Butter Dish to Posh and Pretty Bird Feeder

So how does this silver butter dish and wooden candlestick become a Posh and Pretty Bird Feeder? Read on and I will share.

This is another one of those projects on my list, like the last post, and with a little drilling help from my man, I was able to cross this project off the list today.  I sure am happy with the way this second-hand treasure turned out too!

At the beginning of the summer I went to the funnest place on earth! No not Disneyland - well this might be considered a kind of Disneyland for Farm-Girlie-Grown-Ups- but Farm Chicks! Wowee talk about super cute junk! Holy Cannoli, did I load up! It was so fun being with my gal pals and finding one-of-a-kind treasure. This silver butter dish was one of those wonders I couldn't pass up.

So here is the how to turn your second hand treasure into Posh and Pretty Up-Cycling At Its Finest: 

Flea Market Treasures to start

1)First I hunted down a wooden candle stick at a thrift store that was proportioned the way I liked. The candle stick I found was actually held together by a very long screw- a happy accident- because this allowed me to
2.) drill a hole in the bottom of the dish part and then
3.) re-assemble the footing of the candlestick to the underside of the dish and the main portion, to the inside of the dish.

bottom of candlestick to bottom of butter dish

4.) I then had my man drill 2 small holes through the top on either side of the finial and through the candle stick so that I could

top of butter dish bird feeder

5.) thread black wire through the top, through the candlestick, and back up through the top of the butter dish. This allowed me to  secure the top of the butter dish to the feeder but also allowed me to

6.)wire wrap a hanger to hang it from.

Ready for some wholesome bird seed!

Voila a most lovely bird feeder for all my little feathered friends! Don't you just love how a wee twig is the perfect little perch for the birds to eat from!

Bee Keeping and Honey Eating

Oh I can't wait! Bee keeping and honey eating. I have wanted to keep bees for about 5 years but my adventure was always met with apathy from those closest to me. It is hard to pursue a dream if everyone around you is poo-poo-ing it. But, I have finally won over my best friend, my husband. And together we are going to keep these amazing, busy, little creatures.

Just last week we picked up our hive kits and soon we will begin the adventure of building our hives. Our bees are due to arrive around the end of March so we had better get cracking!

I already have a hive design in mind. Now, if they are going to be in our yard they will be wonderful to look at. Our bee keeping teacher just smiles at me every time I tell him that they have to be pretty. I envision copper trim and a tin tile roof with periwinkle blue and cornflower blue paint. When they are done I will post a picture. For now I continue to dream...

For Lent Fasting and Feasting

I created this for my studio

FASTING and Feasting

During Lent and always fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.

Fast from complaining and feast on appreciation.

Fast from bitterness and feast on forgiveness.

Fast from idle gossip and feast on purposeful silence.

Fast from judging others and feast on the Christ within them.

Fast from emphasis on differences and feast on the unity of life.

Fast from apparent darkness and feast on the reality of light.

Fast from thoughts of illness and feast on the healing power of God.

Fast from words that pollute and feast on phrases that uplift.

Fast from anger; feast on patience;

Fast from pessimism: feast on optimism.

Fast from worry; feast on divine order.

Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.

Fast from unrelenting pressure; feast on unceasing prayer.

Fast from hostility; feast on nonresistance.

Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion to others.

Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.

Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.

Fast from shadows of sorrow, feast on the sunlight of serenity.

Fast from discouragement and feast on hope.

Fast from facts that depress and feast on anything that inspires.

Fast from lethargy and feast on enthusiasm.

Fast from suspicion and feast on truth.

Fast from problems that overwhelm us; feast on prayer that gives us the strength to get through.

What will be your fast? What will be your feast?

~Anonymous

A Breakfast at Our House

Ooh! Here is a yummy breakfast recipe that I just had to share. If you are like us, oatmeal lacks a bit of panache, especially on those cold wintry mornings. So I make oatmeal with fancy, but wholesome toppings. This one is sure to win over the pickiest eater, as well as, those with more refined taste.

