Happy Easter!

{Waiting....}

Well, I've been in a total funk lately.....it think it has to do with the fact that it's been COLD and RAINY EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!  Hmmm....no bitterness there about the weather!

For this homeschoolin' mom, I struggle through the month of February with the hope that March and April are coming....the hours of cold and contained days with my children will give way to spring warmth, park days with other Moms......days where I can send my children outside to get out all their energy.

Well, I've been waiting.....and waiting....and waiting only to be completely overwhelmed with the reality that spring is just.......not....... here.......yet.

I've felt hopeless, depressed and lonely......impatient, annoyed and slightly overwhelmed.  I thought that I was alone in this until I spoke with a homeschooling friend last night and she expressed the exact same feelings!

It's hard to be in a place of waiting for the unknown.....will it come??

Yesterday was Good Friday.....I wonder how Jesus' friends and followers felt on Saturday.  You see, we know the end of the story.....they didn't.

I imagine that in their grief it was hard to even wake up and face that day.....they had absolutely no hope.  All that they had put their trust and faith in had.....died....the day before.

I can imagine that it was a day that they got on each other's nerves....Peter feeling the guilt of his denial....others feeling the rage over Judas' betrayal......Matthew possibly worrying about money!  I imagine they cried.....quarrelled....and felt an overwhelming sense of loss.

I'm so grateful that as we celebrate Easter weekend that we know how it ends....with hope!

There are many times I find myself in the place of "unknown" and allow myself to be competely overwhelmed......but I don't need to stay there.....Jesus death and resurrection conquered ALL that I will face......the hope of a future with Him in Heaven is better than any struggle or pain that I face here on this earth.

So for me...I have hope that sunshine will come.....that my kids will stop bickering with each other....that my heart with fill again with joy and that I'll stop being such a grouch. 

And you know what....if spring doesn't come, I still have a HOPE that overcomes my present situation!

Happy Easter!!  The Glory of God has defeated the night!



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Thrifty Thursday #6

{Thrifty Thursdays #6}

I continue to be amazed and awed by your talent and creative ideas that you link up onThrifty Thursdays .....

Hydrangea are one of my favorite summer flowers....although I struggle to get mine to turn blue...and yes I know that coffee grounds will turn your pink flowers blue, but I don't drink coffee.....

Claire from Bless My Nest shows us how to make these beautiful fake hydrangea topiaries!!  Thanks, Claire....now if I can't grow them, I can glue them!!

{Faux Hydrangeas}

Built-in cabinets are so expensive, but Bee at Windgate Lane shows us how to "fake them" with Craig's List, paint and a stencil!  Aren't they so pretty!

{Faux Built-ins}

Would you believe that Kim at Too Much Time on my hands made this headboard from old pallets??

{Rustic Headboard}

She also includes instructions on how to make that amazing Airplane Art that she modeled after a Pottery Barn sign.....it's just that hers is FREE!

Viv over at The V Spot has a fabulous tutorial for how to change out your chandelier shades.  Aren't they so pretty??

{Chandelier Shade Tutorial}

If you were featured this week....grab a button!

 

It's time again to share your creative....(and thrifty) ideas!

Thrifty Thursdays

Here are some very simple suggestions for the link-up:

1.  Please become a follower of Thrifty Decorating

2.  Be sure to link to your POST and not your blog.

3.  Please copy and paste my link button somewhere in your post

or blog so that others can link back.

4.  Share some comment love....We all love to get them!!

Don't forget....once you've linked at Thrifty Thursdays, you can go over to link up with Thrifty Thursday at Saved by Love Creations! 

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Big Hairbows....

{Adorable big bows....}

So have you figured out that I am on a hairbow kick??? My little girl has two older brothers which means that normally....she is covered in mud and climbing a tree....

Yes....she loves her crafts.....but she loves her mud!  So, in my constant battle to make her look a little "girlie"....I have been madly creating hairbows....

I love that I have discovered ideas to make them CHEAP....because let's face it...hair bows at the store are expensive and most of mine end up falling in the mud or getting lost....it's just my life!

3 Little Chicks  whipped up some of these adorable bows!!

How about this....



There's even a video tutorial for how to make them! 

