Church Mother's Day gifts

Talk about perfect timing! A box arrived in the mail yesterday with 6 empty Altoid tins from an evangelist we entertained last year who remembered that I craft with them. (He has a fabulous memory, especially considering he's 75 or so.) This was so nice because I love the tins but can't make myself even like the mints! They're way too strong for me.

So last night the church treasurer called and asked for my input on an idea she had for Mother's Day gifts for our church ladies. Usually we do the potted flower thing, but she wanted to do something different this year. She's not a mother, so she has no vested interest in this. Anyway, she wondered what I thought about $10 gift cards for Wal-Mart. I thought that was a fabulous idea! Not every church could do that, but we only have about 16 ladies to buy for.

The only thing she was concerned about was how to present them so they seemed as substantial as they really were. After all, a gift card is rather small, even if the value on it would get you three potted flowers, if you so desired.

So I mentioned to her that I had just enough tins (thanks to our evangelist friend) and I could make decorated tins to put the gift cards into. She thought that was a great idea, so I went ahead and made them up last night and this morning - all 16 of them! I was so excited and pleased with the finished product:




There are three different designs, mostly because I was working with paper and lace scraps. I think my favorite is the middle one (pink and black), but I really, really like them all. Can you tell my personality leans toward the Victorian era? I hope the ladies love them as much as I do!

I started out by printing Proverbs 31:30 onto a piece of vellum (free font: CAC Champagne), then cutting them into strips.

Then I traced the top of the lid onto the back of my decorative paper and cut that out.

Next I stamped the image at the bottom (one of my newest Studio G $1 stamps), adhered a strip of lace with Glue Dots (folding the raw edges around the back of the paper), attached the vellum Scripture quote with Xyron vellum adhesive and stamped the corner curliques (another of my newest Studio G $1 stamps). Since I was stamping partly on vellum, I decided to use StazOn ink so it wouldn't be so prone to smear.

After the ink dried, I used Glue Dots to adhere the paper top to the top of the tin.

Then I traced the bottom of the tin onto coordinating decorative paper, cut it out and adhered it with Glue Dots. This was necessary to cover the Nutrition Facts on the bottom of the tins. (You could also use a mixture of half-glue, half-water to adhere them. Just lightly coat both surfaces before slapping them together.)

And in case you're wondering, all the paper is from Anna Griffin. I love her paper line!

God's provisions

Okay, I knew there was something else I wanted to blog about tonight. It just came to me!

Just Thursday I was in Rite Aid picking up the weekly freebies and thought about leaving the TheraGesic pain relief rub since I have several tubes of similar product already. (I have to use it for frequent leg aches, but I have enough to last me quite awhile.) I almost left it, but then I thought, "Hey, somebody might need this when they visit. I might as well pick it up!"

Since we pastor and live in the parsonage, we have a lot of visiting missionaries and other speakers that stay overnight. Most of these people are on extremely limited incomes, so I like to send something helpful along with them when I can.

Okay, fast forward to today. After lunch, I overheard a lady recommend pain relief rub to a man who suffers from terrible leg cramps. She was telling him where to find it in any drug store section. I ran to the closet where I keep my stash of products to give away. Sure enough, that's exactly what she was talking about. So I was able to help him out (and hopefully get him some relief so he can sleep at night).

That got me to thinking about how God provides for us.

You remember the Scotch tape runner I mentioned in my shopping post this week? Well, I was just in Michaels the day before bemoaning the fact that they quit carrying my favorite tape runner so I couldn't use my 40%-off coupon on it anymore. Was it coincidence that I "happened" to find the tape runner on clearance at Staples the very next day - with a savings of 90% off what I paid for the other tape runner? I don't think so!

And here's another one for you ... Just today my husband mentioned that we really should get a grill sometime since we have people over so much. Sometimes it would be nice to just grill out, and when you're feeding 23 people, a medium-sized George Foreman grill takes awhile. We've talked about this before and decided to wait until they go on clearance at the end of the season, but last year wasn't a good time for us to buy, due to other financial commitments when they were clearanced. And we haven't gotten even close to "clearance season" on them yet this year.

Get this ... As one of our workers was preparing to leave today, his wife called on his cell phone and asked him to stop by Sears to help her pick out their new grill. He mentioned it to my husband after he got off the phone. Well, we have seen their old grill and thought it was pretty nice. So my husband asked what was wrong with the old one, mostly to make conversation. It turns out it's a relatively minor problem, but they were wanting to "upgrade" anyway. (You know where this is going don't you?) He offered to just give us their old gas grill!

Why am I writing this? It's certainly not to imply that we are God's pets and He is our glorified "fairy godmother," as some people think of God. No, I'd serve Him if I never received any free gas grill! I'm writing this to tell you that God provides for our needs - and many of our wants - when our money is surrendered to Him.

You see, when my husband and I made out our budget, there was no question that 10% of the gross income goes directly to tithe. And since we live in the parsonage, we don't have rent or a house payment. We have decided to tithe the value of our housing, as well. (It is a benefit of my husband's employment, one that we would otherwise have to pay ourselves.) Added to that, my husband has felt led to add a percentage on top as extra offering.

