A tool pouch for Steve

I just got it done--a tool pouch for Steve, the maintenance supervisor at our church. It didn't take too long to make. He was glad to get it into his hands. His other one was tearing apart. I used his old plastic/vinyl one as a guide to make this new one using canvas fabric.

I measured everything out on the old one, including the length, width and the size of each pocket. I drew my design on a scrap piece of paper before I went to work. This picture shows the tie that I made at the ends using the same fabric. The numbers were put on with fabric paint. 

I used single fold bias tape for the top of the entire pocket section. I did some extra stitching at the top and bottom of each line for extra reinforcement. The entire pouch measures approximately 15 inches wide and almost three feet long.

It rolls and ties up neatly to keep every tool in its place. I decided to personalize it by writing his name using the same color fabric paint.

It was fun to make something for someone who works long hours (and so much unnoticed) in our church ministry. I know that any one on staff, whether it be one of the pastors or church secretary, would love a gift of appreciation now and then.

Fireworks in a Glass

I saw the neatest idea for the Fourth of July that I just had to show you. It's fun for the whole family. I found it in an older issue of Family Fun Magazine (July/August 2007). It's a mini fireworks display.

Take a look...

See those tiny colorful streamers coming down the glass? Pretty neat, huh?

Here's how to do it:

1. Fill a tall, clear drinking glass with room-temperature water, leaving about an inch of space at the top.

2. Pour 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil into a short glass and add 1 to 2 drops each of red and blue food coloring. Gently stir the mixture once or twice with a fork to just barely break up the drops. (Don't over mix! You want a collection of both small and large beads.)

3. Slowly pour the mixture into the water, then sit back and watch. Within about 30 seconds, the beads will begin to burst through the oil, releasing tiny red and blue streamers and miniature fireworks. Feel free to ooh and aah.

I only had the gel-type food coloring for the red color, and that didn't work the first time I tried this. So, I went ahead and used three colors of the liquid kind: blue, green and yellow. Isn't the top view of the glass so neat looking? The beads are about ready to burst!

Here's a huge explosion! What an awesome way to celebrate the holiday indoors. I also thought it would be neat to use this for other celebrations--birthdays, sport team victories and other successes in life. 

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July! 

Patriotic Barn Star

Barn stars are so Americana that I had to show you mine during this holiday week.

I found my barn star on sale at Hobby Lobby over a year ago. It was pink with flowers on it. My original plan was to buy an antique one with patriotic colors on it, but they were so expensive. So, I painted mine with acrylic paints, then added a sparkly coating to it. It hangs on a wall in our spare bedroom, which has a patriotic theme to it.

You can really see the sparkly varnish on one of the star's tips here. 

What patriotic items do you have displayed in your home?

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Remember the rhubarb that we got from the garden last week? Well, I froze some up, then used a few cups worth to make this delicious rhubarb custard pie.

This recipe came from our pastor. He won first place at one of our annual pie contests with this pie. It is also what made my husband go from despising rhubarb to really loving it! And this is how the story goes...

One night in May, we heard a knock on our door. It was Pastor Redlin. He had a plate with a slice of pie on it. I called Q from another room to come see it. He wanted us to try it. So we did. We gobbled up the whole thing in just a couple minutes! 

There's lots of sugar in this recipe, but oh, it is soooo good! 

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Whisk together the following ingredients:

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Add 4 cups of chopped rhubarb to the mixture. Place your favorite pastry crust into the pie pan. Pour rhubarb mixture into the pan. Place a top crust on top and cut slits in it. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Baking corn muffins in cast iron pans

My husband loves his cast iron pans! He's already got a collection of them, but every time he goes to a thrift store, he looks for more. He bought cactus and corn on the cob muffin pans for under $5 at our local Goodwill. It was quite the bargain.

I cleaned them up and "seasoned" them, which means I rubbed vegetable oil on them and let them bake in a hot oven for about an hour or so. Then, I let them cool before I made corn muffins.

So, what are the benefits of using cast iron? It cooks your food evenly; it virtually lasts forever; and, it's healthier for you. Over time, non-stick pans lose their coating, which goes into your food. We are planning to remove our non-stick cook ware and replace it with more cast iron and stainless steel pots and pans in the near future.

The muffins that I made came out so well in our new cast iron muffin pans. We ate a few of them up last night with our meal, and we'll be eating them again tonight! They came out really light and crispy around the edges. I got the following recipe from Camp Ironwood's cookbook called, Come and Dine.

Cornbread Muffins

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup melted margarine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients thoroughly. Add all moist ingredients at once; mix just until moistened with large lumps gone. Grease pan(s) or use paper cupcake liners. (If you're using cast iron, spray it with canola oil cooking spray.) Bake muffins for 10-15 minutes, until set and golden. Yield: 12 muffins

Teen Singspirations

We enjoy our teen singspirations very much! We have them several times during the year. We divide the teens by having some singspirations just for the jr. high and others for the high school. Teen parents get involved by hosting them in their homes. They provide a meal, then we share testimonies and sing praises to God.

Last night, Q and I hosted a jr. high singspiration in our small condo. We had quite the crew--12 of them plus our intern, all trying to squeeze into our living room. We ate pizza, chips and cake (all super foods for very hungry teenagers!). Quentin had each of them pick a song to sing and he asked for testimonies between songs. He ended our time together with an encouragement from God's Word. This is always a neat time for fellowship, as well as a good time to honor and praise God with our voices.

When I was a teen, our church would host these after an evening service. Sometimes, we had them church-wide. I've even heard of town-wide "hymn-sings." Isn't that awesome? Do any of you participate in things like this?

One of my favorite passages about singing is found in Psalm 104:33-34:

"I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord."

Isn't it true that when we sing of the Lord, we fill our minds with thoughts of Him? So, go ahead--sing away! It doesn't matter how good of a voice you have. God's Word  says to "make a joyful noise." Sing a hymn, a verse or your favorite Sunday School song. Do some extra singing during your family devotions, before a meal, or while you clean. The key is to just praise God with your voice.

He's waiting to listen....

Vitamin and Medicine storage

My closest friends and family will tell you that I love organization. I thought for the longest time that I could be on the show, Clean Sweep--not as the one that needs help (although I do have clutter problems now and then), but to help those people clean things out! It's one of those things that I like doing to relax or need a break from more tedious tasks.

For a while I was getting a little annoyed by our vitamin and medicine box. We keep this in a cupboard in the kitchen so that we can take these when we eat. You see, Q and I have vitamins from the same company, so they look so much alike from the top. I'd lift one out and find out that it wasn't mine, but his. I'd do this a few times until I found my own. Then, it hit me--why not label the tops of the bottles to save time? I used a black permanent marker and wrote our initials on the lids. I've been doing this for a few months now, and it's been great! There are some medicines that Q takes that are diabetes-related. Most of the time, I don't have prescription meds, but when I do, I label those as well.

How do you organize your supply of vitamins and medications? I would love to hear your ideas. I love organization at its best!