Christmas Joy

We had our annual Church Christmas party and white elephant gift exchange last night. As always it was a time of great joy and fellowship, and we even had some surprise visitors!

So, what'll it be...?

I love impromptu things. Especially when they cause humorous public scenes, so I just HAD to share this. I would just die of embarrassment if someone did this to me, but it's fun to watch it happen to others.

Surprise! I've opened a store

I wanted to share the EXCITING news that I just opened an online craft shop at Etsy. Etsy is an online store front where people can buy and sell handmade items. My shop name is: The Corner Cupboard, and it is opening its doors with handcrafted photo-cards and purses. The shop address is www.thecornercupboard.etsy.com

You can also take time to visit my blog associated with my shop (I know...another one?...). It's called My Corner Cupboard. There I will post updates and sneak previews of upcoming items.

So why is my Etsy "The Corner Cupboard," and my blog and business email "My Corner Cupboard?" I actually created the Etsy first when I bought something from an Etsy seller; only afterward did I decide to set up a blog that could be associated with my shop, but the blog name The C.C. was already taken, so I had to settle for the next closest thing: My C.C.

Product samples:

Notecards


Purses

Coming Soon...

I'm still here! I know I haven't been blogging much because
1) I was busy with school, finals, papers...(who wants to relive all of that?), and
2) since school got out I've been busy with my own little projects.

What projects?. . .Check back Tuesday to find out!

Hint: It has something to do with this:


. . .And this:

Tagged!!!!

Tag, I'm it!!!

What is my current obsession? Making my own hair gel, creating (and hopefully selling) photo cards, drumming up editing/tutoring business…anyone need something edited? My rates are reasonable...

Which item of clothing do you wear most often? Eddie Bauer jeans, and Lands End trekker sandals.

What's for dinner? Leftovers: fruit salad, cottage cheese, and a cold pancake.

What are you listening to? The dishwasher gurgling.

Say something about the one that tagged you. The bestest older sis ever, who is adjusting incredibly well to country life!

Guilty Pleasure? Chocolate milk, and chai tea.

Favorite vacation spots? Colorado, Montana, and now Oregon!

What am I reading right now? The Feminist Mistake, What our Mothers Didn’t Tell Us…and several other books dealing with feminism’s influence on language—particularly gender usage, and politeness (for a school essay).

Four words to describe myself. Weary, busy, leaning-on-God, waiting.

First Spring thing to do? Already washed the car…lay out in the front yard and read!

What do I look forward to? School finishing!!!!!

I tag:

- Gumbo Lily

- Happy Trails

-

We Will Glorify...

This is only the second time we've ever sung this, but it's my favorite so far!

We Will Glorify - Track 01.ogg - ABCD Harmony

The Power of the Cross

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
-Isaiah 53: 4-5



Let us NEVER take for granted: the cost of sin, and the humbling grace of God.

Homemade Girl Scout Cookies!!!

For several years now our family has declined to buy Girl-Scout cookies because of an organization they support financially--that we, as Christians, are opposed to.

That being said, I still really enjoy GS cookies (Samoas: I love you!), so I was thrilled when someone from Bible-study found a link to a recipe for homemade GS cookies. Forget $6 for a box of 10 cookies! I'm making my own!

Not all the cookies are listed on the site, but they do have the recipes for:

Samoas and Samoa-bars
Thin-mints
Tagalongs
Do-si-dos

I think I'm gonna try my hand at some Samoa-bars this week!

Photos

Here's a peek into what I've been up to lately: Photo Editing.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Curtains

My new curtains are old.

I know that's completely illogical, but it's true!

My curtains are made from old handkerchiefs. That's right, I repurposed them.

This necessitated a trip to Orange Circle and a wander through the myriad of junk and antique stores. Actually, it took 2 trips to get all the handkerchiefs I needed.

I've learned that trips like this go much faster when you know what you're looking for. During the second trip, Mom and I split up and covered so much more ground than I thought possible. And I'm so proud of myself because I didn't get distracted by anything outside of my mission target. . .except for that one thing that I did get for. . .but that's another blog post.

