Counting 1000 Blessings - January 2013

This year I started a little something called 1000 gifts, also known as the Joy Dare. Among other new things I started this January, I'm counting to 1000 blessings in the year 2013. I decided to make it a photo-journal which you can follow on instagram.

Here's my January list

1        1 my son's laugh

          2 beautiful music

          3 my husband telling me I love you

2        4 outside: the chill of a new year

          5 inside: Ian sitting with Ivan by the fire

          6 on a plate: my daily avocado

3        7 my son playing in other room

          8 husband driving up driveway

          9 praise music filling the house

4        10 old: God’s precious Word

          11 new: Ivan learning new things every day

          12 blue: oversized comforter on the bed

5        13 reading: books with my baby

          14 making: his baby quilt

          15 seeing: baby dimples on his hands 

6        16 on your fridge: Pictures of my precious family!

          17 in your heart: Prayers for my friend Ahna who is waiting for a new liver 

          18 in your bag: – verse cards my husband read to me during the delivery of our son. These are absolutely priceless to me

7        19 my husband loves to read books with me! http://twitpic.com/btv7hf 

          20 my husband gets up and takes care of the first diaper change of the day! 

          21 my husband always makes sure the bathroom stays warm in the morning when he leaves

8        22 dusky light: God told me to paint again today. Can't wait to see what He comes up with! 

          23 surprising reflection: The smiley face on my mug reflected on my plate. Two happy faces instead of one!

          24 lovely shadow: the shadow the crib casts on the wall when it’s dark outside and just the lamp is on

9        25 held: my sweet baby!

          26 sat with || Reading together cuddled in the blanket Grandma made me.

          27 passed by: pictures in my hall

10      28 just right: Ten perfect little toes!

          29 sweet: blackberry coffee syrup. perfect journaling snack

          30 sour: fresh blackberries!

11      31 yellow gift of fresh mercy: Sunrise, faithful every morning 

          32 a yellow gift with fresh mercy: God lit up the dark room 

          33 a yellow gift with fresh mercy Lemonade on a dreary day 

12      34  Love my paisley chair. Best seat in the house. 

          35  Me & Mr Wonderful

          36 Snow!!! 

13      37 I am redeemed

          38 I am healthy

          39 I am American

14      40 birds covering the lawn, and then all take flight at the same time 

          41 when God told me to paint, this is what He drew 

          42 God’s Glory surrounding the painting, bright as could be

15      43 vitamins I and my baby can both benefit from 

          44 because little boy socks are the best ever! 

          45 Giving my time away to fill my role as wife and mother

16      46 last years herb garden continues to fill our spice cabinet & flavor our food 

          47 coffee brewing. Always cheers me up, hearing smelling and seeing it 

          48 my husband reading to our boy as soon as he got home. He didn't even wait to change out of his work clothes!

17      49 Making gobble sounds on his belly

          50 rom 1:5-6 Stopped me in my tracks

          51 prayers for my friend Ahna

18      52 2cor4:7 we are clay, so God shines through 

          53 ps46:10 love it when God gives me scripture in threes: same verse 3x in a day  

          54 Lk 6:27-28

19      55 God totally intervened in the events prior to Ivan’s premature birth

          56 Marriage to Ian – so many things could’ve happened along the way

          57 My sweet friendship with my mother-in-law

20      58 I always marvel at Gods creative hand in the little juice pockets of oranges

          59 My view from snuggle time, baby’s soft sweet face up close

          60 Salt up close – perfect little cubes

21      61 Good morning world!- Beautiful sunrise this morning

          62 Memories I will always get to cherish of my friend Ahna. She's with Jesus now

          63 Living Water – Inspired Words of Scripture finish up my painting

22      64 He just loves playing with this scrubby puff

          65 sugar scrub on my hands. Silky smooth- feels soo good! 

          66 love when he unfolds his fingers and tries to lace them with mine.

23      67 I am chosen. Jn 15:16-19, Eph 1:4, 1Thes 1:4 1Pet 2:9

          68 complete in Him Col2:10 

          69 a new nature 2Cor 5:17 

24      70 little boy overalls

          71 my Eeyore coffee mug. Makes me happy!

          72 Ivan’s beautiful blue eyes

25      73 down payment on our house 

          74 Happy Apple from my friends mom

          75 found my two lost CD’s

26      76 up at 630 like clockwork to feed Ivan. I cherish it bc one day I will miss this. 

