flea" I am kicking myself for only picking up one of these - there were four of them available at $7.95 a piece. I went back to get more of them later and of course they were gone! ugh!

I have a pillar shelf in my kitchen that is a fun place to display some of my blue treasures. It is painted white and I felt that it didn't show my blue and white pieces to their best advantage so I followed a fellow bloggers suggestion and added some scrapbook paper to the shelves.

From this....

To THIS.... What do you think? My hubby thinks it is too busy...

I feel that it adds a needed splash of color - as you can see I LOVE the color blue!

Thanks for stopping by to visit me today for Blue Monday - I enjoyed sharing my blues with you!

Blessings on your day today,

Oh How He loves Us!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

Blessings to you this day as you bask in the love the Father has for you!

God's Call On Our Lives

We make calls out of our own spiritual consecration, but when we get right with God He brushes all these aside, and rivets us with the pain that is terrific to one thing we never dreamed of, and for one radiant flashing moment we see what He is after, and we say - "Here am I, send me."

This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured out wine. God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with. If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way! But when He uses someone whom we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, and makes THOSE the crushers, we object. We must never choose the scene of our own martyrdom. If ever we are going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed; you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.

I wonder what kind of finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you, and you have been like a marble and escaped? You are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you, the wine would have been remarkably bitter. To be a sacramental personality means that the elements of the natural life are presenced by God as they are broken providentially in His service. We have to be adjusted into God before we can be broken bread in His hands. Keep right with God and let Him do what He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.

Blessings to you,

The Love Of A Father

The video that I want to share with you today is a very emotional one. It is about the love that a father has for a son and the lengths that he will go to realize the son's dream.

I am amazed at the depths that this beautiful father would go to for his child. He truly models God's Love in a very special way.

Watch and be inspired!



This video tells their story if you would like to learn more about this amazing father and son

The More I Seek You, Lord

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity.
Jeremiah 29:11-14
NIV
Blessing on your day today,

Halloween Fun

I thought I would join in the fun today at All The Small Stuff and...

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam because I have a great cupcake recipe to share with you for Halloween. Please visit these two very talented ladies later to view all of the mouthwatering recipes from the other participants. Thank you ladies for hosting this fun event!

Last weekend we had an Octoberfest block party in our neighborhood. I was asked to make some cupcakes for the event and after searching the internet for some ideas, I came up with these:

Hmmm....not the best photos but you get the idea! These were taken very early in the morning so I am showing both pictures - with flash and without flash. I made these beauties at 4:00 in the morning before I left for work so that my hubby could take them to the party - hence the rush job on the lettering! The kiddos didn't seem to mind though :-)

So simple to make and not too scary for the little ones! They were a huge hit and disappeared quickly.

If I were to make these again I would probably use a different frosting for the word"Boo". The gel icing wasn't thick enough and made it kind of messy to eat.

The "tombstones" were made with NutterButter Cookies

I dipped them in melted white chocolate. You could probably use the Milano cookies from Pepperidge Farms instead if you wanted to leave them plain.

These cupcakes are so rich because I used my favorite cupcake recipe - you could always use a mix from a box for these as well.

Here is my very favorite cupcake recipe - I am sure they will be your favorite too. They have cream cheese and chocolate chips in the middle of them - yummy!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

2 tsps baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups water

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 tsps vanilla

3/4 cup oil

Filling:

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

8 oz. cream cheese

1 (6 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips

Mix cupcake ingredients in bowl. Pour into cupcake containers. Fill halfway.

Filling:

Mix filling ingredients except chips.Whip until fluffy, add chocolate chips. Spoon heaping teaspoon of filling in center of each cupcake. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Check with toothpick. Store in refrigerator.

Hope you enjoy them!

Blessings to you,