Cooked paper!

Since I just know you all are dying to know how to cook paper (yeah, all 4 of you reading this ;)), I decided I would inform you just how to do it. You see, even if no one is reading this, I use it as a reference tool to look back on, review and track some of my projects and ideas. :)

For Kid's Klub we have been talking about Jesus and His teaching and miracles while on earth and the fact that we should be storing up treasures in heaven. So my craft idea became a treasure map. A treasure map with eternal locations written/drawn on it - verses from God's Word.

In order to create a treasure map, you have to have 'real' treasure map paper and that's exactly what I made Tuesday evening.

Here's what you do:

Start with 8 1/2 x 11 white sheets of paper. Tear the edges and then crumble each one into a ball and spread out flat.

Spread onto a cookie sheet.

Pour on dye (tea). Don't make the tea too strong or you'll have dark treasure map paper that's too dark on which to see what you've drawn.

Spread the dye all around until the paper is soaked. (Be sure not to pick up the paper at this point or you'll end up ripping more sheets!) ;)

Place in oven and cook until done (dry). Do not place directly over burner for too long or you'll have crisp, burnt treasure maps. :)

And the result - cooked paper!

Or treasure map paper!

Or tea-stained paper!

Or whatever else you want to call it!

Scripture treasure map!

Oh, and then my other idea which didn't work out quite so well - invisible ink. You see, the majority of my ideas are trial and error, so while the cooked paper worked, the invisible ink needs a little more experimenting. Perhaps that will be a future craft project. :)

The ever-elusive tabbed folders

Doesn't it just drive you crazy when you discover that you are just a few short of what you need?! Well, even if it doesn't drive you crazy, it does me. :)

Last fall I totally reorganized and sorted my recipes and many of the ones Mom had and combined them all into one notebook, created my own folders, pages, etc. I wanted to use some fun colored tabs, so I dug around in my pile of office supplies and found 15 tabbed folders which I had previously bought and didn't use at the time. Perfect. I'll just use those.

They worked great! Large enough, easy to quickly scan and flip to...only thing is that I needed an additional 4 tabs to complete the last four sections. No problem; I'm sure Wal-Mart still has them. You must understand at this point that it's been over a year since I bought those folders and Wal-Mart has completely redone their store and they don't carry half of what they used to have on their shelves (which is an entirely other issue of frustration).

So, in and amongst my many trips to Hutchinson and Wichita last year and this year, I stopped at every Wal-Mart, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples and even online looking for those tabs. I'd given up; apparently they are not making that kind anymore.

My choices now were: just use a different style for the last four sections (and every single time I would open my recipe book, I would think about those odd-matching tabbed folders - trust me, I would) or completely replace ALL the tabs and start over (not something I really wanted to do). But I decided I didn't have any other choice.

Then what did I discover when I sorted all my Bible teaching material? Yep, one more package of those exact tabbed folders. 5 tabs and I needed only 4 more. Perfect! Complete! Cross that off my driving-me-crazy-list!

New year; new cleaning schedule!

Last year as I tackled spring cleaning our house by myself, I determined next year would be different. I decided that instead of spending 2-4 weeks in April/May, that I would take one or two rooms a month and break it up over a year.

Plus I always start with full gusto in Dad's room and work my way through the house and by the time I get to the utility room, I really don't care if I've cleaned every single speck of dust behind the baseboards...I just want it done. So if I break it up over a year's time, we'll have an evenly cleaned house. Hopefully. ;)

It's January 2010 and time to get started! There were a couple of days last week where it was warm enough that I could leave the windows open, so I got to work. Even Dad's "What in the world are you doing cleaning the windows in January?" comment couldn't change my mind! :)

Since I already sorted things in the schoolroom, I started in there, did that room and the guest room. Finished. Complete. Only thing is that I can't do the outside of the windows since Dad always puts away the hoses for winter. So cleaning outside windows will be a spring job only.

Oh, yeah...I still need curtains and a bedskirt in that room. And that might just happen by the end of the month. Maybe....

One year ago today...

...three little kittens were born! At 6am Skittles woke me up and by noon three little babies with white fur and pink paws were camped under my dresser with their happy mommy. Now Scamper, one of those sweet little babies has grown into an attention-demanding cat. That couldn't have anything to do with the fact that those kittens were loved, held, petted and played with constantly for 8 weeks, could it?! :)

Finally...three Siamese-to-be kittens!

Pink little tummies!

So sweet!

And so little!

Happy babies!

So fluffy and cute! And so hilarious as Skittles
chased, hissed and growled at Jena and Krissa
as they played with her kittens!

They tended to sleep just anywhere at anytime!

You would always find them piled on top of each other!

They loved to play as well and then promptly took a nap!

Favorite place...my bed!

Then, Reeces left and only two remained.

And Joanna took Snickers.

And Scamper remained.

Through the many car rides...