          77 gift at noon... meeting great grandparents for the first time

          78 playing with my happy guy

27      79 love the tiles on the kitchen floor 

          80 Dinner in the crock pot – smelling good!

          81 My journaling time. Fix my thoughts on Jesus

28      82 this lovely Shan-Merry print from a friend

          83 My favorite apples given to us because our friends had more than they would eat

          84 The comfiest wicker furniture given to us buy a friend when we got married 

29      85 a song heard/ he really loves this singing puppy... and is learning how to push the buttons

          86 a light seen. / this clock lamp I just love

          87 a soft word. devo content at just the right time Proverbs 15:1

30      88 Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart with all diligence

          89 Childrens Books from the Library

          90 planted these crocuses last year and glad to see them coming back this year! 

31      91 God gave us such pretty snow to look at today!

          92 watching him see the snow for the first time

          93 3 words others may use to describe you http://twitpic.com/bzu0qm

While I Warm Up My Coffee

Today's post will be a bit different than usual. My mission here was and still is to exude the characteristics and actions of the Proverbs 31 wife. Today I just want to share from my heart.

For the last 5 years (almost 6! Time goes so fast) that we've been married, I have worked outside the home and so has my husband. I have also managed a home based business and some side jobs, and my husband has done the same as well. Last Christmas, however, we found out I was expecting! We have always agreed that once we had children, I would stay at home to be a mommy & we would trust God to provide. I know this isn't for everyone, but that is where we felt God clearly directing our family.

Since July I have done just that. I absolutely love it!
There are new challenges that come with this position, however. With my personal schedule not being so packed, its easy to let days slip by unnoticed.

For new years I never make resolutions but a few years back I heard of My One Word. Akin to the One Little Word that I heard of for the first time this year, you choose a one-word goal to focus on that year. Mine is diligence. Applicable in so many ways. House, marriage, family, business, mothering, and last but not least my spiritual walk.

Easier said than done. I could choose to spend hours on Pinterest looking up organization tips or I could choose to actually fold & put away the basket of clean laundry. (At the moment is actually done, by the way!)

I must have some perfectionist tendencies, because I heard once that a perfectionist doesn't like to start cleaning a room (or putting away laundry for that matter) unless he can finish it without being interrupted. That's me. Either that or the Artist in me just simply gets distracted.
It's one of the two. Or both.

So I decided to challenge myself. Rather than waiting for the best time to do something, I would see how much I could get done in *little* bits of time. While I warm up my coffee, per se.

It's amazing how fast I can work when there's a quick deadline. (And a great reward.) The dishwasher only takes about two minutes to unload. I can get several shirts hung up, the mail sorted, or the ingredients gathered for dinner.

Its also amazing the ways I'm spending my time instead; art projects or reading or Pinterest doesn't happen while the coffee is being warmed up... and if they do, it usually has to be warmed up again by the time I get to it.

So. I challenge you... your coffee has gotten cold. What are you going to accomplish?
I'd love to read your comments!

Accent Table Round Tablecloth Tutorial

You know the ones, the little round tables with 3 legs that sit beside your favorite chair, usually with a lamp on it. And a few good books. And coffee...  mmm coffee...
Ahem.
Sorry I got distracted.
Where was I? Accent table. Ah yes.

Well I got one at a garage sale this summer for a dime. (Score!) And all it needed was a tablecloth. I know those tables aren't too expensive brand new, and probably neither are the tablecloths, but both new together would probably run me about $30+ and at that cost I most likely would've decided to do without.
But 10 cents... shoot, who can say no to that? I figured I could make a tablecloth easy enough with all the $1/yd fabric I got for nursery stuff.

So I did. Here's how to make your own.


You will need:
2 yds fabric
Measuring tape
Pencil or chalk to mark with
Scissors
Pins

Optional but handy:
Rotary cutter
Cutting mat
Ruler or cutting guide

Here are the cutting instructions. If you are awesome, and can figure out how to fit the pieces onto 2 yds of fabric all by yourself, then skim the cutting section just for your calculation formulas.

Begin by measuring your table: across the widest part of the top, and then from the tabletop to the floor.
Mine was 20" across and 25" tall.

