We decided to bring out this blog post again because we are giving away an iPad-mini at Momentum! {click here to register for the event} We pray that you use all of the things you have for the glory of … Continue reading
iPad-Mini Giveaway!
Tag Archives: creativity
Three Cheers for Awesome Freebies!
Have you wrapped everything yet? Need some gift tags for a little extra flare? I love DIY crafting at home and I love it when I have time to sit and create something out of nothing. But I, like you, … Continue reading
Simplifying Christmas
Christmas simplified once and for all…forever and ever amen! Every year right about this time I say to myself…THIS year is going to be different! We’re not going to get swept up into the Christmas tornado of running too much, … Continue reading
Knit with a Purpose
I just started a Bible study at the Long Hollow Springfield campus that meets at the YMCA that not only has a killer devotion but is also teaching ladies to knit. Now I know you’re asking what knitting has to do with the Bible. Actually, quite a lot – you see, God was a knitter. If you look in Psalm 139:13 it clearly states “you knit me together in my mother’s womb”. We were handmade and carefully crafted by God. I’m reminded of this as I look around the table during the study and enjoy the fellowship with each of these ladies I’m blessed to have as a friend. We share our hearts, we share our lives, and we share our love of creating something for someone else. God created each of us uniquely (and this is a unique group) and specially so we can show His love through something as simple as a knitted blanket.
The ladies are in the process of creating baby blankets to share with some precious creation that God has knitted. These blankets have twelve blocks – one that we are learning each week. Each block has a story that tells of the enormous love God has for us. As we complete these blankets and send them off to their new owners, they will have a small testament carefully placed in the pocket of a block that is embellished with a heart – “Thy word have I hid in my heart”. 
I’m sure we may never know how these blankets will impact other lives but I cannot wait for the day when I’m walking down the streets of gold and just maybe someone comes up to me and says “Remember that baby blanket you knitted years ago? It changed my life!” And that, my dear friends, is what WE were created for!
Carol Goad
Check out Facebook pics of the knitting group here!
What Time Is It?
SUMMER TIME!
Ok, ok. Please excuse the cheesy High School Musical reference. I just can’t help myself sometimes…
But seriously! It’s summertime people! Time for running through sprinklers, catching fireflies, eating strawberries, drive-in movies, and so many other fun things.
To celebrate, I thought it’d be fun to look at 5 fun DIYs that are totally summer appropriate!
1. Herb Pots
You can find a clay pot, paint, brushes, and seeds at WalMart. All for under $5! This is such an easy way to add a little life to the windowsill in your kitchen or living room. You can paint them any way you want to match your home and then plant away. It’d be a great activity to involve your kiddos in, too! Continue reading
Creative Teacher Gifts
School is almost out, looking for some ways to say “thanks for a great year” to your child’s wonderful teacher? Some require a little planning ahead, and some you can run out and pick right up! Here they are:
- Gift cards (Favorite restaurant, hobby store, home improvement store, etc.)
- A summer tote bag filled with sunscreen, visor, magazine or novel and sweet & salty snacks,etc.
- Flowers: hanging pots or potted annuals for them to enjoy all summer
- Money or Money Tree
- Devotional or journal
- Baked goods: cookies, brownies, etc. (your favorite recipe or bakery)
- Note cards or stationery
- Canvas apron or captain’s chair with all the children’s hand prints stamped on it
- Candles
- A scrapbook or memory jar: Have parents send in a picture of their child along with a favorite thing they learned or memory about “Ms./Mr. Teacher’s” class this year.
Always enclose a note from your child to the teacher thanking them for a great year, in their handwriting if possible.
Have a safe and happy summer!
Sandra
Just Add Water
Here in middle Tennessee we have had an unusually mild winter this year, and an even milder spring! I for one am not complaining! Warm weather along with the ability to be outside is my happy place! My kids, who are young adults now, will be the first to tell you that when the temperatures allowed, the windows were flung open and they were flung outside!
Have you ever considered how God in His creation built all around us a natural playground? If you don’t teach kids fear of bugs, bugs become play pretties! Children generally are fascinated with bugs! If you don’t insist on them staying out of the dirt, they make modeling clay out of it, or it becomes some imaginary culinary delight! A tree with strong low hanging limbs attracts a child like a picnic attracts flies! And don’t you just love watching them under a weeping willow tree? What they inevitably do is grab the wiry limbs and start swinging!
But the favorite natural play thing of all time is water!! What a great idea, God!! I always grin when seeing brief news clips of children frolicking in water fountains, regardless of where they are! Pools, creeks, puddles, hoses or fountains, no matter the means of access kids will find their way to and delight in water! And honestly, don’t we grownups love it too! One of my favorite memories of my son Kaleb and his best bud Carson is when, in their effort to entertain themselves outside in the summer heat they decided to fill little buckets with water and bob for…. carrots! I obviously didn’t have any apples but the goal was to just make a game out of water! We easily think of water in its natural setting as calming, beautiful, even mood altering in the most beneficial way. But children see water and think “let’s play”! It makes me appreciate even more the intricate ways in which God has provided for us!
Long before the convenience of component based playground “equipment” and beautifully structured in ground pools was the ease of just going outside and playing with all that God has blessed us with through His amazing creativity! So if your children are bored, and more importantly, if they are too content with indoor media entertainment, push them out the back door and… just add water!
“On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.” Psalm 145:5
Lori
DIY Patio Cable Drum
Can we say “Welcome Spring!” How I love it! Doesn’t it automatically cause you to think of family grill outs, planting your gardens, riding bikes, the coolness of the mornings… oh I just love it! Well part of our spring consists of revamping… you ask, what are you revamping? Anything and everything! We see it as the season of refurbishing! Below is our newest re-furbished piece… hope you enjoy!
Cable drums are used mostly for hauling large 
amounts of cable wire. They are hard to find apart from inside electric companies and such. On the other hand, you may get lucky and find one at a scrap yard or a dump site. If you do find one… don’t let it get away! You can find many uses for them! They come in all sorts of sizes, which makes it perfect for different projects!
For instance… a friend of ours found 2 and gave us one! We decided to make ours into outdoor patio furniture! It was easy, fun, and it looks great!
What You Will Need:
*Cable Drum, size of your choice
* Stain- color of choice, we used Dark Walnut
* Rope- found a bundle at Lowes for $8.00
* Patio Chairs- ours were a yard sale find for $2 each!
How To:
* First of all clean off the cable drum, make sure there is no oil or dirt on it.
* Secondly, sand down any rough spots or edges, you could use your hand to sand and a grit paper 100.
* Thirdly, Stain your cable drum.
* Allow stain to dry.
* Add final touches by wrapping the rope around the base of the drum.
* Lastly, find matching chairs. Like I said, we found some at a yard sale for $4 total! Keep your eye open for those good deals! They are far and between!
We added our $2 plant to the table and I just love the feel it gives!
In sitting and enjoying this weather it takes me to Deuteronomy 10:14 (convenient that it is the Book we are in during chronological!)
“To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.”
How good it is to know that He owns it all. May we not forget today that HE is the author and finisher of our race and has the authority to do so, HE created us! Amen and Amen.
Jessica Manuel
