Fireplace Mantle Garland and Lights Installing Solution

My 9-year old son is a lot like his mommy :) He loves Christmas! He especially likes the lights and music.  One such situation is our fireplace mantle.  I love to have lights and garland on our mantle. I just love the way it sparkles when the light is in the midst of the garland.  I have those stocking holders that sit on the mantle and has a hook that hangs off the edge for your stocking to hang by.  You know the type -the kind that tip over and fall off if you put anything more than lightweight things in them? I'm sure you are familiar with the struggle :)  But that's not the topic of this post. (I'm still looking for a good solution to that problem.)

No, THIS problem I finally fixed this year (yay me!) (Or I sure hope so...I'll update you after Christmas to let you know if it lasted the whole season or not :) )

THIS problem is the lights and garland.  Evan loves to go up and look at the lights and in the midst of it would invariably touch a little stronger than he should and the whole things, lights, garland, and stocking hangers would go tumbling to the hearth. Ugh...and after I'd spent SO long getting all those lights put in all those little plastic clips just so and clipped to the edge of the mantle. I'd have to put it all back together all over again...and sometimes again...

This year's solution?  I looked around in the basement and in the corner of the storage room it came to me.  Use something long and narrow to wind the lights around and attach the long and narrow thing to the mantle.  But I didn't want to hammer a whole lot of holes in it to hang the long and narrow thing.  My eyes settled on some curtain rods leaning in the corner.  You know, those ordinary, not-so-fancy telescoping kind?

I knew it would be light enough to not destroy my mantle and the lights could wind around it easily enough.

Next I knew the only way for it to stay on strong enough for Evan to not tear it down again, it would have to be attached firmly to the fireplace.  So...I'd have to drill at least ONE good hole, but I didn't want it to be obvious that a hole is there once Christmas is over.  I didn't want to use those cheapy little curtain rod brackets that take about 4 nails to install.

I went digging through my hardware odds and ends box and found a few fancy gold curtain tie-back hooks.  Kinda like this:

The hook part was just the right size to gently hold the curtain rod once I just laid it in there.  It only has one screw instead of four and it's a little fancy if someone does notice it.   This is the finished result (I'm not sure why the picture turned out grainy....it was taken with my cell phone and granted, it is about 2 1/2 years old, but it usually does better than that).  Anyway...

Ta dah! So here's what I did:

  I put the telescoping rod up to the mantle and checked to see the right length to lengthen the rod.  Then I just simply wound the lights around it (after making sure the lights still worked).  I wound and wound and wound :)

Then I got my drill out and drilled one solitary hole from the UNDERSIDE (so nobody could see the hole once Christmas is over and I store the tie back hook with the lights and garland) and screwed the tie-back hook into place. I did that on the left and the right. (Once you put the garland on it, you won't notice the curved part hanging down).

Then I just laid the rod into place in the tie back hook.  That thing isn't going anywhere unless someone purposely lifts it out of place!

I used that kind of rod because that's all I had on hand at the time.  Before next year, I plan to get a nicer one -something like one of these (if I can find a telescoping one or luck out and find one exactly the right length AND if the rod fits in the tie back hook):

Once the rod is in place, arrange your lights evenly from end to end and then just kind of lay the garland around the lights.  You could probably wind it around the rod too, but I didn't see the need and it would be a lot of extra work when it comes time to take down.  It was easy enough to just wind it around the lights which held it in place, and if Evan pulls on the garland, only the garland is coming down. He's been really good so far this year though, and even hung the stockings on those tipsy stocking hooks for me. We'll see :)  (Our tree sits in front of the far right corner, so you don't notice the extra length of light wire going down to the outlet unless you climb behind the tree).

And there you have it.  One nice bonus is that I can see my nativity scene better on the mantle too! The plastic clips that used to hook to the edge of the mantle hooked to the very top edge of the mantle and with the garland sticking up a little, it partially hid the nativity scene, so now you can see the whole thing.

