Scrolling, Scrolling, Scrolling

Why is it that I feel guilty if I'm not working?

I sat down at the computer to check my email. I had an hour before friends were coming in to spend the night. Everyone in the house was either asleep or watching a movie. I thought I'd look at Pinterest for a few minutes since I had extra time. I knew I needed to be working, I'm sure there was some horrible dust bunny or stinky sock or unmade bed that needed tending to, but I didn't do it, I just sat mindlessly and scrolled.

Just in case you don't know how Pinterest is, it sucks you in and you feel like you have to look at every picture. If you don't, something bad is gonna happen, like if you don't forward those sappy, sentimental emails about how much you love God. Well... before I knew it, an hour was up. I kept telling myself to get up and get to work. I was wasting too much time, I should be getting school ready for next week or sweeping the kitchen or ironing Ray's shirts, but I didn't, I just scrolled.

I was too busy convincing myself that I could do any of those projects if I had the time, I could make my house that beautiful and photo worthy, or memorize any of those inspirational quotes, but I just scrolled.

And I kept scrolling, I didn't repin anything, because I'm not sure I really know how. I think I have before, but not any more, I just like to scroll. When the phone rang to say that my friends were getting close, I closed out Pinterest and picked up the stray books and toys, did a last minute check of their room and beat myself up for all the wasted time.

Then I was reminded,

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I Corinthians 10:31

 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:24

Do these scripture verses prove that I can goof off for an hour guilt free? I don't know, but I do know that it's okay for me to rest and relax every once in a while. I could probably come up with some "churchy" reason using those verses to kill an hour of time, but I'll not try. I'll just laugh at the silly things I saw, pray for the problems that were brought to my attention and maybe even have enough inspiration to cover Mary's bulletin board this weekend. I've only had the fabric for about six weeks.

Book Wreath

The hardest part of making a book wreath is deciding which book to use. It needs to be old to give the edges character.
















Hannah had no trouble tearing the pages out for the girls, but they all thought it very wrong. I guess they learned something during all those toddler years.

 Roll the pages making sure which edges you want facing out. Run a line of glue inside the page to secure each roll if you fold the pages in half. We used regular school glue for this part. If you aren't folding the pages, just put a dab of glue on the inside edge that will be attached to the wreath form.

 You can buy many different kinds of wreath forms but to save money, we cut ours out of cardboard. Glue and press the rolled pages onto the form all along the outside edge of the wreath first. Then going in a random pattern, keep gluing them until the entire wreath is filled. After you have finished gluing, step back and look at it to see where there are blank spots that need to be filled in.

 It may take several hands to keep it going. We made these three in about an hour, had lots of fun, and got a few burned fingers.

They are great for framing cute faces or mirrors, hanging on the wall, or laying flat on a table.

Some of the girls chose brightly colored ribbon to hang theirs with. We liked burlap ribbon hot glued to the back. The sister sets worked together so they would each have one to hang in their rooms.  It was interesting how each wreath turned out so differently but so cute. It was a fun project that cost us almost nothing to pull off.

Christmas Crafts

 It's amazing what a day at home will get done.

These little cuties were made from baby food jars, fabric and ribbon and filled with candy or puffs.

I've been saving cereal boxes for weeks until I had time to make these.

The Homemade Days of Christmas

With craft stores like Hobby Lobby in abundance, it's easier than ever to hand make lots of things. Using cast offs, yard sale finds and thrift store treasures my house is now decorated for Christmas. I'm sure it isn't magazine worthy, but we've talked about that before. I want to do more homemade gifts and decorations, but there is also the time factor. I thought it would be so great to do something homemade with one of the girls every day of the Christmas season. I have so many ideas, my own and borrowed from others, but I know I have to be reasonable trying to fit in what I want to do with what I can do. The criteria for crafts for me - cheap, easy, accessible, reusable. Yesterday, I helped Lydia make Hershey Kiss cookies using this recipe. I made a few adjustments so they didn't turn out as cute, but they were still yummy.