Hello, dear friends. Yes. I’m still alive. Nothing terrible has happened in my life. This post would actually be easier if there had been some monumental happening that pulled me away. Perhaps if I’d been abducted by a roving band of gypsies (no offense to the gypsies)? Yeah. That would be a good explanation.

I’ve lost count of the number I’ve times that I’ve tried to write over the last few months. Each time, the words haven’t come. Not. A. Single. Word. Trust me. I’ve tried.

I’ve cried about. And I’ve worried. Agonized really. And I’ve walked away. If you’ve sent me an email and I didn’t answer you, I’m sorry. My inbox overflowed and I gave up.

I’m slowly accepting that God is doing a refining work on me and I need to be patient.

In the meantime, I had to share the Promises of God that I read on chiselseason.com this morning. If you ever struggle to accept who you really are in Christ…or the blessings that are ours in Christ…then you need to read this. The (grateful) tears were flowing by the time I finished reading.

Love to you all.

For When There’s Nothing To Say is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, the family and the reminder to stop and be thankful for all of my life. For the last couple of years, our family has done a Thankful Tree as a reminder to be purposefully thankful during the month leading up to Thanksgiving. But this year, life got in the way (and I procrastinated) and we haven’t started yet. Since Thanksgiving is next week, I went on the hunt for some meaningful Thanksgiving traditions that us procrastinators still have plenty of time to do.

We’ll be making Gratitude Rolls from Jen at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. So simple if you use a tube of crescent roll dough.

Silverbox Creative Studio has created a beautiful, FREE printable that you can use to make napkin rings, a paper garland or paper tags. Each strip has a spot to write what you’re thankful for.

Here’s another free printable from Sissy Print! You can use it to play the “I am Thankful For” Guessing Game!

How about making a Thanksgiving leaf garland with your kids on Thanksgiving morning?

I love this Blessings String from Southern Living. You could just wind the string around the tabletop and let people add tags with their own words during the meal.

Get a jump start on your Christmas paper chain garland by putting out strips of scrapbook paper and asking everyone to write down what they’re thankful for. Thank you Little Birdie Secrets! What a wonderful way to tie the two holidays together!

I love the Thanksgiving Journal tradition shared by Just Something I Made. What a great way to see how your family changes and grows over the years.

I got tears in my eyes when I saw this Thanksgiving Tablecloth shared by From Glitter to Gumdrops. What a precious treasure.

Does your family have any special Thanksgiving Day traditions?

The Procrastinators Guide to Meaningful Thanksgiving Traditions is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

But there’s something worth seeing here.

Do you have a fake family? I do. It’s the one I made up in my head and it gives my real family an impossibly high standard to reach. My fake family never fights during game night, they sweetly try a few bites of everything on their plates, and they never leave their dirty underpants on the bathroom floor.

My fake family and my real family have been duking it out in my brain lately. I suspect that Jen Hatmaker’s fake family lives next door to my fake family.

Nothing to See Here is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I don’t do a whole lot of Halloween decorating. Not because I don’t like the holiday (I love it!), but mostly because it usually sneaks up on me and I’m not prepared. Shall I show you my boys store-bought costumes as proof?

But my boys are of the age where a little bit of spooky and creepy is thrilling. And since we all find spiders thoroughly creepy, I created this string art spiderweb for our mantel.

The whole project took less than 30 minutes and you could probably figure out how to make it yourself in no time. But, since you’re all here, I’ll show you how I did it.

All you need is a piece of plywood, nails with big heads and some fat black yarn. My plywood is a 2′ x 3′ scrap from our basement remodel. If you don’t have scrap wood laying around, Home Depot and Lowes sell 2′x2′ and 2′x4′ pieces of plywood and MDF in the wood area.

Start by figuring out where you want to center of your spiderweb to be and hammer a nail there. I put mine a little off-center to make it more interesting.

Then hammer nails around the outside of the board wherever you want to “spokes” of the spiderweb to end. That probably makes no sense and I’m sure that spiders don’t call them “spokes”. Hang on. It will make sense in a minute.

Now you’re going to create the spokes using your yarn. I like the fat yarn, but you can use whatever you have. Start by tying the end of the yarn around the center nail. Then wrap your yarn around each outer nail always coming back to the center nail. You’re kind of creating a sunburst pattern with your yarn.

All spiders probably hate me now with all my talk of “spokes” and “sunbursts” in relation to spider webs.

Now you’re going to start making the inner parts of the web. Make a circle of nails close the center of the web. Keep the nails as close to the “spokes” as possible.

Then wrap your yarn around each set of nails. Seriously. It couldn’t be easier.

