Brass Chandelier Makeover

I have had  great love for black spray paint lately.  If you follow me on Facebook, then you will realize that these pictures are from several months ago.  I have had a problem with getting my pictures onto my computer for blog posts and I just have a hard time time doing blog posts with out pictures, it just doesn't seem right for some reason. 

Anywho, I had been keeping my eyes peeled for a chandelier at yardsales for a while and then one glorious day one appeared.  It appeared not at a yardsale but in my inbox.  Someone had posted a very plain, standard, brass chandelier FOR FREE on Freecycle.  Yes, please!  I will take it!

So there I was with a plain, builders grade chandelier, from the 90's maybe, and a can of black spray paint.  This is where my love for black spray paint began. 

I removed the white plastic candle looking things from the chandelier and got started.

(Excuse the fall leaves from 6 months ago)

This was my first rodeo with painting a chandelier but it didn't take long to figure out that this project would work out a lot better if the thing was actually hanging as I sprayed it. 

I am on a pretty busy road and I am sure that I got at least a few chuckles from cars driving by watching the crazy lady with the can of black spray paint. Oh well, such is life.

Two coats later and with the help of my handy husband there it was.  The glass votives came with the chandelier but I decided they would either get broken, I mentioned I have 3 and 5 year old boys right, or they would just be one more thing to dust. So...

off they went.  I think that the little berry candle rings and no glass votives go better with my primitive country look, don't you think? 

I used Krylon Spray Paint, BTW, and it has held up just fine over the last 6 months or so.

Do we have any other spray paint lovers? 

Homemade White Castle Sliders

I have never had a true White Castle slider but from all the hype, I am guessing they are pretty good.  I found this super easy recipe one day from over on Smockity Frocks, it quickly became a family favorite.  This is one of the few meals that my family would eat every single week. 

First, I sprayed my 9x13 dish with my handy dandy olive oil spray.

Then, I mix up 2lbs of Ground Beef  along with salt, pepper and about 1/2 of chopped onions.  I believe the original recipe calls for onion powder but I prefer the real deal.

Next, I simply press the meat mixture into the pan and bake at 400degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Add a few slices of cheese and stick the pan back in to melt for just a few minutes.

Cut'em like you would cut brownies. 

Plate them up.  With whatever fixin's you want, ketchup, mustard, pickles, mayo. 

Aren't they just adorable?!

ENJOY!

Blessing and Honor and Glory and Power

Words by Horatius Bonar, 1866

Blessing and honor and glory and power,
Wisdom and riches and strength evermore
Give ye to Him who our battle hath won
Whose are the kingdom, the crown, and the throne.

Into the heav’n of the heav’ns hath He gone,
Sitteth He now in the joy of the throne,
Weareth He now of the kingdom the crown,
Singeth He now the new song with His own.

Soundeth the heaven of the heavens with His name;
Ringeth the earth with His glory and fame;
Ocean and mountain, stream, forest, and flower
Echo His praises and tell of His power.

Past are the darkness, the storm, and the war,
Come is the radiance, that sparkles afar,
Breaketh the gleam of the day without end,
Riseth the Sun that shall never descend.

Ever ascendeth the song and the joy;
Ever descendeth the love from on high;
Blessing and honor and glory and praise,
This is the theme of the hymns that we raise.

Life of all life, and true Light of all light,
Star of the dawning unchangingly bright,
Sun of the Salem whose light is the Lamb,
Theme of the ever new, ever glad psalm!

Give we the glory and praise to the Lamb;
Take we the robe and the harp and the palm;
Sing we the song of the Lamb that was slain,
Dying in weakness, but rising to reign.


We sang this today in church.  It is such a great hymn, I wanted to share.  You can listen to the tune here.

How to Cut Layered Hair at Home - Tutorial

Yes, I am one of those mama's that cuts my kids hair.  I have not done the hair cutting cost tally or anything but I know I am saving a bundle by cutting their hair myself. 

I don't feel like I have a hard time cutting my boys hair.  It's not exactly perfect but the Lord has given my the grace to not mess up too terribly bad. 

The girls on the other hand make me a little more nervous.  One daughter of mine doesn't really care what I do to her hair and prefers it shorter.  My other daughter keeps a hawk eye on me to make sure I do not cut more than a 1/16 of an inch from her hair.  I always end up taking more than she wants me to in my attempt to get everything at least mostly even. 

About a week ago I was given the most marvelous of ideas.  We had Aunt Cindy over and we got to talking about hair and my mom (for those of you that don't know, my mama was a hairdresser and the Lord called her home in 2006).  Well, Aunt Cindy was describing to me how my mom used to cut layers.   That conversation, of course, let me to Youtube.

I came across these really cool clips that help you to cut hair into a layers.  The clip on the video reminded me of something that I just knew I had in one of my kitchen drawers.  I started rummaging through my drawers until I found it!  The Pampered Chef Chip Clip.  I think every women over the age of 28 has at least one of these chip clips in there kitchen, right?  So, with in about 90 seconds of me finding the Chip Clip and grabbing my clippers I was ready to go.

This is the Lil' Chef.  Other than a few bangs, her hair was all one length. 

We flipped her head over and brushed her hair.

We used the Chip Clip and gathers her hair altogether.  Here comes the fun part....

Buzzzzzzz!  You can buzz across with clippers, cut the hair upwards at a vertical angle or straight across.

Don't you just LOVE it!!

Chip Clip + Clippers = 1 Happy Girl!

Resurrection Day Craft Ideas

Being a Christian kinda makes Resurrection Day pretty special to me.  It was the day that, many years ago, my Lord and Savior willfully died and shed His precious atoning blood for me. 

Romans 5:8 - But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

We do not celebrate Resurrection Day with bunnies and eggs but with the focus being the death and resurrection of our Lord.  So, I wanted to search out some resurrection related crafts that did not include the eggs and bunnies.  Here is what I found...

I thought this "stained glass" cross was pretty cool and seemed to have pretty easy directions.  I think this is one we are definitely going to make next week.

I am thinking if you have been on Pinterest at all in the last month or two, then you have seen "The Tombs Been Rolled Away" centerpiece.  I searched and searched to find the directions for this one but just kept getting ads.  I think this one is fairly obvious even with out directions.  I have seen the "tomb" made from a plastic cup as well as a small clay pot.  They say to start your grass early,  I REALLY want to do this one, so I'd better get started.

These are not your average crescent rolls, no sir-ree!  They are Resurrection Rolls and they are pretty nifty.  I am definitely making these with my kids!  Basically you wrap a large marshmallow inside and it disappears (melts) while it is baking.  The post that I linked to has the best directions that I have found for these and she gives scripture suggestions to read the week before making them as well as  during pre-heating time. 

If there is a roll, then there must be a cookie, right?  I also came across Resurrection Cookies, which are also very cool but a little more involved.  These guys sit in the oven overnight which of course represents it Jesus being in the tomb.

This Cross craft is so simple and yet it is one of my favorites.  I especially like the one with the blue and green background.  Pretty, don't you think?

I think my boys would really enjoy this empty tomb paper craft.  It seems simple enough for the younger crowd. 

Matthew 28:6 - He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

Hope you have a Happy Resurrection Day!!