Quick redesign!!

Quick and easy denim jeans remake into denim skirt!

Yesterday I took 3 pair of old jeans which were too short for me and too small :), cut the legs off, opened up one of the side seams (whichever one was boring), and made a wonderfully cute skirt!

It was SO easy--here's how I did it:

Measured waist, hip, and length I wanted, divided waist and hip measurements by six, added 1" to each of those measurements, and made a pattern piece.

Opened out the pant legs and cut one piece from each leg (I placed them so that where the pantleg didn't sit flat was the hem end, for a little extra "flare") using that pattern piece.

Next step was to sew the 6 pieces together ( I used my serger so they wouldn't fray like crazy) and then zig-zagged down them on the top side so that the seams would lay flat.

NEXT--I tried it on and saw I had plenty of room for an elastic waist--so I cut a piece of scrap fabric out and made an inner waistband, cut elastic to fit my waist and put it in.

LASTLY--I sewed around the hemline, about 1/2" up from the lower end of the fabric, then snipped up almost to that line so that it'd fray, threw it in with a load of laundry, and it came out SO CUTE and frayed at the hem.

Here it is!!

So much easier than I thought it would be!

Lead Serve Love by Gregory E. Lang

Lead Serve Love is an attractive looking book on the outside, and an interesting inspirational book on the inside. It’s a smallish chunky book with retro design—would look great on a desk! So, superficialities aside (though they truly add to the book!)—let’s talk about the book itself.

This book is one hundred short, 3-word inspirational sayings (of ways to live a better life), with a short narrative about each saying as well as several Scriptures related to it. In the introduction the author suggests that you not only read these passages, but make it into a small Bible study by looking up and reading each verse in context—good idea! You can use this book in many ways—a quick read for a quick inspirational thought for the day, or as suggested above.

It was funny timing for me to read this book—due to the fact that I had just finished reading with my children the kids’ book No Talking by Andrew Clements, which is about a grade of students taking a pledge to not talk other than in 3 word phrases—it’s amazing what you can convey with only three words. The concisely phrased words in this book, Live Serve Love, are short enough to make it easy to refer to all day long—to incorporate into your daily life. And these ARE things you will want to (should want to) incorporate into your life—some of my favorites were “Ease others’ burdens”, “Refrain from revenge” (yikes!), “Do your share”, and many other great ones. Pretty convicting stuff! Definitely things worth striving after.

I would for sure recommend this book. It’d make a nice gift for someone too!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review.

Summer fun to come!!

My husband has been patiently saving money and looking for a boat within our very slim budget. Our regular boat is a 12 foot rowboat (see camo picture)with a little air cooled motor (yup, really, air-cooled!) We have caught lots of fish out of that old boat, and it was a wedding gift from my in-laws (was theirs when my husband was little)--it's just that it IS just 12 feet and with 2 grown-ups and 3 kids, who are getting bigger and bigger :). . .well, it's gotten so that it is a tad bit scary if the waves pick up.

So. . .we have been blessed to find this old beauty! It's a 1965 Starcraft--pretty, huh? We'll have so much fun with it this summer, I'm sure!! And best of all, it didn't break our budget!

The other time we thought we had enough saved up to buy a boat, this is what we ended up with:


so obviously we're all thrilled with the Starcraft! :)

Courting Miss Amsel by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Another book review?! Yes!! I've been reading a lot lately, and have been enjoying it! This most recent book I read in just a few days, Courting Miss Amsel by Kim Vogel Sawyer. It is a pretty typical historical romance, with a story about a young-ish woman beginning her first job as a teacher in a far-away town, in the 1880's.

I'll tell you that I'm not a huge fan of historical romances, but I certainly enjoyed this one! The characters were very believable and interesting and there was quite a bit to the story other than just "the romance." Edythe Amsel is a likable girl with lots of good teaching ideas which, unfortunately, go opposite of what some of the more traditional folks in the town want to see. Other characters in the book are developed well-enough to give you a good look into their town and its dynamics. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but suffice it to say that it's a nice light read, enjoyable, would make a great vacation book--good clean Christian historical romance--it's not deep, it's a quick read, but therein lies its charm.

I'd definitely recommend this book (and I know it's superficial, but I do like the cover too! :) nice brilliant colors in the artwork!)

I received a copy of this book for free for review purposes from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review.

Max on Life by Max Lucado

I enjoy reading Max Lucado's books, hearing his insights; some of my favorite quotes are by him. I was happy to see this new book of his added to the list of other books he's written.

In reading through this new book, Max on Life, I was a little surprised at the format--instead of a read-through book, it's a question and answer type book. You see, he's taken 172 questions that people have asked him in one form or another and written a short (1 page) response to each of them. These questions range in topic from prayer, to relationships, to God's unfailing love for us, to angels, to death, to finances, and etc. It wasn't a really easy book to read straight through from cover to cover, but, oh what a great resource! So many things that I wonder about, or others have wondered about and asked my opinion about, are addressed in one or more sections of this book. Each answer is thoughtfully written, easy to understand, with Scriptural references included.
To further enhance its use as a resource, topics are divided into the sections: Hope, Hurt, Help, Him/Her, Home, Haves/Have-nots, and Hereafter. There is also a topical index and Scripture index in the back to enable one to easily find a question relating to the particular topic they’re searching for an answer to.

This is the type of book to keep on your bookshelf to be referred to for years. It’s not a “read it once” book, but rather one that will be of great use to you throughout the years. It’s timely and succinct, and I think it’d be a great addition to anyone’s library.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review.

Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock

What a sweet, interesting read! I just finished this novel by Ann Tatlock and really enjoyed it. It is the story of a young girl in the 60's whose life is affected by divorce, racial issues (lightly), abuse, family, war, etc. The main character is a girl named Roz who flees from an abusive father into a new area with her mother, big brother, and little sister. The other main character of the book is a slightly eccentric woman named Tilly who "adopts" the family as her own. I don't want to say too much and spoil any of the fun of the story!

Suffice it to say that this book was a nice light story, enjoyable, with a few twists, and a fairly predictable ending. For me, this is an ideal book; topics such as race, war, abuse, etc are touched on gently. One of the characters, Tilly, is a believer in Christ, but there is not much emphasis throughout the book on her beliefs. This is the only area where I might have wished there to be a little more clarification.

I would certainly suggest this book to friends and family for a good summer read! It's a great one to take with you on vacation, enjoyable, clean, entertaining fiction.

I received a free copy of this book for review from Bethany House publishers; I was not required to write a positive review.

My never-fail fish chowder

This chowder is one of my family's absolute favorite meals. Any kind/amount of fish and any availability of veggies added in makes variation. Skim milk keeps it healthy too!

Here's how I make it

Put a little canola oil in a large saucepan, cube up 9 or 10 potatoes and an onion in 1/2 in cubes. Heat up and cook for ~5 min or so. Add 2 c water, some salt and pepper, 1 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning, cover and cook for about another 6 or 7 minutes, till potatoes are softened. Add other veggies (frozen, canned, fresh) that you want (cubed squash makes a good addition too!), add 4 c milk and heat up, add fish too (whatever kind you have!--don't even have to cook it, it'll cook in the liquid) Simmer for 5 min or so. Mix 1 c cold milk with 1/3 c flour, whisk together, then mix it into the hot chowder. Return to boil, cook for another 5 min. Serve yummmmmmmmmmmy!!