After it was all done, I went back and painted the heads of my nails with black craft paint. You could be smarter than I and use black nails.

Now my boys are asking for a giant spider to put in the web. Shudder.

Linking to the Halloween Mantel Party @ Home Stories A to Z

Spider Web String Art: Halloween Mantel is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Some days I can barely put one foot in front of the other without falling on my face. On those days, The Longboard Girls inspire me all the more. Just watching them makes me want to get up and move.

These lovely girls know how to go fast. The mom in me wants to say “Slow down!”, “Be careful!” and “Don’t get hurt!”. Probably because I say it hundreds of times each day to my own kids. Not to mention to myself inside my own head over and over and over.

But why? Is getting hurt really the worst thing that can happen? Or would it be worse to miss His plan for me because I’m afraid to live. Afraid to get hurt. Afraid to fail.

Trust me. Hit play on this video. The music from The Decemberists will get your heart pumping. And The Longboard Girls might just inspire you to let go of your fear, get your board and fly! But please don’t blame me if you skin your knee.

The Longboard Girls is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

How adorable are these yarn wrapped pumpkins? Totally huggable. I think. I am crushing on all things yarn right now because I can’t resist all the yummy fall colors.

I bought a few fake pumpkins last week (and pulled a some smaller ones from my stash) and wrapped them up in different shades of yarn to give them some fall snuggly-ness. The large pumpkin came from Michaels and the large gourd came from Joann. The smaller pumpkins and gourds came from Wal-Mart.

Don’t you just love all the rich fall colors in the yarn? The fat yarn came from Wal-Mart and the rest from Joann. Wavery yarn comes in beautiful colors that are perfect for fall.

The process is super simple, if rather tedious. All I did was glue the yarn around the base of the stem with hot glue. Then I continued wrapping and gluing the yarn as I went down the pumpkin. Super simple and mindless. But, if you’re attached to your fingerprints, you may want to use low-melt glue to minimize the inevitable burning of your fingers. The tips of my fingers have long-ago lost most feeling (not to mention their fingerprints). I’d make a great criminal.

I think the big white one is my favorite. I may or may not hug it when I walk by. How can you not love a pumpkin that looks like it’s wearing a sweater?

I used the extra-thick yarn and twisted two strands together as I glued it to the pumpkin. The stem is wrapped in jute twine. It’s super easy, but took some time. I did the big white one while watching 2 episodes of What Not to Wear.

I can’t stop touching them. The texture and colors are perfect for fall. I seriously want to wrap everything I own in yarn. The dog is scared. The kids too.

Note: The Fruit of the Spirit artwork is from the Urban Soul Collection at Dayspring.

Thank you to Martha Stewart, Everything Under the Moon and Two Shades of Pink for the inspiration. Check them out for more pumpkin-wrapped goodness.

Yarn Pumpkins AKA Yumpkins is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

There’s something about fall that brings out all of my best nesting instincts. I want to bring out my snuggly blankets and fall-ify my home. I probably won’t have time to do them all, but here are just a few of the beautiful fall projects that I’ve seen lately.

I would love to have a beautiful front porch so I can fall-ify it like this one from BHG.

Chicken wire pumpkin (and wheat stalks made from twine!) @ Craftberry Bush

Love this tray with gourds, candles and hedge apples via BHG. We call those green things monkey balls around here (I know not why), but they’re all over my street!

Adorable cardboard owls from Altered Perceptions on Etsy.

Did you have fun with your Summer List? How about a Fall Bucket List? Free printable available from Loves of Life.

I love felt and I adore this fall leaves garland via A Beautiful Mess.

Framed fall leaves via BHG. Love the way these look between the clear glass.

Places I Land:: Fall-ification is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

My dear friends. I am about to let you peek inside my messy, messed-up, slightly mis-wired brain.

Please be kind. But on the off chance that one of you has the same issue, I’m going to start by admitting that I have a problem. Wanna hear it? Ready? Deep breath. Here we go…

I have the ability to look at everyday messes, inconveniences and problems at home and come up with solutions that are creative, fun, cute and (usually) cheap. Maybe I should blame blog-reading, Pinterest or maybe it’s just the way I’m wired. What’s the problem, you say? Unless I want my family to never again wear clean britches, eat a home-cooked meal or live in a tidy (ish) house, I can’t possibly do them all.

A more normal person would simply let go of their “good idea”, find a quick solution and move on. But not me. Instead, I obsess and fret and worry about the little problems that I can’t seem to solve. You may say that I’m neurotic, freakish and plain old silly. To you I say…Indeed! I’m all of those things and more.

Let me give you an example. We have a dog. His name is Tank. Tank is a freak.

