The Value of Giving to Others

   I have realized by my children's attitudes that they have not witnessed and been part of enough giving.  This is hard to admit since it is my husband and I that they are watching and learning from.  I can not say this about my family or his family because they have always been very giving to others and to our family.  I feel like we do give, but do we go beyond?  Probably not!  Our heavenly Father call us to give to others and to not store up riches here on earth. (Matthew 6:19-21)  Evidently, I have been giving TOO much to my children and they think that I should give even more! 
   I have finally come to the realization that this is a bad path to lead them down and we should u-turn it back to where we should be!!  I have explained to my son and daughter, (ages 9 & 5), that we have been blessed beyond measure and that we should desire to share with others our blessings.  They agreed and even gave examples of how we do and have given.  I explained to them that we need to buy out of neccessity and not desire/wants for this whole week and that we should find some ways to give to others this week. (We are starting small!)  They both agreed that we should go for it!

   With that said, we took a trip to wonderful Hobby Lobby this morning.  My daughter was so excited to go look at "all of the beautiful things" they have there.  But my son said, "Momma, I thought we were only supposed to buy out of necessity?"  I assured him that we were only buying what we needed to make a gift for a friend that just had a baby.  His response, "But it's not a necessity."  Not sure if he's right or wrong.  I do love to make things for other people and I feel like it is an ok way to give. To the left is a picture of the baby gift! (Had to add a crafty picture in here!)

   Well, we are on day 1 and not sure how it's going, but we will continue to strive to have a more giving heart so that it comes more naturally and we don't have to even think about it.  So if you would like to join our family in prayer for a more giving heart, these are some verses in the Bible that spoke to us.

John 3:16
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Acts 10:22
He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

1 John 3: 17-18
17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Hebrews 13:16
16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.


Luke 6:38
38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
  The list could go on and on.  There are so many verses in the Bible where God calls us as his sons and daughters to give to others.  It is my prayer that I will see a change in my children and myself.  Not just because I think they ask for "too many things," but because it is a value that God has called us as parents to instill in our children!

Random, But Fun Crafting!!

You know, life is just busy, busy, busy!  But on the same token it is fun, fun, fun!  ( Minus back problem and other kinks thrown in.)  Our weather has been pretty great these last few weeks and we have tried to enjoy every moment of it.  Of course, I have incorporated time to fill my need of creating fun crafts! So here are a few of the fun crafty things I have created along with the blogs that inspired me! Thank you to all of the wonderful crafty bloggers out there in blog land! (Yes, I love exclamation points!! Especially when it comes to my God, my family, and crafts!!!!!!!)

Project 1:  The Playful Knot Dress
After I made a pair of ruffle pants for a dear friend's daughter she gave me this adorable fabric. So exciting!!! I had been eyeing this cute knot dress tutorial over at
Everyday Chaos http://bridgetbaxter.blogspot.com/2008/04/happy-anniversary-to-you.html  and an Etsy listing at Kissing Kumquats http://www.etsy.com/people/kissingkumquats?ref=ls_profile  I am not a seasoned seamstress so I did it "Ashley style," meaning not always following all of the directions.  I did not do crisscross  back, I just did a bib like the front so that it would be a closed back.  This tutorial was very detailed with its instructions so it was easy to follow.

Project 2:  The Pearl and Ribbon Necklace

I saw one of daughter's friends wearing a bracelet made like this.  I fell in love with it and searched the blog world over to find a tutorial.  It has been on my to-do list for months and I finally got around to making it!  The tutorial can be found at Blue Cricket Design http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2010/01/craft-1-ribbon-and-pearl-neclace_04.html This tutorial was awesome!

 Project 3: The Decoupage Initial
I have always loved these letters!  I always thought that it was too hard to do this technique, so I have never tried it.  After listening to others talk about how easy it was I decided that I too should learn how to do this!  The inspiration was actually just a need for a decoration to hang between two windows in my mom's "purple room" as my daughter calls it. (The quilt has purple in it and that is my daughters favorite color)  I found a decoupage tutorial here at Heart Of The Matter Online http://heartofthematteronline.com/how-to-decoupage-letters  The tutorial has great pictures and directions.

 Project 4: Ruffle Shorts
I decided that I must  make these shorts for my daughter after seeing them in various direct sells children's clothing catalogs and on Etsy.  I made her a couple of pairs of ruffle pants for the winter and early spring, so it's only fitting to make them for summer too!  I used this amazing tutorial from Simply Annie Kate  http://simplyanniekate.blogspot.com/2010/06/learn-to-make-boutique-style-ruffle.html.  She posted a two part tutorial for ruffle pants on You Tube. Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74s7ealQlVc  Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZFK0zJN6hQ&feature=related You can also access these tutorials on her blog.  For the shorts I just did the same thing using a pair of shorts that fit her now to make the pattern.

 So as you see I have been trying a few new crafts.  It is so exciting to try new things!  I hope that you have a chance to check out all of these fantastic bloggers.  It takes a lot of time to create tutorials and I thank each one of you for doing this for those of us who like to try new things! With that said...Happy Crafting!!