Here it Comes...

 I've so enjoyed our time off, from school and the normal "routine" of life. I've even had the most wonderful two days with absolutely no depressed thoughts, I've even found myself goofing off with my kids!!!
 So why this morning am I feeling crunched again? School starts again Monday (or Tuesday...) and I'm coming under the pressure once again. I've tried to evaluate why yesterday and the day before were so great, 1. I was free to catch up on my crafts. 2. No pressure to hurry and get anything done. 3. I have had plenty of sleep :). 4. I even had devotions the last two mornings. So... why can't I keep things in perspective during the school weeks too? I'm old enough to know better but I let the system get to me. You see I've never wanted to home school like we were "in" school. I want my home to be a place of learning and yes there are times to hit the books but I'm feeling more and more like it's all hard work and no play.
 My New Years resolution to pray and ask God to help me think outside the pressure and be a happy Mummer!!!


Wouldn't you want to enjoy this family too!



A Time to Be Grateful

 I am tempted this Christmas season to be overwhelmed by all the "must get dones". I announced last week (to a chorus of Yipee's) that Friday was our last day of school. But still it seems like life won't slow down, I guess I'm just going to have to make it come to a halt. It will help that I delivered our last baby doll today, went to the final Christmas concert, and Daddy worked his last day :).
 As I read other blogs I'm reminded to take time to slow down go outside and breath in the fresh air, allow myself time to think and be happy in the Lord. It is after all Christmastime!!!
 Today we celebrate Bubby's 10th Birthday! How exciting :) I keep telling my kids no more birthdays but they refuse to listen! Tonight we eat Shrimp and chocolate cake with blue icing! Bub's choice.

 May you too take some time to consider the goodness of the Lord on this 4th day till Christmas. Here are a few things I'm grateful for,

15. violin music (from my 12yr. old)
16. birthday presents at 6am
17. mistletoe
18. putting away the sewing machine!!!
19. snowflakes in the window (fake ones...)
20. new paint on the walls
21. Christmastime
22. David Tolk's Christmas CD (it makes me wish I was a ballerina)

Merry Christmas!
 The Keeper

A New Color in the Living Room



Here is the living room before (my husbands favorite color :) He's so sweet, my turn to pick the color!

Look at all the trim to be painted!

 

I moved the piano myself! With a little help from some cardboard under the wheels... I'm way to impatient! Somebody with the muscles was away hunting! (I still haven't decided what to do about the shelves, they are a necessary evil, must keep the school books handy..)

See those yellow chairs? They are my favorite in the house, and I found them for 10 $ each at a yard sale. This has become our new spot for morning coffee.
So, here's to gray for a nice change, and yes the doors still need painting all 7 of them! But I think it can wait till after Christmas! And then I've some ideas about what to do with the empty walls.



The Christmas Extravaganza ( a little late)

I was so busy getting ready for the Christmas Extravaganza that I didn't blog about it!
Here are some pictures of some of the fun things we made.

Baby dolls


These two are still together, but it's a secret who has them. Shhhhh...


Gotta love anything with Glitter!!! ( I must confess I saw these in a magazine and just had to make some so there I was dragging my kids to Michael's the night before so we could have these beauties at our table, and every little girl loved them :)



My darling helper and our pretty table



Our woodland cottage, it must be Christmas time!



A view inside.



I'm loving these colors! These sets of dish clothes and pot holders didn't sell so now they have become Christmas presents! Only one set left hmmmmm who is it for? I think I already know.

There you have it, the reason I haven't been anywhere near this blog in almost a month! But we had fun and now I'm painting the living room before we put up the Christmas tree.
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Keeper

A little side tracked!

Too many irons in the fire!!! I started on the kitchen cabinets and then a friend of mine encouraged me to make some things to sell at a Christmas Extravaganza soooo, I've been making baby dolls and kitchen wash cloth sets, and even a mouse house, next I need to finish the bark cabin :).
 I'll post some pictures soon and let you know the dates of the Extravaganza I know for sure it will be
November 17th. The sale is to benefit the Susquehanna Valley Pregnancy Center in Columbia.
 So come back soon and I'll have the location and a preview of what I'll have available at my table.
Happy Fall, Even with snow on the ground!!!
The Keeper

He said "Go Ahead" And I said "REALLY?"

Yep, my honey gave me the go head to paint my ancient pine cupboards. I'm so thrilled.
When we moved into this house I intended to do it then... but you know how that goes and so 7 years later and I'm ready.( Oops we just got a card from our realtor congratulating us on 8yrs, my how time flies!)

Begin small and clean a cupboard for inspiration!
(He said he knew what was coming when I started this project!)