We can’t leave the house without filling up his Kong dog toy with peanut butter and treats. Unless, of course, we want our house destroyed by a giant, freaked-out, hates-to-be-alone dog. Since leaving the house is a fairly regular occurrence, Tank has his own jar of peanut butter in the pantry. He needs his own jar so that if someone accidentally double-dips the Kong knife, the rest of us don’t have to eat dog-germ peanut butter sandwiches.

For the last 6 months, I’ve wanted to make a pretty paper sleeve that I could slide on the dog’s peanut butter jar so there’s no confusion between dog-germ peanut butter and normal people peanut butter. I figured the sleeve would have Tank’s name on it and maybe a silhouette of a sweet (not crazy) black lab. Sounds cute, right? But I just haven’t had time to do it. So instead, I’ve spent the last 6 months hollering “Did you use the right peanut butter?” every. single. time that someone makes up the Kong.

So I’m turning over a new leaf! When I can’t manage the cute, fun, creative solution, I’ll go with the good-enough solution. In this case? Write the ding-dong dog’s name on the jar with a marker. Seriously? I know. It’s totally absurd that it took me 6 months to figure that out. But sometimes, good ideas get in my way.

Need another example? This dear child gets a small allowance each week.

If he does his chores, he gets some cash that he can use to buy critical things like gum and Pokemon cards. But his dad and I feel strongly that we should be teaching him about 3 specific purposes for money. Giving, saving and spending.

So, I’ve been planning to make him 3 jars labeled with those categories. Then he can sort out his allowance each week and keep track of his moolah. Picture, if you will, 3 glass jars that have been frosted and etched with the words Give, Save and Spend. Try not to wonder why I would consider giving my 8 year-old glass jars.

Again, I haven’t had time to do it. And instead of finding a “good enough” solution, I’ve frittered away valuable time that could have been used to teach my boy about the importance of managing his money properly.

The good enough solution? 3 small coffee cans labeled with plain white paper and a sharpie. Is it the most creative solution? Nope. Will it make the money lessons less effective? Of course not. Feel free to roll your eyes at me and wonder why I didn’t do this sooner. The reason is simple…My good idea got in my way.

There’s nothing wrong with any of my good ideas. They’re fun and creative. But there are only so many hours in the day and sometimes “good enough” has to be good enough. Do you have any good ideas that are keeping you from doing what’s good enough?

When Good Ideas Get in Your Way is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I have some fun news (and a giveaway) for you today! Last week I got an email announcing that the 2011 edition of Holiday with Matthew Mead is available! I’m a huge fan of Matthew Mead and I’ve purchased every edition that’s been published. They never disappoint.

While the magazine will be available on newsstands later in the season, the expanded keepsake edition is available by mail order NOW! This expanded issue is BIG with additional pages of inspirational holiday ideas including delicious recipes, paper crafts, holiday projects and seasonal (bargain!) home makeovers.

You’ll find contributions from some of your favorite bloggers including Stephanie Nielson (The NieNie Dialogues), Tricia Foley, Centsational Girl, Living Locurto, Savour Fare, and Brooklyn Limestone–along with other names you’ll know in food, crafting, and style.

This video gives you a sneek peek into all the fabulous holiday goodness inside Holiday.

And you can visit the Holiday website for their launch week of contests which will feature cash prizes, home accessories from Matthew’s new home décor collection, and free copies of his books and magazines.

Matthew Mead is also the author of one of my favorite books on entertaining, Entertaining Simple.

Would you like to win a copy? Simply share the video sneak peek (above) with a friend via a blog post, tweet or Facebook mention, then leave a comment here telling me you did so and you will be entered to win! Giveaway ends on Thursday, October 6th at 10pm EST. One winner chosen at random.

Holiday with Matthew Mead: On Sale Now! is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

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A couple of months ago, I saw this picture of Martha Stewart’s Gourd Garland on Pinterest. I loved it. So simple and pretty. And it made me want to put a split-rail fence all around my yard.

I have no doubt that Martha’s version is made with hand-twisted, organic jute twine and air dried Peruvian gourds. Mine is made with regular old jute string and fake miniature gourds that I found at Michaels.

Drill a hole in each gourd using a drill-bit that’s similar in size to your twine or string. Don’t make them all stand up straight. Drill some of the holes at an angle so the gourds hang to the side. It looks better that way.

Thread your twine or string through the holes in each gourd. Here, a big embroidery or upholstery needle would have been helpful. I didn’t have one, so I wrapped the end of my twine in tape to give it some stiffness.

