Christmas Party Invitations with a Homemade Touch

I've been at it this week, decorating and creating. Well, I am planning a Christmas party and thought it would be fun to create invitations! That launch my next project. Surprisingly the inspiration came quite quickly and I was off and creating.

Above is a finished product.

I used construction paper, a plastic bag, copy paper, a sharpie pen, and glue. To make the snowflakes I used http://highhopes.com/snowflakes.html's example and it worked very well! I picked a size for the invitation and cut the construction paper accordingly. 

For the back of the invitation I thought of a "catchy" phrase, wrote one out and then color photocopied the rest. I wanted a personalized touch, but did not want to write all of them. They photocopied quite well. 

Also for the back, I put some red paper behind the information to add some flair. =) And simple glued it. I then glued the snowflake down. After I thought I was done, I was "admiring" my work and felt like they just weren't complete...

...don't you agree??

So, I hunted around my entire apartment and could not find any kind of ribbon, but I did find a Vanity red, plastic bag. I cut strips and tied a little bow in the corner and it made them complete!

Now onto the party planning and yummy treat baking! 

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear...

Today, today is the day I get to decorate for Christmas! I am giddy and all smiles! As went to the dungeon to grab my Christmas tree (remembering that I kept the Christmas lights on it from last year), pulled out my box (yes, singular) of Christmas decorations, and started decorating I realized I needed some more decorations. So, I packed my thinking cap and drove to the dollar general. I got some garland, bells, cookie cutters, ornaments, and supplies to make my first Christmas wreath. It was so much fun creating my first Christmas wreath! I felt like my mother...


I started with these supplies...

And with a hot glue gun and some creativity I ended up with this...

~My First Christmas Wreath~

~Merry Christmas everyone!~

The Widow's Offering

Up to 36 hours of work at ACR. 15 credits of classes. Homework for those classes. My life is busy. 

I have been reminded lately of the story of "The Widow's Offering."

"Sitting across from the offering box, he was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. One poor widow came up and put in two small coins—a measly two cents. Jesus called his disciples over and said, 'The truth is that this poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they'll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford—she gave her all.'" 

-Mark 12:41-44 The Message

This story is very powerful because it is linked to the principle of sacrifice. I chose The Message translation because of the way they worded the last sentence. "All the others gave what they'll never miss..." The rich gave something they wouldn't notice was gone. There wasn't a sacrifice. The widow gave her all. Not just what she could afford. In other translations it says, "[the widow] put in everything--all she had to live on." Can you imagine, having the last $5 to your name and no food in the fridge or an empty gas tank, and giving that in the offering at church?

Recently this story has spoken to me in new way not involving money, but rather time. As mentioned I am basically working 60+ hour weeks, which does not include cleaning, meal preparation, or fun. It is work, class, and homework. Needless to say my extra time is pretty much zero. I have found it very difficult to find time for the Lord with this increased busy schedule. 

The reason this passage spoke to me is because of the guilt I was feeling because I wasn't spending at least an hour with the Lord. It is more like worship music while getting ready, bible reading during breakfast, and praying in the car on my way to work. I know guilt is from the Devil, but my character usually demands the best from me. And for so long my best looked very different from what my best is now. This passage helped me recognize that giving that time in the morning is my "measly two cents." It is the the extravagant gift I am giving to God, and I am giving it with my all. Right now I am not rich in free time. I have to sacrifice time working on homework to refill my cup. 

I think that God sees me, and he knows that this time in life is busy for a reason. After hearing God's voice through this passage I know that he sees my time with him in the morning as me sacrificing time where I could simply be thinking about me. If I didn't give that time to God I would unknowingly be shoving God back and back and back. My days go better when I start my day with him. 

I need to remember that God doesn't look down on me and say "That Holli only spends 10 minutes with me, who cares if she is working on her education to equip and train her for the calling I placed on her life and she wants to do it well, and she doesn't need to work to do well with what she has." I think God says, "I'm going to bless Holli because she sets that time aside for me. Not only does she spend time with me in the morning, but she serves me everyday when she goes to class and is interactive with her learning. She's going to be a great social worker. Not to mention she spends time with 4 people I love dearly and helps them in ways that they can't help themselves." I think that latter sounds more like God, don't you? 

So many times I give myself a hard time and allow guilt to arise in my mind when really, I am doing the best with what I have. There is a time for everything, and right now its chaos. BUT I am learning a lot, I am spending time with 4 wonderful women, and I am constantly trying to make time for God. Its a busy life, a busy time, a busy world... but when I'm with God time slows down. 

