All Good Gifts: May 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012

Perpetual Care...

I've spent many hours

over the past two days

in an unusual place for me...

The cemetery.

You see,

one of my sons has a lawn care business...

And he has a contract to mow

one of our local church cemeteries.

Because this is Memorial Day weekend...

He wanted it to look especially nice...

So, I gave him a hand.

I mowed, trimmed, and raked...

But my favorite part was

using the leaf blower to clear

away grass from around the stones...

Because it gave me a chance

to really read some of them...

Mothers, fathers,

babies...

I even discovered some

of my husband's relatives...

1865...

A sea captain lost at sea...

Many of the stones

had the words

"perpetual care"

engraved on them...

As I walked around

I thought about those words...

And how our Lord

promises us "perpetual care"...

What a blessed assurance for me

on this Memorial Day...

^"Casting all your care upon Him;

for He careth for you..."

I Peter 5:7

Monday, May 21, 2012

Hip Hip Hooray! It's Giveaway Day!

****GIVE-AWAY UPDATE!!!!!****

The winner of my homemade teddy bear

is Claire who wrote...

I had a brown stuffed dog

named Tootsie Roll when I was a kid.

He was my buddy. Thx for a chance to win

Congratulations, Claire!

Contact me with your mailing address!

Thanks so much to all

who entered!

Today is Give-away Day

at Sew, Mama, Sew

And well,

you know me!

I just couldn't "bear"

not to be part of it...

And since I had so much fun

making this "wedding bear"...

I'm going to give-away

a bear similar to the one in this picture...

It will be a little different...

I'll post a picture of it as soon

as I finish it!

In order to enter...

Just tell me about one of your

favorite toys when you were little...

That's it!

The winner will be chosen

on Saturday, May 26th

at 7 PM.

And don't forget to check

out all the other awesome give-aways

at Sew, Mama, Sew!

Love "Bears" All...

"Love is patient,

love is kind and is not jealous..."

I Corinthians 13: 4

This has been quite a weekend
for my son, Joshua...

Two parties and a wedding...

The couple that got married

were also from his Bible study group.

Since they are just starting out
lots of their friends planned
on giving them some money
or gift cards to help
with their new home.

Josh opted for the tried and true
wedding gift card
from Lowe's...

But didn't want to just
stick it in an envelope...

So...

I made a wedding bear!

You know me...
Any excuse to craft!!!

It's hard to tell from the picture...
But the bear has a big white satin ribbon
a little white heart button
and is holding the gift card!

"Love bears all things,

believes all things,

hopes all things,

endures all things..."

I Corinthians 4:7

Speaking of love...
don't you just love the color of this rose?

My son planted two rose bushes
in one of my gardens...

And I've been anxiously waiting
to see what color they would be...

"And now these three remain:

faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love."

.I Corinthians 13:13

I hope that you all have a lovely day!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Ye Shall Know Them By Their Fruits...

Ye shall know them by their fruits.

Do men gather grapes of thorns,
or figs of thistles?

Matthew 7:16

Good Morning, Sweet Ladies!

As we "pick" our way through this week...

May they know we are Christians
by our love...

Have a blessed Sunday!

Freshly picked strawberries
from our garden yesterday...
So early this year...
What a treat!

Thank you, Lord,
for Your many blessings!

Saturday, May 19, 2012

They Grow So Quickly...

Hello Dear Friends!

One of the things on my "to-do" list

for today is a little sewing project...

You see, Joshua has a birthday party

to attend this weekend...

For a one year old!

It seems like just yesterday

I made this little hat...

A couple from Josh's weekly

Bible study group had just

had a new baby...

To think that a whole year has

gone by already...

The little one absolutely

loves bath time...

So Josh picked up this

cute little ducky...

And I made a few bibs...

Which always come in handy

at this age!

Speaking of growing...

our little chicks and kitties

are only a week old...

But I can't believe how

much they've changed already!

Makes you realize

just how little time we have

on this earth...

And how important it is to make

every moment count...

^"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord:

and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;

so are children of the youth."

Psalm 127: 3-4

Just wanted to show you

a close-up of the "lollipop"...

It's a handmade facecloth rolled up

with a plastic spoon for a handle...

covered with plastic wrap!