...the toys scattered all over...

...Scamper completely taking over my lap...

...insisting on sleeping on anything of mine...

...even sleeping right where I need to sit and work...

...I still love them to pieces!

It's time to sort and organize!

The last few weeks I've been planning out Kid's Klub and Sunday School lessons for the new year and the schoolroom which houses all my teaching material has been quite in a state of stacks of stuff! I can only tolerate it for so long and then something has to be done!


And when I have to move to the next room to find enough floor space, then it's definitely time to resort and organize.


So I pulled out my computer and put in one of my favorite shows and got started!


As I started sorting through my piles of stuff, I started taking mental inventory of what I actually have and fully and wholeheartedly concluded that I have ample for the next 50 years of my life. Seriously.

Every time I see ANY greeting cards, notepads, stationary or sticky notes, I'm going to remember this photo. No more; I have ample.


Props and play clothing to use for skits and Bible plays...I've collected and made enough stuff to be sufficient.

Craft pom poms and chenille stems; full to the brim. As for this pile, I must state that some of this was given to me which I could hardly refuse. I mean, I really will eventually use it for some craft project at some time. :)


Posters, bulletin board materials, laminated sheets, decoration cutouts. I don't care what sale items I find, I have every single season covered (more than once) and many Biblical themes to keep my SS classroom supplied for years.


Ahhh...foam! I love using foam for craft ideas, but I seriously do have enough letters, shapes, sheets, holidays, animals, etc.


Footprints and paperdoll people. Plenty. Maybe I should plan on using paperdoll people at camp again this year?!?!


Ahh...what a difference! Now if I can just keep it this way! :)

Posters and decorations all stored in one place on one wall. Flat and protected.

Even the closet is organized. Much better! :)

From 2000 to 2010; what a difference 10 years makes!

2009 is gone and 2010 is here! As I've been thinking back on the last ten years (the last five especially).....oh, so much has happened! Our family has changed dramatically, friends have come and gone, jobs have changed and so much more!

In that year of 2000, who knew that...

...I would work at Southgate Fabriques for 7 years, starting out knowing so little and working my way to teacher, store manager and now owning my own business in that same field.

...the statement I made the summer before would be proven totally false. Yeah, I only stated so firmly to my sisters, "I enjoy sewing, but it's not something I would want to do every single day."

...my first plane flight would be to Washington D.C. for a Bernina sewing machine convention in 2001. And that was before 9/11 and all the security was of the utmost importance.

...I would buy my first sewing/embroidery machine - a Bernina 180, soon to be followed by three other machines.

...a car phone the size of a letter size sheet of paper would turn into a cell phone that could handle photos, texting, email and much more only being the size of a credit card. And that we have become so reliant on that piece of technology.

...Jena would graduate as a LPN and later as a RN (well, we did know she would eventually do that!), work at at the Women's Center in Dodge and then work at Meade Hospital, all the while loving her job!

...Krissa would decide print journalism was her field of expertise and would attend BJU.

...we would spend hours on the road taking Krissa to and from BJU and attending her graduation. I can so clearly recall Mom looking forward to that moment and then as it turned out, she wasn't here when she graduated.

...we would move in a three story house just down the road and Dad would remodel it to use as a rental house.

...Grandma and Grandpa would celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary and then Grandpa would only be with us for a few months after that.

...our family would be hit with a huge blow of discovering Mom's brain tumor and three months later watching her step into her eternal home. Only 10 months after Grandpa was gone.

...Krissa would move to Birmingham, Alabama (Mom would have loved knowing Krissa was in the same city where she lived for several years.) to intern at Southern Accents for 6 months.

...I would buy my very first laptop computer. And now to think I can't live without it. Well, not that original one.

...technology could change so much. To the point where it would be the basis of my business; from buying and selling to teaching online to students in other countries.

...watching Dad loose Mom would be the hardest thing I've ever been through. And how that loosing someone changes your entire outlook on life.

...I would unexpectedly find "someone just like me", named Joanna, in the most unusual circumstances, proving that God brings just the right person into my life when I didn't even know she was needed.

...Krissa would travel to California before settling in Lexington, KY, working for of all things - a farming magazine. She can't seem to get away from "the farm".

...Jena would move to Oklahoma City to fulfill her dream of working in a NICU at Children's OU.

...attending Camp Good News every summer would still be happening. Even though it's dwindled to only me, myself and I instead of all three of us.

...a certain person named Ryan would come into Krissa's life and our family would return to the happy number of five. (Becoming official this year!)

...and through it all God has remained faithful!

God has allowed hardships and struggles in our lives and yet in so many ways blessed us as well. As I look forward to the next year and following years after that, I can't begin to imagine what they will hold. Just as 1o years ago, who would have known the above. I'm thankful that even though I don't know and nor care to know, God does. And through the fun times and difficult moments, He continues to be the same unchanging, awesome God that He is.