Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Grammie's Cherry Pie

I am so pastry crust challenged - that I was in awe of my Mom's beautiful pie! And, though I'm not a big fan of cherries - I love that these are homegrown, hand picked and beautifully baked!

Prepare your favorite pie crust for double 9" pie - or use refrigerated pie crust! Line a pie dish with one of the crusts.

Mix together: 3/4 c. sugar, 3 Tbsp. corn starch and 1/2 tsp. salt. Toss with 2 cans (1 lb. each) pitted sour cherries, drained with 1/3 c. juice reserved. Or, use 4 c. fresh picked pitted cherries.

Mix cherries, juice and 1/4 tsp. almond extract. Create lattice on top with remaining crust.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, reduce oven to 350 and bake 40 more minutes.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Worth 50 Cents!



This cute little bowl is just like one my Mom has and part of the yellow bowl set,
a fun 50 cent find at a recent yard sale!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Winding Down

A special treat to wind down from a busy day this way!
What is refreshing and relaxing to you at the end of the day?

PS: Just a reminder, meet up on Wednesday!
E-mail me if you need to know where to meet!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Swap!

Thanks to all of you who joined our recent swap! I really enjoyed getting to know my partner, Debbie! And, she is seriously talented with all things paper!

Here are the goodies I put together for her:

And, here is what she sent me! I had so much fun opening this box and love it!!! Thank you, Debbie!!








Head on over to Carrie's for more swap fun!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Doily Covered Glasses

In a recent post, a couple of you spied some glasses and asked about them - and I realized I'd never shared this idea which I've been using for over a decade!

Here's the deal - I start with ten cent thrift store glasses (the jars that chipped beef come in, they are so cute with stars around the tops!) and turn it upside down.

Lay a doily over the bottom of the glass:

Slip a rubber band over that to hold it in place:
Slip a ribbon or raffia bow over that (I keep the same raffia bows
tied in a bag and just slip them on each time):
Enjoy a cute party glass!


Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Waiting Gracefully: Journal

At some point while I was in my single years, I began writing a journal to my future husband. I didn't necessarily write in it very often - but when something really spoke to me in the journey or from God's Word - I enjoyed adding it to the book!

I wrapped this up for a wedding gift to David and have written it at our anniversary each year! What a treasure!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

High Expectations

Yes, that title describes me. I have very high expectations for myself and for things I plan. Recently, my high expectations collided with a big dose of disappointment and I struggled to see things through the eyes of my children ... Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself.

It was just an ordinary day except for one thing - David had to work very late that night. When Daddy has to work late, my girls usually request pancakes. And, I was beginning to catch a vision for something like this!

I made some simple decorations, planned the whole thing out in my mind and then watched the clouds roll in ...

... I really did try to think of a fun alternative that would be special, but in my heart of hearts I just did not want it to rain and wanted to go ahead with the really fun idea of taking a pancake picnic over to our little neighborhood lake and eating on the dock.

The ominous clouds hung over our house for a few hours without letting go of a drop and I was still cautiously hopeful - but just before we were ready to leave on our excursion, the heavy drops fell.

And, I was let down. I didn't feel like even trying to come up with a special alternative anymore because I'd been disappointed and my expectations were not met. But, my girls were eager to come up with a cheerful solution and I followed their lead.

We sat on the front porch and watched the rain, enjoying pancakes and doing something we don't normally do. They thought it magical and I was struggling to act like I thought it was fun. In truth - it was fun!

High expectations can be a great thing - but I am still learning how to handle the let down of disappointment. My girls showed me that night how to have fun, create a fun alternative and they were cheerful and did not complain at all! They have made fun new memories and I have learned from their sweet attitudes.

A week later, looking at these pictures makes me happy! I'm glad that they nudged me to go ahead with this - the pictures are sweet, fun and happy! My expectations were not met - but I'm still smiling at the memory!

Monday, June 21, 2010

North Pole?

Colorado Springs readers: Did any of you receive a Buy one get one Free admission coupon to the North Pole? My Mom did not get one in the mail, but a fellow reader - Jacque mentioned getting one in her mail last week. If you got one and you won't be using it - might I use it as we are hoping to go later this week? thehomespunheart (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Thanks!

New Wheels

I've been enjoying my birthday gift from David -
in all its pink and white girliness and retro styling - I love it!

It has made me wish for a basket for the front and
living close enough to ride to the store!