Shoot a glob of glue into each hole to hold the gourd in place on your twine. I left about 5 inches between each gourd. You could also tie a knot on either side of each gourd to hold it in place. That’s what Martha did. But I’m a rebel.

Done! $4.00 and 20 minutes, including a Diet Dr. Pepper break. I still don’t have a split-rail fence, but it looks nice and fall-ish on my mantle.

Martha Stewart Hack is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

My kids can’t get enough of my oven-baked chicken nuggets. They would eat fast-food nuggets any day of the week, but I would rather avoid them whenever possible. My good friend gave me her delicious nugget recipe and I modified it a little for our family. It’s one of those kid-friendly recipes that the whole family loves. My husband’s even happy when chicken nuggets are on the menu!

I’m sharing this recipe today in honor of Perdue Chicken’s America’s Best Chicken Dishes contest. I have some FREE chicken to giveaway today and I’ll tell you how to win free chicken for a year!!!

This recipe is so forgiving. I adjust it based on what I have on hand. Here’s what you need.

• 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (Approximately 3 breasts. I used Perdue)
• 1 cup buttermilk (Don’t have buttermilk on hand? Use this substitute.)
• 1 cup of bread crumbs (I use Panko because they add extra crunch)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon sugar (you can leave this out, but I think it adds extra yum.)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Approximately 2 tablespoons of fresh herbs (I used basil, oregano and flat-leaf parsley because that’s what I had. Rosemary, sage and thyme are all good. No fresh herbs? Use dried, but cut the amount in half.)

Cut your chicken into bite-sized pieces, cover it with the buttermilk and let it soak in the fridge. I like to do this the night before and let it soak overnight, but as little as 1 hour works. The buttermilk helps tenderize the chicken and adds moisture.

Next, mix up your coating. I like to whir the Parmesan cheese and the herbs in my mini-chop.

Then mix all your dry ingredients (including the cheese/herb mixture) in a bowl.

Remove your chicken pieces from the buttermilk and toss them in the breadcrumb mixture until they’re well coated.

I like to cook them on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet. Just make sure you spray the rack with some cooking spray. Bake the nuggets in a 400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Now, how about some FREE CHICKEN? I have 2 VIP Vouchers for the Perdue Oven-Ready Roaster (up to $12.99) and 2 VIP Vouchers for the Perdue Perfect Portions boneless, skinless chicken breasts (up to $9.99). Just leave me a comment telling me your favorite way to prepare chicken and you may win!

And if if you want to win free chicken for a year, then check out Perdue’s America’s Best Chicken Recipes contest on Facebook. Share you favorite way to perpare chicken you could win free chicken for a year! Contest is open until September 30th.

PS…The salad that I served with my nuggets is Tortellini Salad with Tomatoes, Artichokes and Olives from Baked Bree. LOVE! It’s one of my go-to pot luck dishes.

Chicken Nuggets Aren’t Just for Kids is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Last week, I decided it was finally time to organize my pantry. And by “organize”, I mean dig into the back corners of the closet and remove bag-fulls of expired food including a can of sweetened condensed milk from 2004. I kid you not. We moved that can from at least two different houses.

I’ve had “clean out the pantry” on my to-do list for a while, but, like most projects, I started it on a whim and in a flurry of activity. I had a morning to myself so I started pulling everything out of the pantry and stacking it on the kitchen counters and the island. I didn’t start with much of a plan and it was at this peak of chaos that I decided I needed one.

Enter Uncle Google. I started by searching for things like “How to organize a pantry“. I was looking for someone to tell me what to store on each shelf of the pantry. What should go on the top shelf? What should go on the floor?

Instead, I found pictures of the most beautifully organized and decorated pantries that you’ve ever seen. There were color coordinate containers for all the pastas and baking supplies. Labeled wicker baskets for chips, mixes and snacks. The pantries were painted, wallpapered and stenciled. The labels were beautifully handwritten, chalkboarded or printed on the computer.

I wanted to cry. For real. It took everything in me not to stuff everything back in my pantry and call it quits. My pantry wasn’t going to look like that. I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on organizers. And I didn’t have the time or energy to make it beautiful. I just wanted to get rid of the food that might poison my family and have it organized enough to be able to find what I need.

I hesitate to link to any of these incredible, Taj-Mahal pantries for fear that someone will think I’m making fun. Trust me. I’m not. When I grow up, I want to have a beautifully decorated pantry with a crystal chandelier and matching wall sconces. For now, I just want to be able to find the cornbread mix before it sprouts real corn stalks.

So, after a few deep breaths and a pep talk, I got back to work. Here are a few tips that I learned along the way.

