Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

Marilyn-Marilyns Treats

Bev-Eclectic Red Barn

Angelina- Petite Haus

Theresa- Shoestring Elegance

Linda- Crafts a la Mode

Pam- An Artful Mom

I broke my blog today . . .

August 9, 2018 by VintageMama 5 Comments

Do you ever wonder what might happen if you just “click here” when you are working on your blog? I didn’t really give it much thought, because every time I had ever “clicked here” before things just always did what they were supposed to do. I think. But since I’m not a tech genius, I assumed that whatever happened was what was supposed to happen. And then I could go merrily on my way, doing all the fun stuff that many of us do in a day, fixing up my blog, creating new posts, uploading pictures and new little “widgets.” I like to make my blog pretty, and since I’m not a professional blogger or even a blogger who really cares about all of the statistics (I really just do it for fun), I’ve never really given much thought to all of the tech talk that is out here.

Well . . . yesterday when I decided to “click here” to do some updates to the plugins (see, I kinda-sorta understand elementary tech talk), I suddenly see a completely white screen that gives me a string of indecipherable words, supposedly explaining to me exactly what happened. Of course, I can’t even figure out WHAT happened, much less HOW to fix it. So that ended my adventure in blogging for that day. Too bad, because we had to be out of town two days in a row which didn’t leave me very much time to try to sort it all out.

Last night when we got back home, I called GoDaddy to see if they could help me fix it, and of course . . . . they COULD fix it! Yay . . . except it would only cost $80 to hire one of their tech gurus to go in to the back side and sort out all of the broken code, that apparently broke when I “clicked here” to update on of the cool new Twitter plugins. It wasn’t compatible with some other code, so in order to fix this problem, they had to update the code for the whole blog. Which of course means nothing to me because I couldn’t find the “code” to update even if they told me how to do it.

So I paid the $80 (which actually gives me two additional “tickets” that I can use the next time something like this happens), and overnight the technology magicians fixed my blog! I’m grateful to have it fixed, and I’m also grateful that I had the funds to hire them now that I’m working part-time from home. So it’s all good, as the kids say, and we’re back in business. So even though I actually tried to get ahead of my schedule by having this blog post written and scheduled on Tuesday night, here I am on Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m. trying to get this ready to go . . . while I’m waiting for my first student to show up in my little online classroom.

Then we’re off again for the day, taking a few last minute fun outings together before the girls go back to school next Wednesday. It will be fun, and I’ll feel much better knowing that my blog is no longer broken. I hope this has never happened to you, but if it does, just take a deep breath and call someone. Just call someone who speaks tech-ese (“That just means ))&*)Y )_(^^^ __%%% . . . it says right there )(*&^ @%%$#$@) and if necessary, hire someone to fix it for you. It’s worth it!

In the meantime, I hope you can join us for this week’s Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party – I’m getting in here at the last minute, but at least I’m here! Hope to see you at the party!

Welcome to this week’s Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party!

Please subscribe to ALL of your hostesses blogs

Katherine-Katherines Corner

Marilyn-Marilyns Treats

Bev-Eclectic Red Barn

Angelina- Petite Haus

Theresa- Shoestring Elegance

Linda- Crafts a la Mode

Pam- An Artful Mom

Favorite Things: RUBY magazine for August has been published!

August 2, 2018 by VintageMama 1 Comment

The August 2018 issue of RUBY magazine features inspirational articles, poetry, devotionals, book reviews, recipes, and kids’ activities that will be a great resource for you and your family on these late summer days. Thinking about the changing seasons that is just around the corner, the August issue of RUBY includes an article on back-to-school saving strategies by Jehn Kubiak, a collection of great blueberry recipes, a book review of Forgotten God: Reversing our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan, reviewed by Carol Peterson, and an inspirational poem, “My Daughter Gave Me the Moon,” by Joan Leotta. And so much more!

We are now accepting submissions for the September 2018 issue of RUBY magazine, and we would love to hear from YOU! Send your submissions or inquiries to us at editor@rubyforwomen.com for all the details, or visit our submissions page for more information.

And don’t forget . . . . you are invited to join us in the RUBY online community, too! Come on over to our Facebook group where you will discover groups where you can share prayer requests, tell us about your latest blog post or your current work in progress, share a recipe or a craft project with us, or just hang out in the RUBY cafe! We would love to connect with you there . . . come on along and join the conversation in the RUBY neighborhood.

Remember you can add three links until midnight on Saturday. One each day or all at once.

Please invite your blog friends and social network to join us.

Katherine-Katherines Corner

Marilyn-Marilyns Treats

Bev-Eclectic Red Barn

Angelina- Petite Haus

Theresa- Shoestring Elegance

Linda- Crafts a la Mode

Welcome to TFT aka ( also known as )The Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop Link Party!

A party for Blog Writers & Blog Readers.

