Christmas Carols

J sang "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings" 

at two events this Christmas. 

The first is a duet with our friend Bobi Ann 

and the other duet is with our friend Alison 

(please excuse the sound guy who interrupts my second video - 

I only taped them during their sound check). 

Projects for the Fall

Quilting Class - September Block #1 - Chain Block

SILK Ministry Block for September

Quilting Class - October Block #1 - Friendship Circle

These were the centerpieces for the "Crafts and Conversations" event. It's decking board cut to the desired length and turned upside down. Then I painted it hot pink and added candles that I had wrapped in zebra paper. I can use these centerpieces over and over again by painting them different colors and adding different candles.

For those that helped me teach at "Crafts and Conversations", I bought these bags and used my Cricut to cut their intial out of vinyl and placed that on the bags.

For NOLA girls weekend, I made us matching aprons.

I made fun cupcakes covered in sprinkles.

Crafts and Conversations, October 2012

I organized a Women's Ministry event at church called "Crafts and Conversations". It was my third time orchestrating the whole event. It's always a lot of fun for a lot of people but also a lot of work too. Women sign up beforehand and pay for dinner plus the cost of the crafts they want to make (they can make up to 2 things). Here are some pictures from the event:

All the decor was zebra print and hot pink.

A Steal of a Deal #10

Sometimes I see something in a store that I might like to own, but can't bring myself to pay full price for it. Case in point - the monogrammed pumpkin seen above. I eyed these pumpkins last year at Hobby Lobby, but could never bring myself to pay the $30 they cost. Fall clearance came and went and no pumpkins were left with a W on them. Then this year they had the same pumpkins but rather than the letter already being on it, you bought the letter separately and applied it yourself. The pumpkins were $29.99 and the letter was $1.99. I watched intently waiting for them to go on sale, decorating my house without a monogrammed pumpkin.

Then I heard the fall decor was 80% off at Hobby Lobby so I ventured over there. Jeremy gave me a small but appropriate budget and lo and behold there were the pumpkins and letters. The pumpkin that was once $29.99 was not $6 and the letter that was $1.99 was now $0.40 so for $6.40 I bought myself a monogrammed pumpkin. My husband was impressed in my patience to wait and my discipline to not spend more than I was supposed to.

A Steal of a Deal #9

Another steal of a deal at Kohl's - $6.98. I scored 2 T-shirts for J plus a shirt for me. I also got a necklace with a matching pair of earrings. I had a coupon on my phone and a $10 coupon I received in the mail. My receipt says that I saved $81.54. What a steal of a deal!

Couponing Update - August

For the last few weeks of July,  I did the Weight Watchers weight loss eating program. I started eating healthy and watched portion control. So far I've lost 8 pounds! For the month of August, J joined me. It increased our grocery bill a bit as we try to finish up the not-so-good-for-you food in our pantry and make healthier choices.

Here's what I got free this month:

• 4 cups of yogurt - it was both healthy and I picked great flavors!
• a dozen eggs
• 16 oz. mini peeled carrots
• 5 small packages of feminine products
• 1 package of pens (10 count)
• 1 full-size hair spray
• Store Brand Raisin Bran Crunch - a store I shop at has a "Buy Theirs Get Ours Free" program each month. One of the featured items this month, was Kellogg's Raisin Bran Crunch. My brother loves the stuff, so it looks like a care package is in his not-so-distance future! 
• 1 full-size bottle of barbeque sauce 
• 3 protein bars

Other deals:

• One of the items we're switching over is white rice to brown rice. This month I found Uncle Ben's Boil in a Bag Brown Rice. Each box of rice had 4 bags in it. A serving is a half a bag so it's the perfect size for dinner for J and I. With a sale and a coupon, I was able to purchase 10 boxes (40 bags of rice) for $3!
• 2 containers of coffee creamer for $0.50 each
• 3 full-size containers of hand soap for $0.18 each or $0.56 for all 3

A Fall Tour

I don't have a mantle so I decorate the shelf of my hutch.

I made this wreath last Fall and since taking the picture have sold it.

The dining room table that looks really pretty but we hardly sit at it.