Crochet Super-hero, To The Rescue!

This HAS to be one of my FAVORITE designs ever!  I came up with this crocheted super-hero doll when some friends were having a baby boy and decorating his room with a super-hero theme.  Once I started work on it my little girl was begging for one of her own. :)  One thing I love the most is that you can customize it to match your child.  Hair color and style, letter on the chest, and the child's favorite colors make it extra-special.  If you like it you can check it out over at Dani Girls Designs.  Let me know what you think of it!

Crochet Bow Ties and Headbands

Hello, friends!  I recently added a new item in my crochet shop that I LOVE!  It's a crochet bow tie/headband.  It works either way!  Check it out over at Dani Girls Designs!

Pinterest Project: Twinkie Cupcakes

Hello friends!  I know it's been so long since I blogged and I do apologize, but I plan to keep it up now.  I've missed it!  I enjoy sharing a little bit of my world.  :)

For my first post back.  I decided to start a series I had an idea for.  I LOVE Pinterest!  I find so many ideas on there.  Sometimes I see something and wonder if it actually works, or if it doesn't.  Do you say, "That was awesome!  I'm so glad I pinned that!" or do you shrug you shoulders and say, "...meh."  I've done many projects from Pinterest.  Some were pin-worthy some were meh.  I figured I could share my experiences so you could try the pin-worthy and save yourself the trouble of a meh. :)

First up:  Twinkie Cupcakes

Source: thedomesticrebel.com via Micah on Pinterest

My wonderful friend Kristen pinned this one and I thought, "Uh-oh, I'm in trouble."  I really like Twinkies.  So much so that I don't keep them in the house because a whole box would disappear within a couple of days.  :)  I tried this one out just yesterday.  We were hosting the Summer Youth Series at church last night and had lots of hungry adolescents (and adults) to feed.  I'd been looking for an excuse to try these out and this seemed like the perfect time.

The Verdict:  Pin-Worthy

The cake tastes just like the cake from a Twinkie.  The filling...ditto.  The icing was good too, but I'm not that much of an icing person.  I'd have been fine without it.  I'm so glad there were only a couple left to bring home.  I'd have been in trouble otherwise.

Here's how they turned out!  Not too shabby for my first experience with piping on icing!

One thing I wasn't sure about was the size of the hole to cut in the middle.  This is how I did mine.  It turned out fine.

I will definitely be using this recipe again.  So yummy!  If you've made this recipe before or give it a try let me know if you think it's Pin-Worthy as well!  Happy Baking and Happy Pinning!

It's Not a Luxury

I try not to get all caught up in political arguments. Rarely do they stay civil or is anyone influenced to change by them. But there has been a lot of talk recently that has gotten me "worked up." I'm referring to the talk about stay-at-home moms (SAHMs). I don't want to get into all the gory details of who said what and my party is better than your party. There are two things I want to address.

1. Being a SAHM is work.

2. It's not a luxury, it's a choice.

People who think being a SAHM is not work have obviously never tried it. Sure it's fun to be home with your kids on your days off work. Sure it's fun to be together on vacations. Try being home with them every single day of every single week of every single month of the year. I'm not saying it's not fun. On the contrary it can be the most precious moments of your life. But it is not ALL fun and games. When you are the one home with your child all day you are the one who deals with every request, whine, fit, grumpy moment, dirty diaper, attempting to potty train, cleaning up the accidents, cleaning bubbles off the floor, fighting with them to eat their lunch, on and on it goes. Of course, you do get the flip side of that as well. My point is, though, you are the one there for every single thing. After a while it can wear you out. You also play, draw, color, teach, snuggle, etc. while also trying to keep a house, cook dinner, shop for groceries, study for Bible class, oh, and be a wife as well. I know women who work outside the home do many of these things also. But think about it this way, if taking care of children is not work, why do people get paid to keep other people's kids?

Staying home with my child is not a luxury, it is a choice. In fact, it is sometimes a sacrifice. My husband makes much less than $162,000 a year, but we make it just fine on one salary. How? We have one nice car instead of two. We have a house that is nice, but not more than we can afford. It is not new. It is not perfect. But it had enough rooms for us to sleep in our own rooms (plus one for future growth) and spend time together, which is the point of all this anyhow. Right? We don't go on lots of vacations (some years we don't go anywhere unless it's to stay with friends). We don't go to the movies every weekend or out to eat every night. We don't have all the gadgets and toys that we'd like to have. We don't get new clothes as often as we'd like. We don't eat steak every night (or every week for that matter). We don't belong to any country club. We don't have fancy jewelry. Reagan doesn't have every toy under the sun (just half of them it seems. :) ) At Christmas we spend less than we'd like. But you know what? We have everything we NEED and more. All of that extra stuff is not worth me not spending the precious time I have with my daughter. We give up the extras for what we feel is more important. Me being home with our child.

Here are a couple of quotes from Dr. Laura Schlessinger's "In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms."

"SAHMs are not SAHMs because they're lucky, stupid, lazy, weak, scared, useless, spoiled, frightened, or any other condescending description. SAHMs are SAHMs because they realize the blessing of the opportunity to make a profound difference in their own lives, their families, their communtiy, and ultimately the world as they coordinate the lives of their family members so that no one feels neglected, unimportant, or unloved because of the limited commitment of their parents."

"Frankly, one of the greatest blessings in life is to learn to be content with and fulfilled by the small, simple things in life; after all, these make up the majority of the human experience."

