Craft for the month of December

The craft for December is.... making your own journal/smash book!

To make a cloth covered book, you need, cardboard (sturdy), cloth, and some kind of glue. I used Mod Podge.

 I was using scrap cloth here, so it was challenging to piece it together, but basically you want a piece of cloth that is 2 in bigger than your cardboard all around. You'll be folding it over as you go. You can see too that I have 3 pieces of cardboard. The front, back and the spine.

 You will then fold over all the cloth and glue it in place, covering the remaining inside with card-stock paper.

As you see below, this one I had the cloth cut right and was able to properly cover the spine, by tucking that cloth in.

(uh.... yah, how can you tell I have kids! Diaper box right!!!)

And here we prepared our paper. for the smaller book above, I just folded plain white sheets in half and glued the folded edges together before putting it in my book, but this big purple book below needed big sheets 8 1/2 by 11.

So I took my writing paper, put those gold thingys in there to keep the paper from moving around, and then with the Mod Podge, glued all the back edges together.

 After folding in the cloth, I covered with card-stock paper and then also placed in my paper. I glued that first page to the folded card-stock. my paper I also glued to the spine, because this is a big book and somewhat flimsy. However on a smaller book there probably is no need to glue the paper the the spine and is probably better if you don't for it to function better.

 Next I glued a cover over the outside spine

 these turned out better than I'd hoped!

Next I began to fill my purple book. It's a journal smash book full of pictures, stories, momentous and memories. Anything and everything I'd like my kids to know about me.

Here is how I filled it.

Journal prompts

0. Name and Date of starting your journal

1. Where you were born –where you have lived –where you are now

2. Early memories from childhood

3. When were you saved?

4. Preteen years in a nutshell (or memories from)

5. About my Grandparents

6. A book you love

7. Teen years in a nutshell (or memories from)

8. Something you feel strongly about (personal beliefs or convictions)

9. Into your early twenties in a nutshell (or memories from)

10. Favourite scriptures and why they are

11. Five things to win your heart (or up your love bank)

12. About my dad

13. About my mom

14. Your second favourite book

15. Family Values

16. Family Traditions

17. Books you’ve read

18. Your Love Story (how you met, how he purposed, your wedding day)

19. Your kids –daughter –son (describe them)

20. If you could meet a character from any book, who would it be?

21. Dreams for the future

22. Your Hero’s (special people) in your life and what makes them so.

23. What has God been teaching you lately?

24. Top 10 favourite movies

25. What do you day dream about?

26. About your best friend (or spouse)

27. A Day in your life

28. If you could go back in time to the olden days, what era would you choose and what modern things would you take with you?

29. Write a letter to yourself to be read in the future

30. Make a timeline of your life

31. Story from your past

32. Write a letter to your spouse (or future spouse)

33. A story from this summer (year)

34. What did you read in your devotions today?

35. Write a letter to your children (or future children)

36. Your families names and the meanings of their names or stories behind their names

37. A list of your favourite things (food, color, music, activities,) and a list of dislikes

38. The story of your daughter’s/son’s birth

39. Describe yourself,  personality, talents, hobbies… etc.. and something about yourself that people might not know.

40. Write about the story books/novels you want to write

41. If you could choose any profession/job what would it be and why?

42. Family members and their characteristics (siblings, aunts, uncles)

43. Your spiritual journey

44. How do you want to be remembered?

45. Characteristics that you admire in your husband (or want in a husband/wife)

46. What is God teaching your today?

47. A prayer for your family or friends

48. Answered prayers that you remember (so you won’t forget!)

49. Bucket list (things you want to do yet)

50. Count all your blessings! Name all the things you are thankful for!

Extra prompts or substitute prompts:

