they remember...
He remembers...
photo sources: googleimages.com
I wait for God my Savior... Micah 7:7
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Check Out the Holiday Craft Along
Happy, happy Friday friends! Three nifty, fellow blog-and-craft-lovin' girls have organized 30 days of sewing, baking and holiday craft ideas for the month of September. The girls are Kelly at According to Kelly, Cindy at Skip to my Lou and Rachel at A Southern Fairytale. They are trying hard to inspire the rest of us to get thinking about Christmas gift giving! I can vouch for the fact that it's never too early to start gathering ideas for those handmade gifts. Make your list...and check it twice!
And...I am pleased as punch to say that we gals at Seven Sisters were kindly asked to guest post for the Holiday Bake, Craft & Sew Along! (Who? Little old us? Oh, yeah we are blogging with the big girls!)
So, without further ado, here's where to go and a preview of what you will find (it's good stuff!)...
Jaime, our decorating super-star sister, is posting over at According to Kelly. Check out her holiday wreath fashioned out of tags. It has a lovely vintage look to it and is like a piece of art for you door. Jaime used paper and embellishments to create a beautiful, one-of-kind wreath.
Mar, our super-motivated-sister-with-a-sewing machine is posting an awesome sewing project over at Skip to my Lou. She shows you step by step how to make a beautiful fabric Kindle cover. It would be a stylish gift for anyone with an e-reader. This makes me want a Kindle just so I can carry it in this beautiful cover!
For some holiday baking inspiration, hop over to A Southern Fairytale to read my (Janel) post. I share a recipe for Christmas cut-out cookies with an anise glaze and a cute idea to package one cookie with a coffee drink. It would make a sweet gift for a teacher or co-worker.
This is our first time guest posting! Hugs to our faithful followers and if anyone is visiting Seven Sisters for the first time...welcome! Take a look around! We are seven friends who follow God and love to spend time together. We get together for "craft nights" at each others homes but really, it is an excuse to talk and eat! Occasionally a craft or two gets completed! Thanks for spending a moment with us..have a great weekend!
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Procrastination Anyone?
Procrastination has always been my worst enemy it seems. I come home from a long day at work and look at the load of laundry and think, “Hey look, laundry! Should I do it now? Do I really need to? I just had a long day at work, I deserve to take a break.” I then proceed to do other things and put all thoughts of doing laundry out of my head.
It would seem that procrastination and motivation go hand in hand. I can be really, really motivated on the way home from work. My 30 minute drive home consists of all these awesome things I’m going to do when I get home. I get super excited about doing laundry, picking up around the house, working out, and a miscellaneous list of other things that I have been meaning to get out of the way for a while. My house will be clean as a whistle with everything put neatly in its place and I will look fantastic while I do it. As soon as I get home, I seem to fall into the same routine of procrastination. How can I lose that much motivation in just 30 minutes?
We like to put up the façade that we are proactive and never procrastinate. I like to hide behind a mask of “yes! I am on top of things and ahead of the game!” In reality, I struggle to keep up with simple things like birthday gifts and events where I bring a dish to pass. Everything is left to the last minute. I have become quite the expert in efficiency when time is precious.
After things pile up for a few days, I finally am able to make myself motivated enough to get a ton of things done. It ends up making me feel stressed because I can’t believe that I didn’t do it when I should have.
My husband and I are currently in the process of a complete bathroom gutting and remodel, so our house has been a little crazier than normal (wait not crazy, psychotic!). There is dust everywhere, tools everywhere, supplies everywhere, and it all just makes for a stressful environment.
This is where I take a deep breath and try to maintain some control of my emotions so I don’t explode with raging madness at the mess! As odd as this sounds, I procrastinate, but I like to have things a certain way. My house is not a cesspool, but it sometimes isn’t spotless either. I consider it in “lived in” condition. I clean and keep things in relative good order (even more so when company comes over), but I don’t always get to do the things I should do in a timely manner. I am always waiting until the last possible minute.
Prov 13:4
The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
Then I think, what if Jesus had procrastinated? What if he put of dying for us, what would have happened? I shudder at the thought. I am thankful for everything He has done and try to remind myself not to procrastinate. It’s time to be diligent for Jesus.
Monday, September 5, 2011
a kitchen remodeled ♥ (part one)
This is the story of a kitchen...our kitchen...
heehee...just messin'...ok, ok, so this is what our kitchen looked like when we moved in four and a half years ago...this was actually one of the pics we took when we were scoping the place out :)
what i loved about our house, was just that....the kitchen (ok...and the hardwoods throughout) but really what i fell in love with, was the kitchen...it was huge for one thing, and had sooooo much potential! it had been newly remodeled and everything was clean and in working order....it just needed the jaime touch :)
(never the words the chief wants to hear)
(make a fast forwarding sound in your head)...
(not out loud cause people will think you're strange)...
four years later...we are here
not much difference, i know, i know...
but grab a box of Stouffer's Whales (i'm addicted to these things man)
and a cup of tea, then settle in 'cause it's gonna be lengthy....
(this is still before...don't freak out)
and still before...these are actually the cabinets i posted about here
So here's a little bit of a run-down
of what we've done in the past 6 months (give or take :)
...and here is after!
refinished cabinets
(we used rustoleum cabinet transformations...
the paint color was white with the finishing glaze over top)
new hardware (Hobby Lobby)
ceramic tile counter top
opened up cabinets
I didn't take a before pic of the corian counter they had put in for baking, rolling out pie crusts, cooking dough and such...but you can sorta see the corner of it here...