Cutting the circle

Add one inch to the top measurement.
Then divide by 2.
Example: Mine was 20" across.
20 +1 = 21
21 / 2 = 10.5 (this will be your radius for cutting)

Open up your fabric so that its a single layer. take the number you just came up with & measure that far from the end of the fabric &make a small dot. This will be the center of your circle.

Hold the end of the measuring tape at the dot, and put a mark on the fabric at the length of your radius. (mine = 10.5)

Keeping the end on the dot, rotate the other end all the way around the circle, making a mark every few inches, making a circle. Lightly connect the marks with your pencil. Cut out your circle.

line  is really faint, but if you look close you can see it

Cutting the panels
Refold your fabric. Measure across. It should be at least the length of the height of your table. If so, do a little celebration cheer. (If you're like me, cutting out is the worst. Yucky.)

Assuming the fabric is wide enough when it's folded, you will be able to get two pieces across it.
More math... here we go.

Finding your panel width: Take the diameter of the tabletop and multiply by pi to get the circumference.
I'll use mine for the example again:
20 x 3.14 = 62.8
Divide by 4 and add 1 (for 1/2" seam allowance):
62.8 / 4 = 15.7
15.7 + 1 = 16.75

(To make it easier I went to the nearest quarter inch)

Finding your panel height:  Take the height of your table and add about an inch and a half. (For seam allowance and hem.)
My Panel Height:
25 + 1.5 = 26.5

Cut four panels this size.

Mine:
Four 16.75 by 26.5 panels

You should only have to cut two strips if your fabric is folded. Then cut the fold to make each strip into two pieces.

Cutting the triangles
Now with the rest of your fabric still folded, cut a strip about 10 - 15 inches wide, and the same height as your panels. (Mine=26.5") I did 10" wide, but you could do 15" or even the remainder of your yardage to make a fuller tableskirt.
Cut the fold to make this into two pieces.
Next cut from corner to corner, to make triangles. I folded mine & cut along the fold, but you could mark it too. It doesn't make a difference.

Stack all your triangles.

Now take your height-plus-seam-allowance height... (Mine=26.5), and measure that along the longer side of the triangle, as shown, and a time or two in between. (the same way you made your circle earlier)

Connect the dots- should be a slightly curved line. You could probably cut it straight, and no one would be the wiser. Do what you want to.

If I just made you all confused on the cutting layout, here is a diagram.

You should now have:

1 circle

4 panels

4 triangles

.
Putting it all together
Pin and and sew together the skirt pieces. It should be a pattern of Triangle, Panel, Triangle, Panel, and so on. Here's a few pictures.

Pin and sew the circle to the top, making sure to keep right sides together.

TIP: Newbies, it is a little tricky to sew a round thing to a straight thing. What helps make it easier is to use LOTS of pins! Start by pinning the circle on opposite sides, matching it up to the seams on the skirt (12 o'clock and 6 o'clock) and then the other two sides, lining up with the seams (3 o'clock and 9 o'clock) and then putting a pin in the center of the space between each of those pins, and then another in the center between each of those.

Last but not least, hem the bottom. I just used a simple roll hem, and didn't even bother ironing it over. Apples to Applique has an awesome (and super easy!) tutorial on how to make a nice professional rolled hem.You could do that if you want, especially if your fabric is difficult to work with, or if your triangle pieces are very wide.

Ta Da!
Tip: You could add variety, kindof a shabby-chic look to it, and make your triangles and/or panels out of different patterned coordinating fabrics. Or you could add some trim to the bottom, or some appliques to the skirt to personalize it. Have fun with it! I would love to see pics of yours!

Easy Mirror Upcycle DIY Tutorial

Find some mirrors at a thrift store or garage sale. Look for ones that have an interesting texture or pattern. Plain square ones will work fine too, just keep in mind that the texture and shape are the only things that will remain the same, and any nasty or outdated color will go away.

Poof! Just like that. It's wonderful.

Tape off the glass or remove it. Out of the three I did, only one had glass that was removable. Thank goodness it was the oval one, as that would've been a bear to try to tape off.

Paint. You can use spray paint, but I'm a satin-finish kind of gal myself. I like that it's not shiny and glossy, but it's not disgusting flat paint either. I am very opposed to flat paint, as stated in my previous post.

