Pink Paper Peppermints - Craft. Create. Celebrate.

mug heaven

I have no time to blog today* so instead you get to see a snap of my new favorite mug. 

Hubby bought it for me on our trip to Austin and I *love* *love* *love* it.

It is just the right size and heaviness and I adore the handmade shape with all the little crooked spots and dimples. 

The pink flower and "inspire" sentiment make me smile every morning...

And it's pink inside!

What more could you ask for in a mug?  Pink, flowers, inspiration, handmade...it's mug heaven!

Do you have a favorite mug?  I would love to see it!  Blog it and leave me a comment!

Hope that inspires you a little today.  See you tomorrow!

God's Grace and Peace,

♥ Melissa~

*interpreted: I wasted my blogging time today looking at crafty stuff on the internet.

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"Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your wonders.  From where the sun rises to where it sets, You  inspire shouts of joy."
-Psalm 65:8

ten on tuesday - the fabric edition

ten random thoughts on tuesday (on wednesday night)

one

Easter was lovely and long.   We had quite a fun (which translates to exhausting for mama & daddy) three-day extravaganza.  I won't bore you with tons of photos, but I do have to show you this one:

I found these little plushie peeps and I cannot stop taking photos of them.  They are so cute!  I always buy peeps for the kids Easter baskets because...well..it's tradition...but you know...they taste ...um...  disgusting! 

And we almost always throw them out *unopened*.  *ugh*  I really don't like that, so when I found these little stuffed peeps this year I was so excited!  These will be the new tradition. Yay.

two

After the egg coloring was finished hubby was cleaning up for me (yes, that's right, I have *the* best husband in the world - see number 4 for more proof), and he asked,

"So can I throw this egg dye out?" 

I don't know why, but the words "can I throw this out?" just trigger something in me and my natural reaction is to say,

"No way I can make something with that!"

I got that *I can make something* gleam in my eye and Oman looked just slightly annoyed so I knew I better jump up and make something immediately to prove that I wasn't being the ultimate pack rat. 

The first thing I saw on my desk as I went into the kitchen was a little stack of manila tags...so into the dye they went!  And you can't believe how cute they turned out!

I also experimented with the little white wax crayon that came with the kit for the eggs and that looked even cuter!  See my little birdie?  (can you tell that Molly Chicken is influencing me?)

So now I have quite the collection of tags to use for projects.  I'm thinking of adding some stitching to them too.

If you like these and want to try it you should run to the grocery store right now and see if they have the egg dye kits on clearance.  I usually pick these up the week after Easter for less than 50 cents!

And if you *really* like them, but have no desire to make them yourself then check my etsy shop in a couple days because I'll have some listed there. :)

three

Things you hear frequently in a house of boys:
"Ha-ha...you will never defeat me!"
"Why can't I just wear *this*?"
"What? I don't smell anything."

Things you don't hear:

"Would you braid my hair?"
"I think we need more pink around here"
"Wanna play barbies with me?"

four

My husband can fix anything.  Really, he is a genius.  He has fixed everything that's ever broken in our house or figured out a way to replace it with almost no money. 

Last night the dryer made the most awful sound and it wouldn't stop.  This morning he opens it up, does some tool-y things to it and now it works better than before!  Really, it had gotten so loud and now you can barely hear it.  I {heart} my handy hubby.

(and also, tonight when I told him supper was ready he said "yay!" as if he was about to go on vacation...and that is even better than handiness to me.)

five

Let's talk about the quilt show some more shall we?  I didn't get to finish showing you everything anyway.

There was so, so much beautiful fabric.

Did I mention the fabric was beautiful??

Lollipops of bias tape.  yum!

Cutest pillow case kits *ever*.

six

Mom bought me this one for LittleO's room.  I'm going to be re-doing it this summer and I just fell in *love* with this!  It's so sweet and retro and I just love all the little sayings about the Lord.  I want to do a mural with those little birds and sun!  Can't wait.

seven

My mom bought me the pattern for this one too!!  I'm so excited, my first quilt!  Isn't it gorgeous?

