Feb 10, 2010 | Hometastic Goodness
I mentioned getting crafty this past Saturday and promised pictures. Herewith, the promised fulfilled! As I’ve shared with you, I’ve been hoping to make our place feel more “homey” but we are living on a very tight budget, so I’ve been working on getting creative in making the place feel like home without spending anything. And the Lord blessed us with the wonderful photos of Asher to help! I’ve been inspired by a blogger called the Nester, and her trademark saying, It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.
The week before last we drove to a few different wood cutting places to see if they might have any off-cuts we could play around with and perhaps use to decorate the place. We came home with a bunch of totally random stuff. Different shapes and sizes, and wood types … a bedraggled lot they were. (It’s a word, look it up!) We thought for a while about different ideas of things to do with our random wood pile. Mark made a picture frame for me, but I think I want to paint it and will share the pictures when it’s done. We also painted a wee piece of wood and gave it some hooks to hang my aprons on which I forgot to take a picture of, so I’ll have to share that later, too. Sowwy!
In the meantime, I wanted to share a wallspace-taker-upper we came up with that makes me smile every time I walk past. We’ve yet to come up with a name for it so let me know if you have an idea. And remember the theme is It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful before you start thinking it’s too rustic or college dorm-esque! We started with a pretty piece of (free!) wood which then received seven evenly placed nails by Hero Hubby. He drilled holes through it and we took a broken guitar string off my guitar (I have been lazy to change it because I haven’t been playing lately) to use as a wire hanger to attach my hanging ribbon to. Then I played around with photos, notecards, old birthday cards, ribbons and even Christmas ornaments to arrive at:
Tell me you love it even if you don’t! haha I love it and am so pleased to have a bit more of the tons of white wall space covered around here at the awesome cost of $0 and an enjoyable Saturday afternoon doing something fun together! What was that? You’d like a closer look? I thought you’d never ask!
I am really pleased with my nice hangingwallthingthatneedsaname. I was given that birthday card ages ago and just couldn’t let it go (thanks, BB!) The notecard is Isaiah 26:3 if you’re straining to figure it out. And the bottom right photo of Asher on his car is one of the ones they gave me at the grocery store for next to nothing. I already had the other photos printed out from ages ago.
Here’s the Beautiful Breakdown:
Wood: Free
Nails: Free
Photos: Next to free
Raffia String Stuff for Tying: Counts as free because it was already in the craft bucket.
Christmas Ornaments, Birthday Cards, Ribbon, etc.: Same story
Having some wall space covered with stuff that makes me smile: Priceless.
There’s more to share from our Crafty Crafty Saturday, and it’s on the way. In the meantime, I’d love feedback. Especially before we have guests over and they think I’m a fruit loop for hanging this on my wall! Tell the truth! 🙂
Jan 7, 2010 | Hometastic Goodness, South Africa, Stories
If you’re a regular on the show, you might be aware that I’ve been hoping for a dishwasher. Very much hoping. For the sake of better time management. For the sake of our marriage. For the sake of the poor baby who makes lots of dishes dirty and tugs at my skirt tails waiting for me to get my hands out of the dishwater and do something for him. And because a big part of our ministry is welcoming people into our home, feeding them, enjoying opportunities to pray together, and just sharing life. And it kind of stinks to waver between deciding to chill out in the living room with the guests or run to the kitchen to start on the big labour of love looming ahead of you.
Our finances are rather tight at the moment, and a dishwasher seemed like a dream…far off in the distant future…waving back at me, as if someday we would see each other on a beach, and come running slowly toward each other…me with my arms extended, dishwasher with her door open, drawers bouncing and clanging, and cords and pipes trailing behind her. Yes, I think she’s probably female. We would run slowly and purposefully like the lifeguards on Baywatch and the theme song of Chariots of Fire would play somewhere in the distance, we’d embrace, and I would walk her home, for Mark to install her, and she would be my new BFF. Anyway, it was just a hope and a dream!
However! The Lord is good. And very big. And able to make things happen that don’t seem possible. You may have noticed that we mentioned our friend Lorna giving us a Christmas present a few weeks ago. She sent us an encouraging word, that when she has felt like she should trust the Lord for something, for example to own her own home, she felt directed to purchase something, like a visitor’s book, as an act of faith that the Lord would come through. So she sent a gift toward our dishwasher fund (which made up the entirety of the fund at the time) and a package of dishwashing rinse aid. It majorly stirred up my heart and reminded me that with God, all things are possible! (Thanks again, Lorna!)
When we returned to Gordon’s Bay after Christmas, we spent some time going over our budget, looking at places where we can hopefully trim some edges, and thinking about how to keep balanced moving forward in the New Year. Signing up for a phone contract, instead of doing pay-as-you-go was a potential money-saver we’d been considering for a while, and it finally seemed like the right move. This all ties in, I promise!