So easy and cute!

Friday, May 18, 2012

A Simple and Easy Gift Idea!

There is a young couple

in my son's Bible study group

getting married very soon...

Tonight the girls are throwing

a bridal shower for the bride...

Josh received a call from the "best man"

around noontime today...

He was putting together

an impromptu "tool party" BBQ

for the groom...

For this evening!

Now, I keep a "gift box"...

Filled with handmade gifts

as well as things I find while shopping

throughout the year...

Specifically for times like these...

Unfortunately, there were no tools

in my gift box today...

There were, however,

several books...

And so we quickly came up

with a gift idea

in keeping with the "tool"

theme of the party.

This afternoon,

I made a gift card bookmark

for the groom...

These were the "extra" ones I made for future "gift box" items!

Josh's plan...

To put the bookmark in

one of the "gift" books...

And pick up a Lowe's gift card

on his way to the party...

Then his friend can go shopping

and pick out a tool of his choice!

These bookmarks are so easy

to make...

And can be used in so many ways...

I thought I'd share the instructions

with you all!

You need to cut two pieces of fabric

3 1/4 by 7 inches...

I, of course, decided that I couldn't

make just one...

Next, cut a coordinating ribbon

for each bookmark about

7 inches long...

Fuse iron-on interfacing to one piece

of the bookmark...on the wrong side...

Make a sandwhich...

Two pieces of bookmark

with ribbon in between...

pin at top and bottom...

Starting in bottom left hand corner

Sew up left side,

across top,

and down right side (1/4 inch seam).

Clip corners,

Turn right side out

Press under 1/4 inch on bottom...

Lay a piece of clear vinyl

over bottom half of bookmark...

Topstitch all around

bookmark...including

over the clear vinyl...

Trim plastic close to

bookmark.

I put a sample gift card in just to show you how it works!

It's a good idea to paint

the end of the ribbon with

fray check...

These bookmarks make great gifts...

And can be used for many occasions...

Of course,

Some sort of gift card is always nice...

But they could also be used

to hold special notes

or cash

or a picture of someone...

How about a family recipe

bookmark

inside a cookbook?

The possibilities are endless!

I found this idea on a cute little blog

called Zaaberry...

Thank you for a great idea!

"Tis a gift to be simple...

Tis a gift to be free..."

1848 Shaker song

Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Black Sheep (Chick?) Of the Family...

Good Morning, Sweet Ladies!

You always know it is spring
on our little farm
when you hear the sweet peeps of...

baby chicks!

Cute...aren't they!

But this morning...
I'd like to introduce you to
another member of our little farm...

One who is a constant visual reminder
of an important lesson...

Meet Rambo Chicken...

Affectionately named by one of

our elderly neighbors...

Apparently after some adventure movie

which I've never seen...

Because, you see,

Rambo Chicken lives in the wild

All by herself...

Over a year ago,

She decided to move out of the chicken coop

permanently...

And has lived on her own

roosting at night in a pine tree

ever since then.

This is Rambo's home in the woods...
the other "ladies" stop in
whenever she is foraging for food!

Now, thus far,

Rambo appears to be able

to survive just about anything...

Such as...

Being picked on by the other "ladies"

in the hen house...

Cold wintry nights

on the coast of Maine...

Native Maine predators

who prowl in the dark...

You might be asking yourself...
why???

Well, you see,
when Rambo was just a chick
she was picked on so much
by the other chicks
that she finally had enough...
and moved out.

Most of our ladies are quite friendly
and will come up to strangers
who stop bv for a visit...

hoping for a little treat!

But not Rambo...
She runs away and hides...

Now, of course,
all of us here know why...
But others might think
that she is just an unfriendly hen.

As I stated earlier...
Rambo is our constant reminder
from the Lord...

How we need to be very careful
how we "judge" those
who seem unfriendly,
or distant,
or rude...

Because we just probably don't
know their whole story.

By the way,
Those of you who have hens
who are laying lots of eggs right now...

One way in which we get
rid of those "extra" eggs
and help our elderly neighbors is
through some old fashioned bartering!

Our neighbors save all their bread
and veggie scraps throughout the week...

Then bring them by for a visit
and a dozen eggs!