Pom Pom Decorations For All Occasions

 I love anything DIY! And that includes decorations for parties, holidays and events! I recently made a new DIY decoration called a "Pom Pom". You can find directions on how to make these online at MarthaStewart.com

For a recent bridal shower I bought tissue in colors matching the shower theme and used twine to hang them from the ceiling. I grouped them in threes and hung them at different lengths above each table. The finished product was beautiful! 

After the shower I started thinking of all the different things you could use Pom Poms for to decorate. I found some really cool tissue packs at Target for $1.00 in red, white and blue and made a smaller Pom Pom with pointed edges to hang in my son's room. I made a group of four and hung them from the ceiling. These would also made great decorations for 4th of July! (see picture at top of page) You can hang them in groups or separately with varying lengths. They also look great hanging from trees outside. There are so many different ways to make them and hang them! 

You can buy tissue for about $1.00 a pack in various different colors at your local party supply store, dollar store or any store like Target. You can hang them with Twine which can be bought for about $3.00 a roll at Home Depot or a fabric store. Or for an invisible look you can hang them with fishing line. 

These are a very inexpensive, fun and artsy decor for any party, occasion or nursery.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house...

Earlier this year, with a Small Group, I began reading the book, "A Mom After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George. It is a wonderful book dealing with being a mom and most importantly leading your children to Jesus by your actions, words and lifestyle. There are so many wonderful aspects of the book but one set of scriptures she kept referring to and challenging us with was Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all  your strength. "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in  your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

We are commanded in this scripture to teach our children God's Word constantly and not only teach them and talk about it but display it on the actual house! I fail every day at this and I have a long way to go but after being challenged by this in the book and most importantly in God's Word, I decided that scripture would be in our house. Not just by having a Bible in the corner but having scripture literally on the walls. I haven't gotten all the scripture up yet that I want to but the first place I did was our little ones room. In addition to adding cool new stripes, I knew I needed to not forsake the most important part: a cool piece of Scripture art. Now our little guy has cool stripes and most importantly Deuteronomy 6:5 on his wall. And every night before bed we read this scripture, and others before we say good night.

DIY Stripes for Nursery

This last week I decided to paint stripes on my little boy's nursery wall! It was quite the challenge. As I was perusing some DIY websites I saw the stripes design quite a few times and thought that it would be a piece of cake. Think again. As I stated in a previous post, I always pray before any cooking or DIY endeavor and alas, I didn't pray this time. I set out to measure and tape the lines for painting with out prayer and with out the help of my amazing husband. 

So I began...and three hours later my husband walked in and told me that the lines looked crooked. I couldn't believe it! After 3 hours of work I would need to start over. So after being humbled my wonderful husband saved the day and with his help, prayer, a measuring tape and chalk line we had the lines drawn and taped in less than an hour. :) 

The next morning I cleared the room and began to paint. The Lord helped me and a few hours later waalaahh! Stripes! It wasn't easy and it was definitely time consuming but, as with everything else in life, it was worth the effort! 

And now my little boy has the beginnings of a cool, modern room! 

Homebaked Goodness

I love to bake! And holidays are another excuse...I mean reason...to bake! Last Saturday was St. Patrick's Day so I searched for the perfect thing to bake that would be appropriate for the day. I decided upon Mint Chocolate Brownies with green details. You can find this wonderful recipe on glorioustreats.blogspot.com
There is something about baking from scratch that brightens the day! I will admit that sometimes I use "boxed" baking items to cook. Whether it's boxed brownie mix or cornbread. And that's ok, but lately I have been trying cook more of the baked stuff from scratch.  It's really very easy and worth the extra time involved. Not to mention, it's way healthier. Less of all those weird sounding, unhealthy ingredients!

If you don't bake very often, don't be afraid! Baking is for everyone! Part of being a Proverbs 31 woman in the making is learning how to cook/bake for your family (or future family). I started my baking adventures with simple recipes like chocolate chip cookies and biscuits. But then as I started getting adventurous I made my first Carrot Cake! (My mom's recipe of course!) And then from there I decided that baking was fun and if I failed, I failed.  My motto is, "Toss it and start over!". j.k. But really, I always tell my husband that I ask Jesus to cook with me and help me. Some of you may think that sounds silly but I'm totally serious. Whenever I ask the Lord's help before I cook or bake, things always turn out awesome. There has literally been a few times I didn't ask Jesus to help me and I burned the biscuits. (not even kidding) So if your a nervous, "I can't do it" type of baker; ask Jesus for help! Before you know it you'll be putting Betty Crocker to shame.  

Vinegar = Sparkling Dishes

Vinegar is usually not something we equate with sparkling dishes, or anything good for that matter. But lo and behold, among many other amazing uses, vinegar makes your dishes sparkle! How you say? By adding it to your dishwasher. I stumbled across this amazing discovery a couple years ago when our dishwasher starting coating all of our dishes with a dingy white film. (gross) I was told by someone that adding vinegar to the dishwasher would help. So, instead of believing what they told me, I "googled" it. And sure enough, it was true! So, needless to say, I added about a cup or two of vinegar to the bottom pan of the dishwasher and put a little in the "jet dry" compartment for good measure. It took two or three times to really start working because our dishwasher had built up such a layer of hard water but after that walaa! The dishes were sparkling! 

(One side note to add is make sure you turn off the heat dry option; that seems to leave spots)

So instead of wasting needless money on "sparkling" dishwasher additives; go to your local store and buy a bottle of White Distilled Vinegar. Costs about $3 or less and lasts for quite a few loads.