So Tuesday, we signed up for a phone contact for Mark. It’s a small one which gave us a cheapo handset we probably won’t use and a small number of minutes per month… at least it has a flashlight! But signing up for the contract gave us 3,400 Rand (about $470 or £290) of in-store credit at Dion Wired (the electronics store where we signed up for the contract) or their partner store Game, which is kind of like Walmart-esque everything store. But not as huge and over the top with the eons of choices that now seem to make me dizzy whenever I’m home. And you may have guessed where we’re headed with this…
YES! Dion and Game sell dishwashers! 3,200 Rand dishwashers even! So without spending a cent (other than signing up for the phone contract which we needed to do anyway) we brought home with us a lovely new dishwasher with a beautiful large and functional inside and a two year guarantee and I am over the moon and full of run-on sentences with excitement! And thanks to Lorna’s contribution to the dishwasher fund, we can extend the warranty for another two years, if we decide that’s a good plan. 🙂 YES!
So, you’re now being introduced to my new BFF. She is as beautiful as she is functional, and a glorious sight for scaly hands. And since we didn’t meet on the beach after all, she isn’t one bit sandy. With God, all things are possible, even the provision of a dishwasher when it didn’t seem possible. YAY! Here she is…
Any name ideas from the crowd? Please comment with them! She needs something glorious. I titled her picture Sally in the meantime, but we’ll keep thinking. Thanks for rejoicing with me!
Thank You, Lord, for the character and relationship-building time Mark and I have shared whilst taking turns washing the dishes. Thank You that we already have everything we need in the glorious riches of life with Jesus. Thank You that, although a dishwasher is nothing when compared to the amazing goodness of new life in Christ, You still bless us with these special gifts of undeserved exceeding abundance anyway. We have so much to be thankful for. Thank You!
Dec 25, 2009 | Hometastic Goodness, South Africa
If you know me at all, you might know that I really, really love bacon. Really. When I first started this blog I called it Smiling’s My Favourite. And Bacon. So, good news. Bacon is on the menu in the Collie household at Christmastime! As promised, I have a illustrated step-by-step for you and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the best holiday hors d’oeuvre since figgy pudding. Which I’ve actually never had.
These are the players:
#1, Glazed Cherries. We’re obviously off to a good start.
#2 Streaky Bacon. We’re obviously moving in a good direction.
#3, Toothpicks. A necessity for the sweet bacon-y goodness to become possible.
The Play by Play:
Wrap a bit of bacon around a cherry, cut to desired length with kitchen scissors, and push a toothpick through to keep it all together. You should arrive at:
Repeat process until you run out of something. You might even want to go to the store and get more of whatever you run out of. These things go fast!
Assemble your delectable delights either on a baking tray or in a braai (grill) clamp. If you have a clamp (as pictured below) you won’t have to go through the trouble of flipping each bacon cherry halfway through, you can just flip the whole thing. But it’s worth the work either way. So worth it.
Place a grill pan of some sort underneath to catch the drippings and save yourself some hassle later on. Then throw these tasty treats in the oven on a grill or broil setting until the bacon goes crispy. Don’t forget to flip them once the top side is starting to look crispy so that they’ll cook evenly! This is when I start drooling.
And here’s the final product, which will leave the plate before you’ve finished laying it out:
I highly recommend trying this. Let me know how it goes. Invite me over for a sample if you can. Please. Pretty please.
Since this post is so full of pictures, I’m going to create a new one with the delightful shots of the Bear enjoying prezzie time…it’ll be posted for you, asap, Mom & Dad! Miss you and love you!
Merry Christmas!
Dec 21, 2009 | Hometastic Goodness
I just thought I’d see how many adjectives I could fit into that title. Should I have thrown in a few more for good measure? Anyway…I got crafty again yesterday. And I thought I’d tell you about it in case you felt like getting crafty, too! My mother-in-law was hoping to get a wreath or something festive to put on the door, and with the general budget-keeping and crafty nature I’ve found myself in lately I said, “Why don’t we make something!?!”
I suggested using some ribbon or bows and eventually found myself starting at a circle you can arrange flowers in (please tell me what to call it so I can update this post and not sound like a ninnymuggins), a bag of ribbons and bows, some tape, and no clue what I was going to do. Here are said items…
I stared at everything for a while and then decided, “Well, I’ll just get started and see what happens.” I started by taping a shiny piece of string to the base so that it would be easy to hang the wreath (pictured later). In the bow bag, I found one of those silvery wrapper things that a store-bought bouquet of flowers comes in. I started cutting it into strips, and then made the delightful discovery that I could cut the edges into a fringe and curl them with scissors the way you curl ribbon on a gift. Â So this became the bottom layer. (I decided to flip the flower sticking thing oasis over since it was easier to tape stuff to the plastic side.)
Since Mark and I decorated the tree in a sort of bright-pastel theme, I decided to choose some bows in keeping with the colour scheme. I untied one of the bows (and stabbed my palm with scissors in the process — be careful!) and began layering it around the circle. I suppose it was around this point when I started to think this project had some potential and I started getting excited. 🙂
I chose a nice matching green for the next layer, and layered it in the spaces between the pink loops.
Next I found a ribbon that looked like it would go nicely in the middle. Since it was wire-tied, I poked some holes through the other ribbons into the oasis (Mark has now told me it’s called that) and pushed the bow’s wires through to the other side. I was excited because this bow was really shiny and I love polka-dots.