Start sharing your blog links on Thursday’s at 7 am (MST) continue until Saturday at midnight (MST).

Please read the rules before participating, it will be a much more satisfying party.

Please follow All of Your Hostesses

Please link to your post not your blog main page
You can link three blog posts all at once Or one on Thursday one on Friday and one on Saturday

Please leave a comment with your post number, most features are selected from the comment list.

Please go to the source of a photo to pin it so that the original blog gets credited.

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By sharing your blogs and blog images with us you are agreeing that the photos are yours or that you have permission to use them and that we may use your photos to feature your post on social media, pinterest or as a feature on our blogs.

Have fun and thank you for joining in the party!

DIY Birdhouse from Delineate your Dwelling

Favorite Things: Summer Crafts for Kids

July 26, 2018 by VintageMama 1 Comment

It’s hard to believe, but my girls only have about three more weeks of summer vacation before school starts up again. We’ve been busy having fun and getting tons of projects completed around here, but I still can’t seem to find a craft project that really, really, really fits the specifics that I’ve been looking for. We made some of the cute little painted jar lanterns, but Miss Perfectionist took three days to get around to painting polka dots on an empty jar with a QTip . . . . because they might be the wrong color, or they might not be perfectly round, or they might be too close together, or they might be too far apart. FINALLY, I convinced her that we were really striving for the “shabby chic” look and the polka dots are not supposed to be perfectly round or exactly the distance apart.

They actually turned out pretty cute, but now I need to get a bag of sand from Hobby Lobby to put in the bottom of them. We actually bought some of that new yogurt that comes in those really adorable little glass jars, just so we would have a few for making our lanterns. Well, the yogurt is pretty good, too, so I guess we’ll have a few more cute little jars in the near future. I also found a package of those tiny battery powered tea lights at Walmart, and along with some twine I had in the sewing room for the handle, they will be perfect for decorating her room this autumn. If she ever finishes painting those polka dots!

So the first requirement for a craft project around here is that it needs to be something that this particular kiddo can do on her own. With her Cerebral Palsy, her left side is much weaker than her right side, so I’m always looking for something that will get both of her hands working together. It can be a challenge, as she would rather use just her right hand, but then that doesn’t work out very well for doing crafts. Or most other things, which is why we are always on the look out for opportunities to get that left hand involved.

Another requirement when looking for craft project ideas is to find something that she will actually use in her room or at school or really anytime at all. So we typically stay away from the paper plate, popsicle stick, or construction paper projects. We’ve already got about a hundred or more of those kinds of projects from elementary school days, so now we are on to more “grown up” kinds of DIY projects. That’s what I was looking for this week and I think I found a few that we might be able to do together, and maybe we will gradually stop worrying about everything being perfect and just have fun! Here are a few that I found that are “kid approved” for fun as well as for decorating her room. I actually can’t wait to get started tomorrow . . . as soon as we take a quick trip to Hobby Lobby!

We already have a lot of pretty scrapbook paper that we could use to embellish a little cardboard birdhouse. This would make a really cute decoration for her room which happens to be painted in the colors on this birdhouse: coral and turquoise. This looks easy enough that I could make sure the base of the birdhouse is sturdy and then she could cut and glue all kinds of fun stuff to it.

Popsicle Garland from Play Ideas

OK so I said no more popsicle stick crafts – but this one really is different. I’m thinking she could spend a whole afternoon cutting, gluing, and embellishing these cute popsicle cutouts. Then with some string or ribbon, we would have a cheerful and bright garland to hang across the top of her bed or over her dresser. This just might be the one we do first!

Pineapple Button Necklace from Raising Whasians

Well, we already have jars and jars filled with buttons of all shapes, sizes, and colors, I’m pretty sure she could spend another afternoon sorting through them all to find just the perfect buttons for this cute pineapple necklace. A few snips of green felt and some yellow or green yarn . . . and this is so adorable she might even want to wear it to school!

Embellished Flip Flops from DailyWT

There are about another million ways to use flip flops to make cute summer DIY projects. I’ve seen them strung up on ribbon to make a colorful garland, or just decorated for the kiddos to wear outside, or even a summer wreath / door hanging. These bright colorful flip flops have been embellished with all kinds of fun stuff and would make a great wall hanging inside, as well. So many different ways to use the plain, ordinary flip flop!

DIY Twinkling Flower Light Garland from Inspired by This

I know, I’m pretty sure that making a DIY project using cupcake liners wasn’t at the top of my list, either . . . . until I came across this idea. Since we already have a string of little paper lantern lights in her room that she uses as a night light, it didn’t occur to me to make something – until those tiny lanterns burned out. Now no more pretty pink lantern night lights for her! But look how cute these are! They are just made from a string of white lights (like Christmas lights or summer outdoor lights) with fringed cupcake liners tucked in behind each little bulb. The tutorial is HERE if you want to make your own Twinkling Flower Light Garland.