1. Touch everything once.

Some organizers say to pull everything out of an overloaded pantry and then organize and sort once you see what you have. For me, it worked better to sort and purge as I emptied the pantry. If it was expired, it went straight into a trash bag. If it was something we won’t eat, it went into the box for the Food Pantry. The only things left on my counters were the fresh foods that we’ll actually eat. I was slightly horrified that I got rid of 4 garbage bags of food. What a waste.

2. Put stuff where little people can reach it.

For some reason, I’ve always had the cereal and snack foods on the top two shelves of the pantry. That meant the kids had to climb on counter stools or, more likely, ask me to get everything for them. I moved those things down to the lower shelves so that the boys can get their own cereal and snacks. Next up? Moving the cereal bowls and drinking glasses to lower shelves too. I can’t believe it took me 8 years of having children to figure this out.

3. Dollar Tree is your friend.

As much as I would love perfectly mis-matched containers for all my pantry supplies, it wasn’t in the budget right now. Instead, I spend $5 at the Dollar Tree and got a few plastic boxes and baskets to help keep things organized. There are two lidded containers to corral drink mixes and hot cereal packets and three small baskets for baking mixes, bags of chips and other snack foods.

4. Give the kids their own spot.

I used one of my plastic baskets as a snack spot for the kids. It’s filled with raisins, granola bars and fruit cups. Now when they ask for a snack, I can say “Help yourself to anything in the basket!”. I feel like a genius.

5. Get a little creative.

If there was one thing I wanted to buy, it was some of those step-thingies you use to organize your canned goods. But they’re kind of expensive, so it wasn’t happening. Instead, I put a couple of shoe boxes on one of the shelves to stack things on top and in front of. Now I can actually see what’s in there. Yes, I know that creates a lot of wasted space, but that space is where I end up parking cans of condensed milk for nearly a decade anyway. If you’re looking for something a little more sturdy, Danny Lipford made a short video showing you how to use 2×4′s to make your own canned goods riser.

6. There’s not one “right” system.

You’ve got to figure it out for yourself. Every family uses their pantry in a different way. We all use different products too, so the way we organize is going to be different. Here’s what’s working for me right now…from the top shelf down.

• Top shelf: Baking mixes and pasta
• Shelf 2: Side dishes, chips and pretzels, oils and some seasonings
• Shelf 3: Condiments, dressings, sauces and peanut butter
• Shelf 4: Cereal, drink mixes and kid’s snacks
• Shelf 5: Canned goods
• Floor: Oversized items like jars of oil, vinegars and drink mixes

And there you have it. My mostly organized pantry. It’s may not be stunningly beautiful, but it’s good enough.

Tell me about your pantry? Is it beautifully organized, good enough or a total disaster?

How to Organize a Pantry The Good Enough Way is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Happy Friday, my friends. There’s a bit of fall in there air in Pennsylvania and we have a weekend of seasonal activities planned. Football and fall festivals to mention two. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Here are just a few beautiful things that I discovered this week.

Adri from Dream Book Design shows us how to build an under-the-sink cabinet. I may be in love with her beautiful laundry room.

Oh Happy Day shares how to create abstract art that you’ll actually want to hang on your walls!

Speaking of abstract art, I’m inspired to create my own finger painting. Elise Blaha shows us how.

Have you seen this awesomeness at BHG? IKEA Billy bookcases + Lowe’s kitchen wall cabinet + cut-to-fit shelf for seating + wainscoting create a mudroom for around $300.

Places I Land is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

If we’re friends on facebook (if not, why?), then you may have heard me shouting giddily (is that a word?) that I canned some tomatoes the other day. This was truly a new adventure for me, because my only experience with actual canning involves hungrily opening up the jars of tomatoes, beans, pickles, etc. that someone else has lovingly preserved.

My mother-in-law has canned her own food since forever and brought her equipment (and her tomatoes!) to my kitchen to teach me the process. She will surely kill me for posting her picture. And yes, that is a jar of Benefiber on my counter. Also coconut oil, gluten-free pretzels, a video game charger, and a few tomatoes that seem to have escaped the sink bath. I’m awesome like that.

Unfortunately, canning and preserving food is kind of a lost art. Probably because it’s become so inexpensive to buy these staples at the grocery. But with food prices going up so quickly, it only seems logical that growing and preserving your own food is going to come back into fashion. Does that mean I’m actually on the cutting edge of something?

I’m not so silly as to try and write a “How to Can Tomatoes” post for you. You’d be much better off checking out Simple Bites for a tutorial. That’s basically the method that we used. Except I wasn’t worried about keeping the tomatoes whole, so we quartered them and really jammed them in the jars. I’ll be chopping and smooshing them up to make chili and spaghetti sauce this winter, so they don’t need to look pretty.