Oh, and you might remember that small ornament wreath in the middle if you saw my post about that a while back. This one is a little imperfect, so I kept that one for myself.

I started hanging a stocking up with Jesus' name on it last year.  It helps me focus on the true reason for the season and I also to put a slip of paper in it every day during advent with something you thank Him for, or a praise to Him written on it.  Then when Christmas is over and you start the job of un-decking the halls, you can pull all the slips out and read them to remind you of the joy of the season.  It's also fun to save them in the stocking and pull them back out the next year when you hang it up for that year's festivities and remember what you were thankful for the year before!

Mid East Prophecy Update Nov. 25 2012

So when I first began my blog a few months ago, I reached out to some bloggers whose blogs I thought were really good.  A few responses told me to keep my blog to about only crafts as I am a crafter trying to sell crafts online to supplement my disabled family's income.  I pretty much did that, but now that I'm a few months into my blog and I've seen many other craft blogs sharing things about their faith, and also the fact that this blog is called SHADES of Safhire, and that the biggest shade to this Safhire (me) is my faith, I feel the need to be true to who I am online as well as off.  I'm going to post something at least once a week that's important to my faith-life.

Bible Prophecy is another of my greatest passions (studying the Bible's ancient prophecies and how they are coming fulfilled in our modern world and watching for the soon return of Christ.)

Having said that, this week I share with you a video from one of my favorite prophecy teachers from YouTube, pastor J.D. Farag of Kaneohe, Hawaii.  I think you'll enjoy him and what he shares in his weekly Mid-East Prophecy Updates.

He takes the headlines from the world's weekly news and explain them and how they relate to what the Bible says will happen in the end of times.

You can subscribe to his Facebook Page HERE, if you'd like.

Stained Glass Crocheted Scarf

I've decided to give hand-made gifts for Christmas this year.  I just finished crocheting this scarf and decided to share a picture of it and the link to the pattern I used.  It's really much simpler than it looks and I love the stained glass-look of it.

I came upon the pattern on Pinterest and you can see the original pattern HERE.

I think after Christmas, I'll be making one for ME! :)

Happy Thanksgiving! / Horn of Plenty

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! My friend from church, Virginia, has a blog and today she shared a post I really like and I thought I would direct you all over to her blog to be blessed by what she shared on the Horn of Plenty (Cornucopia)

Click here to visit her blog:  Horn of Plenty - A Virtuous Woman...Progress

This year in addition to the things I'm always thankful for such as my faith, family, health, SO many things; I'm thankful for the new friends I've made and the inspiration I've received here in blogdom :) I wish you all a very blessed Thanksgiving!  God bless!!

Crocheted Scarf -Christmas Gift for Mom

My family (on my side) decided to gift hand made things this year for Christmas, so I've been busy crocheting this week.  Last night I finished crocheting this scarf for my mom (shhh...nobody tell her!) :

   It's made with that really soft bulky yarn. I'm trying to remember where I got the pattern from, but it's really quite simple.  Chain stitch the length you want your scarf to be.  Turn and skip the first chain and single crochet in the second chain stitch. Skip two chain stiches and double crochet 5 times in the next chain stitch. Skip 2 chain stitches and single crochet in the next chain stitch.  Just keep up that pattern till you finish the first row. You've made a length of shells (semi-circles). 

   Instead of turning yet, crochet around the end and do the same thing in the other side of the chain stitch row (so that the edge of the scarf won't be straight...it will be curved with shells).  When your'e done with that row, fasten off and change colors, turn.

  Chain one and double crochet in the second stitch from the end.  Single crochet once at the top of the shell of the row below.  Double crochet five times in the lowest stitch between shells.  Repeat the pattern of single crochet once at the top of the shell and double crochet five times in the dip between the shells.

   Change colors with every row or however you want the pattern to turn out.  There are 8 rows all together (7 rows of colors, but the first two rows [not including the chain row] are the same color).

