Q-Tip Snowflakes

The kids love to cut the Qtips themselves and enjoy creating different snowflakes. This is such a cute craft that the little ones love to do. Seeing some of the paper snowflakes that I had made earlier, the kids wanted to make some too. I found this cute craft idea for my little angels. Hope you enjoy making with your kids too:)

Cute and simple

Things needed to make this snow flake craft.

•  glue
• Blue colored paper
• Scissors  

Show the children pictures of snow flakes. I also read about some facts of snowflakes and taught them. They were thrilled and excited!!!! Each snow flake is unique and beautiful, just like them! Arent they?? Once the kids cut the Q-tips they adhered them to the paper as they desired. It sure was fun.

Cerastium Tomentosum

Growing Snow-In-Summer Plants: Cerastium Tomentosum

Snow-in-summer plants are called so coz of its blooming habit. This plant blooms profusely in the early summer. Their flowers are bright white with little cuts inbetween the petals.They are also dmired for its silver, delicate and wooly leaves.They spread quickly producing runners. They are a popular choice for  rock gardens and border plantings. They are also useful as ground covers.

 

Snow-in-summer plants prefer sun and thrive in well-drained, poor soil. They are very easy to grow and look very pretty!

Psalms

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

Cries from the heart.

Here at the very center of the Bible are songs of praise, worship,thankfulness and repentance. They are rising up like a sweet fragrance to the heavens . They capture the innermost thoughts and prayers of old testament people- and they still speak to us directly to our needs. For every emotion and mood, you can find a psalm to match. The psalms wrestle with the deepest sorrow and ask god the hardest questions about suffering and injustice. their voice is refreshingly spontaneous. they do not tip flowery compliments toward God- they cry out to him, or shout for joy before him.
In almost every psalm you find the presence of God as an active Strong and loving ruler- a God who makes a difference in life.

Paper cutting!

Bringing down some blizzard to Southern California!!! Heres a very cute  lantern/snowflake made with paper..... Im always amazed at the wonderful natural shapes that snowflakes have..... each one is unique! Just like you and me..... made so beautiful and unique by our creator! I stand in awe at his craftmanship.....

Check out this video on how to make this and how to put a couple of these together to make a cute star/ snowflake...... Lovely!!!!

Christmas Roundup!!

Christmas has come and gone –  and we had a great time with family and friends. It sure was a memorable one. Hope yours was awesome too!!! We had loads of fun making all the goodies. And mom aslo brought many home made delicasies........... Inspiration{LOFT} also had awesome posts through these weeks. Here are some pics and links for you to enjoy:)

Click here to view the recipes.

Decorating sure was fun with the kids. Kids enjoyed every moment decorating inside and out side:)

Click here to see the details

Kids and I have also been busy creating cute stuff for our home:)

Click here for more activities and crafts for kids. 

Saturday's feature{Susan Mathew}

Check out these tongue tickling tasty recipes..... I bet you will love this site as it has an amazing variety of recipes to choose from....... Enjoy!!

Check out their blog and please do leave a comment and share/rate/review  their blogs. Hope you have fun! Remember to list your blogs under your category-just leave a comment and url.  

Saturday's feature{Kalva}

Curry in Kadai is one of the best places to be to find yummy delicious recipes....... I love the simle and easy recipes here ... I have tried a couple of recipes and have enjoyed them..... hope you would like it tooo.Click here and enjoy the recipes

Check out their blog and please do leave a comment and share/rate/review  their blogs. Hope you have fun! Remember to list your blogs under your category-just leave a comment and url.

 

Snow man

Kids have been busy with their creativity......... a cute snowman made with a take out box!

Sharons Christmas Craft

Heres a cute little wreath with her palm prints :)

Growing Roses

Pretty roses grow in our front yard. They are beautiful and smell amazing.......... I dont take care of them as the gardener pampers them. They smile at us every time we walk past them...... But now as its winter we dont see the flowers but they are a gentle reminder that they will grow back in full vengeance once the winter season fades away.....