1. Add a picture and the story that goes with it.
2. Add pictures to existing journal entries
3. Write in your favourite recipe
4. Your devotions for that day (prayer and Bible verse that stood out to you)
5. Glue in encouraging or special notes or letters that were given to you 
6. old journal or diary you want to throw out? Take out the entries you like and glue/tape them into your new journal.
7. Write in your favourite quotes
8. Write out the best advice that was ever given to you
9. Write advice you’d give someone else
10.  Glue in love notes from your spouse/special someone
11. Glue in mementoes from a special event and write the story behind them
12. Write about the people in your life who have died and what they meant/impacted you.
13. Old Drawings
14.  Whole Page Dedicated to your hobby
15. About your friends
16. About your brothers that aren’t your brothers
17. About family that aren’t your family
18. A fictional story about you
19.  Keepsakes from the past
20. Write your favourite writing prompts 
21.  If you could step into a book or movie, what would it be and who would you be in the story?
22. Write a short children’s story

A Message from a baby...

Not Worthy

On Oct 30^th of this year 2015, my nephew was born into this world. His name is Joshua William. His name means `Because God is my Salvation, I am a strong willed warrior’. He was born with Trisomy 18.

That’s not the saddest part. The saddest part is that before his birth, some of the doctors didn’t see his life as worth anything.

Seems in our world we can’t look past the defects. We think we know it all. We know what kind of people are normal and what aren’t and we measure by that standard. We measure everything by that standard, even our love.

I find it very ironic, that in this sin sick world, truth be told none of us are worthy to `live’.

Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death!”

God set this standard, and the standard says, the penalty for sin is death. This is an eternal death, one spent in hellfire.

How depressing you say?

Well, there is good news folks! The rest of the verse above says, “…But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Over 2000 years a go, a tiny baby was born to a virgin named Mary in the town of Bethlehem. A Miracle! God knew from the beginning when Adam and Eve sinned, that He would make a way for Salvation for all mankind. God would come to earth in the form of baby, as Jesus, and he would live a sinless life and then die (take the penalty) for all the human race!

This Christmas I have one message to all of you, John 3:16

“For God so loved the world (you!) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life”

God’s love is not measured by our defects. The penalty for our defect (sin) is death, but He as a loving God, also made a way for our Salvation. He loves us while we are still in our sin. He offers a gift to you, the gift of eternal life in Heaven with Him. What must we do to accept this gift?

Romans 10:9-11 says “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, whoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed.”

Confess your sin to God, ask for forgiveness, and believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.

I find it so incredible that my brother and his wife had picked out Joshua William as the name for their son, long before he was even in existence. God knew that this little one would be born fighting for his life, and he knew what name they would pick. `Because God is my Salvation, I am a strong willed warrior’.

This whole situation spoke one thing to me; God knows the sinful state we are born in. He knows what a mess we’ve made of the world, and yet, He is our Salvation! And in HIM we truly live!!!

Recipe for the month of November

I sometimes see recipes on Pinterest and am like, `hm, that looks good' but we don't have all the ingredients, so I make up my own recipe as I go along. Here's one I did.

Asparagus, Beef and Rice 

1 lb Beef

1 large Onion

Handful of Mushrooms chopped

6or8 Asparagus chopped

Salt and Pepper to tast

2 Garlic cloves 

Cook in sauce pan with a cup of water. 

If desired, add 2 T of Cornstarch to 1/2 C of water and mix into the meat to create gravy sauce. 

Cook 2 Cups of rice in a separate pot and serve together with the meat dish!

Craft for the Month of November! --- OCC shoebox dress

Hi! it's that time of year again where we pack shoe boxes!
This year I pulled out some scrap cloth that I picked up from the second hand store, and sewed a `pillowcase' dress for a 2-4 year old girl.

Take a look!

yah I know... looks so pretty!!! I would love to keep it, but I know it will make some little girl who maybe doesn't have a dress, happy, much more than it would my 2 year old who has a row of dresses in her closet.

It was so easy to make!!! I followed these instructions on this blog.

It actually was way too long, cause I wasn't using a pillow case, but material about the same width, so I hemmed it up... maybe if it doesn't wear out by the time the little girl grows, it can be let down!

anyway, just an encouragement to you all out there, pack a shoe box!