This is just something I've been dealing with a lot lately and I hope I'm not missing the mark. I always appreciate thoughts on my thoughts and I hope you feel challenged from this word. 

Sunburst Mirror

Never in a million years did I actually think I was going to be able to get one of these mirrors! Every time I shop I'd end up seeing one of these, but they are always $20, $40, $80! This one, believe it or not, I got for $6.75! Nope, it wasn't on clearance, or at a thrift store... I made it! Thanks to http://www.homemakerinheels.com/2011/06/toilet-paper-roll-flower-starburst.html I can have a beautiful mirror I have wanted one for quite sometime.

So here's how I did it!

I got a mirror for $2.99 at Goodwill, spray paint for $3.64, and saved toilet rolls.

After I folded the toilet rolls in half, long ways, and measured 1/2 inch segments and cut them, I hot glued them together.

This is after round 1.

I went for 2 more rounds. After that step was completed, I went outside and spray painted the frame and sunburst. (I actually had some one slow down in their car and look at me while I was painting. They were probably thinking "What is that girl doing?")

This is the drying stage.

Once it dried, I glued the sunburst to the frame, put in the mirror and VOILA! I have the coolest new Sunburst Mirror! And I love the addition to my bedroom. What do you think?

MPO

Alright, so my remember my post in, like, March? And it was about living to work or working to live... I recently decided that I was working to live! I took a month trip to Portland, Oregon and visited a delightful family named The Millers. It was a surprise for my dear friend Jenn. I am extremely excited to tell you all about my trip and all the fun things we did together!

So I arrived on May 5, 2011 via airplane at 10:45am their time. No delays or missed planes, the travel to was perfect. Derrick picked me up and we grabbed some lunch, and then went to see Jenn. I was so excited to see her. You know when you walk outside and it had just rained and the air smells rain fresh? Well, that's what it was like to see my dear friend. A breath of fresh air. I think it is so cool how God brings people together. He is so good. After work we went to pick up Parker. I was very excited to see Parker. I hadn't seen her for a little over a year and it is crazy how much they grow, so I wanted my first impression to be a good one, and surprisingly it went really well! After all of that it seemed like I was a part of the family.

We ate out a ton! I got to try many new places. To name a few... Deshutes Brewery, Burgerville, Black Rock Coffee, The Screen Door, Via Delizia, a BBQ place at the Saturday Market, Stumptown Coffee, yummy taco place on the coast, Nordstrom's Cafe, Claim Jumper, this market cafe, and the list could go on and on... Although every place was delicious, a few of my favorites were The Screen Door, Via Delizia, Voodoo Donuts, Stumptown Coffee, Black Rock Coffee, and the BBQ place. I'll explain why:

The Screen Door: Derrick raved about this place. Apparently if you did not show up about an hour before they opened you would have to wait outside because of the popularity. This was a southern style restaurant. They had INCREDIBLE food. Soo good, not to mention the atmosphere was really unique. I got the Vanilla Bean French Toast, and it was delicious. I also tried some Praline Bacon... lemme tell you, AH-mazing. Jenn got these Praline Bacon Waffles. Sounds strange, but it is delicious. One of their specials is the chicken and waffles. That is what Derrick got. They looked pretty yummy.

Via Delizia: A group of gals from the church invited me out for a night on the town and they took me to this adorable gelato place. I got a scoop of raspberry and a scoop of chocolate. Carissa got coconut in hers and it was sooooo good! I had a ton of fun with those ladies!

Voodoo Donuts: This place had any kind of donut you could imagine all the way to a Maple Bacon Donut. The shop had several coffins and I guess people get married there. Weird! I got the Peanut Butter Oreo Donut and let me tell you.. the BEST donut I have EVER eaten! Yum, yum!

Stumptown Coffee: This is the same coffee shop that Donald Miller, Christian author, went to to write. This little coffee shop reminded me of an old school diner with a hip flair to it. Everyone had such a fun style and the coffee was pretty yummy too.

Black Rock Coffee: So, there were these little trailer type things in the parking lots of strip malls and that is what the coffee was served from. I found it quite interesting, such a great idea! The people at the Black Rock Coffee were incredibly nice and their coffee was SCRUMPTIOUS! I got one of the fun named drinks that was a mocha hazelnut coffee. YUMMY! I knew that if Jenn liked it I would too! She has a coffee thumb!