Check out some tips here on how to grow roses ... http://www.ehow.com/how_15743_grow-roses.html

 

Job

 "In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil." Job 1:1

"Why bad things happen to good people?" 

 The Book of Job discusses the most  asked question "Why bad things happen to good people?" We also see that God cares about people who are suffering and are in need. Job was a good man, but Job lost all his possessions, his children died and he became so ill that he wanted to die. But Job refused to insult God. He trusted Him even during his most difficult time. Jobs friends blamed him for his problems. But  we can learn something from these friends-Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. The first few days were the best coz they just sat with Job in that agonizing place and saw his misery and felt his pain. I believe it helped Job during that time. Many people are helped just by the loving presence of their dear ones. If only they had done just that they would have gone down in history as heroes!!  People around us need compassion and patience and thats what we need to learn to do!! When we see our dear ones facing a difficult time we need to be really slow to speak and quick to listen. You should be quick to cry, quick to meet their needs and wait upon the Lord...... the judging and 'I wouldnt do this if I were you' and 'may be God is punishing. is so not needed!!! We need to learn that each person reacts differently and accept them as they are. I personally have a couple of people in my life with whom I can be myself, share my thoughts and speak my mind and they would never judge me......... I am learning each day to be like them and am totally blessed to have them in my life.  We finally see God reveal his plan and purpose in Jobs life.A wise man named Elihu explained the truth to Job and his friends. And God proved to them that God is great. God also showed them that he cares. Finally, God wanted Job to pray for his friends. We  are called to pray for those who offend us. In the end, God made Job successful again and his name alone is glorified. The story of Job only strengthens our faith and enables us to trus God more and more each day!

Paper Flower Clip:)

My DD is wearing a red dress this Christmas..... I was looking for a hair piece and didnt find the right color or the right size..... so heres what I came up with .....

Doesnt it look like an art piece???? I love it and Im sure its gona look adorable on my lil baby doll:)

Ok here are this steps to make this cute lil flower clip.

Cut the tissue paper into 5" x 5" pieces, for this flower I used about 6 sheets.
Accordion fold the pieces of paper, making 1/4" folds
Using a string tie the papers in the middle.
Trim the ends of the paper into scallop shape
Slowly pull out all the tissue layers apart to form the flower. You might need a lil patience for this as I ripped two flowers before the final one LOL
Fix a gem stone in the center for a lil bling
Glue gun your flower on a flat clip and voila you have yourself a pretty embellishment!!

Christmas Card Ornament

Heres a cute card that I made with my DD and it turned out pretty good.... If you open it completely it turns into an ornament!! In simple words, I made a 3 D snowflake and placed it between the two christmas trees. Its a little complicated to explain the steps, but if anyones interested mail me and I will try to send the steps:)
Heres the card. We hand painted the tree and added some stickers, glitters and embelishments.

This is how it looks when you open it :

It was fun creating this cute card!!!

 

Mom's Christmas Cake!!!!

5 days to Christmas!!!!! Isnt that amazing.......... I have a wonderful recipe to share. This Christmas cake recipe is tried and tested. Mom has been baking it faithfully every Christmas for more than 20 years. I bet you will love it.Enjoy!!!!

 The most delicious Christmas Cake
 
Ingredients:
1 pound Petha(candied white pumpkin) You can buy them at the Indian stores, they either come in tins or you can buy them in boxes.
1 pound candied fruits
1/2 cup cherries
1/2 cup badam/almonds
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup dates, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup candied orange, chopped
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 cup dark rum
1 pound sugar
1 pound unsalted butter
1 cup apple juice
4 whole cloves, ground
6 allspice berries, ground
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 pound all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
18 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 cup pecans
Brandy for basting
vanilla extract 1 small bottle

Procedure

• Combine dried fruits and nuts. Add rum,apple juice and macerate for a week.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. 
• Grease and flour the cake pan
•  Mix flour, baking powder, spices and set aside.
•  Beat sugar, butter, vanilla extract and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds,and then on high speed 5 minutes
• Beat in flour mixture on low speed.
• Now fold in the fruit and nut mixture
• Pour into pan.
• bake for 1 hour. Check if it is done by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If nothing is stuck to the toothpick then it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes, and check again.
• Remove cake from oven leave it the cooling rack. Spritz with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan.

