Thrifty Thursday #89

     I'm back in the groove of making my weekly stop at the thrift stores- I hope. Two weeks in a row is at least the start of a groove, right? :)
     I didn't find anything that knocked my socks off, but I did get some good small items.

 

I got this book for a quarter- I can tell from the cover that it's old.

 

 

I love, love, love the graphics!

Someday when I get my dream job of designing scrapbook paper, I hope to use some of these awesome vintage images.

Is that against copyright laws, I wonder?

 

A few weeks ago, I showed you some beautiful vintage postcards that I found. Believe it or not, the thrift store still had some- and they had marked them down to twenty five cents each!

I went back through the pile and found a few more.

 

So pretty.

 

I am always drawn to handmade things- like this doily.

It was only a quarter!

I'm building my collection of these and plan to sew them together to make a long table runner.

 

I spotted a basket of fabric for twenty five cents per piece.

I love the colors on this, and there's enough of it to make 2-3 pillows.

Can't beat the price, that's for sure.

 

I also picked up this piece. I thought it would look cute on a reupholstered chair.

There was quite a bit more fabric to choose from, but these were the only two pieces

that I was drawn to.

 

That's my loot. I think my magic price today was twenty five cents!

You could never peg me as a big spender:)

 

Good luck to you with your secondhand shopping this week. Our weather has been beautiful, so I'm hoping that I can make it to some yard sales on Saturday morning!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless.

 

But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One.

Jer. 20:11

 

This post is linked to Junkin' Joe, Be Different Act Normal, and Shabby Creek Cottage. 

 

Layout of the Week#72- Using a Circle Punch

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to break out some photos and scrapbooking supplies. :)

This week's layout goes together incredibly quickly. The main things you need are a circle punch and scraps of paper. We'll be using the circles to make an eclectic background.

Here's the layout we'll be creating.

 

 

To make it, you'll need:

one piece of 12"x12" pattern paper

stickers in your theme

large notecard for journaling

circle punch

scraps of paper

adhesive

paper trimmer

 

Using your circle punch and scraps of paper, punch out 15-16 circles. You can use lots of different patterns or just a few and repeat them.

Lay them out on your background paper so they look like this.

I left a gap on the lower right side because that's where our photos will go.

Once you get the circles arranged, adhere them.

 

Trim your notecard to 2 3/4"x 4 1/2".

Add your journaling to it, then adhere it at the left side of the circles.

 

Place your two photos slightly overlapping at the lower right corner of the circle.

I trimmed mine to 3"x 5 1/2".

 

Place your title below the photos.

Mine is a sticker- if you would rather, you can use letter stickers for your title.

I placed my sticker slightly overlapping the bottom photo.

 

Using your stickers, place 3 at the lower left corner and three in the upper right corner.

My sticker sets had several different types of strips which is what I used. You could also use decorative tape if you prefer.

 

That's it! Quick and simple!

Who says layouts have to be multi-layered and time consuming? :)

 

If you'd like to take it up a notch though, you could run the paper through a sewing machine and sew along the circles before adding the photos.

 

You can go here and see another Layout of the Week using circle punches.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

God is the Lord, and He has given us light

Psalm 118:27

This post is linked to Embracing Change, I Heart Naptime, and 52 Mantles.

Recipe of the Week #89- Chicken Noodle Casserole

Chicken Noodle Casserole
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
6 ounces egg noodles
1 can (10.75 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can (10.75 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crumbled buttery round crackers
1/2 cup butter

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Cut chicken into cubes and add to the frying pan. Cook until no longer pink in the center. While chicken is cooking, prepare the egg noodles according to the package instructions.

In a large bowl, mix soups and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Add cooked chicken and drained noodles. Stir to combine. Place in a 13"x 9" baking dish.

Melt butter in a small saucepan and remove from heat. Stir in crumbled crackers. Place crackers on top of the casserole.

Bake at 350 until heated through and browned on top.

Optional: Feel free to add any extras- broccoli, mushrooms, cheese, garlic, onions, peppers. . .

This dish is DELICIOUS! A relative introduced it to us, and it immediately became a family favorite!

It's coming up on my favorite time of year- soups and casseroles time! This is one meal that we'll be eating at least monthly.

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

This post is linked to Skip to My Lou, Ivy and Elephants, and Between Naps on the Porch.

Mini Album Monday #17- Not Your Usual Halloween Album

With Halloween nearing, I thought I'd share an album that was intended to be a Halloween album; however, I put a bit of a twist on it. Because it's shaped like a coffin, I decided to make a "Till Death Do Us Part" book featuring photos of my hubby and I.

 

It's actually the case of the album that's shaped like a coffin.

It measures about 2" tall and is 4 1/2" at the widest point.

I used a couple of different pieces of pattern paper at the top and bottom. For the title, I used a piece of white cardstock, rub-ons, and my own handwriting.

 

 

The lid comes off to reveal the book.

This whole thing came as a kit with the pages cut to fit.

You can find a coffin shaped paper mache album here.

 

This is what the front of the pages look like all spread out.

 

And here are some close-ups of the pages.

I just used a small piece of pattern paper and one photo on each.

I scattered embellishments like stickers, ribbon, and flowers here and there.

 

 

The page on the left has two prompts that I had my hubby answer:

When did I know I was in love?

I love it when . . .

 

This is the very back page.

 

This is the backside. I answered the same two questions that my hubby did.

