Friday Favorites: 8-12-11

I'm posting Friday Favorites a day early because we are off for an extended weekend in Lake Arrowhead with Ryan's family!

Have fun with all the creative inspiration!

Ashley Anne Photography photographed fabric mod podged onto flower pots.  I love this idea!  You can coordinate with your home decor and really add punch in a garden window, a bathroom, a shelf or a wall unit. 



Wren Handmade made foam baby blocks with fabric.  This would be a sweet idea for a baby gift, especially with cute fabrics.  It does involve sewing, but EASY PEASY sewing.



Design Dazzle made fabric bandaids with glue dots and scrap fabric.  This would be a really cute little gift for a girl.  A boy could get away with these if you do dinos, sports, or superhero fabrics.



I found these beautiful apple candles on Tumblr by Are So Happy.  What a fun, festive idea for fall!



The Cutest Food.com blog put jello in hollowed out orange shells and sliced them up for beautiful and creative fun!



Having Fun at Home had a great idea for the bath:  colored shaving cream for painting and playing!  My boys would love this!



Jen Johnson's blog had the cutest idea--and the photos on her blog are AMAZING!  Put your baby in front of a mirror, white board, or chalkboard and write down the milestone and the date.  Keep a photo journal and you will remember when your little one rolled over, crawled, walked, said ma-ma, etc.  GENIUS!



The Accidental Hostess had a healthy and yummy idea--frozen grapesicles.  String grapes on a skewer or popsicle stick and then freeze them.  Yum!  What a great treat on a hot afternoon!



I'm going to end today's Friday Favorites with Fashion inspiration I found this week.  Have fun!

Tres awesome shared these ruffle shoes.


A Dannijo bracelet.


Emma Stine earrings.


Anthropologie.com had a beautiful top.


Monsoon.com had this beautiful dress.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Women in the Word Wednesday: PRAYER, August 10, 2011

I apologize for the delay in posting the prayer lesson I gave back in July to some women at my church.  It was just posted yesterday on the church website. 
I gave a lesson on the privelege and effectiveness of prayer.  I spoke on the need for both concentrated and conversational prayer, the excitement we need to have about the privelege of prayer, the help in structuring prayer with the acronymn ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication), the need to align our hearts to God's will, and the power and change that God can bring when it is His will to do so.

It is an easy, straightforward lesson.  You can click on the audio link and listen while browsing on your computer. 

If you click a link soon, you can merely click http://www.compasschurch.org/wbs/sermons and then click the "play" arrow.  If you click on the link after August 2011, you will need to go to http://www.compasschurch.org/women/ and then click on "previous sermons" on the right.  Then, browse the sermon archives.  The lesson should be called "Foundations:  Prayer Basics from July 2011" or something to that manner. 

Enjoy!  I pray this blesses you as much as it grew me in understanding prayer!

A busy (but fun!) vacation

My family spent 12 days roaming Ohio and Canada.  We spent 2 days near Marysville, OH visiting Ryan's brother and his wife.  Then we drove to Cedar Point and spent 2 full days playing there and going to Put in Bay on a ferry.  After that, we spent 3 days near Chagrin Falls, where my hubby spent much of his childhood and high school years.  The next stop was Canada--seeing Niagra Falls and Toronto (and a surprise visit to Canada's Wonderland--similar to Cedar Point Amusement Park).  Finally, we ended with a night at Geneva on the Lake in Ohio. 

We had such a wonderful time as a family.  Our five year old is OBSESSED with roller coasters and water slides, so, since we went to Cedar Point--both the amusement and water parks, Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom, Canada's Wonderland AND a tiny waterpark in Geneva on the Lake, he thought this was the best vacation ever!  By the way, all those parks except the tiny Geneva one, were FREE (including parking) with our Knott's Berry Farm passes.  CRAZY!  They are all owned by Cedar Fair, which is one reason we got Knott's passes this year instead of Disneyland.  (I do miss Disneyland, though).

Here are some pictures of our trip--we are very blessed!

Two happy boys at Cedar Point

Watching Snoopy videos and drinking lemonade after a long day of rides.

Teapcups

Cedar Point--Planet Snoopy area

We now have a bumper car enthusiast--he's really good at driving!

