The War on Christmas - Book Review

This book is put together nicely.  It is easy to read and the illustrations are great!  This book set out to separate truth from tradition as far as Christmas goes and it does a wonderful job.  Bodie Hodge is the General Editor, so I am not sure who the author is, but everything is backed up with scripture (the absolute truth) and I was quite pleased to see this.

This book addresses all traditions that surround Christmas (most I've heard of and some that I hadn't).  The research has also been done as to how it became tradition.  This book was very interesting to read.

I was very pleased with this book up until the last few chapters (after Christmas traditions were addressed).  The last few chapters no longer addressed Christmas traditions, but the Author/General Editor's religious belief.  I am o.k. with that as long as it is true.  He backed his ideas up with some scripture (which makes it seem like it is the truth), but he failed to use all of the scriptures, especially the scriptures that disagreed with his beliefs.  So I wonder, does he believe the Bible or not?  Take it all or don't take any of it.  You should not pick and choose what you want.  

Deuteronomy 4:2 "You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you."  (ESV)  

Deuteronmony 12:32 “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it."

Revelation 22:19 "and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."  (ESV)

There are other scriptures to back up adding to or taking away from (or leaving out).scripture.

So my advice to you is to read about the Christmas traditions and look up the scriptures that he gives to go along with our traditions (see for yourself- as it tells us in 2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth ").  When it comes to the last few chapters you should either disregard them altogether or look up ALL the scriptures that have to do with the topic that he is discussing and not just the ones that he gives.

This book was given to me for review by Handlebar Publishing in exchange for an honest review, but the review and opinions are my own.

Cleaning House: A book review

This book was right up my alley.  In a world where kids feel entitled, my husband and I have been going against the grain and trying to make them productive children.  We want our children to have a purpose, feel useful and needed and important (which they are).  It is nice to know that we are not alone in this endeavor.

A lot of the ideas that Kay Wyma suggested in her book, my husband and I were already doing, but she gave me lots of new ideas also.  Kay told the things that she was trying to teach and instill in  her children, but she also told why she was teaching them this particular task and why she felt it was important to her and to her children.

Kay told true life stories in a fun and humorous way.  She gave a fresh take on a difficult but rewarding task.  I loved the way she could see the  humor in a not so humorous situation.  I could feel her pain having been in similar situations with  my children (wish I could have laughed at myself and the situation at the time).  At the end of each chapter she summed it up with some key points that the children learned and things that she also learned.  This was very insightful.  When I am teaching my children certain skills, I often overlook the lessons that I too learn along the way.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and taking the journey with Kay.  I feel that my task as a parent should not be taken lightly and the hardest jobs to do are usually the most important ones and by taking the easy way out I would just be cheating everybody.  The easy road is not always the best road (actually very seldom is).

This is definitely worth the read.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review, but the review and opinions are my own.

Rainbow

When I came out of church on Sunday night (July 14) there was this beautiful rainbow in the sky.  I hadn't see a rainbow in a long time.

Owl Lap Afghan

This was originally a baby blanket (I purchased the pattern here), but I really loved it and didn't have any babies anymore - so I changed the colors to something more grown-up (Chocolate, Beige, and Cranberry) and use it as a lap afghan.  I really like how it turned out.  You can do this yourself in an array of colors (Abby Cove gives you lots of ideas on her Etsy shop, or you can come up with your own color combo as I did).   You can even purchase a finished blanket from her Etsy shop if you don't crochet yourself.

Here is one of the owls before it is sewn onto the afghan.  The owls are applique.  I have crocheted a couple of extra owls for a friend - she wants to embellish a purse with them.  I used chocolate yarn for her owls (she wanted her owls brown).

For the afghan, I crocheted the owls and branches in Taupe (a brownish/grayish color).  I wanted them to coordinate with the colors of the blanket, but I didn't want them to blend in with the brown used in the blanket.   For the leaves I used Dusty Green in Vanna's Choice yarns.  I used all Vanna's Choice yarns.  The yarns worked up really well, the blanket is soft and holds it's shape.  I keep it on the back of my couch.

Vanna's Choice yarns are machine washable and dryable (this is really important for a baby blanket).  This was the first time that I have used Vanna's Choice on a project.  I love all the color options and I really like how the blanket turned out.  I also liked how it felt in my hands while using it.  (I have used other yarns that were scratchy and dried my hands out while I was using them - my hands felt horrible by the time I was finished with the project).  Haven't washed the blanket yet to see how it holds up in the washer and dryer.  Curious to know.

What is your favorite yarn to use for a project?  I know - it depends on the project.   (Example:  my fave yarn for dishcloths is I Love This Cotton!  My fave yarn for blankets (so far - I haven't crocheted too many afghans) is Vanna's Choice.  Sometimes, I chose the brand of yarn based on the colors available (I have certain colors in mind for a project and have trouble finding those colors in certain brands).  How do you choose your yarns?  How do you choose your colors for a project?  Let me in on your creative secrets.

Whenever I crochet something for someone, I cut the care instructions off the paper yarn label and attach them to a blank business card size piece of card stock and attach to item that I am giving them.  On the opposite side of the card I can write my sentiments.  That way they know how to care for their item.  This works really well with a blanket that uses several skeins of yarn, but what about an item that uses less than a skein (dish cloths, etc.)?  I simply type/write the care instructions on a card and attach to the gift.

Do you crochet for yourself or others?  How do you give your items as gifts?  Do you attach care instructions, do you package/wrap them in a special way?

FREE book on body image...

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Craft Keeper

This is made from a placemat, ribbons and zip-loc bags.  I think it is so cute.

A friend of mine showed me one she found and she was planning on using it for quilting supplies.  I thought I could use it for crafting supplies.

I started thinking about all the uses for this.  You could use it for traveling (toothpaste, lotions, etc. - if spilled wouldn't get all over your clothes).

You could use it for jewelry (to organize and/or travel).

What kinds of uses can you come up with?

Crochet Dishcloth set

Here is a set of 3 dishcloths (orange trimmed in white, aqua, trimmed in white and an aqua, orange and white striped one).  I topped them off with an aqua flower and used an orange chain stitch to tie them together, so I can give them as a gift.  I loved the colors, it reminds me of a warm summer day.

Like yesterday's post, I got my color inspiration from somewhere else (a summer dress I had a few years ago, not sure where that dress went to - I really liked it).

Where do you get your creative inspiration?

Where do you get the inspiration for your projects? Whether it is sewing, knitting/crochet, etc. I look around at what pleases me and go from there.

Here is a granny square that I crocheted. The colors are white, brown aqua and burgandy/dark red (yes, I know it looks bright red, but trust me - it is not - don't know if it was the camera or the computer).



I got my inspiration from my favorite tote bag.  It has the same color scheme.



Here they are together.



The colors may not be an exact match (fabric and yarn do not always match), but I like the color scheme anyway.

So where do you get your inspiration?

Touching Video

The Most Touching Speech Made by Bride's Father to the Groom from mcsquid86 on GodTube.