Make Your Own Cakes

This week's Frugal Friday tip is to start making and decorating your own birthday cakes. I have saved hundreds of dollars over the years by doing all of our own cakes. You can even make money when you start doing cakes for your extended family and friends.

If you need help learning this skill you can buy my new video. :o)

Check out my cake blog for more ideas!


For more Frugal Friday tips visit Biblical Womanhood.

ANNOUNCING!!! The Cake DVD!

18 months ago we were given the idea of producing instructional DVDs. It has been a long road of trail and errors...alot of errors, but we have finally produced our first DVD. (there are more to come!)

Basic Cake Decorating

All You Need to Know to Start Making
Beautiful and Creative Cakes.

Have you ever wanted to learn to decorate cakes
but just haven't had the time to take the classes?

Do your daughters need something more
in their Home Economics Course?

Decorating cakes can save you money
and even make you money!

Click HERE to read more!

Sincere Hospitality

The front door of your house
is like the side door to the church.
from the book: Keeping House

I just love that sentence, and how true! We are told in several places in Scripture to practice hospitality. There is nothing like letting someone in your home and having them dine with you to make yourself REAL to others! It's easy to be a certain way when you are at church, meetings or work, but when you ask someone to come to your home it's a whole new ball game.

To practice sincere hospitality you have to die to self ALOT! You have to get to the point that it is OK if everything is not perfect in the house, especially if you have younger children. You have to get to the point that it is not about serving an outstanding meal. But sincere hospitality is about the GUEST, not you.

Hospitality is not just for the people you enjoy being around, but also for those that are 'sandpaper' to your life. Even if someone shows up at your door uninvited, you should try to make them feel welcome. It is the willingness to open yourself up, open your home up, using your TIME, and money to lay down a sacrifice that is pleasing to God. It is the willingness to love people, as if you are attending angels unaware, that will show them that you are different. That all you are, all your have is Christ! Always giving God the glory.

We all have seasons and situations in life. If there is alot of illness, little ones, or unusual situations, you may need to back off and tend to those more pressing matters, but our overall attitude about practicing hospitality should be one of, "Yes, you are welcome to come over!" Hospitality should not be burden, or something to check off on your list of good deeds. It is an issue of the heart. If you are doing it because you feel like you have to, or to build yourself up or to impress someone, then there is no blessing in that, it is all vanity!

Your front door can lead people right into the side door of the church building, the Door that can lead to a life in Christ.

(The flowers in the picture are from Olivia's garden. A good thing about living in Alabama is you can have flowers in February!)

HOLD ON FOLKS

We are having technical difficulties with the template here...
we'll be back SOON!

A Bunch of Crap Called "Gospel"

Now, I don't really like the word crap, but I think you will get the point of the message here. For best results give it a few minutes to load, then watch.

Extended Valentine's Weekend :o)

Last night we threw a surprise party for a friend of ours...BOY it's hard to keep secrets! She turned 40 and is pregnant with her 7th child. THAT was alot of fun. You can see the cake over HERE!

Our girls have gone to spend the weekend with Granny (a rare happening), so I guess you could say Jeff and I are enjoying an extended Valentine's weekend. :o) Actually, I have been working on taxes most of the day and Jeff has been puttering around outside. He was sweet and went to get us a pizza so I won't have to cook tonight. Hopefully we'll curl up with a movie and enjoy some time alone. I say hopefully because when you have a hyper active husband sitting to watch a movie is usually a challenge. :o) Love that man of mine!

Happy Valentines Day

That says it all!

Stay Tuned...

I know it's pretty quiet here, but I'll have an exciting (at least for me it is) announcement soon! And hopefully I will have a new ORGINIZED, and PLEASENT to look at template soon. I've made such a mess of this one!

Soooo...stay tuned!

One Way to Nurture the Love of Learning

Yesterday, I had the privilege of teaching another
precious bunch of girls some quilting skills.
We did a rag quilt class.

It is so fun to teach EAGER learners!

There are several things about this group of girls that REALLY stands out! First of all, they love and embrace being GIRLS! They are also so KIND to each other, always preferring others, even their own siblings, before themselves. Their respect for others, especially the adults, is so refreshing. They are willing and responsible. When it was time to clean up, everyone did their part. What makes this bunch of girls so special, is the fact that they have Christ abiding in them. Their faith is more than just between them and God. Their faith is ruled by God, but it is carried out EVERY DAY, in how they treat others, especially their siblings and adults. It will be these young ladies, and others like them, that will change the world, as their hands rock the cradles of the next generation!!!

To me this was the most beautiful part of my day with these girls. The two oldest sisters (to the right), were more than glad to let little sister sit and sew at the machine...under their watchful eyes...and little sister was SO EXCITED to be part of the project! THIS is how you nurture learning. Little ones should not be treated as an inconvenience. Quilting/sewing and any other domestic duty should not be viewed as drudgery, but as a task that can be fun, or at the very least, as something that can be tackled with a good attitude (ie...cleaning the bathroom! )

Can you see the smile on her face?
JUST PRECIOUS!

Usually, Olivia (my oldest girl) goes with me to help teach these classes, but yesterday Emma went and she did an EXCELLENT job. I'm so glad I have girls!

Quilted Windows/Decorating

My Frugal Friday tip is another decorating idea!
This cost me NOTHING to make! :o)

This is what hangs on the wall over my desk. Jeff had some old wooden windows and I glued in some OLD hand pieced squares that someone gave me. When you look closely you can see the uneven seams and how the stitches are loose, but oh how I love it. Today quilting is so much like a math/art project. When these squares were made there was no rotary cutter and twenty different rulers to choose from, nor were there sewing machine that you have to have a degree to understand how to use. I love modern technology, I LOVE my rotary cutter and rulers, perhaps that is why I truly appreciate a square (even more so a whole quilt) that has been hand cut and pieced together!

You can see more quilting ideas on my quilting blog For the Love of Quilting:


For more Frugal ideas go to Biblical Womanhood.

How Great Thou Art

This is one of my absolute FAVORITE hymns.

Joseph's Baptism Cake

What a sweet ceremony we had at church for Jo's baptism!
It will be exciting to see how God works in Joseph's life.
He is a special little boy!
This cake is suppose to be the continent of North America and Africa!

Joseph Cookies Tutorial

Tomorrow our favorite Liberian is being baptized!
Joseph's life has a beautiful story of God's love and redemption.

These are some cookies I made for after the service tomorrow.

You can see the tutorial HERE!

Husbands?

… man was not created for the sake of the woman,
but woman for the sake of the man;
1 Corth. 11:9

Do you try to be alert to the things that your husband might need done before he ask you?

An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.

Proverbs 31:10 - 12