    Now as my mom doesn't like regular winter hats, I'm going to try to find (or create) a pattern for a head scarf kind of hat. She's always preferred head scarfs, so I want to crochet her a headscarf-shaped hat that matches her scarf.  Maybe some gloves too.  I'll have to dig around Pinterest to see what I can find :)

The Lord Carries Me

Finances are in a scary place and today I rejoice to just get mine and my family's hair cut and my color touched up (after 5 months since the last time we had it done), but I trust God to provide.  Christmas is going to be rough...but the first Christmas was a lot rougher on Mary and Joseph, but they brought the Savior of the world to us!  As long as I remember that, Christmas can be wonderful :)

(I know Jesus wasn't really born on December 25th, but I'm thankful to have a day set apart to especially honor His birth  beyond the every day that we should remember it as well).

God is good...ALL the time.  ALL the time...God is good

"The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;  though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.  

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken

    or their children begging bread."  -Psalm 37:23-25 (NIV)

"The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;

    he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

⁴⁰ 

The Lord helps them and delivers them;

    he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

    because they take refuge in him." -Psalm 37:39-40 (NIV)

"He Never Sleeps" by Don Moen

"Something More" by Nick Vujicic (of Life Without Limbs)

"Jehovah Jireh"

"Jehovah Jireh" (The Lord Will Provide)

"You Raise Me Up" by Selah

Foolproof Vodka Pie Dough

I was sharing this recipes with a few crafty friends on Facebook earlier and just realized I hadn't shared a recipe on my own blog for quite a while :)

This is a recipe for the BEST pie crust I've ever come across. It's an America's Test Kitchen recipe.  It has Vodka in it, but never fear...the alcohol cooks out as it bakes :)  So friends from Bible study and church, if you see me buying a bottle of Vodka, you can know it's only for baking, not drinking, I promise!! :)

I'm making some pies for Thanksgiving and will be using this recipe for sure. I hope you enjoy it!

FOOLPROOF VODKA PIE DOUGH 
from America's Test Kitchen
Vodka is essential to the texture of the crust and imparts no flavor — do not substitute. 

2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon table salt 
2 tablespoons sugar 
12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices 
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces 
1/4 cup cold vodka 
1/4 cup cold water 

Process 1½ cups flour, salt and sugar in food processor until combined, about two 1-second pulses. Add butter and shortening, and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds, and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl. 

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into a 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days. Makes crust for 1 pie. 

The Twelve Days Of Christmas Special Needs

This came across my Facebook news feed and I related to it SO much that I thought I just had to share it here as well.  I wouldn't trade my little boy who is autistic for any "typical" child ever. I just adore him :)

The Twelve Days Of Christmas Special Needs

On the first day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a child with special needs.

On the second day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the third day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: an ache in my heart and a heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the fourth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a tear in my eyes, an ache in my heart and a heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the fifth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the sixth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the seventh day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a sense of humor, a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the eighth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: supportive friends, a sense of humor, a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the ninth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: remarkable doctors & therapists, supportive friends, a sense of humor, a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in heart and my heart full of love for my child with a special needs.

On the tenth day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: an appreciation of small accomplishments, remarkable doctors & therapists, supportive friends, a sense of humor, a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, the good Lord gave to me: a sense of pride and courage, an appreciation of small accomplishments, remarkable doctors & therapists, supportive friends, a sense of humor, a ray of hope, an unsuspected strength for the tear in my eyes and the ache in my heart and my heart full of love for my child with special needs.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, the good Lord said to me: Reach out and share your sense of pride and courage, your appreciation of small accomplishments, your remarkable doctors & therapists, your supportive friends, your sense of humor, your ray of hope, your unsuspected strength for the tear in your eyes and the ache in your heart and your heart full of love for your child with special needs