It's called French Roses by Heather French.   I just love the way the flowers are all rustic looking and fuzzy around the edges.

I like the colors they've used here, but the fabric I want to use is the Ginger Blossom collection by Sandi Henderson. 

I am *so* in love with that fabric.  Gotta sell some stuff on etsy to raise the money to buy me a whole lot of Ginger Blossom! 

And then you will get to see the journey of a first time quilter which may or may not be pretty.  I don't know...*LOL*...

And here is all the beautiful fabric she bought me:

Notice a color trend at all?

I just love the birdy paint by number one...

eight

Can you guess what these are?

They are these:

Gorgeous quilted hearts cut from all sorts & styles of vintage quilts.  They are so beautiful. 

I'm making all kinds of wonderful things with them that hopefully will end up in my shop if I can manage to let them go!

Each one is so sweet and unique.  I just love them. I may put a few of them all on their own in the shop so you can play too!

nine

Here are some of  my first sew-y things.  I am trying not to be too pefectionistic about it, but I do see a lot of flaws when I look at these.  I still love them though and I'm falling more and more in love with fabric everyday!

The first one is this little bunny.  I made him from an old bandana because I wanted to practice on something besides my lovely fabric.

I found him at Crafty Carnival.  She has a wonderful tutorial for him and a little pillow to put him in as well!  You have to go see, they are so cute.

He didn't come out looking like the pillow type to me though.  He kinda looks like he has an attitude...you know?  Like he's saying..."you want somma this?" 

This is my angel baby:

She is from a pattern my mom gave me called "Small Snippets" from Mary's Patterns.  I have to say even with her imperfections I am really crazy about her.  I have never made anything like her before and I just can't stop picking her up and looking at her. It's so amazing to take little bits of thread and fabric and create a beautiful little thing.

She is *very* tiny.  I should have put a quarter in the pic with her to show you.  It would have taken
up her whole dress, that's how tiny she is. 

And I just love her.  Did I mention that?

I want to make lots more of these little snippets.  Oh if only there were 48 hours in day. (24 of them occurring after children went to sleep...wouldn't that be fabulous??  Oh...but then I would miss the children....a little...)

ten

Look what my library just got in!!!

I am so excited!!!

I must go fall asleep reading these now and dream sweet, fabric-y dreams...

Hope you're all having a fantastic week!

Grace and Peace,

♥ M~

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"She shops around for the best yarns and cottons, and enjoys knitting and sewing."
-Proverbs 31:13 (the message)

miss-hippy-go-free-free*

Okay, I really don't have time to post, but I didn't want my whiney housework post to still be up here at the top all day *tomorrow* too....so...

Here are some random fun shots taken in the last few weeks:

I have memes to do and questions to answer and more stuff from the quilt show to show you so a real post tomorrow!

*random title is a quote from one of my favorite shows ever.  anyone know what show?

{heart}you, M~
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"If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. "
Phil 2:1 (the message)

i'm cleaning and i can't get up

HELP!

I am trying to clean my house.

Every time I clean one thing I find three more things that need cleaning.

*ugh*

I can't do it. 

It's too messy.

Waaaaahhhhhh!  I want to play with my fabric!

Can someone please tell me it doesn't have to be perfect?

Where's that post from the other day?  I better go read it.

Thanks for letting me whine a little.

Hope you are having more fun than me today.

♥ M~

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"...to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind..."
-Titus 2:5

ten on tuesday - 8

ten random thoughts on tuesday (night)

one

I have been tagged by three sweet friends!  Deanne, Marianna and Quirky.  I  just wanted to say thanks ladies and I am working on these!  There is so much to post and so little time! 

two

We made Glazed Lemon Scones the other day.  Oh what fun! They were yummy too, only I think I flattened them out a little too much so they weren't quite as high as I think scones are supposed to be. I'd never baked scones before though, so I was pretty happy with the way they came out!  The lemon glaze was *dee-licous* I could just eat that with a spoon - yum!  I found the recipe in the most recent issue of Family Fun Magazine. 

three

Here's the recipe and some visuals:  (you can also get the recipe here)

Ingredients:

Scones:
2 cups flour (I used cake flour and this made them very moist)
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Finely grated zest of one lemon
3 Tbsps cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 cup heavy or whipping cream, plus a little for brushing
1 egg yolk, beaten slightly
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Lemon Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp heavy or whipping cream

1. Heat the oven to 400°. Grease a large, heavy baking sheet (preferably not a dark one) and set it aside.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the lemon zest and toss the mixture with your hands.

3. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the cream, the yolk, and the vanilla extract and use a fork to blend the liquids within the well. Then use a wooden spoon to combine all the ingredients, just until the dough holds together.

5. Scrape the dough onto a flour-dusted surface and then, using floured hands, knead it gently three or four times to form a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk about 3/4-inch thick, then cut it as you would a pie into 8 wedges. Transfer the pieces to the baking sheet, leaving at least 1/4 inch between them. Brush the tops lightly with cream.

6. Bake the scones in the center of the oven until golden brown, about 16 to 18 minutes. Allow them to cool on the sheet for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack.

7. While the scones continue to cool, make the glaze. Combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk them until the mixture is smooth. If necessary, you can thin the glaze with water, stirring in no more than 1/2 teaspoon at a time. When the scones have cooled for another 10 minutes, drizzle each one generously with glaze. Makes 8 scones.

(can you see my banner in the tea kettle?? heh-heh - love that - can you see the fridge open?  LittleO was getting a snack...)

four

Okay, if you've been reading my blog for any amount of time you know that I have a squirrel thing (not like a "thing" for squirrels - that would be weird - a squirrel thing - click here to catch up). 

Well yesterday when taking a peek at what people were searching for when they came across my blog I found the most hilarious search term ever.  Someone was looking for "squirrel bureaucracy".  I kid you not.

five

After I finished laughing I thought...what in the world were they looking for? What human being would want or need to know about squirrel bureaucracy?  I mean, actually, I thought I made that term up...you know?...I don't think there really *is* a squirrel bureaucracy..is there?...

Wait a minute...do squirrels get internet?  Maybe the *squirrels* were doing some research....

six

Congratulations to Lisa at The Scrap Princess Blog she won my prize at The Ultimate Blog Party! Look here to see what she won!

seven

Speaking of prizes I won *two* prizes during the blog party.  How cool is that? 

I won an Arbonne goodie bag from Stacey at The Truest Thing and some *fantastic* felt pins from Katrin at Cuteacious (you must go check her etsy shop, Kaleidoscope Style - so pretty). New bloggy friends and prizes!! What a blessing! 

eight

The quilt show was fabulous.  amazing.  I really can't describe it with words. 

I've always been a paper girl myself, but my mom has been wanting me to sew and a friend or two have encouraged me in that direction so that I was feeling kind of fabric-y already when my mom called and invited me to the quilt show.

nine

I am *so* glad I went. There was so much color and design and texture, everywhere I looked.  It was astonishingly inspiring!  Look at this!!!

This quilt was so tiny!  No bigger than your hand (those are the mini-binder clips holding it up)!

 

Felted cupcakes!! Can you get over it??

ten

My mom bought me fabric and goodies that I can't wait to show you tomorrow (plus more quilt show pics).  So much pretty!

I can't stop touching all the fabric.  Is this normal? 

I never liked the term "fat quarters" before because...you know... it had the word "fat" in it ...heh-heh...but now I {heart} the words "fat quarters"!

You know what they mean to me now?

"Here is some very expensive fabric that you cannot normally afford, but we are going to cut you a little, fat piece of it and only charge you $2.00!!  Now you can have some.  Aren't you happy?"

Yes! I am so happy!

My mom also got me a book on how to make fabric yo-yo's and ideas to use them *and* a heart-shaped yo-yo maker!!

I am so excited, I want to cover *everything* in heart-shaped yo-yos!!

But then

will I have to cut my fabric to do that?

Because I don't want to cut it.

I just want to touch it,

and hold it

and love it.

I have to go now, the fabric is in the other room and I can't reach it from here.