Heather's Brown Sugar Banana Breakfast Oats

2 ripe bananas sliced- these can even be a bit over ripen too
1/4 c. of dried dates- I buy in the bulk food section of Fred Meyers Health Food Dept.
1/4 c. or less of brown sugar according to your taste
2 T. butter
1/4 c. whole milk
1/8 t. ground nutmeg

Over medium-low heat melt butter and brown sugar, then add dates, stir till coated and start to soften, then add milk and stir to incorporate, then add banana slices, and finally your nutmeg. Continue to stir and heat through till bananas get soft but are still whole, maybe 3-5 min. Serve over cooked oatmeal with a slice of ham and hot tea or strong black coffee, now that should get you going! This will make servings 4, Enjoy!

Patience

Here is my entry in the Salt Challenge this week. I recently did a personal swap with a friend and we did a Fruit of the Spirit books out of ATC's. I thought it would fit nicely with this challenge theme. Each page was an attribute of the Fruit of the Spirit. Each page had a verse from the Bible on that quality. I chose for the patience page this verse:

Colossians 1:10-12

10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

I am constantly checking myself on this one. I tend to have a shorter supply of this and it is a part of my character that I constantly work on. The Lord continues to teach me so much in this area, and having four children certainly helped in the efforts for me to see the light :o)! But I so love this verse! I love how patience is coupled with endurance, what a happy marriage that is. To me patience is the internal and endurance is the eternal.

Father in Heaven... I hope and pray that I live a life worthy of You, Lord and that it may please You in every way. That I bear good fruit and grow in the knowledge of You. That I will be stregthened in all power according to Your glorious might so that I may have great endurance and patience! Amen

Hip Hip Horray-It's May

My Lilacs are Blooming! My Lilacs are blooming!

Oh, they smell so heavenly-especially, when they are carried on the evening breeze warmed by the days sun! My goodness! I have been vigorously, and I mean vigorously, working in my garden. This year I redid two of my delapidated beds. Phew! talk about a tilling the soil with the sweat of your brow! Ah, but those sweet and tender sun ripened strawberries will sure be worth all the toil now!

This year I decided to try my hand at Dahlias. Yippee! I am excited to see those beauties bloom forth! And it is a fruiting year for us too. We should have lots of apples and pears, along with rhubarb, blueberries and raspberries. I will also plant tomatoes, beans, spinach, lettuce, arugula, dill and rainbow carrots. Should be a wonderful and hopefully bountiful season.

I have also realized that my wonderful chickens can not be in my garden, boy they can be naughty girls sometimes! But boy are they cute.

Like they say, you can take the girl outta the country but you can't take the country outta the girl! Yeee Haw and Thank God!

The Dandelion Vase

My heart is singing with joy today, what a nice contrast to last week! I was just blessed by my two youngest children. I recieved this handpicked bouquet! Isn't it so precious? This is my Dandelion Vase. It is one of my most treasured things. Oh, I know that there is dirt stuck at the bottom and it isn't very big. It's not even real crystal. But, I love it just the same!

This was a gift given to me by a lovely lady and her daughter from our church. At the time I really didn't know her that well, in fact we hadn't been at this church for very long and here I was going to a baby shower these ladies were dearly preparing for me. Anyway, I didn't know it at the time but this gal lived with her two children and husband on his a very modest carpenters salery.

When I opened this gift I saw this little vase and she had told me, a bit self-consciously in front of everyone else, that she had gotten it at a second hand shop. This was special to me because I love old and used treasure. Then I read the handwritten note that came with it. I couldn't help it, I started crying. Big tears welled up in my eyes. This is what it said:

This little vase might not seem like much, but won't it be a wonder to see what it will be filled with by your toddlers chubby little hands? Won't it be wonderful to talk about the beautiful "weeds" that God has made for us to enjoy. And as you talk to your children about these things you will be planting precious seeds of God's love in their hearts. These seeds will grow with a little water and a little sunshine from you. It may take a long time but someday they will blossom. May your children grow to know the love of Jesus and may this little vase be filled with their love and God's love for you, dear Mother.

Today was a good day, I got to use my Dandelion Vase!

A Thousand Gifts

This week was a hard week especially the last couple of days. So I am eeking this out with the last ounce of energy, hopefully it will be glorifying to the Lord and change my attitude.

I am grateful for a life lived with trial, it is through trial I have gained character. It is through suffering that some of the hard edges of pride and haughtiness have been struck off. It is through perseverance that these edges are worn smooth. Press on. Remember to die to self is to gain.

I am grateful I can forgive those who have wrong me.