And, my little riding buddy has been having fun too!


Friday, June 18, 2010

Waiting Gracefully: Idea Folder

As a single woman, a time of waiting for me was a time to gather ideas! Ideas for my home, for celebrating holidays, new traditions, decorating or even wedding ideas!

Start a notebook (or more than one if needed) to keep programs from weddings you've attended. Things like this will be very handy when it comes time to plan your own! Gather home ideas of things you like - even if you don't use the ideas - they can be very inspiring to look at and help you in making your home into a place you like even now!

Let yourself dream ...

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Seeing you?

We are hitting the road early this morning to head for my a long visit with my parents in Colorado! I am so ready to feel the cooler air - to rest - to visit - to make more memories - to enjoy - to play! As you read this, I am likely implementing some of my Road Trip arsenal!

I would love to meet so many of you and have the opportunity to get to know you! Of course, I cannot travel the entire world to do that - but would you allow me the opportunity of serving a small group of you? While in Colorado Springs, I'd love the opportunity to meet any of you in/around the area! I have a fun review/giveaway and you'll get to be part of it!!

Bring your sweet littles and join us for a morning of fun playing, fellowship and cookie tasting on Wednesday, June 30 from 9:30-11:30 a.m.

If you are able to come, please e-mail me (thehomespunheart (at) hotmail (dot) com) for park location! Cookies and drinks will be provided!

Hope to see you there! For the rest of you - be watching for my post on this gathering because it will include a giveaway that YOU can be part of!

Just a quick reminder that I'll be unable to moderate comments for a few days!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Facebook!

Ok, I heard your requests for a Facebook Fan page and the option of sharing posts over there - so here you go!!!

Check it out here or in my sidebar! I'm new to this idea, so please share your feedback!

New Design!

Surprise! Yes, it is a surprise to me too! I woke up this morning and found that my new design was already up - so, I was planning a bit of time to get things caught up before it went on - but that is not to be! And, since we are leaving on a big long road trip tomorrow - it may take me some time to get things caught up here.

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy the new format! I took all of your suggestions and here are some of the changes:

* format sidebar to be on the right side!
* update to new Blogger - this way you can click Older Posts at the bottom and keep reading; easily Follow, click Post title to get to that post and click on the Header to get back Home. Yeah!
* Clean up the sidebar - this is the part that is still a big work in progress! I have a lot to do at renaming my tags (categories) and moving all of my links over to "Inspiration"
* Cup of Tea will be where a greeting from me, welcoming you to my blog and more about me.
* There are new categories which will help streamline the sidebar and allow you to see complete entries in each category.
* There is a cute button on the bar that you can grab and put on your blog if you'd like (some of you asked for this!) So sweet!

That is about all I can think of for now - so, I do hope you will appreciate and enjoy the changes and that it will be a smooth transition! Thanks for your patience while I get things completed!

PS: Still working on a Facebook page - that will come later for those of you who requested that. And, a big thank you to Marina at Penny Lane Designs for all of her hard work in helping me with this design!

More Fabric Roses

I was dually inspired for these two things I'm going to show today! First, Grace and I headed to Border's to look at books and I bought this:

I am serious when I say that I don't know when or if I've ever bought a craft or sewing book! But, this one is beautiful, inspiring and uses scraps - what could be better?!

Here is another piece of inspiration that I thought was cute and I sort of married the ideas and came up with these goodies!

At any rate - all three of my littles had fallen asleep for a rare lengthy quiet time, so I raided my craft supplies and made these:

I used the method shared in the above book for making my flowers. For the ring, I just stitched on a piece of elastic for the band (using what I had, you know!) and then covered the elastic with fabric.

I'm typically not a big accessories person, but I've already enjoyed these little cuties! For the bobby pin, I simply made another flower and hot glued it onto a bobby pin - I tried stitching it on - but hot glue won!

Next, I'm going to try a headband!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Just Because

When was the last time you tied on an apron for no reason ...

... or put your feet up even just for a few minutes?

How about making breakfast a little more special this morning?

Using special things - always makes me feel connected to the past!

Wrapping banana bread in a sweet towel just adds a little something special!

Enjoying our new porch always makes us smile!

My family is worth the little bit of extra effort to create this
kind of beauty and nourishment! And, I am too!

$1 finds bring smiles to little faces ...

... and homemade bubbles produces laughter and chasing feet to try and catch them!

What will you do today - just because?