Friends Bring Joy | Family Brings Joy

Remembering Christ This Christmas By Lighting ‘Em Up!

December 6, 2012 By Shan 3 Comments

Tuesday our church’s women’s group had a Christmas party. One of the women {who comes from a talented family of poets} read aloud a beautiful, heartfelt poem she wrote. We were all extremely touched by this poem. I received permission from her to share this with you.

A Birthday Wish

It’s my birthday party
Another year has passed.
The celebration grows each year
Yet I’m thought of less and less.

Just like you, I look forward
In an eager way,
To many birthday greetings
On my special day.

I do not ask for much
Wrapping paper, there’s no need.
All I want for my birthday, is
Please remember me.

I don’t need a cake
With adornments on a table,
Acceptance is what’s wanted
From the babe born in a stable.

No special song required
For me to have a smile.
Just acknowledge my existence
And talk with me awhile.

The decorations are breath taking
The lights, the star, the tree.
While merry you are making…
Please remember me.

I love the beauty of the carols
Of this special season
But “Silent Night” is my favorite.
Do you know the reason?

It’s not the shopping and the spending
It’s the kindness and charity,
That should be taught within your home
And to your family.

Gaye Willard {click on photo to go to artist’s site}

The white beard, the red coat,
Around the world in a blink.
MY beard is white, MY robe is red,
Perhaps there is a link?

Yes…St. Nick is my servant
A faithful one, is he
Symbolizing all that’s good
But please remember me.

It may be my birthday
But I gave the gift to you,
Eternal life through my sacrifice
When your earthly life is through.

Yes, it is my birthday
And I hope your gift will be
The only birthday wish I make:
Please remember me.

Written by Dana L. Dugan
Dec. 8, 2011

Isn’t this poem phenomenal?

I highlighted a stanza because I’ve been working on this in our family. Have you heard of Booing? Booing is a sweet service activity we have done as a family in October for Halloween {you can see what we did by clicking here.} We put together little baskets of goodies and secretly left them on doorsteps of friends.

One Mom has taken this Booing idea to the month of December for Christmas and calls it Light ‘Em Up! Families Light Up The Community With Kindness. Courtney from Lil Light O’ Mine started this last year with her family and shared it on her blog. Fortunately, many others, like me, were blown away with the idea of teaching our kids kindness and charity in a fun way during the Christmas season. Courtney is very organized and has 100 ideas on what families can do, check lists and labels {all FREE} to help your family Light ‘Em Up!

Monday night we read over the ideas and did our first Light ‘Em Up. It was simple…Christmas container with Christmas shaped sugar cookies we made. I printed out the very cute labels and we were ready to share some Christmas JOY with someone. My goal is for our family to do this at least once a week, but I plan on putting the big candy canes with the labels wrapped around them in my purse. This way the kids can hand them out to whomever they feel inclined to surprise wherever we are.

I hope by doing these random acts of kindness our kids will catch the vision of service. It really is the best gift we can give our Savior besides remembering Him. We are His hands.

The Christ{mas} spirit is contagious,

Its A Craft Weekend Extradonaire Including A Canvas Wrap Giveaway!

November 16, 2012 By Shan 19 Comments

Hey there!

You’re just in time to go on a trip with me.

This isn’t any ordinary trip. This is a trip to Whatever Craft Weekend in Newton, Kansas. A fun filled weekend filled with crafting, friending, antiquing and eating for us big girls.

1.) With my audiobook, music, suitcase and a full tank of gas…I was ready to go! GPS and I had a few go arounds, it wanted to take the scenic route while I wanted to stay on the highway. Grrrr…but I won. 😉

2.) I was greeted by the above big beautiful front porch. And look at my bed all cutesy with a gift by my pillow. The spoiling has begun! I shared a room with 3 other sweet girls.

3.) The following collage is a small glimpse of the inside of Meg’s Craft House. For me it was like walking into a live dollhouse for us grown women. Meg has it decorated spectacularly with every detail special and filled with all the things crafters love. The formal living room and dining room was converted to the main craft area of the house. This room has several tables: one section of tables for crafting, one section of tables with sewing machines and one section of tables for cutting fabric with mats & rotary cutters galore.