There is something really comforting about knowing that I have some jars of home-grown tomatoes on the shelf. I’m a big fan of having a stash of food in the pantry in case we get snowed in by a blizzard, clobbered by a hurricane or we’re attacked by zombies and we can’t get out to the store. In any of those cases, I’ll be prepared to whip up a batch of sauce or soup with what I have on hand. Unless, of course, the zombies cut the gas line and my stove doesn’t work. Then we’ll be eating tomatoes out of jars which no one but me will enjoy, but if you get hungry enough, right?

End of zombie talk.

How pretty are all those jars? It took about 2 hours and we put up 18 quarts of tomatoes. It’s not nearly as difficult as I imagined. Actually, it’s quite easy.

Do you preserve any of your own food? Are you interested in learning?

Preserving the Bounty: Learning to Can Tomatoes is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Some friends sent us a piece of artwork that I treasure. I wanted to display it in a special way, so I put together a DIY cork board that works perfectly.

Making the cork board was ridiculously easy. I already had a thrifted frame that I turned into a chalkboard for my Good Enough Mudroom. I removed the chalkboard from the frame and flipped it over to add the cork on the other side.

All you need is a roll of cork (that you can find in any craft store), a frame with a back and some hot glue. LOVE a simple project.

Cut 2 pieces of cork in the same size as your frame back. I decided to use 2 layers of cork so that the push pins will sink all the way into the cork. If you have a thicker cork, you can get away with 1 layer.

Hot glue the cork to backing of your frame and then add the second layer on top of the 1st.

And that’s it! A quick and easy DIY cork board.

I love how it shows off my new piece of art. And I can easily change it out whenever I want.

Want to know the story behind the artwork?

This sweet little painting was sent to us by friends who are preparing to be missionaries in Columbia by attending language school in Costa Rico. The artist, Marvin, works as a night guard at their school. He used to be a prison guard before he was shot in the chest and spent 8 months in the hospital without pay. He took his current job at the language school and came to know the Lord there. Now, he supplements his income by selling his paintings in a local park.

I love his story and that I can have a small reminder of him in our home.

Displaying Art on a DIY Cork Board is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Sunday Morning is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Oh girls. Please keep your fingers crossed with me today. My ding-dong dumb’puter caught a ding-dong dumb virus and I’m waiting on a prognosis. Apparently, I caught the same bug that infected Centsational Girla few weeks ago. Unfortunately, my DIY debugging efforts were not successful and now Old Faithful is off at Dr. Dumb’puter. We’re hoping for the best.

Luckily, I took Kate’s wise advice and started a Carbonite subscription just last week. So even if my computer can’t be revived, I’ll be able to restore every. single. picture. file. document. and. song. Hallelu.

In the meantime, I’m working on a borrowed dumb’puter (maybe I should stop the name-calling?), without any of my pictures or programs. I feel so lost.

Luckily, my camera contained a complete set of pictures from a quick project that I did over the weekend. I made my own dishwasher soap! Like a lot of you, I’m looking for ways to pinch a few pennies these days and it always drove me nuts to spend so much money on dishwasher soap. I mean…it’s just soap, right? Why so expensive?

There are lots of homemade dishwasher detergent recipes out there, but I decided to try this one that I found on Being Creative.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 box of Borax (4 lbs)
• 1 box of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (55 oz.)
• 3 cups of Epsom Salts
• 24 packets of unsweetened lemonade powder (This may stain your soap dispenser.If that bothers you, use citric acid instead.)

The young’uns helped me dump it all into a giant roasting pan and mix it up.

I’m storing the bulk of it in a big pitcher from Wal-Mart. Thanks to Being Creative for that recommendation too!

And I’m keeping a more reasonable amount in an airtight container in the kitchen. You only need to use 1 tablespoon of the mix for each load of dishes and I’ve filled my rinse agent dispenser with white vinegar to help with spots. That seems to be working pretty well.

Clearly, this makes a huge batch that you could easily cut in half. The total recipe cost less than $13 and I estimate it will last me for at least 9 months. Love those pinched pennies!!!

Do you make any of your own cleaning products? Is it worth the effort? The cost savings?

Make Your Own Dishwasher Soap and Keeping My Fingers Crossed is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I had an empty wall in my laundry room that was begging for something fun to fill the space. Last month, I saw this project over at Young House Love and I couldn’t get it out of my head. But I didn’t need a clothespin chandelier. I needed something to hang on the wall.

So I decided to try my hand at a clothespin wreath. After wandering the aisles of the craft store, I found a metal wreath form that I thought would work. Here’s what I used for my clothespin wreath.