 

A social network Christmas

 

Saturday's feature{Nimi}

Nimi is a mother of two awesome kids. She is  an experienced blogger and not just that but she is also a freelance writer and a cookbook author. Please do check out her blog you will not be disappointed. Im sure you will find amazing recipes for this season. Check out her blog and more about her book here.

Check out their blog and please do leave a comment and share/rate/review  their blogs. Hope you have fun! Remember to list your blogs under your category-just leave a comment and url.
 

Mary Joseph and baby Jesus

Heres a little craft idea for kids.

 

Growing Chilli peppers

It's like spicy food - sometimes you have to tone it down so more people can enjoy it. ~Kenneth Edmonds

I bought my pepper plant from the nursery, and it was fairly easy to grow them. Its already December and I still get a couple peppers each week.(I live in southern Cali :))
Chilli peppers need full sun and well drained soiil to thrive.

A good amount of compost or manure will help the peppers to develop well. 

Plant them two to three weeks after the last frost about 15 inches apart.

Peppers need about an inch of water a week. Water them regularly.

You can start picking hot peppers when they're still green but for full heat and flavor, harvest them when they turn red.

 

Esther

Did you know that The Book of Esther doesnt mention the name of God even once??? The book of Esther reminds us that, God is with us every second of every day. We dont have to see God(or read His name) to know that He is "not far from any one of us" (Acts 17:27). He is always making paths straight before us, listening to our prayers and constantly interceding for us but he doesnt always make His name be heard, or His ways to be seen. This reminds of my favourite song....

God will make a way where there seems to be no way
he works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me....Isnt it comforting to know that He is always with us?? Esther also believed at all times that God was with her. The book of Esther shows us how God used Esther to save His people. Esther allowed herself to be prepared for the task. God has his own way of preparing us to use us. Sometimes these times can me long and uneventful. Moses had to spend 40 years in the desert tending the sheep before coming to deliver the Israelites. God uses this time to refine us so that His plan is fulfilled in our lives.We see that Esther found favour with the King. We read in (Luke 2:52) that Jesus grew in favour with God and man. When  we life a life pleasing to God, by obeying His will we will find favour with Him and God will help us find favour in Him. Esther listened to the voice of God and obeyed Him at the right time. When God puts something in your heart to do something for Him, wait for His time.We need to be alert to his leading. We also learn that God holds our future.Our past cannot hinder our future with God. Esther was an orphan, but God  exalted her and used her to save many. Jesus' disciples were fishermen, tax collectors not scholars, yet He chose them to bring many into the knowledge of Christ. Our background doesnt determine the future plans that God has for us. But having faith in Him does!!

Christmas Decor!

Step into our beautifully decorated home.......... hope you are inspired!!! Have a wonderful season!!!

 

Hanukkah Roundup

Hanukkah is a Jewish Holiday which is celebrated for eight days. It is usually celebrated late Nov to late Dec. It starts on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev. The Hebrew word “hanukkah” means “dedication.” Hanukkah is the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Hanukkah Traditions

Lighting the Menorah: Every year the Menorah is lit with the whole family present. It is customary to commemorate the miracle of the Hanukkah oil by lighting candles on a Menorah. The Menorah is lit every night for eight nights. 

Spinning the dreidel: A very popular Hanukkah game is spinning the dreidel, which is a four-sided top with Hebrew letters written on each side. Click here to make a paper dreidel, the meaning of the letters and how to play the game.

Eating fried foods: Because Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of oil, it is traditional to eat fried foods such as latkes and sufganiyot during the holiday. Latkes are pancakes made out of potatoes and onions, which are fried in oil and then served with applesauce. Check out the recipe here.

Saturdays Feature { Hayley }

Hayley is another wonderful blogger who has amazing ideas. Check it out for loads of hanukkah crafts and lots more.

Check out their blog and please do leave a comment and share/rate/review  their blogs. Hope you have fun! Remember to list your blogs under your category-just leave a comment and url.