Comedy of Errors Kind of Day

This was a comedy of error kind of day. We get up and get to church late (but we did make it in time for at least half of Sunday School), then I got to sit through about half of the service before my son started giggling and I had to take him to the back till service was over. I've had a lot of bad back pain today including while sitting in service, so it was probably a good thing Evan needed to be taken out o

f the sanctuary as I needed to move around to stave off the pain anyway (sharp stabbing pain). Evan and I get back to the back of the church and sit down on a couch and Evan is still cracking up. Eventually he starts crying and I figure he's hungry (he wouldn't eat his breakfast) (keep in mind he is autistic and completely non-verbal so I have to guess), so I go across the room to the church kitchen and notice an open bag of potato chips. I pour some into a coffee cup for Evan to enjoy and eat one myself to make sure they weren't too stale and YUCKO...they weren't stale, but they were dill pickle flavored (I HATE pickles!) Got home and laid down for a while till my back stopped hurting so badly. Got up and went to the garage to untangle Christmas lights my husband and I were going to hang and when we tested them, every other section of every strand was bad. Ugh. So we couldn't hang them today. I go inside and sat down to crochet and the pattern was written wrong and the thing I was crocheting wound up being way too big and I had to pull it out and do it all over again...not once but TWICE. What a day... :)

I have been crafting lately, but it's been for Christmas presents, so I can't share what they are here without the recipient knowing what they're getting :)  I hope you all have had a happy, productive week!

Monday's Mess and a Reminder to Pray for Help

   So Monday evening I have Bible study. It's important for me to be there as I'm on the leadership team, I lead a small discussion group portion of the lesson time and I record the leader's teaching (we're studying Joshua right now) and come home and put it up on the web site I maintain for the group.  Mondays are important to me!
   Well...I decide to kill two or three birds at the same time and run some errands before Bible study.  Smart, I thought.  It'll save gas, I thought.  So my plan was to stop at Home Depot and buy a sheet of plywood to use my handy dandy jigsaw (I love that thing) to cut out some sign shapes to paint and finish and make some Christmas signs to sell in my Etsy shop and wherever else.  Then I was going to go down the street to the drug store and pick up my husband's huge stash of medications for the month and then go on to Bible study.
   It ALMOST worked.
   Almost happened when I came out of Home Depot.  I had my sheet of plywood cut into 4th's (so I could fit it in my little car -we have no truck or van), I get it into the back seat floor of the car and get in the car.  I go to start the car to head down to the drug store and...nothing.  No sound like the engine was at least trying to kick over, no nothing.  Just two little lights on that stay on and that was it.
   I sat there for a while thinking maybe it was the security feature my car has that kicks in once in a while if I use my car alarm remote to turn unlock it and sometimes if I hit lock by mistake the security features activates and wont' let the car be started.  So you have to sit there for 15-20 minutes and then it will let you try to start it again.  But nope...I was there way past that time and it still wouldn't start.
   I go into Home Depot and ask if someone can give me a jump since I think it's the battery.  A nice customer who is waiting for a few keys to be made offers to jump my car while his keys are being made (that was so nice of him) but that didn't work. I thank him and get back in my car and pick up my phone.  By this time I'm all emotional (we have AAA but it had expired a few months back and we couldn't afford to renew it yet). I texted a dear friend of mine who is a Godly man and is always there for us and ask him to pray for me.  In the midst of texts back and forth with him, I realize I hadn't prayed MYSELF about it yet.  So I stop what I'm doing and pray for help.  I no more than said "amen" before I realized that I'm holding something in my hand that just might help.  My smart phone!
   I open the browser and go to Google and enter the make and model of my car and the symptom and boom...one of the possible answers is to put it in neutral and try to start it.  I put my car in neutral and it started right up!! Yayy!!
   So I cautiously drive down to the drug store and hesitantly turn the car off and go in and get my husband's medications.  $163 later (that's just our co-pay! and that's just a portion of his meds for the month...ugh) I get back in the car and whew!  It starts right up :) Hallelujah!
    However, it's too late to go to Bible study, so I had to miss that :(  (I'd called my leader and told her I wouldn't be there, so I'm sure the ladies there prayed for me too).
   We have only next week for Bible study now before we break for the holiday season.  The break will be nice and give me a chance to get some crafts made to sell and to give for Christmas gifts, but I'll sure miss my Bible study friends and the accountability I have to get in the Bible :)
   Pray my car holds out too! :)

