Pink Paper Peppermints ♥ Life is Sweet ♥

Frame the One You Love with a Paper Towel Tube!

I was about to throw this paper towel tube away when Little O came in the kitchen and started chatting with me about his latest adventures climbing our backyard tree.

I was fidgeting with the paper towel tube when I accidentally made a heart.  I looked through the tube at Little O and said, "I {heart} you."

{he gave me one of those half smiles that little boys do when they love their mama and don't want to say, "you're weird mom".}

And then I remembered seeing my friend Mindi take a picture through a paper towel tube (just in the round shape) and wondered if it would work with a heart! 

{Well, I *think* it was Mindi, I can't really remember.  I emailed her, but haven't heard back yet.  But go visit her blog anyway, because she is *so* funny and takes the most amazing pictures and is just sweet and honest and inspiring.)

Update:  I'm not crazy, it *was* her!  Here is the link.

 

Anyway, it *did* work!  So cool. 

If you want to try it just take an empty paper towel tube and pinch it in at the top of one end like this:

 

 

And then take a photo through the other end! 

I found it helps to be further away and then zoom in through the tube (the one below was taken from the kitchen and Little O was in the backyard tree). 

Also if your subject is sitting in too much light it doesn't work as well.  Just experiment with it with your camera.  It's fun!

I'm gonna do something sweet and valentiney with these I think.

Do you have plans for Valentines Day yet?  I'd love to hear about it if you do.

Hope you're havin' a great day.

♥ Melissa~

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"People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart." -1 Samuel 16:7

It's a Printable Menu Planner!

Help!  I'm getting organized and I can't stop!

(well 'til mid-March or so anyway, then I'll be like, "menu planner? huh?  Where's my list scribbled on the back of the Target bill?"...heh-heh...)

Ok, so here is the menu planner I'm using now.  I kinda {heart} it because I've organized the shopping list part in a sort of visual pattern of how things are laid out in my store.

I don't know about you but, I keep a running list on the fridge of what we're out of, plus a list in my notebook on my desk. 

Then I compile those two on a master list (or you know, stuff  'em both in my purse on the way out the door) and sometimes add more to the list.

Anyway, I end up criss-crossing the entire store a bunch of times because I move down the list and I see, oh, potatoes, so I go back and get them, oh, yogurt, gotta go back over there now...you get the idea. 

Well, with this I add the items to the list in their catagories and then when I'm in the produce section *all* the produce is listed in that section!  It is a huge time saver for me and I hope it will be for you too. :)

 Just right click on the link below and choose "save as" to save it or click on it and it will open the .pdf in a new window. (Download Adobe Reader for free here if you don't already have it.)

Menu Planner

I have found that Firefox works better than Internet Explorer for downloading things (well, for doing *everything* but that's another post...heh-heh) so you may want to try that if you're using IE and having trouble.

If you still have trouble downloading, drop me an email and I will try to help you out. :)

Hope ya'll are having a great week!

Grace & Peace,

♥ Melissa~

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"Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind."
-Proverbs 21:5

 If you have trouble downloading drop me an email and I will try to help you out.

♥A little set of Bookmark/Note Card Calendars for you.♥

When I read I tend to think of things...things to do, things to look up, things to make.  I usually just scribble the ideas on a scrap of paper, lose the paper and then forget.  It's fun. 

I decided what might be *more* fun is a little mini-book of calendar bookmarks for each month. 

I made one with some of my favorite scriptures and cute seasonal graphics and attached it to a ring with some ribbon. 

Now I can tuck the current month's bookmark into whatever book I'm reading and have lots of room for notes on the back.

Then at the end of the month I can put it back on the ring, hang it on my bulletin board and I always know where my "random thought" notes are. 

 

I like it.

I thought you might like it too.

Just right click on the links below for each pair of months and choose "save as" to download it to your computer. (You'll need to download Adobe Reader if you haven't already.  It's free here.)

January/February

March/April

May/June

July/August

September/October

November/December

 

I printed mine on cardstock for sturdiness, but you could print it on regular paper as well.

Hope you enjoy it.

Peace & Grace,

♥ Melissa~

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"Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me." -Psalm 103:2

Happy New Year and a free 2011 year at a glance calendar!

So, I don't know if there is such thing as a "favorite year" or if anyone keeps a record of said years, but if there is...2010 would not make my short list. 

not even close.

As a matter of fact, if there was a way to just remove it from the history of the earth, without, you know, messing with everyone for whom it was a *great* year, I don't think I  would hestitate to do so (okay, maybe I'd hesitate...but not for very long).

I am so thankful that time passes, and things change, and that everything here is just temporary.

I will try and fill you in on the last few months, about the house and the new town and the new job in a future post, but for now, let's just say I am *thrilled* to be at the beginning of a New Year full of promise and waiting for sweet memories to be made!

How about you?

I have been making *calendar-ish* and *organize-y* things and making copies of everthing for you!

First is a year-at-a-glance calendar.  I always find these handy for school planning, vacation planning etc. you know, when you need to know on what day the 24th of August falls and things like that.
 
Free 2011 Year At A Glance Calendar Download

Just right click on the link above and then click "save as" to save a copy to your hard drive. To print it you'll need a free copy of Adobe Reader which you can download by clicking here.

The quote at the top of the calendar is one of my favorites and I think it's a really good reminder at the beginning of a fresh, new year.

I have another awesome calendar-y thing for you coming soon! I think you'll like it!

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who've written and encouraged me in emails and comments.  I am always so touched by your kind words and prayers for my family and me.

May His mercy and grace cover you this year,

♥ Melissa~

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"So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever."
-2 Corinthians 4:16 & 17