Craft for the Month of October

Furniture for Calico Critter

these chairs I have to give full credit to my great-grandmother. I remember as a child playing with a doll house in a box, in which all the furniture she made herself with items from around the house. I distinctly remember seeing chairs made out of bottles! so here I tried my hand at it, making cushions to put in them.

 I pieced together a stove and oven. Cardboard covered with cloth. Didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped, but it was good enough.

 Wooden beads and short pop-cecal sticks to piece together a table.

 A doll house in a container! it was perfect for the Calico Critters, and the container makes it great for travel. 

This one was made for my nieces.

This one is for my daughter... the reason you don't see the Calico Critters in these pictures, is because they weren't given to her yet. But with these two dolls she's played and played with this little house.

A lesson in Romans

Last month I shared some of the scriptures that stood out to me in my Bible reading; the characters that a Christian should have if they are truly following Christ. In a way this months is related.

In the Ladies Bible study that I attend, we are going through Romans. This week we reviewed Romans 12, the last half of the passage.

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; ¹¹ not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; ¹³ distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”^[a] says the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”^[b]

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I thought, what does this have to do with Biblical womanhood and in the home? Well for starters let’s think of a few things. Home means family and relationships between family members.

            The scenario was given of two children fighting. The first hits the second, so the second child hits back. As a parent how do we handle the situation? One of the woman said, in their home growing up, when that happened, their mother would tell them there was nothing she could do, because they had taken the matter into their own hands instead of coming to her at the first sign of trouble.

            Isn’t that the way it is sometimes in our own Christian walk? When we are wronged, whether it comes from a fellow Christian woman or a family member, what do we do? Do we take matters into our own hands, or do we take it to the Lord and leave it there?

            But what if we’ve already taken care of the matter, leaving no room for the Lord to deal with it?

            When we see little children fighting, as adults we never encourage it, we want to step in and break it up. But if they’ve both rendered revenge on each other, what is there left for us to do, but maybe send them both for time outs? Instead of one being in trouble, they are both in trouble!

            When in says `give place to wrath’ it is NOT talking about our own wrath, but GOD’S wrath. Our job is to “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” “Repay no one evil for evil” “Be kindly affectionate to one another” “Abhor evil” “Cling to good” and “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

James 4:17 “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

            That’s pretty strong!

            In the heat of the moment it’s often hard to keep a clear head, as we’ve often seen in our children. They get so focused on “what I want” or their little “me first” or “he hit me first”. Christ tells us we are responsible for our own actions and we will be judged accordingly, regardless of what the other person did.

            As a Christian woman, I often would love to spout out my mind and set something straight, but as I’ve shared in previous posts, sometimes the greater work to be done is prayer. Seeking God’s wisdom and not our own, because sometimes hot heads to not think straight.

            In the home, I see it’s important to teach children right from a young age, what is the right way to treat others. What they learn in childhood, they will carry into adulthood.

            S.L. Kliever

The Characters that a Christian should have

Through reading my devos of late, I've been working through these books of the Bible and here are some of my thoughts.

Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, and Corinthians, are full of what sorts of conduct and character a Christian should have. I know this blog is mainly towards womanhood and homemaking, but this applies to everyone.

            If we are living anything less than what these verses speak about, where is our focus? Is it on Christ or on worldly things?

            Do we treat our fellow Christians (and that means immediate family to church family) with the love of Christ? Are we striving to keep peace or stir up fights? Do we go out of our way to make trouble for others, or do we go out of our way to reach out a helping hand to others?

            In the home what do these verse mean? What area have we let slip?

            Let us look into our hearts as we read these verses and ask the Lord to reveal where we’ve fallen short.

            I hope this is an encouragement to someone today.