You may have to do several coats. I needed three. I may have only needed two if I had taken the time to stir the paint better... I am still using that can of Oops White I got for the wall decals.

I used a little bit of the yellow canary paint that was left from the wall decals as well. There's still some left in that little container for future painting pleasure.

When it's completely dry, remove the tape and use a razor blade to scrape away any wayward paint. Depending on the tape you used you may also need to use some rubbing alcohol to get away the goo from the tape. My goo was minimal and went away when I used the razor blade. I used frog tape and it worked really well.

Hang and congratulate yourself for a job well done.
TIP: For a mirror collage like this one, play with different arrangements! Keep in mind that you can turn your mirror a different direction than you might be apt at first to hang it. You might be pleased and surprised with the results!

See if you spy these mirrors as photo props in my Etsy shop!

Theory About Oregano

I have a theory.

Disclaimer: it is a Nicole-Theory. My family is familiar with this disclaimer, but since you are not, I will explain. It is simply a theory I come up with, because it seems to make perfect sense to me, and I have no opposing evidence. I don't always have any evidence to begin with; often it's just an idea that has popped into my head that I like, and therefore hang on to.

There. Now you, too, know about Nicole-Theories. Don't you feel included?

So my theory is that oregano must be considered a weed somewhere.

This spring, we purchased a few herb starter-plants. 2 parsley, 1 sage, 1 oregano, 1 basil. They were all pretty healthy-looking except for the oregano. It was kindof Charlie-Brown. 

We my husband planted them all, and we my husband split the oregano into two, and planted it in two spots. We didn't really expect it to survive. The rest we were ok with, but this we didn't have a lot of faith in.

We were wrong.

It grew, and it grew... I feel like Dr. Seuss. It grew and it grew and it grew.

I even harvested more than I felt was appropriate because I thought maybe I would contain it somehow. 

I was wrong again.

It's ok though, we'll just have plenty of oregano.

Here's some tips we figured out that makes growing/harvesting/using it easier.

• One plant is plenty. Really.
• Harvest out of the middle of the plant, the sprouts that are growing up tall but don't have anywhere to root themselves.
• Also harvest the edges, where it is growing out of the zone. Ours is in a raised garden, but ours came with the house, and is built up by rocks. I cut off the sprigs that hung over the edges, and, again, had nowhere to root themselves.
• Pluck the leaves off before it is dried. This is much easier. You can get most of them off by dragging pinched fingers from the top to bottom of each sprig. Any that got past you can be plucked manually.
• Now you can either lay them out flat on a cookie sheet (We use the pizza pans with holes in them, and they are great, but a regular cookie sheet will be fine too.) or use them right away.

TIP: if using herbs in a soup, put dry herbs in toward the end, as they will tend to break down the llonger they cook. Put fresh herbs in toward the beginning, especially great for slow-cooker recipes, as when fresh herbs cook for a while, more flavor is released.

I use my little Braun food chopper with fresh and with dried herbs. It works perfect, and is much faster and much less messy than crushing the herbs by hand.

Here's where a little ingenuity comes in. Originally I bought some spice containers at our local Spice Merchant. I love that store, and it was the perfect excuse reason to go in. I may or may not have made a detour over by the flavored coffees, specialty tea blends and rows of delightful Torani syrup.

The spice containers weren't expensive, especially compared to others I found at the store. I really wanted ones with a shaker/spoon opening. Also ones that were air-tight. I may have organized my spice cabinet, (post for another time), but still get the occasional avalanche. I have thought about getting salt/pepper shakers, but decided against it for that reason.

But back to my Nicole-Theory about Oregano being a weed. When we first started harvesting our herbs this spring, we had just emptied out the oregano from the store, so we just used that container. It is full now. In fact it was full long before the growing season was over. (Who am I kidding? I told you that stuff was a weed somewhere... you can't kill it. It has gotten down below freezing several times this fall/winter, and the stuff is still kickin. Again, cool- we won't run out of oregano any time soon, but still...)

 Instead of going and continuing to buy more shakers at the Spice Merchant, I decided to start saving the shakers from other spices and such as they ran out. We now have one for the basil (already labeled... how cool is that?) next summer when we get more of that. And a bigger shaker, the parmesan container. We have emptied two of those (what can I say? We love us some Italian food!) and I've stuck them in the dishwasher and saved them for our herbs. 