4.) My favorite components of her decor are COLOR, lots of art with quotes, lots of globes & maps and last but not least lots of bunting/banners. It is very homey feeling.

5.) Below is a collage of all of us girls having a blast…

6.) Do you see the photo right above this which shows all of the magazines? Those cubbies contain SWAG {stuff we all get…free} for each of us. Thank you to all of the generous companies for your gifts. Yes, the next photo has a big time video camera in it. Lauren, aka my roomie, was being interviewed. Other girls were interviewed as well by a Wichita news station. They are doing a news story on Meg & Kimberlee…the 2 genius master minds of Whatever Craft Weekend. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

7.) Friday night we made adorable aprons which you will see in photos towards the end of this post. I sewed…and sewed and sewed…not my favorite thing but I persevered and have a colorful apron to show for it. On a downer note my eye turned blood red Friday night before retiring to bed. {Hence me having to wear my glasses the rest of the trip. I normally wear contacts}

8.) Saturday morning we loaded Meg’s gigantic van and drove to an antique store and barn. Side note: WINDIEST DAY EVER!

9.) At the antique store I found a globe! I’ve been looking for one and new ones are priced more than what I want to spend. I also bought a huge whisk and some antique yard sticks. I have a craft in mind for the yard sticks. Total spent was around $30. I also walked down the street to a thrift store. This is where I got the best deals {which is what I LOVE…if I’m going to buy something used, it better be a good deal ;).} I found several small shelves under a $1 that I plan to revive with spray paint. I also found a small hard suitcase {$1} that I will use as a photo prop. When not in use it will be helpful in storing craft supplies. The last few items I got there were a small cork board, a canvas print {that I plan on painting over,} and a small shutter {YIPEE, been looking for those!} Total spent was $7. Our last stop was at a huge barn {technically 2 shown above} filled from top to bottom and many items outside. I scored an old window frame, wire basket, large shutter and a type set drawer! All of these things I have been looking for and only cost me $46! I’ll have to show photos of these finds in a future post because I need a break from editing photos. I took almost 300 photos during this trip.

10.) It was time for a stop at SONIC before heading back to the craft house. You should have seen the LONG list of things Meg ordered for us. 2 of the girls had never been to Sonic before. Bless their souls…us Southern gals love Sonic.

11.) Above is a small sampling of the phenomenal food made for us by ‘chef’ Kimberlee. The second photo showing the pumpkins was the very cute centerpiece on the table. The food was so delicious. Talk about spoiling…Meg & Kim made us promise NOT to clear our place from the table. We would be scolded if we cleared our place. I almost did it a few times. lol!

12.) Here’s the deal…4 crafts were taught on Saturday night. I only did 2. Sometimes it takes a while to get those creative juices flowing. I made the flower you see on my apron and decorated the JOY letters. Cutting out the t-shirt fabric for the flower took a long time. And while hot gluing the letters with sweater material sounds super easy, well it took longer than I would have liked. It was kind of like putting together a puzzle. I wanted it to be white because I like to decorate with white. In addition, I could have it up year round. The embellishments I made are removable {tied on, not glued} in case I want to have the letters plain or add different color in the future besides the blue & yellow.

13.) Sunday morning we ate a grand breakfast, packed up our things and had a fun photo shoot. Below you will see me with Kimberlee {on the left} and Meg {on the right}… both beautiful women inside and out making a difference in women’s lives. Tickled pink I could meet and spend time with them. You can read more about this weekend and see her photos on Meg’s blog here.

With all this creative excitement going on I am thrilled to host a GIVEAWAY courtesy of Printcopia.

One lucky random reader will receive a FREE 8×10 CANVAS from Printcopia. Time to look through those digital photos and pick out one you want to feature on your wall…canvas style! The nice people at Printcopia contacted me about doing a review and giveaway. First check out my Printcopia 8×10 canvas:

I am very happy to report a pleasant experience with ordering this bad boy above. Printcopia’s website is very user friendly and I was shocked at how quickly I was able to upload my photo and check out. Time is money!