            Ephesians 4:4 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, ² with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, ³ endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

            Ephesians 4:17-32  This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of^[d] the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸ having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; ¹⁹ who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

²⁰ But you have not so learned Christ, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
²⁵ Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,”^[e] for we are members of one another. ²⁶ “Be angry, and do not sin”:^[f] do not let the sun go down on your wrath, ²⁷ nor give place to the devil. ²⁸ Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. ²⁹ Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Galatians 5:13-26 ¹³ For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[b] 15} But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

Walking in the Spirit

¹⁶ I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,^[c] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders,^[d] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Philippians 2:3-4  Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
1 Corinthians 6:7-8  ⁷ Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? ⁸ No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren!

Craft for September

the craft for September is doll house furniture!
These ones are particulary for Calico Critters and some pieces like these chairs aren't for little ones who don't know how to be gentle.

 as you can see I cut and pieced together these chairs from small wood doles and embroidery floss.

my hot glue gun put them together.

 Here we prepare to make a couch. Cardboard, cloth, stuffing and glue gun.

 You glue them all shut on the bottom of backsides. you want the smooth sides to show on the front.

 Hot glue the pieces together, you can add wood blocks for feet or wooden beads work too.

 I made two chairs to go with the couch

 Here you can see how I folded the cloth over on the back sides and glued them in place. 

the front side will be nice and smooth and if you have stuffing, nice a soft!

 This is a bed... I didn't use stuffing on this one, you can if you want a soft bed.

 hot glued it shut

 and then hot glued it together

 pop-cecal stick picnic table!

more to come next month!
happy crafting!

House Rules

I just made this up today hoping to use if for a decorative wall hanging in our home.
What do you think?

Feel free to save and use the picture


Hopefully this never becomes a list of just dos and don't s, but a means of instilling in my children morals for life.

Chocolate Cake You Can't Beet!

I hate Beets! yah I know, they're good for you... but somehow I just haven't fallen in love with them. YACK! is usually the thought that accompanies beets. There is one type of stew I actually like and it has beets in it, but I like it cause I can't tastes the beets.
Here's something I tried today... Chocolate Cake (whisper) with beets in it...don't tell the kids!!!


Red Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:
•2 cups all-purpose flour
•1 1/2 teaspoons soda
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1 1/2 cups HONEY
•1/2 cup cocoa powder
•3 large eggs, beaten
•1 cup vegetable oil plus 2 tablespoons Coconut oil
•1 1/2 cups grated (or chopped up in the blender) cooked beets
•2 teaspoons vanilla


Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine flour, soda, salt, and cocoa in a bowl; set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs and oil and HONEY. Beat in vanilla and continue beating until well blended. Slowly beat in dry ingredients until well mixed; stir in beets. Pour into a greased 9×13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350° for 25 to 35 minutes, or until cake bounces back when touched lightly with finger.
Cool in pan on a rack.

Craft for July

I am posting this craft in memory of a dear friend who is now with Jesus. Her birthday is this month and she is dearly missed. Most people who knew Anna, knew her to be a tom-boy, but she did have her girly side to her. She had a doll house she was fixing up, and though she never got to finish it, her mother and grandmother finished it, and I was given the privilege of seeing it. It inspired me to go home and start a doll house for my little girl.

So here it is, my work in progress

I started with a cardboard box and a glue gun!

 I added the side of a diaper box as a second level

 Next I started covering walls in cloth (wallpaper!)

 then came the flooring, Popsicle sticks with the round ends cut off. (yes this project took many evenings and nap times)

 with the flooring all done, next came the siding.

 again, different size Popsicle sticks from the dollar store.

 And here is the finished outside! The house is ready for a family of Calico Critters to move in.

 my daughter will get this for next Christmas. I will show in later posts how I made the furnishings.

 Here is a second smaller house I made

 this time covering it in cloth before I glued it together.

 And then covering the outside ... again with supplies from the dollar store

 this one is a Calico Critter Beaver home

And though I wish I could show Anna....... I am thankful for all of you that take the time to be my friends and thanks for supporting our blog!

happy crafting!

S.L. Kliever