Because I don't think we'll be making our own parmesan cheese anytime soon, this is a great system for me. Empty parmesan, dishwasher it, and put our abundance of oregano in it. No more trips into town to the Spice Merchant. Oh, wait. I liked the excuse of going there. We may have to re-think this. *grin*

Contrast in colors. Green is garden oregano.

Just as a side note: When we first dumped the oregano into the empty container from the store, there was actually a teensy bit left in the bottom. Look, though at the contrast between the colors! Just looking at that browny dull stuff from the store makes me never want to buy it anymore, and always just use garden-oregano. In this pic it was hand crushed, so didn't get as small as when I use the Braun.

Easy Microwave Butternut Squash Soup

Making the Soup

Easy Microwave Butternut Squash Soup
2 C. cooked butternut squash
3/4 C. chicken broth/bouillon
1/4 C. sour cream or cream cheese
1/4 C. chopped red onion
1 T. butter/margarine
1/8-1/4 tsp. basil
dash cayenne

Combine ingredients in microwave safe bowl, and microwave 5 min, stirring every couple minutes.
Serve and enjoy. I told you it was easy.

No blender or food processor necessary. This way you can enjoy the great texture of the butternut squash, and have virtually no clean-up. Since I eye-balled the ingredients when I put them in, the only dishes I had were the bowl I cooked in, the bowl I ate from, spoon and butter knife. I have been known to make a half-recipe in the bowl I eat from, and just have a single serving lunch that takes about as long to make as a can of soup would- but is far more delicious and nutritious.

Cooking the Squash
If you do not have cooked butternut squash on hand, here is how you do it the easy way.

• Slice a butternut squash lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds and extra pulp. 
• Place in a sheet cake pan or 9x13 (if it fits. Some squash are very long and skinny) shell-side up. 
• Pour in just enough water to seal around the edges.

TIP: If you didn't cut your squash very straight, and there is a gap, it's fine. As long as most the edges are sealed it helps the squash not get too dry.

• Cook about 30-45 min at 350. When it's done, you should be able to poke a fork easily into the skinny part of the squash.
• Cool enough to handle and scoop out the butternut squash goodness. 

TIP: This scooped squash freezes really well, and we store ours in quart-size Ziploc bags in the freezer, thawing just as much as we plan to use that day. For this recipe, I used half of a bag.

Changing Table under $15

New nursery does not have to equal lots of $$$$.

Not so much $$$ does not have to mean ugly nursery.

Here's how we did the changing table for under $15.

This is the desk we got from Goodwill for $5 several years ago. Just a normal writing desk... most thrift stores usually have at least a couple.

We removed the drawers and drawer pulls sanded it down, so there was no more gloss from the previous varnish. It looked cool like that, and I considered just leaving it like that, but decided not to.

Done sanding, we took a damp cloth and went over all the surfaces, to remove any remaining sawdust.

Then, filled the knob holes with wood putty. I did not go all the way through, as you will see in the picture. Basically just enough for it to look fine from the front. (After my dad saw it, he said I probably should've done the whole hole- he's probably right. Maybe someday I will go fill it from the inside.... but knowing my track record, probably not.) I had to fill the front a couple times, because as it dried, the putty sunk in, leaving a tiny crater. After it was filled smooth to my satisfaction, I sanded away any extra lumps I didn't get scraped away while the putty was wet.

Then we got to paint! It took about 3 coats of Satin/Eggshell paint. I didn't want it too glossy, and abhor flat paint, especially the feel of it. The Eggshell was just exactly what I imagined. We used what was left over from the wall "decal" birch trees we did in the nursery.

Next, we inserted the drawer pulls from Hobby Lobby. Each one cost about $2.50. Beautiful, however they had really long screws, and would've stuck out inside the drawer. 

I took them over to my dad's (unfortunately did not get pictures of this part of the process.) and he used his screw-cutter to cut them off. We also had to drill a space just wide enough for the nut on the back, but not so deep that the screw would come through. About half-way through the drawer. Here's what it looks like from the inside.

Put it all together, and here's our beautiful changing table!

The changing table pad on top was blank, and I made the cover for it following this excellent changing table pad cover tutorial. Although I will say, she's right, you do need more elastic. I don't know exactly how  much I used, but it was more than three feet. Just FYI.