BBQ Place in the Saturday Market: Picture this: the Elkhart County Fair food section mixed with the flea market downtown in a big city. That is the Saturday Market, and they do this every Saturday during the summer. This event was HUGE! There were so many people there. All of the little tents set up with items for sale were so neat. All of the displays were incredibly cool. The BBQ place that we ended up eating at was super yummy! One of the best BBQ's I've had.

Not only did we eat GREAT food, but they took me to many places (Let's see if I can remember everything). Here's what I can remember: Multnomah Falls, the Coast, Self-Serve Frozen Yogurt, and many beautiful views.

I will begin with Multnomah Falls. This place is beautiful. Wow. The sights, smells, sounds, everything about it shouts God's workmanship. When Derrick mentioned Multnomah Falls I knew it sounded familiar yet I could not figure out why, then I remembered from the book "The Shack." I started reading that book on the plane to Portland and became hooked. Well as you know Mack stops at the falls with the children on their way to go camping. It was such a neat experience to see something you read about in a book. While that is very special, the fact that Jenn and I were able to climb up there together made it even more special. I love quality time and I never realized how much I love nature. As we were climbing up to the bridge and then some more we noticed some of the smallest flowers and plants and the intricacy of them. How "______" (amazing/incredible/astounding/you fill in the blank) is it that God would make such little unique, intricate plants and flowers yet he still created the whole universe. WOW! I loved the Multnomah Falls experience and if I ever go back to Portland I would love to visit it again, and again, and again.

The Coast. I loved, loved, loved, the Coast. The sand, the water, the sand dollars, the dead crab, the little shops, the sea shells, EVERYTHING ABOUT IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! I now understand why so many love the ocean coast. I had only been once (to the East Coast) and I think I was too young and didn't care to appreciate it. We had so much fun playing in the sand and water. Parker was just too much. She loved playing in the water, even when she fell down and her face got wet and even when she was shivering because she was so cold, she did not want to go back to the towel. I loved just walking on the sand and letting the water wash over my feet. It was beautiful. It amazes me how brave that little girl is. She has no fear. Beyond just walking on the Coast and playing in the sand, there were these adorable shops. We walked through, bought goodies (salt water taffy, chocolate, gifts for family, a picture, etc...) and then enjoyed dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I really enjoyed being introduced to it by Jenn. And then after I talked about how wonderful the whole experience was she said she had thought about having a girls getaway weekend there with me while I was there, but wasn't sure with moving and such. What a tease!! Hehe... next time!

Beautiful.

Covered in sand, but still having fun! "Girlie Tomboy"

Waiting for the waves!

At the Mexican Restaurant. Jenn had a shark taco!

 Okay, Self-Serve Frozen Yogurt. HELLO why haven't I heard of this before now. Soooooo good!!! For those of you who haven't been to a self-serve frozen yogurt place you need to find one near you and go and enjoy the goodness. They has several different flavors and an uncountable amount of toppings. A couple of my favorite were boba, mochi, and fresh fruit of course! Luckily I have found a place in the Cities called Chilly Billy's that suffices my frozen yogurt cravings!

More than anything we did or saw or ate, I enjoyed the deep talks Jenn and I were able to have. Many awful and hard things came her way while I was there and I can't help but think God had me there for a reason. Those deep talks are what make Jenn one of "those" friends you know you can always count on, a person you know who will always pray, and one you know will always care for you. Its those friends that you are connected to because God brought you together. I am very thankful for the wonderful trip I had to Oregon. God blessed me in more ways than one from that trip, and who knows maybe it will be my home one day, but until then.. here I sit in Minneapolis learning to live and love and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my entire, incredibly long, post about my trip to Oregon. I hope it has made you want to visit Portland sometime. The next time I go I want to visit Seattle! =)

I also got to hang out with Parker 2 days a week... here are some pictures of our adventures!

Learning the skills of putting on socks and shoes, she pretty much had it down.

The blessed ikea bag... she loved to swing in it. The funny thing is she was really good at doing the more sign and then the please sign so we were trying to get her to do them together. Well, because she loved this ikea bag whenever I would stop she would do the "more, please" signs together. Hmmm.. makes ya wonder.

 She loved reading! She gets it from her Mom.

Pillow Duvet~

I have been thinking and thinking about what to do with our pillows in the living room. Our colors are red, black, and tan/cream. It makes for a pretty mix, but our pillows were bright green and black with this floral print. Obviously purchasing new pillows were not in the picture, so a pillow cover or pillow duvet was in order.