...we replaced it with granite...still use this area for baking...
just in case you're curious (or nosy like me) here are some pics taken during the counter top construction...(we had refinished the cabinets about 3 months before)
my father-in-law's tools (he's very specific about which bag they belong in)
(thanks dad-in-law for all your hard work!)
now this...this folks, is "the pile"
the pile we lived with for 10 days...i'll call it our "remote kitchen"
since i don't want to admit most of it is my craft stuff that's overtaking the front room (more to come on that in the future)
(and yes that is a tub full of K-cups)
(and double yes...that is 20 different bottles of snow cone syrup)
(don't ask)
again...i forgot to take a picture of my old sink (dummy)
new white cast iron sink of loveliness
(faucet/sink from Lowe's)
the island...
the back splash...
...i'm falling asleep in front of the screen...so next week i want to show you some updates on a few things i posted about here and here, and also show you some of the details that have been added to the kitchen since the remodel (you know the cute decortating stuff)...and how i got so many of my ideas from Pinterest! gotta ♥ Pinterest
what? ...you're still not following me yet?! whatcha waitin' fer??
much loves sisters...
oh! almost forgot! ...check out the button on our side bar and come party with us!
this Friday we will be guest posting at
Friday, September 2, 2011
A Better Attitude
1. Thank you, Lord, for the alarm that goes off in the early morning because it means I am alive.
2. Thank you, Lord, for floors that need to be swept and washed and windows that need cleaning because it means I have a home.
3. Thank you, Lord, for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means I have a family.
4. Thank you, Lord, for the times that I can't find a close parking spot because it means I am capable of walking.
5. Thank you, Lord, for my grocery and heating bills because they mean I am warm and fed.
6. Thank you, Lord, for weariness at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.
It's a start girls! Don't laugh! Feel free to help me add to my thank you list. I can clearly see in my mind the energetic, organized, good attitude girl that I want to be...I just need to get there! Wish me well, school starts back up on Wednesday...the alarm goes off at 5:30 AM...umm...yikes, I mean yipee!
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend everyone!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
little picasso
my girlfriend's son may not know it yet, but I think he may have a knack for the whole artist thing.
Check out the abstract drawing that appeared in a thank you note from the birthday gift we sent him (he turned 2!);
Does it look like a bird to you?? His mom and I thought so too. That's what got my idea going... I immediately knew that with just a few tiny tweaks and a color switcheroo, the little man could look like a semi-pro!
All I did was scan the card into my computer, and opened it up in Paint. There I cropped it down to just the bird-ish drawing and erased two small lines from the original that were distracting from the real flavor of the piece (see how technical I'm getting? haha).
Then I saved it and opened it up in PowerPoint. There may be an easier way to do this, but this is the "blue collar" version of making artwork since I don't own Photoshop :). After I opened it up in PowerPoint, I simply changed the photo to black and white. I had tried to do this step in Paint, but it got a little grainy/distorted when I saved it. Not so in PowerPoint. Then I actually printed it onto cardstock from the PowerPoint program, because I was able to resize it to the size more easily there than in Paint for what I needed for my frame.
Ta da! It looks like a neato abstract charcoal bird drawing to me!
What do you think? Is he a little picasso or what? Are your kiddo's doing any artwork that deserves to be matted and framed like this one?
Check out the abstract drawing that appeared in a thank you note from the birthday gift we sent him (he turned 2!);
Does it look like a bird to you?? His mom and I thought so too. That's what got my idea going... I immediately knew that with just a few tiny tweaks and a color switcheroo, the little man could look like a semi-pro!
All I did was scan the card into my computer, and opened it up in Paint. There I cropped it down to just the bird-ish drawing and erased two small lines from the original that were distracting from the real flavor of the piece (see how technical I'm getting? haha).
Then I saved it and opened it up in PowerPoint. There may be an easier way to do this, but this is the "blue collar" version of making artwork since I don't own Photoshop :). After I opened it up in PowerPoint, I simply changed the photo to black and white. I had tried to do this step in Paint, but it got a little grainy/distorted when I saved it. Not so in PowerPoint. Then I actually printed it onto cardstock from the PowerPoint program, because I was able to resize it to the size more easily there than in Paint for what I needed for my frame.
Ta da! It looks like a neato abstract charcoal bird drawing to me!
What do you think? Is he a little picasso or what? Are your kiddo's doing any artwork that deserves to be matted and framed like this one?
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
kitchen + pinterest = ♥
I just can't wait to show you pictures of the kitchen...this past week the chief and father-in-law ceramic-tiled all the counter-tops! A new sink and faucet were installed...along with a few minor details...and it's finally complete!! Please come back next week for my big reveal!!! (like I'm really anybody important that I need to call it a "big reveal") (whatever)...
As I sit surrounded by mountains of pots n pans, snow cone syrup bottles and Home Depot receipts (covered in a film of grout dust)...I type this post...and since next week is going to be soooooo-over-the-top-exciting, i decided to just give you another roundup of my right-now-favorite-pinterest-kitchen ideas that I'm sooooo in love with...
from left to right...starting at top row
from left to right...starting at top row
Next week I'll show you how I incorporated so many of these ideas into my kitchen!
I'm so excited to show y'all :) love to you sisters...♥
p.s. wanna see what other great ideas I'm dreaming of?
(grab a cup of tea and a couple hours :)
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