DIY Decorated Birdhouses from Ye Craft Ideas

When I came across these cute birdhouses I couldn’t resist adding them to this collection of fun summer crafts for kids. These designs are a bit more “kid” friendly and could be painted, with designs drawn on with markers, or painted, or even glued on gems or other embellishments. It could even be as simple as using card stock which is really easy to work with, and then make a whole little village of baby bird houses to display on a shelf in her room.

Well, now that I’ve found a bunch of fun projects that might (just might!) keep the creativity flowing for the remaining days of summer, I guess we’ll get busy tomorrow working on something – which one should we do first? I still think we’ll begin with the popsicle garland because I already have everything we would need to make that one. I’ll be sure to let you know! I hope you are having a good summer and that you will take time to join us this week for the Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party. Hope to see you there!

Remember you can add three links until midnight on Saturday. One each day or all at once.

Please invite your blog friends and social network to join us.

Katherine-Katherines Corner

Marilyn-Marilyns Treats

Bev-Eclectic Red Barn

Angelina- Petite Haus

Theresa- Shoestring Elegance

Linda- Crafts a la Mode

Family Photos: Keep the Memories Alive

July 19, 2018 by VintageMama 2 Comments

Who knew it would be so challenging to find creative ideas for displaying family photos??? This is another project that I’ve been trying to figure out for a rather long time . . . . almost a year actually. We painted our living room late last summer, and before I could do anything at all with that room, we had the flood in our laundry room. So, with everything jumbled all together and piled up wherever we could put things to keep them out of the water, that’s where they stayed for several weeks while the damage from the flood was being repaired.

We just got that mess cleaned up the day before Christmas, so all last winter we were still trying to figure out where things were, whether there was any more damage, and what to do with all that stuff that was piled up. Then it was spring and it was time for all of the HUGE outside projects, which we did manage to get most of those tasks accomplished before it got really, super hot outside.

In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about all of the family photos that we have, and how best to display them. I have two walls in mind that I want to use for family photos, but I just can’t decide how to do this project. I’m wanting it to be creative but not cluttered; simple but not boring; artistic but not to far out there. You know what I mean?

One suggestion from our design diva daughter was to do a wall of all black and white photos in either black or white frames on the wall in the living room that is painted a light gray. That would look great, I think, but it might be too . . . . white . . . and black . . . without any color at all on a gray wall in a room that is all gray and white. Maybe we need a LITTLE bit of color?

Another suggestion was large color photos in black frames with white mattes on the wall in the hallway by the master bedroom that is painted a very, very soft shade of (I think it’s called) Vintage Wicker. Kind of a coffee with lots and lots of cream color. I’m just not sure I want everything so non-colorful. But I do want simple, so I guess it’s worth thinking about.

Then, when I decided to check Pinterest (where else?) for some ideas, I was kind of surprised by what I found. All of the images in this blog post I found on Pinterest, but most of the ideas I found were either (obviously) from architecture digest type magazines or interior decorator companies, and that’s just not really the look I’m going for. There were pictures of photo display walls with like a hundred framed photos all perfectly lined up, vertically and horizontally, looking like no one ever actually lives in a place like that.

Then there were the ones that had about a million things hanging on a wall, all shapes, sizes, and colors, including strange gadgets, weird words, and oversized letters along with maps, street signs, and old movie posters. All really cool stuff, but that just really wasn’t what I was looking for either.

So I finally found a few that seemed like they might be similar to what I want to do, and I even found a few that might inspire to to paint one wall lime green. Maybe, but probably not. But still, I do like the simplicity of the all white frames of different sizes and styles along with just a few “extra” details included in the display.

I’m still not sure what I’m going to do, but this has given me a few ideas to work with. I guess the first thing I need to do is decide which photos we want to include in our display, and work on one wall at a time. The groupings that are most compatible with our home are the displays that are primarily neutral colors, but maybe have one other color as a focal point. Like the gray, tan, and white combination with a touch of turquoise, or maybe even lime green. I don’t know, but as soon as I figure it out, I’ll be sure to take some pictures. Right now I’m just trying to get a grip on how to get this project started. I’m feeling inspired, so we’ll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I hope you can join us for the Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party this week. Maybe I’ll find more inspiration somewhere out here in the blogosphere and that will get me moving in the right direction. Which display of family photos do you like best? Any of these? None of these? How do you display your family photos? I’m open to suggestions! Hope to see you at the party!

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Please join us for this week’s

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop and Linky Party

Katherine-Katherines Corner

Nina-Vintage Mamas Cottage

Marilyn-Marilyns Treats

Bev-Eclectic Red Barn

Angelina- Petite Haus

Theresa Begin – Shoestring Elegance