Okay, so I love all the little frilly decorations they are putting on women's shirts these days and I thought, why not put it on a pillow. This job was on my summer to do list and on Sunday Lexi asked if I wanted to do a sporadic craft day. I knew at that moment it was the day for the pillows. We went to Jo-Ann Fabrics picked up some black material and red sheer material, Lexi shared a coupon. And the job was ready to be started. A huge shout out to Lexi for making the covers for me. I did the decor though and I was surprisingly proud of the job that I did! Here are the final projects:

This is the way they look on the couch (for now):

Then I had some red sheer material left over so I added a little color to these not so color frames. I think it helps tie everything together!:

And voila!! Now I will smile everytime I see those matching pillows, instead of green and black floral. YIPPEE!! Plus my roomie, Jackie, said she liked them without my asking!!! Yay!! I'd say its a success.

Also, there is a blog coming with all the gruesome details of my MPO trip. Get ready because they are good!

Live to Work OR Work to Live?

Back in a little town called Goshen, Indiana there is a salon called Shoo-Be-Doo where a lovely gal works. I had the pleasure of receiving her wonderful hair care services and engaging in pleasant conversations about books, our faith, and life! She is just a great woman who loves the Lord and by simply sharing about her life offered much insight to me.

One day, while getting my hair dolled up, Bekah talked about all the adventures she had gone on. (Note: She traveled ALOT. Backpacking, road trips, etc...) I commented that I thought it was so incredible that she goes on all these trips and how I wish I could do just the same. The next thing she said has, in some ways, haunted me for the past year! She said, "Well, I don't live to work, I work to live." I sat in the comfy salon chair and thought, WOW! I am seriously living to work.

These past few weeks I have been considering this thought and how it works. Many thoughts have flowed through this brain of mine, like if you work to live then how does saving work? Do you only save to live or should you still save for that "emergency fund" Mr. Financial Peace talks about? This thought process has strictly come from a very deep desire in my heart to serve my King in everything, and he has nudged and burdened me with a greater understanding of a simple Bible verse, James 1:27. I can look back in my life and see how God has been developing this passion. He has made Himself quite clear to me about what my purpose is here on Earth and I am going to choose to accept this purpose. Just as the process of this realization of purpose took MANY, MANY years to form, and is still forming, there is much more to come. I do not have the plans, but I know the next step.

(SIDE NOTE: A very wise woman I know once told me while I was feeling an urgency to know God's plan in entirety she said, "If we knew God's plans, where would our faith lie?" That little, loaded question gave me peace to just trust in God. I was BIG faith, don't you?)

All that to say, I am asking God what it means to work to live and if that is a healthy walk for a follower of Christ. I wonder... What does that look like? Should we still build up savings/kingdoms on this Earth or should we live like Jesus did. Jesus didn't have a savings account, he probably didn't buy things to make his house prettier because HE DID NOT HAVE A HOUSE! As you can see I am still developing this thought and it is a very heavy question. Any thoughts?

Cutesy-Fun

I have been following an incredibly innovative gal's blog and I became encouraged/challenged to do some creating of my own. Therefore, I went to the magazines. Cutting things out of magazines are one of my secret joys (not so secret anymore). I love cutting little words out, cute pictures, etc... and put them on say a binder. Well, I have decided to take it a little further and make some greeting cards. The only goal for this is to give myself a little something fun to do and an opportunity to write more cards to others. *Spreading the joy*

Here is my first round at this little hobby...

This little lovely is quite simple, but speaks for itself. This is a beautiful image that had the word beautiful above it. Cut it out put some paper behind it and glued it. On the inside I used a pink paper that I cut into a funny shaped quadrilateral.

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Another simple one. Found a picture of beautiful flowers and put some truth on it. Certainly encouraging and I am hoping it would speak volumes to another.

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This last one is my FAVORITE for the night. I cut out a skirt and turned it into a flower. =) Simple, but fun.

I haven't a clue if this is going to pick up for me, but it is worth a shot. It is fun having little hobbies. I personally love making things and giving them to others. I feel like I am giving the best little gift I could give. =) Yay for gift giving.

Re-Adjusting

These past few weeks I have been adjusting back to school life. It is quite comical to me how hard it is to adjust sometimes. Why must we be so difficult? Hmm..