Now if I could just get my daughter to keep it in her hair......

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Plastic flowers in my hair??

{Plastic flowers made pretty...} 

Are you ready for a super quick and easy hair bow idea??

Make a stack of ribbons.....glue or sew together

 

Grab a plastic flower from The Dollar Tree......cut off that green tube thingy....

 

Glue it all together and glue it to a hair clip.....all I used was hot glue!

 

Thrifty and pretty!!



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Leaving a legacy of love and faith....

Today marks a year that we lost someone so special to everyone he met....my Pappy Joe......I've tried writing this post so many times, but the words just get stuck....in my heart where so many special memories are tucked....

I remember.....being a little girl ....sitting at the table and chairs in the farmhouse eating my chocolate ice cream watching Lawrence Welk while my Pap's big farm hands punched buttons on his old adding machine tallying receipts for the dairy farm.......

I remember......how he would mow a path through the hay field so that we could run down the hill from our house, over the creek and up through the hayfield to his house....all in about 30 seconds.....creating a passageway so that we daily cross to come visit and explore......

I remember getting chocolate milk out of the crates in the big walk-in coolers in the milk house....nothing ever tasted so cold...

I remember watching when my Pap would "burn trash"......it would collect on the farm for months and then there would be a fire as big as the barn.......I always watched from a distance because I was a little scared! (And yes...I found out as an adult that they burned MUCH farm memorabilia that I would have considered priceles trash!)

I remember how much he dearly loved my Grandma....after so many years he still would kiss her and hold her hand....their Bibles were always next to each other....open...from daily praying for each of us....his prayers brought me through so much....more than I will ever even know on this side of Heaven...

Most of all I will remember what we found after his death while cleaning out his belongings....scraps of paper found in his Bible....glovebox of his truck......drawers in his desk....

You see....my Pap knew that at some point he was going to be facing Altzheimer's....he was very much aware of that and there were things that he just didn't want to forget.....but it wasn't the "normal" things like addresses, phone numbers, or names....

....instead those scraps of paper contained scriptures, prayers, poems......reminders of what was my Pap's True Love.....Jesus.....he had them tucked everywhere in case one day he would "forget".......that was what was most important to him to remember....

Ironically, we didn't lose him to Altzheimer's......but still, we lost him too soon.....but honestly, I don't think there would have ever been a right time.....he was too precious to all of us....

But the thing that he leaves us is a legacy......a legacy of a life full of faith in and love for Jesus....

That is the desire of my heart......to leave that legacy for my children.....

Thank you Pap for being an amazing example of that.....

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Ponytail holders.....

{Pretty Ponytail Ties}

Our church is amazing!  If you are ever in the Lancaster/Harrisburg/York area, you need to check out LCBC Church!  But anyway.....I get to work in a kindergarten environment......we have about 40ish kindergartners in our first service on a Sunday morning.

One Sunday a little girl came in with the most beautiful hair tie......as we worked on our craft, I ask her if her Mom had made it and then proceeded to examine how her Mom put it together.

Here's my best attempt at recreating what I saw that day!

First....pick coordinating ribbon in a variety of widths......

Find your center point and stack the ribbons from largest width to smallest.......at this point I actually then made my lengths vary too....it just gave it more variety and poof!

I then stitched an X by hand to hold all the ribbons together.

Find a coordinating hairband and stitch it to your ribbons......I thought that I was done at this point, but when I put it in my daughter's hair, it looked weird.

So I grabbed a piece of the pink polka dot ribbon and tied it around the hair band and the ribbons to make a more pronounced center-point.

It looks really cute in her hair.....and was so inexpensive to make!  I can't wait to make some red, white, and blue for the summer!



Places I Party....

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Saturday Spotlight at kittycats & airplanes.....

I am being featured today at the Saturday Spotlight over at kitty cats & airplanes....







Isn't that just the cutest name for a blog???

Aimee features different bloggers....shares wonderful recipes...and has great giveaways.....among other wonderful things.  I learned a lot about photo touch-ups from her picnik tutorial!

If you get a chance today....which is horribly rainy, windy and cold in PA....check out kitty cats & airplanes!

