On Flowers...

Aren't the colors and textures of this flower simply gorgeous? Forgive me for all of my floral pictures, but I really can't help it. I'm just drawn to flowers. To me, they speak of so much life and beauty in God. How could anyone look at a blossom as it opens up, or the grass as it keeps growing after its been cut and say, "there is no God?"

I think that the photo below is my favorite- so pretty!

Which one is your favorite?

Fabric Flower Tutorial

As many of my family members and friends will attest, I kind of have an obsession with creating fabric flowers. Ribbon, buttons, hot glue sticks and fat quarters became my close companions for a while as most of my spare time was spent creating flowers- for bags, clips and headbands. We took a family weekend trip in November, and I was as happy as a clam creating 20 or so flowers in one of the back rows of the van.

I think I can say that my obsession has subsided a little, but I still enjoy making them and wanted to share how to make one with you.

First, I cut out 5 circles of fabric- you only see 4, but that's because I had started the project before I remembered to take some pictures. :)

Any number of odd circles will do, but the more circles, the bigger the hole in the middle and the more work it takes to make it look nice.

Fold one circle in half,

Then in half again.

Thread a needle and knot it tight, sewing a simple running stitch along the curved base- the bigger the stitches you put in, the smaller your "petal" will be. Try to do the same number of stitches in each petal, as this will make them look more uniform.

Pull the the thread and slide the "petal" along till you reach the knot in your thread- like so:

Repeat and continue with the remaining fabric circles, and then sew your thread again into the back of your original petal, joining them all together into a circle. I like to go around again with my thread through the fabric to secure the petals.

Cut and knot your thread. It's now basically done, and you can attach it to anything you want. I attached mine to a stretchy headband with a piece of ribbon on the back. I made it adjustable, so the flower can slide to wherever you want it on your head.

I also hot glued some beads for the center of my flower. You could do buttons too.



It's now finished, and my younger sister is thrilled with it!

Daisies in a Bouquet

Their loveliness was only exceeded by the sight of Viv's sweet face peeking over the top of the freshly harvested bouquet. I love her!

Spring Strawberries

From tiny white blossoms,

To fuzzy green berries,

To, finally, juicy red fruit that tastes ever so much better than store-bought. So much so that there were hardly any berries left for me to take a photo of!

A Leak in the Hose

I love taking photos of small, seemingly insignificant things that look beautiful if we take the time to study them. It makes me so amazed at all of the beauty and wonder there is to find in our Creator who created these small treasures.

Linking up to Wednesday's Close-up Photo Challenge over at God's Teenage Photographer

Lovely Signs of Warmer Weather...

sustain us through the rain, fog and cold mornings.

(Almost) Restaurant Worthy Pizza

Pizza is our family's Friday night tradition- two of them, actually, to accomodate our many family members :)

Once the dough is mixed together, and has risen for a while, it's time to roll it out. We always have many hands willing to roll, squish and pinch the pizza dough.


With our favorite toppings in place, they are baked for some minutes, emerging from the hot oven crisp and golden.

"It smells like Dominoes in here!" Viv exclaims as she runs down the stairs.
"Yummy!"