• 1 metal wreath form
• 72 (2.75″) clothespins
• 72 (3.25″) clothespins

I found the clothespins in the woodcraft area of the craft store and you may need more or less of them depending on the pattern you create.

My wreath form was green, but I thought it would look better white. A little white spray paint fixed it right up.

The hardest part was deciding on the pattern of pins to use. In the end, I settled on a pattern of 5, 4, 5, 4 from front to back in each section of the wreath form. I used 2 different sizes of pins (3.25″ and 2.75″) because I thought it added more texture and interest. The bigger pins make up the back two rows and smaller pins are on the front two rows.

I worked section by section around the wreath form until the whole thing was covered. And that was it! I had to adjust some of the pins once the wreath was hung on the wall because they shifted around a little.

There are a total of 144 clothespins on my wreath and the whole thing took less than an hour. Have fun pinning!

The 144 Clothespin Wreath is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

We’re settling into our school-year routine here this week. We started back on Monday and this mama is having a slightly hard time making the adjustment from summer to school-time schedules.

But over the weekend, we enjoyed our annual end-of-summer tradition…The county fair! I considered myself a city-girl growing up, but that all changed when I married a country-boy and he moved me out to the pseudo-country, edge-of-the-suburbs sticks.

Our county fair always runs through the last weekend before school starts. It’s been our annual end-of-summer tradition for the last 5 years. The boys can’t wait to visit every year and it’s usually the last thing we cross off our Summer List.

It’s got everything you’d expect from a good county fair…Cows, pigs, goats, tractors, rides and, most importantly….

FOOD! This mama tain’t never met a fair gyro that she didn’t like.

Ditto for a funnel cake.

I must admit that this one made me say “huh?”.

Of course, the boys are much more excited about spending $5.00 to try and win a 75 cent stuffed toy. Good times.

The main focus of most county fairs are the animals. Kids from the county’s 4H clubs spend the entire year raising and caring for their animals. Then they spend fair week actually living on the fair grounds and showing their animals. There are competitions and shows and these kids work their tails (heehee) off for the entire week. I’m always super impressed by their dedication and maturity.

Chicken or Muppet? You decide.

Moooooooo.

We always wrap up the evening by letting the kids geek out on a few carnival rides.

The Hubster laughs at me because the rides make me nervous. I’m not convinced all the nuts and bolts will stay together, so I make the boys pick ones that stay low to the ground. Freak.

We skipped the ferris wheel.

I have two questions for you today…Do you have an end-of-summer tradition? And. What’s your favorite fair food?

The Last Hurrah of Summer: A Family Tradition is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

We added two new birthday traditions to our home a couple of weeks ago. I love having fun little traditions that the kids remember. Last week, I shared the birthday balloon wreath and this week, I’ll give you a peek at our new birthday banner.

It really was super easy to whip up and even though I used my sewing machine for this project, it could have just as easily (maybe easier) been a no-sew project.

Have I told you how much I love felt? It’s so easy to work with and comes in such a beautiful rainbow of colors. For this project, I just used the pre-cut squares of felt that you can find in the craft and fabric store. You can also buy wool (or wool/rayon) felt by the yard or by the piece in some stores and online, but the cheap stuff worked perfectly well for this project.

Here’s what you need:

• 14 pieces (9″x12″) of colored felt for the pennants (I used 5 colors)
• 6 or 7 pieces of white, sticky back felt (depending on the size of your letters)
• Quilt binding (aka double fold bias tape)

I cut one pennant from each piece of felt using a template that I made from a piece of cardstock. Using the template made it easier to get each pennant the same size. I traced directly onto the felt using a piece of white stock and then cut the flags out with scissors.

Repeat, repeat and repeat until you have one pennant for each letter in your banner.

Attaching the flags to the quilt binding was easy too. Just open it up and lay each flag on the inside of the binding. I pinned them in place and then ran the whole thing through my sewing machine.

It was nothing short of a miracle that I managed to sew a straight line. Truly a miracle. It would have been just as easy to use fabric glue or even hot glue. Either one would have worked just as well.

Making the letters was probably the most time consuming part of this project. I typed “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” into my word processing program and adjusted the font size until the letters were big enough for my banner. I used the Arial font at about 350 points.

Then I pinned my letters to the white, sticky-back felt and cut them out by hand.

Once the letters were cut out, it was just a matter or removing the backing and sticking the letters in place on each pennant. You could skip the whole sticky-back felt thing and use fabric glue (or hot glue) on regular felt.

And that’s it! A fun banner that we’ll hang up for each birthday!