Thanks so much, Aimee for the feature!

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Seed Starter Idea

{Upcycle a baseball card page...}

I must confess....I saw this idea in Family Fun Magazine....I can't even tell you which issue because I was sitting in the orthodontist office and they get us in and out so quickly that  I only had enough time to jot the notes down of how to make it on the back of an old deposit slip!

When I saw the picture I thought.....so that's what I can do with all of those leftover baseball card holders!!

Supplies Needed:

9 pocket baseball card holder

suction cup holder thingys

dirt

seeds

holepunch

Using a spoon...fill your baseball card holder about 2/3 full with dirt....

Be sure to label your pockets because even though you think that you will remember what you planted....the truth is....you will forget!

Grab your seeds and poke them into the soil....Family Fun suggests using a chopstick....since I didn't have one just "lying around"....I used my finger......it worked just fine! 

Cover your seed with the recommended amount of dirt.....

Take a hole punch and punch 2 holes at the top of your pocket holder so that you can hang it on your suction cup thing-y's.....yeah, I know....such technical scientific language!

And now....the waiting begins!  What was cool about the Family Fun photo is that your children will actually get t0 see the roots growing as well as the plant!!

Since I am technically....in my former dress-up and go-to-work life....a science teacher, I'd like to try and post more fun and easy science projects to do. 

In my head, I see myself doing that weekly....in reality....if I get 2 up a month, we're doing good!

Happy Planting!

Linking With:

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Peep Pops.....

{Chocolate covered peep pops}

So I know that Thrifty Thursday is not even closed yet and I normally don't feature until the following week, but with Easter sooo close (and I've done nothing for it yet) I wanted to make sure that you saw these homemade goodies!

 

{Chocolate Covered Peeps}

Ashley from over at Simply Designing shared them...





 

My children say...."THANK YOU!!" 

 

 Now I am off to the store to grab some peeps!

 

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A Feature at Knock-Off Decor....

Do you remember these?

My Pottery Barn Knock-Off Lanterns are being featured over at Knock-Off Decor tonight....

 If you love Pottery Barn, Ballard's, Crate & Barrel and all those other expensive stores, but don't like the price tag, then you need to check-out Knock-Off Decor.....

Beckie has tons of guest bloggers sharing their thrifty knock-off ideas!

Thanks, Beckie, for the feature!!



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Thrifty Thursday #5

{Thrifty Thursdays #5}

Wow...last week was a record with 37 project links and they were amazing!!  I didn't even know how to choose because the projects were all so fun and creative!


So....I let you pick!  Here are the 3 most viewed projects from last week's Thrifty Thursdays .....

The $185 bracelet for $5.00 from Henry Happened....

Stephanie made an amazing knock-off from twine and hex nuts.....who would have thought!!

And speaking of knock-offs.....how about this DIY "Vintage" Dessert Stand from {K.I.S.S}??

Tatum is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs to watch!  She just recently posted an awesome tutorial on how to grow wheatgrass for that dessert stand!


Another reader favorite was the Under $15 Gallery Wall from A House to Fill....

Kelli transformed her Goodwill frames with some spraypaint, foam board and scrapbook paper!!



Now here are some of my favorites!

Jenny at An Apple for the Crafter re-made this hand-me-down mirror.  Opting to go for a bold turquoise rather than 0il-rubbed bronze...

.....love the difference the turquoise makes...and it looks great with that quilt in the reflection!

And I love what Natalie at A Turtle's Life for Me did with this pedastal bowl......

I don't know what I like best....the bowl or the yarn eggs??  They are both so cute!  She also has a tutorial for how to make your own pedastal bowl from Goodwill trash!

If you were featured this week....grab a button!

 

It's time again to share your creative....(and thrifty) ideas!

Thrifty Thursdays

Here are some very simple suggestions for the link-up:

1.  Please become a follower of Thrifty Decorating

2.  Be sure to link to your POST and not your blog.

3.  Please copy and paste my link button somewhere in your post

or blog so that others can link back.

4.  Share some comment love....We all love to get them!!

Don't forget....once you've linked at Thrifty Thursdays, you can go over to link up with Thrifty Thursday at Saved by Love Creations! 

 

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