 

Because there were just a few pages and they were pretty small,

it didn't take too long to put this together.

 

 

Not your usual Halloween album, huh? :)

 

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?

Who can declare all His praise?

Psalm 106:2

This post is linked to Lemon Paper Designs, Tater Tots and Jello, The Dedicated House, My Girlish Whims, and Craft-O-Maniac.

Ministry Appreciation Gift Idea

     October is Pastor Appreciation Month. I think it is so important to remember the men and women who dedicate their lives to sharing God's Word with others.
     The leader of the women's group at our church organized an awesome gift for the pastor and elders at our church. She had the whole congregation get cards and bring them on the same day. These men left service that morning with a bunch of cards full of handwritten sentiments showing how much they are appreciated. Simply awesome if you ask me.
     She needed something to put them in, so she asked me to come up with a card holder idea.

I took wooden plant holders which I thought looked rustic and manly.

I printed out six different scriptures that deal with pastors, then backed them with cardstock. I tied them to the holders with thin twine.

For the name tags, I used a postcard stamp, then hand stamped names onto them.

They worked great as card holders.

This is actually a very quick and easy idea to replicate. You could use baskets or decorative boxes instead of the plant holders. The possibilities are endless!

Think how much your pastor, deacons, or elders would appreciate handwritten wishes in cards!

Here are some verses that will work for pastors:

1 Timothy 5:7

Romans 10:14

Jeremiah 3:15

Ephesians 4:11

2 Timothy 4:2

1 Corinthians 9:14

2 Timothy 2:15

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Phil. 4:7

 This post is linked to Funky Junk, I Heart Naptime, Be Different Act Normal, and Too Much Time On My Hands.

Thrifty Thursday #88

     I finally got to sneak away to the thrift stores.  Whoo-hoo, it felt good!

It was worth the trip, too! Take a look at what I found. . .

I spotted these plastic silver candlesticks for fifty cents apiece.

I got these because I am signed up to help decorate for our church Christmas banquet. I know, that's several months away, but this was too good of a deal to pass up!

I got these two books for fifty cents each. I am a big John Grisham fan and I've never read this one.

The First Aid book is from the fifties. . .

and I love the graphics!

At the second thrift store I went to, books were on sale for a quarter

apiece. . . I love it when they do that!

I got the book on the left to donate to the church library.

The one on the right is just for fun reading.

I picked up this hardback simply because it has an S on the cover.

It will make an awesome family themed scrapbook (our last name starts with s).

I found this new pair of BDUs for $7. I don't usually drop that much on one item, but my older son LOVES to wear camouflage. He had outgrown his other pair of pants like these, so I knew I had to grab these when I saw them.

I got this film reel for a quarter.

It's plastic, but still unique seeing as how film isn't really used anymore.

The final thing I found was this small cookie cutter. Every year at Christmas, my boys and I make gingerbread men. Our cookie cutter is much larger than this, so naturally I had to get this smaller one for gingerbread children.

I had the nicest time looking all around- I was all by myself and wasn't in any rush to get home. Sometimes that's all this girl needs to recharge. :)

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

Phil. 4:4

 This post is linked to Junkin' Joe and Embracing Change.

Layout of the Week #71- Creating a Heart Shaped Title Block

     Every Wednesday, I try to bring a simple tutorial to show step-by step how to complete a scrapbook layout. My intention is for you to be able to quickly complete a layout using items that you have on hand. If I suggest using an item that you don't have, simply replace it with something similar. If you follow along weekly, think of how many layouts you'll have completed at the end of the year!
     Today we'll be making a page with a shaped title block. This technique isn't used much anymore, but I think it works on this layout. . .

Here's the layout we'll be creating.

To make it, you'll need:

one piece of 12"x12" pattern paper

two pieces of coordinating cardstock- one measuring 4"x 4" and 5"x 5"

two pieces of pattern paper- one measuring 3"x 3" and one measuring 4"x 4" ( I used sheet music and ledger paper)

coordinating stickers and/or 2-3 embellishments in the theme you're using

letter stickers for the title

paper trimmer

adhesive

Trim two photos to 4"x 4". Adhere them to the 12"x 12" pattern paper about 1 1/2" from the top.

Adhere the piece of pattern paper measuring 4"x 4" below the left photo.

Adhere the 4"x 4" cardstock below the right photo.

Trim a photo to fit inside the cardstock. Mine measures 3"x 3 3/4". I tried to make it look like a Polaroid by leaving extra cardstock showing at the bottom of the mat.

Now take your 3" square piece of pattern paper and cut it in half diagonally.

This will become a photo corner.

Adhere it at the corner of the top left photo.

Layer two embellishments over the photo corner. I used an arrow shaped sticker

and a small metal button.

Now we're going to cut out our shaped title block. Using a piece of scratch paper, cut out a heart. This will be our template. I folded my paper in half and cut out a heart the same way we used to do in elementary school!

Use the heart as a stencil to trace around on the back of your cardstock.

Then cut along the lines.

Place your cardstock heart on the left side of the pattern paper square.

Using letter stickers, place your title on the cardstock heart.

Write your journaling on the lower right corner of the pattern paper behind the heart.

Place a small embellishment overlapping your title and another one in the lower left corner of the bottom photo.

And that's it! We're done! Another page to put in our scrapbooks!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,

with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God

Phil. 4:6

This post is linked to My Girlish Whims, Happy Hour Projects, Today's Creative Blog, and Shabby Creek Cottage.