Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart!

I can't get over the fact that tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day.  It seems to have snuck up on me from out of nowhere.  Looking back at the year, I'm amazed at what God has led us through.  And I can't get this hymn out of my mind.

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ His Son

Where would I be without Him!  How would I go through trials without Him to sustain me, to strengthen me?  I could not go on, not by my own strength.  I'm so thankful for my Savior, my Strength, Healer, Comforter and Friend.  My dad had heart bypass surgery at the age of 80 this year and he is, by the grace of God, doing very well.  I lost a baby this year at 12 weeks but I have a beautiful son that God has allowed me to have.  I am still able to stay home, thanks to God for sustaining us, and my hard-working husband.  We are still serving at our church.  We are surrounded by our family in Christ.  We have a small but beautiful home.  What more can I ask for?  Most importantly, I have my Lord Jesus with me every single day of my life.  And that is what I'm most thankful for.

Tragedy

Just today I read a tremendously tragic story.  You can read it here.  A nanny who was watching a 2 year-old and a 6-year-old in New York City, stabbed and killed both the children.  The mother, who had taken her 3 year-old for a swim lesson came home to find her other two children dead and the nanny, still alive, with self-inflicted knife wounds.   The nanny was a 50 year-old woman.  As I read this article, I cried for these children.  I cried for the parents of these 2 kids, 2 very small kids, that are now gone.  These parents are now facing unimaginable pain, grief, sorrow, anger, hatred....a myriad of emotions that no one can comprehend.  I know what it's like to lose a child...while still in my womb.  I can't imagine the pain of losing your child who is still young.  What came to my mind was that if this woman knew Jesus, she would not have done such a thing.  Oh, how the world needs Jesus!  Lord, heal our land.  Heal our people, they so desperately need you, your love, your grace, your mercy, your gift of eternal salvation.  We are all hurting people, in some way or another.  Without the love and grace of our Lord, how can we deal with life's trials and tribulations?  Only He can give us the grace we need.  Only He can give us comfort and peace in our hearts.  I don't know why this woman decided to do this.  I pray for this family that God can comfort them, mend them, heal their wounds and lessen their hurts. Only He is our ultimate healer.

Another Dessert Stand!

A while ago I made a dessert stand.  I got the plates from the dollar store and here was the result.

I wanted to make another one, a little different in style.  I found these nice clear glass plates and went to work.  Here it is.

The only thing different I did was add the top piece (a short candle holder) and instead of using a glue gun I used E6000 glue.  This stuff is the bomb.  It holds very strong and will not come off.  I will be using this stuff from now on.  Hope you like it!

Pancake Muffins!

While looking through Pinterest I found a pancake muffin recipe.  It looked very interesting!  There were several blogs with recipes but I found my favorite here.  I'm sure you guys have heard of Bakerella, who is an amazing baker and has a zillion ideas for everything from cake pops to cupcakes to muffins.  She is the queen of the cake pop craze and her blog is definitely worth a look through.  Sooooo.....this pancake muffin idea seemed very simple.  I had pancake mix so I decided to give it a try.  I added chocolate to a few, cranberries to another few, then some leftover spam that I had to the rest.  My two favorite were the chocolate and spam.  But of course, you can pretty much add anything you want to the batter.  Check it out and give it a try!

Cake Pops!

Have you seen all the craze with cake pops lately?  I love them!  You can get really creative with these things for whatever occasion.  Look at all the different designs!

I had some leftover chocolate cake so I experimented.  The only thing I did different was use cream cheese and confectioner's sugar to add to my crumbled chocolate cake.  All the cake pops call for frosting from a can to mix with your cake.  Now I know.  But it turned out very yummy.  I was short on candy melts so could not cover all of them completely but they came out decent and very yummy nevertheless.  I plan on doing this in the near future and will post pics.  Meanwhile, check out my cake pops!

I love the Fall!  What I love most is the Thanksgiving holiday where you gather with family for a wonderful home-cooked meal with no hassle of gift giving.  I saw these pumpkins a while ago and have been wanting to make my own.  You can find the tutorial here.  Aren't they gorgeous?  I saw them at Michael's but they're $15 for one.  Way too much.  Find a couple of crafty girlfriends and go make your pumpkins!  I know I will.

Faux Coral

Check out this tutorial here.  I haven't really paid much attention to the pet section at Walmart but now I have a reason to visit that aisle.  If you've read my earlier posts, I love beachy stuff.  I have a small guest bathroom with a beachy theme and thought this coral might add very nicely to my theme.  I already have several beachy stuff there.

This was a very simple project.  Grab a candlestick from the dollar store.  Glue it onto a vase.  I had this vase laying around in my closet.  (I actually collect any and all kinds of vases from whatever flower arrangements I receive.)   You then fill it with whatever you'd like.  I filled it with sea shells collected from our beach trips.

These are clam shells that a friend collected up north.  These gorgeous shells were sitting in their garage and they were trying to get rid of it!  I grabbed a few and it now hangs pretty in my bathroom.

And now I will have to visit Walmart to make these coral beauties.  And maybe even the starfish.  Those are also quite gorgeous.  I will update with photos soon!