I am grateful to have a life filled with a longing to continue to learn new things about myself
even when they are things I may not like.

Then I am grateful to posess the will to change it and the Holy Spirit who can transform the heart from the inside out. It is nice to know I don't have to do it all by myself!

I grateful for a plot of land to till and get my fingers dirty in.

I'm grateful for a tired sore body that tells me I have accomplished something today.

Girl Time Tidbit #1

I have two daughters, one has left the nest and is in college, the other still at home :o) The younger one and I enjoy what we call "Girl Time". I don't know how we coined the name. I think it was to deter any brothers from wanting to be in on the action... anyway, I thought I would start sharing some of the things that we do together. I will share "Girl Time Tidbits" and projects too. My hope is that it will encourage you or spark your creativity to start a "Girl Time" in your own home with your daughters.

Building healthy mother/daughter relationships is a heartfelt desire of mine actually, all relationships among women are; in friendship, as mentors, family relations. I also have a great love for the womanly arts of sewing, hand work, crafts, writing, hospitality, cooking and caring for my family. I want to share the things of my heart with my girls so I started spending special time with them, talking, sharing and having tea with them. What fun this has been! The wonderful by-product of this is that my daughters have also grown to love this time and lovingly share their hearts with me!

"Girl Time Tidbit #1"

One of the great things we decided was to make up a special place where we would have "Girl Time". For us this is the living room our nicest room. We sit by the front window at an antique table that I inherited from my paternal grandmother. She is who my younger daughter is named after. This table is extra special for me because there are many wonderful memories associated with it. Recipes I wrote down as my Mimi (my grandmother's nickname) dictated them, heartfelt talks, card games, I would eat fresh raspberries and milk with a sprinkle of sugar on them, that my Papa had picked from his garden that very morning. I even learned to crochet at this table.

This is our "Girl Time" spot

This special spot doesn't have to be fussy make it suit your style and decore! I have created it so that it can stay that way all the time. If you don't have a space to do this in, not a problem you can creat a "Girl Time" box (a plastic tub with lid or wicker basket) and put your special things in it. Then when you want to have "Girl Time" have your daugther get it out and set out your sweet smelling candle and special table cloth, tea cups and devotions or projects. When you are done it can go back in the plastic tub and back into it's storage spot.

We have made our spot inviting and special with candle and special books on poetry, our bibles, devotionals and our Girlhood Home Companion publications and a basket filled with our stitching and handiwork. There are many days that I long to just sit and spend time with my growing girl. The time is short make it count even if it is lots of small times they will add up to big memories and cozy feelings of love. I would love to hear your "Girl Time Tidbits", tales and memories, so please leave a comment.

This is some of our favorite tea!

What a Blessing

My friend Amy at Razz Pizazz Boutique just sent me this and I am really blessed by it. Thanks Amy. This is a wonderful opportunity to bless someone else too. I love being able to share the blessings and joy that God is bringing into my life. There are many wonderful women and connections that I have been making this year that the Lord is using to teach and encourage me! You girls are awesome! Your willingness to share information, encouragement, your faith and prayers with me have meant so much to me, you truly have lit up my life!

For those that are wondering, this is how the blessing candle is spread:
The idea…it’s a game of tag with a difference, rather than looking inwardly, we look outside ourselves and bless, praise and pray for 3 blog friends. By participating in this endeavour we not only make the recipient of the blessing feel valued and appreciated, but we are having some fun too. We’re going to see how far the bloggin’ blessings can travel around the world and how many people can be blessed! Recipients of a bloggin’ blessing may upload the above image to their sidebar if they choose to. If you receive a bloggin’ blessin’ please leave a comment on this thread here so that we can rejoice in just how many blessings have been sent around the world.
I will now pass this onto a few other ladies.

Laura of Layers of Color -You inspire me with your art, friendship, faith and generosity

Jill of Remembance Press-You have lifted me in prayer and have been my teacher, encouraging me in my writing and givng me a place to do that

Nancy of Homeschooling is Life-You are just a ray of sunshine and give your heart freely

Ali of Miss Ali's-I wouldn't have a website without your beautiful design work

Alice of Painted White-I love your style and sweet heart, thank you for our recent interview exchange that was fun!

Thanks girls my life is changed because you are in it! I hope you will stop by and visit with these wonderful ladies...if you do, you can't help but be blessed!