This makes me feel good every time I open it!

Wow these need help!!!

I sanded these with 100 grit, Then primed them with Zinsser

Time out for Tea :)

Not a great Picture but here they are!

The black dog looks good with the hardware!

Old hymnal pages mode podged to the bottom of the drawers, I love how this feels. All glossy and clean.

Something pretty from a walk with Granny while Mommy painted!

I'm hoping to paint the rest of the cupboards white, I just wanted a hint of happy yellow in the kitchen. Once I prime them I'll know if it'll look good that way or if I need to keep with the yellow theme.
Well, it's taken me about two hours to upload and reshuffle all these pictures, tuck three children in bed, pat down the pizza dough for it's second rising and battle this cat hair in my eye!!! Hope you are having a great evening and enjoy seeing our "fun" here at Dream Cottage!
Sincerely,
The Keeper

The Amazing Roman Shades

OK so I've been in love with Roman Shades for forever but never attempted to make them because they look so hard. Then I found this great tutorial on http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2011/04/mini-blind-makeover.html you actually use the old mini blinds you already have and turn them into Roman Shades!!! Here are mine for Bestie's room.

We did follow the advice to use the room darkening material behind the pretty pink polka dot flannel so the sun wouldn't wash out the color.
I was hoping to post better pictures and a how to but our computer is just not being nice lately :).
So hopefully if you're feeling adventurous and want to spruce up your room just follow the link and enjoy!
The Keeper

The "FLOOD"!

We had a "little" rain here in Pennsylvania!

Here it is bubbling up from under the sidewalk!

May as well float a few boats, our kids were instant Civil Engineers

And a little mud never hurt!

We are very grateful that God is sovereign and kept us safe and dry through it all. Please keep our area in your prayers, looks like my Honey will be out of work until Monday and we are hoping they will open back up by then.

Many of our friends have lost most of the things in their basements and are now trying to recover what they can. When you think of all that has happened recently with the weather it makes you stop and realize just how much God is in control. I am pressed to take Him more seriously in this busy life of mine, I want to be found ready and waiting when He returns, not muddling through, and just getting by.

May the Lord Bless you and Yours,

The Keeper

 

To The Fair!

  It's been a great summer, we've played, rested and just enjoyed being together.
Last week was the Elizabethtown Fair, it's great because we all get to participate.
This year we each won a ribbon, or two!

First for a Mammoth Sunflower

Honorable Mention for a one of a kind house (maybe we could shrink and go live there)

Fourth Place Ferris Wheel ( Couldn't find directions so he used a picture!)




Remember this wreath? Third place!

 

First for a one of a kind doll blanket (hand stiched and made of sock tops)



A favorite felted purse



 Great memories stored up for winter time inspiration. What will we make next year?
Hope you will soon be enjoying a Fair near you!
The Keeper

Meet Martha B. Rabbit

Once there was a small brown rabbit whose name was Martha B. Rabbit. Her house was at the foot of an old apple tree in the middle of a wild and tangled  forest. There were bright flowers at the front of the house and at the back was a vegetable garden where she grew all the things that rabbits like to eat.



This is just the beginning of Bestie's favorite story, we love it so much that we wanted to bring Martha B. to life.



Martha B.

Martha needs an apron.

.

Bestie and I love to bring storybooks to life in our own everyday world.

What book will you choose to recreate for your children to play with?

Hope your creative juices are running!

 The Keeper

A Busy Week

We had the most fun at VBS this week and even though it was crazy busy I found time for some fun projects. Since Bestie had a birthday party to go to today we wanted to make something for her friend. I found these great rose felt barretts at http://www.purlbee.com/rose-barrettes/  while we were at it we made one for Bestie too :).

We also made a skirt for our friend that we found at this site

http://www.purlbee.com/liberty-and-neon-skirt/ It's a great skirt and only takes a bit of time and yes we made one for Bestie while we were at it!

Why is it that when I'm so busy I seem to get even more done? Crazy but that seems to be how it works.

 Hope you are having a great Saturday.
    The Keeper

A Restful Day

 As you can see I've been playing with the "blog". I was over at Blueberry Cottage today to read her review of Karen Andreola's new Mother Culture CD.  I highly recommend it, Karen is an excellent author and speaker, I'm planning on getting my own copy soon, to inspire me before school begins. While there I was envious of the beautiful pictures at the top of her blog so Partner and I spent some time over at picnik uploading and creating, after about an hour I think we got it done! (Where there's a will there's a way!)

 There seems to be a fun competition out there to create a fairy garden at The Magic Onions (look for the button on the side bar!). Sounds like fun to me I'm going to check more into it and see if Bestie and I can do something too.

