Category Archives: Practical Living

Turtles in the Snow Cheesecake Bars

In our house, my soon-to-be 15 year old son is our dessert connoisseur. That is why I collaborated with him on a new recipe to enter in an online contest. We did come up with a great recipe for the contest (we’ll have to wait to share that one). Our favorite recipe was eliminated because…

Learning to Embroider

The past few weeks I have been working on creating more handmade items to use in my home.  I have also been pondering the slower life lately.  I want to take time to enjoy the work of my hands.  I love 1930′s reproduction fabrics, so I created a vintage tea towel with a duck motif…

Make Your Own Hair Bows

The younger two girls in our house are girly girls.  This past summer we were able to spend some time with my mother and grandmother.   The girls had a blast with my grandmother because she is a girly girl too.  The three of them put on make-up, painted their nails, and picked out jewelry…

9 Great Items to Make from a Knitted Square

I have done several projects that require sewing.  I thought I would change things up a bit and talk about knitting.  I personally don’t know how to knit, but I have a heart for knitters.  My oldest daughter Kendra has been knitting for about 7 years now.  She is designing her own patterns and dyeing…

Pumpkin Stew

Last month our family took a trip to the local pumpkin patch for some Autumn fun. The kids ran around the corn maze, rode the barrel train, and jumped on the bouncy thing. We couldn’t leave without each of them picking out a pumpkin. We don’t celebrate Halloween and I am not keen on pumpkin…

Beautiful Handmade Journals

Last month I was able to snag a deal on composition notebooks at Wal-Mart. Several years ago a good friend taught me how to cover and decorate these notebooks to create beautiful journals. My girls love to cover their own notebooks for handwriting/dictation practice, church notes, prayer journals, etc. We usually spend a couple of…

Honey Wheat Bagels

The older I get, the more thankful I am when the air gets cooler and the leaves change color. Some of my favorite comforts are best enjoyed on a crisp autumn morning. ~sipping a hot cup of tea~ ~wrapping up in a woolen shawl~ ~eating a warm bagel straight from the oven~ ~smothered in cream…