Here are my curtains


My first idea was to tailor-tack the corners, and center-edges together. However, I soon realized that some of my hankies were too delicate to handle much pressure and pulling in that manner. So what I did was zig-zag the edges together--from the top. . .no seam allowance.

The whole process was rather like piecing together a puzzle. This hanky's too large. . .that one doesn't look right. . .augh! the edges don't match up. . .etc. I currently have all but 1/2 a handkerchief sewn together, and I still have gaps. You see, each handkerchief is a different size, so my edges don't match up cleanly. I'm going to have to add additional white fabric to fill all the gaps. I have some tissue-linen scraps leftover from a Christmas gift I made that should suit my purpose nicely.

Until then. . .I'm hanging them up "as-is."

And the winner is.....

The winning caption for the photo contest is:

"Banana seeking Berry for lifetime commitment. Must be live, active, and cultured."

This entry was submitted by SW who will soon be the happy recipient of an 8 x 10 photo of her choice.

Congratulations!!!

CONTEST!!!!!!!

Come up with a yogurt advertisement/caption for the following picture. The winner will get an 8 x 10 print of the photo of their choice (I'll provide a selection to choose from). I do ask that you post your responses anonymously so I can make a completely unbiased decision. Only two entries are allowed per person.

However, I will also need to know the name of the winner. So in addition to posting your responses here, please email your submission(s)--and your name-- to me at charmingsimplicity@gmail.com. I promise, I will not be checking that email address until after the submission deadline.

The deadline for your submission(s) is February 12th.

I will post the picture with the winning caption and the "name" of the winner (altered to protect the innocent--of course) the following week.

Disclaimer: residents of this household (those bearing the same last name as I) are not eligible to participate in this contest.

Good luck!

Slow...1 mile...end construction ahead

I hit a bit of a bump in the road to completing my room. A-week-and-a-half ago I got a staph infection in my foot. Don't ask me how--I haven't got a clue. It wasn't the most enjoyable thing in the world, but it wasn't the worst either. I'll spare you the pictures I took of it and instead just say that my foot is much better now than it was last week. The dr. basically said "You're going to spend your weekend sitting on your duff with your foot elevated." Well, I still had a room to finish painting, so I sat on one stool--with my foot elevated on another stool, and finished painting the border. I'm not quite sure that's what the dr. had in mind but...

Things are coming along quite nicely. The painting is completed (except for my vent cover), the furniture back in, and the garage slowly being emptied.

The border: before filling in. . . (I have to admit that it turned out very nice--considering it was free-handed)


. . .And after filling in.


Here the colors are much more accurate. . .plus you get a sneak peek at my curtains (a work in progress).



Left to do:
- Put books on bookshelf
- Chair
- Under-bed drawers
- Finish curtains
- Cover pillows

Point-&-shoot

I got a digital camera for Christmas! It was totally unexpected, but not undesired. "C"got one too. And Dad was worried about us filling up the hard drive memory when we had to share the family camera.... I'm convinced my B-day gift this year will be an external hard drive (grin).

Anyway, while eating my snack after PE class this morning, I decided to take some pictures. I never knew that a yogurt container could be so inspirational!



I had fun playing with my perspective features.

Macro setting--focuses on the closest object, and blurs the distant.



Infinity setting--focuses on the most distant objects, and blurs the closest.



"Normal" setting--focuses on the central, and blurs both the close and distant.



I loved the lighting on this one!


I have some tulip pictures coming down the line, but they'll have to wait for later.

Pictures of the (nearly) completed bedroom coming soon. . . .

Caution! Construction Zone

No one can accuse me of being a lazy bum this winter break. Ever since the completion of finals--actually before--I have been working on my room. Call it a "deep spring cleaning/total revamp."

I started out by going through everything that could possible hold something. Soon, it took on the appearance of a tornado aftermath zone: bulging trash bags of "why did I ever keep these?"; Trader Joes bags stuffed full of "let somebody else have them"; and even a couple (only 2!) boxes of "save, but not sure where to put it yet."