As a result, our weekly tithe and offering check is actually 20% of our take-home pay. You better believe that it's not always easy to write that check every week, knowing the other financial commitments we have. But we have always taken it out first. There is never any question about whether we're going to tithe this week or not.

But I also want you to know that we have never, ever gone without. My family eats the best of any family I know, all on $120 a month. My family is as well-dressed as the most wealthy person in our congregation, all on thrift store and yard sale finds. My children have the nicest and widest selection of toys of any child I know of, thanks to incredible thrift stores. (Remember the art desk for $0.80? And I don't think I've ever mentioned the $0.80 full-featured Baby Alive doll!)

Why is this? Is it because I'm such a great shopper? No, it's because God has provided for our needs - and many of our wants. Not only that, but He is always on time. Remember our Easter outfits? How about the bread machine?

So I want you to know that no matter how bleak your outlook is, realize that you can trust God! I am not a trusting person by nature, but you can well imagine that by now I have no problem trusting God for anything. He has proven Himself over and over and over again in our 5-1/2 years of marriage!

[Whew! That was long - good thing I'm not the preacher in this family!]

Birthday cards

After browsing a few of my favorited craft blogs tonight, I found this card. I was in the mood to create, so I decided to get some birthday cards made. I made 6 of each since that's how many backgrounds I got for each set out of a 12x12" sheet of paper.
As you can see, I mostly copied her great design. The only things I changed:

• I eliminated the ribbon.
• I used different stamps. (These are from my $1 Studio G clear acrylic collection.)
• I used glitter glue from Dollar Tree in place of the more expensive "pretties" that I didn't have on hand.

I don't know about you, but I can copy just about anything I see. It's the originality that's sometimes a problem for me. It's so nice that fellow crafters are willing to share inspiration!

Gift for my niece

I have a niece who is turning 7 next month. She loves Strawberry Shortcake, and I'm hoping to encourage her to take an interest in her hair (and grow it long). She has the most beautiful auburn hair I've ever seen.

I got this idea from this post. If you get the chance, check out her entire blog. She's my kind of crafter, and she is good!!



I didn't have any Strawberry Shortcake paper, but I was able to cut around the cardboard that these items came in to make the decoration for the top of the Altoid tin. I adhered them with Glue Dots. Since they're heavy cardboard, it has the advantage of giving them a dimensional effect. The sentiment is from my collection of $1 clear stamps (Studio G - from Michaels). I stamped it with StazOn since it has a glossy finish.

Inside I placed a set of 4 Strawberry Shortcake mini gel pens that fit perfectly in the bottom of this tin (they're not in the picture). Then I cut a matching piece of cardstock and put in the top layer - one package of barrettes (the 2 sets on the left) and two packages of snap-type barrettes (the 3 sets on the right).
I have a $5 budget for each niece and nephew's birthday (we have LOTS of nieces and nephews, thanks to my husband's large family). I thought this was a cute way to stretch $4, especially since I thought of her as soon as I saw the products.

Gift for a teenaged girl

I made this for a girl in my Sunday school class who is turning 17 next week. She loves horses, owns several of them and races them in competitions. Unfortunately I couldn't find any paper with girls riding the horses, but I know she'll like this just as well!

The tin came from the Target $1 spot, paper from Michaels (K&Co brand?), Glade candle a freebie from Walgreens, notecards from Michaels clearance ($0.20/pack) and the altered journal was also on clearance at Michaels for $0.50. Total cost for this gift was $1.70.

To alter the journal, I simply decoupaged different paper to the front and back, paying careful attention to what designs were ending up in the center of the journal.

I'm doing a similar set for another of my Sunday school "girls" who turned 16 last week. The only changes I'm making are to personalize the theme.

At this price, you can't beat it!

More vacation photos: Skyline Drive

I almost forgot to post more pictures from our vacation! This is the perfect day to do so since I had a full day with a funeral, migraine headache and church tonight. (Have you ever tried to play the piano for church while recovering from a migraine? It's not fun.)

These are pictures I took at various overlooks and stops along Skyline Drive in VA. Of course I took more than just these, but these are probably my favorites. The mountains are so beautiful!

The deer are almost tame. We passed several groups of them, and you can see that some were quite close to the road. I'm used to deer running when they see and hear vehicles, but several of them kept eating (or resting) as though they were completely used to traffic. We still slowed down every time we saw some deer, though, just in case.

Cool Beans: another page to share!

Yes, you read that right. I used "Cool Beans" as the title of the layout. Am I "dating" myself? The phrase came to me while I was looking at the photos, and I thought it would be cute since he was absolutely enthralled with these lima beans.

I came up with this one all by myself. It was no easy task, either! Color schemes and layout design aren't always my strong points, so I was very pleased that I actually liked the finished product.

Do you like my title stamps? I do! I've just started using them, although I got them last year sometime. They are about 2" foam stamps (I can't remember the brand name, although you'd probably recognize it) that I got at Big Lots for $2 for the whole alphabet. Since they are foam, I wasn't sure if I could use regular stamping ink with them. But I'm glad I started to experiment, because it actually works. For this particular title, I stamped in orange and then outlined in green. I wouldn't have to except it was the best way to tie it in to the color scheme on the page.

And now I'm off to see what else I might be able to accomplish tonight!