Finally, I decided a few old Christmas ornaments we didn’t put on the tree might add a bit of interest and colour, so I tied them in with one of the strands of the bow that I’d just added. I added a little bit of blue ribbon for a splash of different colour and because the ornaments were kind of rough around the edges. I arrived at this delightful sight…
I thought at this point we could add some greenery around the edges, but my mother-in-law liked it just the way it was, and we hung it on the door! I think this would potentially be an adorable (and wonderfully inexpensive) wee gift, that you could put in an interesting container, like a cake tin or a hat box. You might prefer to use some slightly more ‘Christmasy’ colours in your neck of the woods…which I think would be just fine! 🙂
So here’s the final product! If you give it a try yourself, PLEASE let me know!
Dec 9, 2009 | Hometastic Goodness, South Africa, Stories
Yay! I have to share the excitement with you. I really love being in the kitchen, especially when making a mess is involved, but not usually when the dirty dishes are staring back at me. Mark and I spent a wee bit of time making salsa for our neighbours. It was a creative Christmas gift on a budget, and I thought I ought to share!
I have a delightful hodgepodge recipe for Salsa and it is as follows:
- 1 Can of Chopped Tomatoes (chili flavour)
- 1 can of regular chopped tomatoes (in case you want to compare size — they’re 440 grams/15 oz. in my present locale)
- a nice handful of fresh coriander or cilantro
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- lots of freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 finely diced green chili pepper
- and away we go!
But why am I so extra-delighted about salsa? I’ll be honest. It’s the containers. We picked up some fru fru plastic ones that they sold us really cheap off the counter in the deli section at the grocery store. I wasn’t so excited because they were frumpy. I now digress to say my husband loves Coca Cola. And he especially loves it here because it still comes in glass bottles. And he thinks it tastes the very best that way. We had six glass Coke bottles under our sink waiting patiently to be recycled. And we arrive back at salsa. Now in gorgeous, thoroughly cleaned coke bottles. Garnished graciously with ribbon and a wee Christmas card apiece.
Here’s the play by play. If you like it extra spicy, drop the plain can of tomatoes. We tripled the recipe and added one extra can of the chili flavoured tomatoes, and an extra couple of garlic cloves for good measure. Maybe a few extra spices too, who knows. Anyway, start with the happy ingredients listed above.
Mark had to convince me that this tiny food processor was a good idea. And now I use it like it’s my job. I suppose it is. Anyway he is great. So we mince the garlic in this bad larry first by itself, and then the onion follows. Then you can just add all the other tasty stuff.
You might want to put a few slits through the coriander first, or else it might get wrapped around the spinny thing, and not chopped! (Not pictured, but be sure you know we made that mistake!)
Now is a good time to turn on the Wonder Pets, because the baby is probably tired of not getting enough attention, and you still have lots to do.
You’re almost there! We dumped our three and a half batches of salsa together in one big pot, gave it a good couple of stirs, and then began the process of funneling it into our coke bottles.
Big pot…
Funnel… (and use a straw if you get cloggies)
Sorry ladies, that handsome demonstrator is claimed! And this is the final product…
I am pleased to report that the neighbours are really enjoying their spicy salsa Christmas gifts. I was delighted to deliver such a cute product at such a great price! I hope this has your brain-a-storming with creative ideas for being a blessing at Christmas without cursing your wallet! If you do have some Christmas-on-a-budget ideas, please comment away – I would love to hear them!
Dec 8, 2009 | Baby Photos, Hometastic Goodness, South Africa, Travel..ling Tuesdays
This week’s Travelling Tuesday is of a slightly different persuasion. Instead of the usual travel shots, I thought I’d give you a wee slice of life in Gordon’s Bay, South Africa with the Collies at the moment. It’s probably still travelling for most of you. And if not, please come over for dinner!
We’ll be saying good-bye to some of these sweet views tomorrow as we slowly make our way to visit Mark’s family in Bloemfontein. It reminds me a little of the Christmas story and the donkey trip to Bethlehem. Fortunately we’ve got Mr. Potato Head, and room at the inn already booked along the way. (Can you believe taking three days to drive and staying overnight twice is STILL cheaper than flying?) We’re excited for the change of scene, visiting Mark’s parents and seeing his sister at Christmas, and we are (read: Caroline is especially)Â excited for Mark’s Mom’s bacon-covered cherries that will be on their way to my tummy our tummies very soon…YUM!
So back to the present…at the moment in Gordon’s Bay, the Bear is struggling to decide between football and rugby.
(Football usually wins out because it’s easier to get out of the toy basket.) My door is decorated for the holidays, with ornaments and ribbons I already had from this and that.
(Many thanks to the Nester and Southern Living for that idea!) We spent a few hours at Bikini Beach (here in Gordon’s Bay) on Saturday. I wore a tankini in case you were wondering.
The Bear had a good dig, a good swim, and afterwards, a great nap! And don’t worry, that peely-wally skin had SPF 50 on it, no doubt!
So that’s a slice of life Travelling Tuesday from right outside our door! Hope you enjoyed the journey, and that the road rises to meet you, wherever it takes you next!
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