 Hope you are all staying cool and enjoying this beautiful summer weather.
  The Keeper

A Grilie Day

Today was a real treat, a day for the girls to go shopping! We even had Garden Olives (Olive Garden) for lunch. What makes this kind of day so special? Because we were three generations. My Mother, myself, and my little Girlie. I cherish these times to make memories. We didn't find any of the things we went looking for but the fellowship was sweet and I am refreshed. I thank the Lord for a godly Mother who homeschooled me when it was such new territory and now I am passing the vision on to my daughter. So Thanks Mom for loving me so much and being my friend today.
And thanks too to my Honey who hung out and had a Man's day at home with the boys.

Summertime

Is a time to relax and enjoy my husband and children. We've been enjoying  the time off from our "homeschool" life . It's so nice just to be the Mom for a little while :). In fact my 6yr. old just asked for icecream and I said yes! Can you imagine, I'm trying on the answer yes as much as possible, you see when I get overwhelmed I tend to just answer with a no and then think about it and change my mind. My better half

smile in a bowl!

has taken to calling me the "Mummer of No" lately so this has been a goal of mine this summer. And it's so much nicer to see my children smile especially since I really should be saying "yes" most of the time! Like to vanilla icecream sprinkled with minni chocolate chips, yum. Instant smile!

A Weekend Project

How about making a book wreath? This one was a fun project for me, once my Mom saw mine she had to have one too!

I began by making my own form with hangers, floral wire and gorilla glue! Or you can by a metal one at a craft store but the urge to create hit me when it was to late to run to the store!

I had a old book of fiction that I thought I could put to better use, you curl the pages making sure to make each cone similar in shape ( I used thick craft glue) when you have about 45 cones you hot glue one row to the form and then the next on top. My finished product didn't really look like a wreath since the hole in the middle was so small so mine became a flower once we crinkled up a page and placed it in the middle.

 

We first tried it on a bedroom door, it needed more contrast.



Here it is in it's final resting place, you might recognize the silhouettes from earlier.

Have a blessed weekend.
The Keeper



Sleeping with Thankfulness

As I read One Thousand Gifts till I fell asleep last night I realized I woke through the night with gratefulness on my heart, what a gift! We have had a very busy few weeks and I am challenged again to pick up my thankfulness journal and add to the list. As I practise thankfulness I am also practising peacefulness, they seem to go hand in hand, not allowing myself to be so flustered that I become unkind to my family, but taking time to see beauty through their eyes.
Take time, Slow down, Be blessed,
Kimberly

9. cheeks soft with sleep
10. children creating beauty with nature
11. love from a husband
12. my messy house (we live here)
13. peaceful sleep
14. two more days of school!!!

Happy thankfulness hunting!

Thanksgiving

 

My dear friend, Amy, gave me a book that is already changing my life. Have you heard of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp? She shares about a challenge from a friend to name one thousand things to be grateful for and how Thanksgiving can change how you view life, how many times in scripture we are admonished to come to Christ with Thanksgiving then with our petitions. And how God will fill the viod this world of complaining leaves when we ask Him to fill us with Thanksgiving. She has a beautiful blog at aholyexperience.com where she is way beyond one thousand gifts, and counting.
 So the challenge is to begin our own list as we go through the day, here is the beginning of mine. Join me in Thanksgiving for the small and great of God's blessings.

1. Yelling children in the freezing cold pool!
2. Tears that mean I still care
3. Blue eyes and wet spickey hair on an 11 yr. old boy
4. A quiet house
5. Warm sunshine after long cold winter
6. Cold raw milk from a neighbors farm
7. Completed portfolios!
8. Cool evening breezes on the porch

Blessings on your weekend, how about making a list of your own?
The Keeper

A Tutorial Upon Request





I have a small gallery wall and a few of my friends have asked if I'd share how I made the silhouettes of the children.



Partner







Bestie



 

Bubby







 

   You begin by taking a digital picture, I wanted some detail to my silhouettes so I had them pose before changing out of their church clothes ( look closely at the silhouette you can see their collars).  Use the same stool and don't move it so the distance from the wall is the same and their ages will show in the final product, it's slight but their heads are different sizes. Make sure they are all facing right.



Print out your pictures as 3by5 in color on normal printer paper, use small scissors (I used embroidery ones) for fine detail and cut out the face, now with a little scrapbook glue, glue the color side of the face onto black cardstock. You should now have a white silhouette on the black paper. Use your embroidery scissors to cut out along the white silhouette, TaDa you've made your own silhouette!



A keepsake to cherish forever!

Blessings, the Keeper