My First Etsy Sale! / More Added to My Etsy Shop

Last night was a blessing and a flub-fix :)
   The Blessing was that I had my first Etsy shop sale! Yay! Someone bought one of my snowman heads :)
   The flub fix is that while I was reviewing my Etsy listings I noticed a HUGE goof I made in all 7 (at the time) of my listings to the point that nobody could view my listings!!  I had entered words in the tags area so people could FIND my listings, but hadn't clicked on "add" to add them, so nobody could find the things I had up for sale for the past MONTH! Doh! :)  I quickly fixed that in all my listings and edited the pictures and put new pictures up while I was there.
    The only way the first sale happened is that I shared a link with my Facebook friends.  I sure hope it's just the first of other sales. My little family could sure use a little help in the income department!
 
   Anyway...a few of you asked me if I was putting things I've created up on my Etsy shop for sale. I remember someone asking about the snowman mug hugs and someone else asked about other snowman heads.  I got all those up on my Etsy shop last night for sale, so they are there waiting on a new home :)
Thanks for your consideration!!
   Click on the image below to go to my Etsy shop:

And here is a quick thumbnail gallery of the images I have up for sale there so far:

Thanks for browsing!

(and if you've read my previous blog posts, you'll remember that the Santa Coaster [top second from left] used to look more Amish :)  I added a mustach and more hair to his beard, so he looks more like Santa now :)  )

Don't Forget to VOTE!

It seems like every presidential election time, we hear the same thing:  "This will be a historical election. A lot rides on the outcome of this election...."  Yada Yada.  However, for the first time ever, I think this year it's really true.  So don't forget...if you are an American today, exercise your right to vote!

My dad always told me, "If you don't vote, you don't have the right to complain." Well, I want the right to complain! lol  Don't you? :)

How I will vote:
(Borrowed from a friend's post): "I will vote for the most pro-life candidate, because God hates the shedding of innocent blood (Prov.6:17). I will vote for the most pro-Israel candidate, because God blesses those who bless Israel and curses those who don’t (Gen.12:3). I will vote for the most pro-debt reduction candidate, because the borrower is servant to the lender (Prov.22:7).I will vote for the most pro-work candidate because God says if a man does not work, let him not eat (2 Thes. 3:10). I will vote for the most pro-marriage candidate, because God is for marriage as defined in Genesis 2:24. I will vote for the candidate who most closely believes government’s purpose is to reward the good and punish the evil (Romans 13). I will vote based as close as I can on God’s Word (2 Tim.3:16), knowing that whoever gets elected, God is the one who puts all men in authority (Dan. 2:21)."

My First Time Featured!

I want to send a shout-out of thanks to Ann of Stylish Once Again for being the very first blog to feature me!  She featured me on her Restyled Sundays Linky Party yesterday. Wow, thank you, Ann!  Go and check out her terrific blog (and not just because she featured me and my crocheted Mickey Mouse hat either) :)

No More Physical Therapy & Prayer Request

Today was my last day of physical therapy for my back (spinal stenosis). The bad news is that my insurance company paid for so much and wouldn't pay for any more (my physical therapist had already gotten an extension), and my therapist and I both thought I was at a point where PT had helped me probably as much as it was going to.

Last summer when my doctor told me he wanted me to have physical therapy, what he said was that he wanted me to have some physical therapy and there was a chance it might work and if it didn't, the next step would be surgery.  Well it DID help though I do still have a lot of back pain if I do much of anything, but if I can manage the pain with pain meds and a new TENS unit I just got today, I'd really like to hold off on going under the knife.  I've had so many surgeries already...ugh.