Sorting. Hey! Trust me, this looks pretty good!



Look! Wood! I was wondering what the desk was made of. (smile)



In addition to purging, cleaning, and otherwise dismantling and reconstructing my room, I decided to paint it. After all, it has been 8 years since the last paint job (Mom did it while Dad and we girls were on a weekend camping trip).

Deciding what to paint was the hardest part. Originally I wanted to go with a venetian theme, and paint a mural on my wall. But as the spring semester loomed closer, I abandoned that idea and instead decided to buy one of those "stick-up" wall murals. But then, again, I realized that wouldn't be the wisest use of $70. Next I wanted brown, but I forgot that my room is on the ugly side of the house--which doesn't get much light, except in the morning. So that idea quickly joined the others.

Jackpot! I got it! I'll do a spring green garden theme (hey, look at that, I'm a poet...). Now what color green? I didn't want something dark like C's cool-sage green (still got the light issue to worry about), but I'm not a brighty-bright person either. I finally settled on two tones of warm yellow-green (the circled colors below). The darker shade--"Zen Mist"--will cover the bottom 1/3 of the walls, and the lighter shade--"Sassafras Tea"--will cover the upper 2/3 of the walls. Between the two will be a swirly border (I designed it myself) in "Swiss Coffee."



Before



After Primer



Top color



This afternoon, I finally got the first coat of paint on the bottom 1/3. I only had a half-an-hour to do it in, so the cutting-in has to wait 'til tomorrow.

List of things to do tomorrow:
-Cut in edges and baseboards
-Paint 2nd coat
-Cut out border stencil
-Trace stencil on wall--if paint dries well.
-Paint border--I hope!

After the walls are finished, Dad and I get to move on to the bedroom and closet doors, the door frames, and the baseboards. When that's done (I hope by a week from Saturday) I can move my furniture back into my room. (It's challenging to be starting school, buying books, doing homework, working, and painting, and not have a place to put anything.)

Coming soon to a blog near you...curtains, lamp shades, and coat racks.

Better than Cold Stone® Milkshake

I just made the BEST milkshake ever—thanks to my brother-in-law! While down for a visit, he shared with us about his “protein shakes” (a.k.a. glorified milkshakes), and I decided tonight—as odd as the recipe sounded—to give it a try. After all, if it went bad, I could just toss a cup’s worth of milk and ice cream right?

Well, I don’t need to say that the result was astounding! Islands, In-n-out, and Cold Stone, in my humble opinion, have some of the best shakes around (trust me, I was allowed a milkshake every time I got braces on or off, and whenever I had teeth pulled—so I’m a valid authority on milkshakes); but I have never—and I mean NEVER—had a milkshake as good as the one I made tonight.

Basic recipe:
Several scoops ice cream
2 eggs
milk (just enough to make it smooth)

My shake:
Several scoops ice cream
2 eggs
milk (just enough to make it smooth)
+
1-2 spoonfuls chocolate syrup
1-2 scoops peanut butter
Shredded coconut

Blend a couple scoops of ice cream, 2 eggs, and whatever else you want, together until smooth. Add the milk only after you’ve blended everything else—and use it sparingly. I added chocolate syrup, peanut butter, and a scoop of shredded coconut. LR adds a scoop of protein powder to his.

I know: “raw eggs in a milkshake?” I was a bit put off by the recipe too at first, but LK loved the shakes her husband made; and she’s not one to eat raw eggs—except if it involves chocolate-chip cookie dough…but that’s another story. The eggs are responsible for the great texture—not to mention the protein! Did you know that one large egg contains 6.3 grams of protein? So a shake using 2 eggs has 12.6 grams of protein—wow!

I have no idea what the calorie count is on these things, and I really don’t want to. Hey…if it’s got 12.6 grams of protein, who am I to complain?

P.S. Grandma, you'd like one of these!