I chose a photo I took of the kiddos this summer on the beach at Puerto Rico. Love the JOY shown on their faces while at my favorite place on earth…the beach! I found a perfect place for my canvas. I placed it on top of a couple of blocks in the middle of this ledge in our playroom. This ledge is hanging above our television. On the right of the canvas is a print I got for my 40th Birthday from our Disney Cruise. On the left of the canvas is a cork board I covered with old jeans and my kids photo pins.

Below shows the shelf at an angle.

Here’s a close up of the canvas:

I am extremely satisfied with the quality of this canvas wrap. As a matter of fact, I’m taking advantage of their Veteran’s Day promotion today. It’s the last day. You can order a 11×14 canvas for only $28 with FREE SHIPPING! Talk about an AMAZING DEAL! They would make great Christmas gifts too! Time for me to print out some of our Blue Lily photographs.

Printcopia offers framed prints, acrylic framed prints, panoramic prints and regular photo printing.

Thank you Printcopia for this wonderful opportunity for my readers.

How to enter the giveaway:

Simple and easy…leave me a comment in regards to something about this post. That’s all!
Increase your chances to win by liking Family Brings Joy’s Facebook page, following Family Brings Joy on Twitter, liking Printcopia’s Facebook page, following Printcopia’s Twitter and tweeting this giveaway. {These are all OPTIONAL, not mandatory.}
Printcopia only ships to continental U.S. Sorry my overseas friends.

Rafflecopter makes it easy to do all of the above. It is safe and secure.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Apology: I was planning on adding all of my new craft friends’ blogs to this post, but I have run out of time. This post was very time consuming {but hopefully worth it.} I promise to have those in a future post. Maybe even a blog hop if I can get it together.

Headed to visit my Mom for our Breaking Dawn Part 2 celebration. We’ll be seeing the movie on Saturday…so excited!!! Time to get out of my pj’s…lol. One last thing, I found out today that my oldest Daughter was nominated to be Band Queen. 3 other lovely girls will compete for the title. Pleased as punch for her. Looks like we’ll be going dress shopping!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Be CREATIVE,

Filed Under: Blogs Bring Joy, Crafts Bring Joy, Friends Bring Joy, Giveaways Bring Joy, Me Time Brings Joy, Photography Brings Joy, Values Bring Joy

I Feel So Less Lonely

October 8, 2012 By Shan 3 Comments

Last Friday I posted this photo on Instagram…

A new Instagram friend read my caption with this photo:

“It’s Going to be one of those days. Grrrrrr!”

Awhile after posting the photo I laughed and flippantly added a comment under the photo:

“lol…guess it shouldn’t surprise me that no one likes this photo! Definitely keeping things real. Ugh.”

beesbutterfly {her Instagram user name} responded:

This sweet girl has no idea of what she did for me that day. As a matter of fact, she and many of you don’t realize how your small acts of kindness make an impression on me.

Sharing that photo Friday morning was a little difficult for me. I was opening up and being transparent.

I didn’t post it because it was a great photo, far from it. I posted it to share my frustration, to share me being real and somewhat raw. I mean, if you look at the photo of my laundry room on the sidebar to the right of this post, you wouldn’t have a clue that the room ever looks like the one above. {Which I’m not proud or happy about in the least.}

Anyway, I was pondering beesbutterfly’s words and a song came on that expressed what I was feeling. I decided to put together a little video with the music and lyrics. I dedicate this song to beesbutterfly and all of YOU who comment, reply and say things with EMPATHY.

Thank you for seeing me,

Filed Under: Friends Bring Joy, Music Brings Joy, Values Bring Joy

Camera/Photo/Photobooth Themed Birthday Party

August 20, 2012 By Shan 9 Comments

The camera banner {above} and the number 17 {below} were both made using old copies of Digital Photo magazine.