So pray the TENS unit does its job and that I can stave off any surgery.  I'm also dealing with advanced arthritis in both knees.  I go to the sports medicine doctor tomorrow (er...today...) for injections of synvisc (medication made from rooster combs) in both knees.  It will be the first of three weekly shots.

Also, my I took my husband to the ophthalmologist the other day.  He has something that's called a retinal vein occlusion that's basically a block of blood flow through the eye that was originally caused by untreated high blood pressure (let that be a lesson to you all to take your meds if your doctor prescribes them!).  His doctor said his eye is worse than the last time he was seen and would probably get worse and then just stop worsening at some point, but not get better.  He has an appointment with a retina specialist pretty soon to verify that.

For those new to my blog, there is a series of medical issues with my family.  My husband had a kidney transplant last year after having been on dialysis for about five years.  The complication he has as a result is serious problems with diabetes as the anti-rejection medication shoots the blood glucose level really high and it also leaves his immune system very compromised.  We also have one child, a son who is 9 and autistic.

I'd appreciate any prayer you can offer up :)

Thanks!!

Still in His grip,
Helen

Snowman Heads and a Gingerbread Man

Today's project was to work on my snowman heads some more, but I also crocheted a gingerbread man while watching TV with my family.

Here's what I have done so far with the snowmen:
I was inspired by the post over at The Idea Room HERE  After doing the four I have cut out already, I realize I need to make the faces longer so the mouth is up higher.  But here's what I have for now:

This one is pretty much done. The hat is a little small because I used my son's sweater sleeve from when he was littler instead of an adult sweater sleeve. I think it gives him personality though :)

This one just needs a hat yet. (I'll make that out of the fabric laying on the right folded up).

And last but not least, here's my little crocheted gingerbread man I made earlier.  He's about 9 inches tall or so and I got the pattern from HERE, but I made him with regular worsted yarn and not the No. 10 thread the pattern called for.

I probably won't be posting tomorrow (later today) as it's pay day and we have a lot to do, but who knows :)  I'm pretty much posting to myself it seems anyway :) (Getting followers is like pulling teeth it seems!!!)

Prayer Request -Friend with Guillain Barre Syndrome :(

Please pray for my friend from Bible study, Mary Ann, the mother of my other friend of mine, Deb Dickinson...Mary Ann's doctor's are focusing on Guillain Barre Syndrome as a possible cause of her hospitalization so time is of the essence to treat this disease. This is the same disease Andy Griffith had for a while.  Please pray for her symptoms to respond to the treatments and that they will subside and not become any more serious in the coming days. Please pray for Deb too because she is keeping a vigil at her mom's bedside at the Hospital.

Thanks much and God bless!

Still in His grip,
Helen

Snowman heads (so far) and Crocheted Snowman Pillow Finished

I got to spend some quality time in my craft room today...yay! :) I do my crocheting in the family room when my son is home (I feel guilty being in the craft room very long after he gets home from school).  Today I started a new project.  Snowman heads :)  First I'll share the pic of what I have done so far and then the link of what I'm aiming for the finished result to resemble :)

Here's what I have so far.  The small one is for a different project, so it's four heads I have sewn back to front and the faces put on so far :)

HERE is the link for what I'm aiming towards my result to be similar to.

I don't have any beans, so the whole thing won't be done till the early part of next week probably. I'm happy with what I have done so far though :)

Once I came upstairs and was with my crochet work, I finished the pillow I talked about a while back HERE.  I'd started crocheting a potholder and it took on a life of its own and got too big for a pot holder, so I decided to turn it into a pillow.  I finished the rest of it to make a pillow tonight. I put a fleece back on it and crocheted the two edges together and stuffed it with polyfill and added the tassles.  Here is what the result was: