Easy and Safe to Make Bow and Arrow

Hop on over to Skip to My Lou and see how to make this cool bow and arrow. It would be good for someone who is not ready for a real bow and arrow. Make it as a gift or maybe make it with the kiddos.

Giving Generously – Personalized Scrabble Gifts

I can’t wait to hit the thrift store to find Scrabble tiles!!! Think names. This would be great not only for the tree, but also as name tags for gifts.

See the tutorial here.

I think I will paint the backside rather than use paper.

Here are other frugal giving ideas!

If you have frugal Christmas gift ideas feel free to link up!

Fiber Arts Monday – Handmade Dolls

It’s middle of the summer but we have our mind set towards fall as we prepare for our county fair. If you’ve read this blog long you know we are big into our fair! Now with new kiddos in this house we have more hands making things to enter! This week I want to get Cherish on a handmade doll and Hayden on some sort of woodworking project.

Here are some tutorials we’ll be choosing from:

I really like this one!

Wouldn’t these make great, EASY gifts for little girls?

Even a little something for boys!

We’ve made sock dolls before, they are fun and easy!

Here is a great tutorial!

These are super cute sock dolls!

These would be great for little ones during church.

Here is a corn husk doll Olivia made last year.

Here is a video how to make them.

This is a great book about sock dolls.

Sock Doll Workshop

If you know of any others please do share either in the comment section or use the Linky Tool below!

Fiber art is anything that includes stitching, weaving, quilting, sewing, rug making, crocheting, knitting, spinning, etc…

Each Monday we can share ideas, patterns, finished projects and ask questions about fiber arts in the comment section.

You can also link up to your blog post or photo account that is related to fiber arts, I just ask that you link back to the most current Fiber Arts Monday post. Just leave your post link in the comment section and tell us what it is.

We’ve been slimed!

Some of you may have noticed that the blog updates have tapered off some and the truth is we’re living what we ‘preach’… and some days it is hard.

Shifting gears from a ‘grown-up’ household to one with 3 young children is taking almost all of my waking moments. I am NOT complaining and I am so VERY thankful for this beautiful mission God has brought to us, at the same time it is exhausting (just being real). I do think over the next couple of months we will settle in even more and maybe blogging can move higher on the priority list, but for right now our family is working double time to win the hearts of these precious ones.

When you care for children who are not yours, and if you get them after certain habits and worldview are instilled in them it makes discipleship even more complicated; then throw in the uncertainty of where they will be in the months to come and interactions with their ‘previous life’, it becomes a very messy and confusing situation…for all of us.

BUT! This is what we are called to, all of us! Life is messy!!! There is no ideal family situation. There is no ideal church, community or job situation; if you are living with or near people there are going to be issues… YOU WILL BE SLIMED!

If you plan on being a witness for Christ and impacting this culture for the sake of Christ’s kingdom, then YOU WILL be in messy situations; your hands will get dirty and from time to time your heart will be broken. If you don’t like hard work, if you don’t like to sweat physically or spiritually, then just sit in your comfy pew and consider the powerful words of Keith Green, “…how can you be so well fed and be so spiritually dead?”

God has called us to good works.

We are not saved BY our good works but FOR good works.

For some of you it may not be meeting the needs of children but rather serving in some other way. The needy are all around us we just have to be willing. I dare say there are more needy adults than there are children!

Yesterday, after the chores and schoolwork were done the children and I made slime.

THE SLIME RECIPE

1 1/2 Cup of Warm water, divided
1 Teaspoon of Borax
1 Bottle (4 oz.) Glue
Food Coloring

Mix together:

1/2 Cup of Warm Water and 1 Teaspoon of Borax until the Borax is dissolved.

In a separate bowl mix:

1 Cup of Warm Water, Food Coloring, and 4oz. of glue until glue is dissolved.

Add the borax mixture to the glue mixture, mix together and it will turn to slime fairly quickly.

Store it in ziplock bags and it will last a couple of weeks.

DO NOT LET THE CHILDREN PUT IT IN THEIR MOUTHS!

The rule at our house is to keep it at the table…

somehow it has managed to get EVERYWHERE…I do mean EVERYwhere!

It’s highly unlikely that I will make this again, but it was fun for the moment (for them anyway).

It is all the process of winning their hearts,

sometimes we have to do things we don’t like to prove our love.

You can not disciple if you do not have the heart.

If there is less blogging going on,

you’ll know it is because God has slimed our lives with good work to do!

Building a Family Economy – Gift Giving Link Up

Building your family economy is not just about making money, but also about saving money and being a good steward of what you already have.

When we are trying to make our money stretch it can feel like we are limited when it comes to gift giving, but I have good news for you, you can be a generous giver and spend very little money, if you plan ahead.

With about 9 weeks until Christmas

NOW is the time to start planning!

To be a generous giver and not break the bank it usually takes a little of your time, but no more than if you were out shopping all day. Think of the time and gas that is spent shopping, and in all reality your gift will be forgotten within the year.

When you choose to be a generous giver, investing some of your own creativity and labor, it increases the value of your gift even more!

You CAN give great gifts even if you are not very creative.

Planning now will save you a lot of stress later!

This week I posted a page with ideas on how to Give Generously without Breaking the Bank. I will be adding to this regularly along with a link up party so you too can add your ideas for giving generously!

This is also posted over at The Legacy of the Home.

So come on…share your inexpensive gift ideas! When you link up I will add your link/idea to the Generous Giving page.

How to Make Corn Husk Dolls – Video Tutorial

It won’t be long and most of us will have some fresh corn that we just husked. Turn off the TV and turn on come CREATIVITY by letting the kids make corn husk dolls, or flowers or anything else they can think of.

Olivia made this one the other day.

But you really need to see what and how these ladies make dolls…

IMPRESSIVE!

Paper Heart Chains and Popcorn Feeders

When I was a kid in school I loved art class…and music class.

I remember when I first learned how to make paper chains for Christmas, maybe I was in kindergarten? We connected our chains with that nasty paste. Transparent tape sure does make chains easier!

This week Emma and I had a few little friends over for a Valentine’s Day Tea and a craft time. Kids are so funny, you just never know what they’ll say!