Winter Wonders

It was one of those mornings.  The fog was so thick I couldn’t see further than the house next door.  I could feel the moisture in the cold air.  My hair dryer was broken (so I’ll just let you imagine how I looked).  I discovered that my children had ruined something I cared about (and it was brand new, too!) and I couldn’t find my keys.

After calling my husband to complain, I grabbed the spare keys and headed out for the kindergarten carpool.  As I turned the corner, I happened to notice the frost on some weeds by the side of the road.  I turned around, went home, grabbed my camera, and went back to park by the side of the road.  I gave myself 5 minutes to capture some of the wonder which the fog had made possible.

I’m SOOO glad I did.  Just a few minutes taking pictures as the sun finally managed to penetrate the fog changed my whole day.  I hope that the beauty of God’s creations can help make yours a little better, too!

frost on weeds


frost on weeds 2

Thistles.  Simple, but now beautiful as well.

frost on thistle


frost on thistles

An oak leaf on the ground.

frost on oak leaf

I think the picture below might be my favorite.  When I look at this, I can’t help but think that all the beauty we work so hard to create doesn’t hold a candle to the brilliance of frost on this bush.  It was like thousands of sparkling stars.

frost


frost on leaves


frost



More weeds.




Ivy climbing up a fence.

frost on ivy


frost on ivy


frost on ivy

Lesson learned.  Next time you need to shake the foggy winter blues, get out IN it!  Grab your camera and a jacket, and give yourself a few minutes to wander around your neighborhood in search of beauty.  You probably won’t need to go farther than your own yard.  Not only will you come home with some gorgeous photos, you will feel better about the fact that it’s winter.  (And if you’re me, you might even think something like “wow, I might be figuring out how to use this camera, after all!”)


Have a wonderful winter’s day!

shed in winter

Hopeful Homemaker

Book Page Wreath DIY (Part II)


book page wreath four colors

After making my first book page wreath, I made a second one while showing some friends how to do it.  If you’d like to try it, you can find my tutorial here .

It was so interesting to see how different the colors turned out simply by using a different book.

One thing led to another, and I made four just to demonstrate how the book you choose will influence the final product.

The first one I made is from a dictionary, purchased at the dollar store.  The paper is a newsprint kind of page.  You can see how it’s more grey in color than it is white.

newspring book wreath

The book was approximately 5 x 8 inches in size, so the wreath turned out a lot more full.  The pages were also very thin, so the rolls in the paper are softer.


The second book wreath I made came from a falling apart murder mystery I picked up at the thrift store.  It was more like 4 x 6 inches in size, and the pages were yellowed with age.  This also meant that they were more stiff.

yellowed book page wreath

The final product was smaller in size when I finished, due to the smaller pages.  It wasn’t as full, but was still pretty.  I liked how it took on more of a brown tone instead of a gray one.


Intrigued, I went back to the thrift store and found a small book, about 3 x 5 inches in size, but with crisp white pages and bold black print along with some small black and white illustrations on each page.  I was curious how “black and white” it would look.

book page wreath

This wreath was definitely the lightest in color, as well as the smallest in size.  It’s really fun to look at, though, because the pages I used were so interesting due to changes in font size and tiny illustrations on every page.


On the last two wreaths I made, I tore some pages into strips and glued them around the foam wreath so you wouldn’t see any Styrofoam in the finished product.


The last book I used was chosen for it’s creamy white pages and the red ink on the edge of the pages.  The red didn’t go all the way around the outer edges of the book, so I bought a good tomato red acrylic paint to match and painted the other two sides.  I was really generous with the paint because I wanted to be able to see the red.  Like my first project, this book was about 5 x 8 inches, so it turned out really full.

book page wreath

I love the red edges!


You could use so many other pages, as well!  What about an atlas?  I think that a blue colored steno notepad could also be really fun.   When we think about books, we tend to think of them all as being pretty much the same inside, as far as color goes.  Yet it is so interesting to see the subtleties in color changes when they’re used next to each other in a project like this.

The one in my family room enjoyed a red ribbon and a bird for the holidays.

bird on book wreath

I hung one on my laundry room door for fun, since it’s at the end of a hallway and I like to make it pleasant for myself to visit my laundry room (this increases the chances for clean clothes at our house).

book page wreath hanging on door

I like all four of these wreaths for different reasons, and in different places.  The question I have is, which one is your favorite?

book page wreaths

If you haven’t made one yet, I really hope you’ll try it.  And I’d love to hear your what kind of book you use, too.


Lest you think that it would be a waste if you decided you don’t like it, just give it to your 9 year old son and see what he does:

boy wearing book wreath


boy wearing book wreath

Just wanted to make you smile.  Have a great day!

Patti’s Pecan Pie Crust

My mother-in-law shared this recipe with me when I was newly married.

This crust is a great way to add some variety to a pie.  It works with pie recipes that require the crust to be baked in advance and the filling added after it’s been cooked and cooled.

pecan pie crust

First, crush 48 saltine crackers.  (That’s about 1 1/3 sleeves of saltines,  but I always count them because the recipe says to) Next, get 1 cup chopped pecans cup of pecans and one cup of sugar.

teacup of sugar

Combine them all in a bowl, and mix together.




In a small, deep bowl beat 3 egg whites and 1 teaspoon vanilla until the egg whites are stiff.   Fold into saltine mixture.




Make sure the egg whites are fully incorporated into the dry ingredients.


Press into a GREASED pie plate.

pecan pie crust

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.


Remove from oven and let cool before filling.

pecan pie crust

When the crust is cooled, fill it with the filling of your choice.  We used a simple chocolate pudding this time, but you could use a banana cream filling, or coconut cream.  The key is to let the filling sit in the crust for a few hours before serving so that the filling has time to soften the crust.  YUM!

chocolate cream pie in pecan crust

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