I don't stay home because I'm too dumb to do anything else. I had a 9.975 gpa in high school. I graduated in the top 10 percent of my class. I made a 28 on my ACT. I have a BS in Family and Consumer Science with an emphasis in Interior Design. I graduated college Cum Laude. Like I said, I'm not too dumb, maybe I'm just too smart. :)

I'm not trying to give myself or my child every thing this life has to offer. I don't want her to think the big house and expensive things are what are important.

I stay home because I want to be there for every important moment in my child's life. I want to be the one who teaches her what's right and what's wrong. I'm trying to raise my daughter in the "nuture and admontion of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4) One day I want it to be said that my children "rise up and call her blessed."(Proverbs 31:28) One day I want to be one of the older women that can "admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God my not be blasphemed." (Titus 2:4,5)

To me, being a stay at home mom isn't a luxury. In truth, it's not even a choice. It's a necessity.

Crocheted Monkey

As many of you know (and some don't), I have a page on Facebook featuring some of my crochet.  It's called Dani Girls Deigns.  I named it after Reagan and I.  We both have Danielle as a middle name so we are Dani girls. :)  Most are items from patterns created by others, but recently I've begun experimenting with making my own patterns.  This one I used a pattern for something else and edited and added where necessary to get this cute little monkey!  

I think it turned out pretty well!  Head over to the Facebook page to check out more of my work.  If you are looking for something specific and you don't see it there just let me know.  I can probably come up with something or find a pattern!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...Halloween! :)

I've been away a while, I know. Sorry. :)

On to the subject at hand...

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!! I love the colors, costumes, candy, creepiness, but most of all...the decorations!!! I'm so excited about my mantel this year!

Ta-da!

Mom, Reagan and I went to the Reelfoot Craft Fair a couple of weeks ago and I saw these awesome Halloween apothecary bottles. They were $10 a piece. No thanks. But I took a good look at them and figured I could come up with something similar. Here are some of my results.

Aren't they awesome!?!?!? (And how cool is that skull I got at Big Lots?)

I used bottles and jars my mom and I already had laying around our houses. The covered bottles were made by using some old cut up t-shirts of Justin's. I brewed them in some tea to dirty them up, then wrapped them around the bottles using decoupage glue to hold it on. I covered the tops as well and then wrapped some jute gardening twine I had around them. The colored liquids are just water and food coloring. The moon dust is sugar and iridescent glitter. The only things I had to buy for the bottles were the spiders and gummy eyeballs that filled the jars and some green food coloring. The super awesome labels came from Love Manor. The labels are available here. You can download them from their flickr stream and print them on your own printer. How awesome is that?

I also made the wreath with a sign I already had and a wreath form and floral mesh I bought at the craft fair.

I love my mantle so much!!! I'm really excited at how well it turned out. I wanted it to be spooky, but not too scary. I do have a two year old after all. :) What do you think?

If We Never Meet Again

Earlier tonight my dear sister in Christ, Susan Thomasson, left her earthly body behind. Mrs. Susan was a sweet and kind woman who loved her husband, children, and grandchildren dearly. Most importantly though, she loved her Lord and Savior dearly. Because she loved God, keeping His commands (1 John 2:3-6), I know that I will see her again one day. Mrs. Susan had cancer and knew that the end was nearing. When I found out that she would soon be moving into eternity I could only think of this song. So, I wrote her a message and included these words.

Soon we'll come to the end of life's journey
And perhaps we'll never meet anymore
'Til we gather in heaven's bright city
Far away on that beautiful shore

If we never meet again this side of heaven
As we struggle through this world and its strife
There's another meeting place somewhere in heaven
By the side of the river of life
Where the charming roses bloom forever
And where separations come no more
If we never meet again this side of heaven

I will meet you on that beautiful shore

Oh, they say we shall meet by the river
Where no storm clouds ever darken the sky
And they say we'll be happy in heaven
In the wonderful sweet by and by

If we never meet again this side of heaven
As we struggle through this world and its strife
There's another meeting place somewhere in heaven
By the side of the river of life
Where the charming roses bloom forever
And where separations come no more
If we never meet again this side of heaven

I will meet you on that beautiful shore

Mrs. Susan and Mr. Reggie at a Valentine's banquet in 2010

I once heard a lady say, as she was addressing a group of other Christian women for the last time, "If I don't see you again here on Earth, I'll see you in heaven." How wonderful to be able to say that to someone with confidence. Knowing that you both are living your lives in such a way that God would be pleased (1 John5:13). Earlier I noted 1 John 2:3-6. In case you didn't look it up it says,

"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says 'I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected, By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked."

What are God's commandments to us concerning salvation?

1. We must hear the Word of God--Romans 10:10

2. We must believe that Jesus is the Son of God--Hebrews 11:6; John 8:24

3. We must repent of our sins--Acts 17:30

4. We must confess Christ before men--Rom. 10:10; Matthew 10:32-33

5. We must be baptized for the remission of our sins--Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21

6. We must remain faithful--Revelation 2:10

If you haven't done these things I would encourage you to study your Bible, see what it says yourself, and do those things. You don't have to be a preacher or have a special degree to be able to understand the Bible. It was written for YOU. It's not mystical magic, it's practical application. If you have any biblical questions feel free to ask! If I don't know the answer I'll study to find it. I also have a Bible correspondence course I'd be happy to send anyone interested. I would love to be able to think of you as well the next time I sing this song.

Mrs. Susan, I'll meet you on that beautiful shore!