For the banner:

Cut the magazine pages into triangles
Sponged on some beige paint
Inked up some bubble wrap and stamped it with hot pink
Used a camera stamp with the same hot pink ink
Hot glued a pink curling ribbon to the top

For the numbers:

tore the magazine pages into strips
decorated the pages the same as the banner
Mod Podged/decoupaged the strips onto the cardboard 1 & 7 {bought at Hobby Lobby}
Added another coat of Mod Podge {matte finish} to the outside to seal

This wreath did not turn out as well as I would have liked. But this is how I made it:

I bought some foam core board at the dollar store
Using a craft knife I cut out the wreath
I used a small plate and a large plate as my circle templates
I wrapped the wreath with some yarn
Printed out these adorable cameras from Designer Clip Art onto scrapbook paper
Punched out circles from the paper & adhered them to the circle part of the camera with pop out adhesive
Hot glued the cameras onto the wreath
Added some flower embellishments
Tied some tulle to the top of the wreath to make the bow/flower
Hot glued a chipboard letter onto the bottom with one strand of yarn

We printed out the mustaches from Design House Digital & The Project Girl’s Disguise Kit. Taped the mustaches onto skewers.

Party favors were these cute little cameras. When you look inside, you see animals as you click. We also bought small albums ($1 ea.) to give {that is the glitter book you see to the left of the jar.}

I have to give a HUGE shout out to the ladies at Paper Heart Camera. They gave the BEST tutorial on how to make this photo booth back drop using pipe. I decided to do this on the day of the party {Friday} and whipped it out that afternoon. It is super EASY to make…even sawed the pipe myself. Used some curtains I bought for super cheap at Potter Barn Outlet several years ago. The only thing I did different was made mine 10 feet tall instead of 7 feet. Well, the wind blew it down, so we took the top 5′ section off and used the bottom 5′ section only.

We bought the stick on mustaches at Hobby Lobby, but the girls mainly used the ones we printed out and put on sticks.

I wish I could say I made the cake, but I did not. My friend who is a professional cake baker made this one {she has made several of the cakes I’ve featured on here.}

We had so much fun. I tried not to think about this probably being her last friend birthday party we’ll ever have at our house.

It’s been a long day of photo editing. If I forgot something, feel free to ask a question. I have a feeling I forgot to explain something. Going out to dinner with the family now since today is my Daughter’s actual Birthday.

Happy 17th Birthday to our first born,

Filed Under: Blogs Bring Joy, Crafts Bring Joy, Friends Bring Joy, Home Brings Joy, MY Family Brings Joy, Photography Brings Joy, Values Bring Joy

A Mom Makes A Home

August 13, 2012 By Shan 2 Comments

I’m continuing my list of one thousand gifts…not of gifts I want, but gifts I have.

I am writing them down, one to one thousand.

22. Grateful my internet was repaired!

23. New music! Loving the group Tanlines. Listening to their album Mixed Emotions right now. I heart their All Of Me song…great beat and makes me feel happy.

24. Time spent with my Mom & oldest Daughter on Saturday.

25. The beautiful handmade quilted bed runner my Mom gave me as an early {3 weeks} Birthday gift.

26. Time doing crafty stuff in my craft room. It’s been neglected lately and craft therapy is wonderful. The creative side of me was having withdrawals.

27. Kids back in school brings some much needed uninterrupted time for me. Let’s face it, who likes to listen to their kids quarrel all the time? Not me!

{good thing they’re so cute! ;)}

28. Opportunity to learn & grow spiritually by giving a talk and teaching a lesson at church yesterday. With that being said, glad it is over…double duty is exhausting. 😉

29. Youngest saw this new art plaque I bought and said out loud, “This is true.” The little things like this make my heart melt.

Check out that awesome price!

30. When my husband calls me beautiful.

31. Having far away friends come for a weekend visit.

32. Listened to another awesome fantasy book: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead. It’s part of the Bloodlines series. Just finished it & can’t wait for the next one!

Joining:

Gifts Bring Joy,

Filed Under: Blogs Bring Joy, Crafts Bring Joy, Friends Bring Joy, Home Brings Joy, Me Time Brings Joy, Music Brings Joy, MY Family Brings Joy, Photography Brings Joy, Reading Brings Joy, Values Bring Joy

Baby Hair Swirl

July 25, 2012 By Shan 3 Comments

Remember the baby shower I shared with you last month for my friend? This is Gracie.
We were blessed to watch her when she was only 2 weeks old while my friend delivered Meals On Wheels. She just had her 4th baby and she was out serving our community. Not only that, she took her 3 boys with her so they could participate. I told you she’s a Rock Star Mom!