♥ M~
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"All you who fear God, how blessed you are! How happily you walk on His smooth straight road!...Enjoy the blessing! Revel in the goodness!"
-Psalm 128:1 (the message)

cozyness

I have so much to post about and so many emails to return, but it's been a busy week and more to follow this weekend so it will have to wait while I pay some attention to my family.

Thanks to everyone who visited my blog during the party and all the sweet comments and emails! Wow!  I will respond to *all* of you (Lord willing) in time!

Here's where we are now (a view you don't usually get to see...and neither do I!)

Home sweet home from the outside in. (see my kitchen banner?? hee-hee)

Have a blessed weekend!

♥ M~
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"David returned home to bless his family."
-2 Samuel 6:20

and the award goes to....

Sometimes when I sit down to do a blog entry so many things that I want to share come rushing towards me at once that I have to actually walk away and think about it some more.  Is this just my wildly random-ish and all-over-the-place brain or do other bloggers get this too?

I'd like to say it's artistic genius, but I really think it's just a bit of unmedicated ADD. (spell check thinks that should be "undedicated"...hey maybe *that's* my problem...dedication...)

Anyway, for right now I'm going to share just one quick thing and then the rest of the flood will have to come later when I have a little more time.  Wait, ok two things....(just thought of somethin' else...see what I mean about wildly random-ish?)

The first thing is an AWARD!!!!  Sweet Deborah at "A Cup of Joy" (which, by the way is a pretty neat bloggie itself.) gave me an award! 

My first one (and I've had *four* blogs...wildly random-ish...remember?)!  I think it's pretty cool, and I haven't had time to look at all the blogs on her list, but so far I seem to be in pretty good company!

I would like to say, however, that every ounce of goodness that you might find here is directly attributable to my merciful, generous, and gracious God whose extravagant love has made me a new creation.  This is not me trying to be humble, but just wanting to give credit where credit is due...and also the idea of being eaten by worms kinda creeps me out...heh-heh

So part of the deal of accepting the award is that you are supposed to award it to ten other blogs.  I can do that pretty easily, but honestly I have *way* more than ten and if I am going to get to all my random tangents important posts today, homeschool my kids, clean the house (ha!) and make dinner I have to split this up!  So the first three awards go to:

Elaine Barnett
This girl has a heart for God that will make you smile, cry and laugh every time you read.  She has the gift of encouragement like no one else I have ever known.  I am so thankful to have met and become friends with her!  Go read her blog. :)

Susie Sincock {decorate your soul}
Another online friend with a gift.  If you like beautiful photographs then go visit Susie's blog.  She is also a talented scrapbooker and fellow believer.  (And if it wasn't *completely* wrong to take people's pictures of their kids and put them on your own blog I would totally claim her gorgeous baby daughter as my own)  Go look!

Rachel Larkin
An Aussie Kiwi (what kind of a friend mixes those two up??) friend whose banner has a picture of melted chocolate on it!  (That tells you right there that she gets it!)  She writes wonderfully inspiring articles and even has a free e-zine called "Becoming Beautiful" about being beautiful in mind, body and spirit!  You will love her!
 
That's it for now...more great blogs later though.  And thank you so much Deborah!

By the way, don't worry, that this prestigious award is going to go to my head...I just told my 15 year old son (what??!!!!  I have a 15 year old son???!!!! - sorry when I type it out like that it's a little shocking) about it and he looked puzzled and said quizzically,

"wow.  really?"

Yeah...oh the glory.

And now I am out of computer time so no second thing...but I will be back after I clean a little and check my boys' work.

M~
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“...let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
     That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness,
judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
      For in these I delight,” says the LORD.”
-Jeremiah 9:23

S.O.S. - saturday overwhelm syndrome

K, only ten million things to do today and then I will come back and post about all kinds of fun stuff. (so...you know... that may be Monday....'cause...ten million....it's a lot...of things... to do...just sayin')

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"One handful of peaceful repose
   Is better than two fistfuls of worried work—"
-Ecclesiastes 4:6