The Birthday Banner is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

This Instagallery at my home sweet home is enough to make me finally want to give in and get an iPhone.

I thoroughly adore the colors and patterns in this family room at I like it, I love it. You’ve got to click over and see the whole thing. The artwork on the mantle is all sorts of fabulous.

Incredible vintage airplane bedroom at Too Much Time on My Hands. All of the little details are fantastic. I seriously can’t decide what I love best about it!

Have you seen this craft room/mom cave over at Little Lucy Lu? You need to. Fabulous!

I am now on the hunt for a barrel after seeing this barrel side table at The DIY Show-Off.

Places I Land is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I’m finally getting around to announcing the winner of the Black & Decker Steam Mop giveaway!

The winner is Julie from No Money Mama! Congratulations Julie and many thanks to Black and Decker for sponsoring this giveaway!

Black & Decker Steam Mop Winner! is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

I spotted this on Pinterest a few weeks ago and tracked down the original source for the artwork. You can download the free printable version over at Sweet Blessings. I’m thinking that I need to wallpaper my kitchen with it.

My weak little heart must be constantly reminded that I don’t need to compare myself to other people. It sucks the joy right out of living.

Can I Get an Amen? is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

Hello, my friends! Yes, I am still alive. Somehow, the last couple of weeks have slipped through my fingers. I’ve been savoring the last few drops of summer and our time has been filled with bubble blowing, birthday celebrations, camping and the stuff of real life. All wonderful, if a bit overwhelming at times. Can you relate?

A few days ago, my youngest son turned 5. Did you hear that? My baby is 5!!!! (Insert sniffling and a few mama-tears.) I love fun traditions and this year, I decided to add a couple of new birthday traditions to our house.

First up? The birthday balloon wreath. This definitely isn’t an original idea. I’ve seen balloon wreaths all over the internet. I’m sure there’s a birthday balloon bandwagon out there and I’m jumping right on. Nothing screams birthday quite like balloons and we’ll be hanging this wreath up for everyone’s birthday.

Here’s what you need:

• A straw wreath (mine is 16″) – Leave the plastic on it so it doesn’t shed all over your house.
• Balloons. Lots and lots of balloons – I used 320 of them. (5 packs of 72 from Wal-Mart)
• U-Shaped floral pins (also called greening pins) -You can find them in the fake flower section of the craft store

The process is easy, but a bit tedious. You stick the floral pin around the middle of the balloon and push it firmly into the wreath so that it’s nice and tight.

Do that over and over and over until you think your fingers are going to fall off. It took me about an hour to do the whole thing. The trick to making this wreath look good is to use lots of balloons. The more, the better, unless you want a wimpy looking wreath. And nobody wants a wimpy birthday balloon wreath.

Also, I’ve seen tutorials that suggest using a foam wreath form instead of the straw. Let me give you a bit of advice. Don’t. After you stick that many pins into a foam wreath, it’s going to fall apart. Maybe not today, but soon. And then you’ll be left with chunks of foam and hundreds of balloons. Major bummer.

I hung our wreath in the kitchen to greet my birthday boy at breakfast.

This wreath cost about $30 to make, which is more than I would usually spend on a fun, silly little project. But I plan to put it out for every birthday, so it will be a round for a while. I’m picturing my great-big teenage boys rolling their eyes as mom hangs up the birthday wreath again. (Insert more sniffles and mom-tears.)

Stick around because I’ve got another birthday themed project for you this week!

Linking up to Tutorial Tuesday.

320 Balloons: A Birthday Tradition is a post from: A Soft Place to Land

For years, I have envied all of you who have easy access to your beloved Hobby Lobby. I’ve watched longingly as you’ve browsed her aisles of picture frames, mirrors and artwork. I’ve drooled a bit seeing you snap up her throw pillows, serving trays and Christmas ornaments. And don’t even get me started on the craft supplies, fabric and yarn.

But envy no more!!! Are those angels singing????

Attention all my Southwest PA girls!!!! Pittsburgh is getting a Hobby Lobby!!!!! For you locals, it’s apparently going into the old Giant Eagle on Steubenville Pike in Robinson Township and is scheduled to open sometime in the fall.

Who’s ready to come with me and delight in the vast selection of knobs, pulls and hardware? I may or may not have driven 2 hours out of my way the last time I was in Ohio to pick up some knobs for a rehabbed dresser.

How about aisles and aisle of glorious storage containers? Oh boy. I’m in trouble. Maybe I should stay away from the storage containers because then I’ll start buying more stuff to fill them up.

I’m definitely going to have to leave my credit card at home on opening day.

For the Love of Hobby Lobby is a post from: A Soft Place to Land