Last night as I was doing my reading for Jeremiah and the commentary we are reading from by R.K. Harrison said "Spiritual values can never be compromised with impurity." After reading that I thought how simply true that statement was, but how often do we allow perverse things into our lives by compromising a spiritual value. I am speaking as a person who has an immense amount of perverse things in my life, how do I allow those perverse things into my heart and head? Just like Paul, we all have a some sort of thorn in our flesh to remind us of the fact that God's power is made perfect in weakness. While that is true it does not permit us to have those perverse things in our lives. When Paul realized the thorn in his flesh he begged God to take it from him and God said that his grace is sufficient. When Paul was tormented by the thorn he fell to his knees before the Lord. That is how Paul dealt with the thorn, he gave it over to God.

The perverse things I allow in my life and possibly the perverse things you allow in yours are a thorn in our flesh. In other words, something Satan is using to torment us in our walk with God. As simple as it may sound we need to follow one of the greatests apostles of all time example, we need to fall on our knees before the Lord, beg for his help, and give it over to Him. Surrender.

Taking it day by day...

It seems unreal that I have been home for nearly 3 weeks! My time here has been up and down. I ended up coming home 4 days early because of my Great-Uncle Larry's passing. It was an unexpected loss, but we can rest assured that he is in Heaven without pain.

While being home I have had a chance to visit with many of my dearest friends. I really enjoy catching up and laughing with them. I was also able to meet Mister Jakson Holloway-the charming one. He is one of the sweetest babies I have ever encountered.

Also while being home I have encountered one of the most difficult things ever. Thanksgiving weekend we found out my Grandma Nisley (Graber) had a tumor on her spine and it was cancerous. About two weeks later they realized that the cancer had started in her lungs and it was then at Stage Four. At this time they told us she had about 6-9 months left. This news brought shock to the family. They decided to do radiation on her spine and I was praying for a healing.

Since I ended up coming home early I was able to go to a doctor's appointment on the 23rd with the family for Grandma. This appointment was for the results of the MRI on her brain. That day we recieved awful news. The cancer was throughout her brain with numerous spots so plenty they couldn't count them all. Now her time was lessened to 2-3 months. The decision was to either do radiation on her brain or to call in hospice. Grandma and her kids decided to do the radiation. I had a hard time accepting that decision because of how weak Grandma was. It was hard for me to believe that she would make it through the treatment of radiation. I just had to continuously give the situation over to God, remembering He had everything in control.

January 1, we were able to have our Christmas together as a family. The house smelled of delicious food and goodies. One of Grandma's friends she cared for, Jean, was able to join us for dinner that day. It was neat to meet the woman Grandma talked about so much. Everyone was able to laugh and catch up. Sadly though Grandma was too weak to come to the living room except for present time, but when she came out you could tell how happy she was her family was there. I had a very hard time knowing that this is going to be our last Christmas, here on earth, with Grandma. I had to hold back tears. Saying good-bye that night was also very sad for some odd reason. I knew that I was going to see her again that week, but I think it was just an emotional day.

On Wednesday, January 5 I stopped by to spend some time with Grandma. It was such a good time because she told a joke. Monday night I was really praying that God's joy will be her strength and that the Holy Spirit would comfort her. Hearing her tell that joke showed me how God was working on her. I was able to tell her that I was praying for her and that I loved her so much. Later on this week the doctors decided against radiation because they knew she wouldn't make it. And told us her time has gone down to 2 weeks. That was a huge blow to everyone. At this point Grandma has about a 5-15% understanding of what is going on in my opinion.

So here I am getting ready to go back to Minneapolis for my Spring Semester knowing that I will be back in a few weeks for my Grandma's funeral and I feel like a big selfish person. My heart was telling me that I needed to stay and help take care of Grandma. So, I called Karen and asked her how she thought the professors at NCU would feel about this situation and from her counsel I made the decision to stay here until it is her time and then go back up to MN. Not only do I feel like God calls us to care for those in our family who are sick, but I want to care for my Grandma.

Today as I was learning the ropes, we were helping her go potty and while I was holding her up Mom saw her look at me and lay her head on my shoulder. I thought she was just tired because it takes SO much out of her to just swing her legs to the side of the bed, stand up, turn 90 degrees, and sit down. My mom really thinks she was showing endearment to me and it moved me very much.

Tonight is my first night staying up to care for Grandma. Tomorrow will be filled with sleeping, emailing professors, and calling work. Please pray that her time left will be comfortable and painless. Pray for strength for the family and please pray that I am extremely alert!!