Chagrin Falls

Science Museum in Cleveland

Fun play area at the science museum in Cleveland

Hiking in the Chagrin Falls area--it isn't raining, but it is HUMID!

Going through Put in Bay

Downtown Cleveland

This is not zoomed or doctored.  Our room view at Niagra Falls--AMAZING!  My hubby spent a lot of time on the phone getting a room with such a great view.

Another new family hobby--mini golf (Niagra Falls)

Brothers

Getting ready for the "Behind the Falls" tour

Visiting Ryan's old High School

Me, a raincoat and water (Niagra Falls)

Toronto

Another view from the room at Niagra Falls, but this time the "American Falls"

Ruche

If you regularly read my blog, you know I love the online boutique, Ruche.  They just sent out a new arrivals notice on Facebook, and I am loving some of these outfits. I thought I'd share several.  If you haven't checked out Ruche, go to shopruche.com.  They are super affordable, unique and beautiful--think Anthropologie on sale!  (Oh, and, no, I don't work for Ruche, but I wish I did!).


42.99


38.99


Can't you see this with jeans and boots--even a long sleeve t-shirt underneath when it gets cold?  32.99


34.99


52.99


58.99


32.99


39.99


32.99


I LOVE this outfit (attached romper)--33.99


I have all my Ohio pics uploaded and ready to share--probably tomorrow!

Friday Favorites: August 5, 2011

I apologize for the gap in posts this week.  I got back from our Ohio trip on Wednesday night and have had a whirlwind of catching up.  I'll post some Ohio trip pictures soon--after I weed through the many, many pictures.  I'm still don't quite feel rested and settled again, which is why the Friday Favorites is late today.  I think you'll find some good ideas, though.

I pulled a few ideas off of Pinterest this week.   Are you on Pinterest?  If you'd like an invitation to participate, let me know and I'll send you an invite!  It is such a wonderful website, and the phone app is great.  It completely feeds my creative side, which I love!

Enjoy the ideas this week, and have a fabulous weekend!


Ice Cream before Dinner made cinnamon roll pops for a brunch.  What a cute idea!  I love when presentation ideas add charm and are easy!


I found these dessert stands by Centsational Girl.  She went to Goodwill to get glasses and plates.  After adhering them together, she spray painted them.  I love this idea.  Spray paint is such a great invention.  If you need coordinating trays and tiers for a party, this is a cheap way to make your displays look great!  A cheap tray would work well too!




This idea was on Pinterest and came from Wilton's.  They sell a cookie bowl tin, but really all you need is an upside down muffin tin and some cookie dough.  Voila!  Cookie bowls for fruit, ice cream or pudding--whatever your heart desires.  Yum and fun!




The Party Dress gave us a modern spin on the caprese salad--one of my favorites.  How fun would this be to serve as a salad course at a dinner party?



Paddycake and Peekaboo made apple butter and shared the recipe.  I was just in Ohio at a little Amish town where they specialize in maple syrup and apple butter.  I promised my kids I would find a recipe and make our own apple butter.  Voila!  Here you go, and it looks delish!

 

 

 

The Crafty CPA made paint sample coasters.  They are gorgeous and super fun!  This would be a fun little hostess gift, and they are super affordable to make!  I love Mod Podge projects!

 

Craft made bacon strip pancakes.  Though my kiddos might not appreciate this, the adults in my family certainly would.  What a fun idea to mix it up a little!

Come Together Kids made smore mix for the go.  Genius.  I wish I had known about this before the 6 hour plane ride.  I now have it filed in the kid recipe index!  My boys would, of course, love this as a special treat!



School is starting soon, and Crissy's Craft has a cute starting school idea!  I have my oldest starting kindergarten this year, and I have always loved the book The Kissing Hand.  I would read it to my students too when I was a teacher. 



The last idea is off of Pinterest.  It is a braided infinity scarf.  I don't speak German, and this is listed on a German Etsy type shop, but I do understand pretty--and this is pretty.  I love the color and it looks fairly easy to make!  I am thinking nice fabric or even sheets cut into strips, hem and braid some sections.  It is hard to think about scarfs in summer, though.  You'll thank me in December.