Vote for a Cause, Make a Difference

Ok,

I'm just gonna come right out and say that I have a little fire burning under my bum today,

and I decided to set out and try to do something about it.

Here is the story.

Those of you who have been with me very long know that I have a heart

for India. Well, I try to put my money where my mouth is a support works

in that country, and one way that I do that is by giving to India Partners,

a Christ centered organization that aims at "partnering with the people of India in ministry by cultivating relationships, sharing resources, and encouraging self-sufficiency through the compassion and wisdom of Jesus Christ."

Today I read an email from India Partners and

learned that they have entered a photo contest hosted by Global Giving.

which will give $1,000 to the non-profit organization who's picture wins first place.

Such a great idea, and I was happy to cast my vote and support them.

And then I saw it.

 The organizations that are currently in top place

are not ones that are aimed at saving orphans,

providing a better education for children overseas, or funding urgent medical needs.

No.

The most championed causes in the lead right now are those that

aim to save abandoned birds, and street dogs.

This made me sad.

And then, very angry.

I love animals, y'all, and it does make me sad when they are mistreated.

But they are just that.

Animals.

I believe people are infinitely more valuable and important!

We are created in the image of God and have eternal destinies.

There should be no contest!

For me, this contest isn't so much about the actual photos,

but about the organization that the photo will support. 

This is the photo entered by India Partners.

By voting for India Partners, you help an orphan in India, like this girl, receive an education.

 If you feel the same as I,

please go VOTE for India Partners,

a reputable Christian based organization that is doing a good work,

and make your voice heard that people are more valuable than animals. 

All you have to do is go to the link above that says "go vote",

enter you email address, then wait for the confirmation email that will make your vote count.

The deadline for voting is August 29th!

And that is all.

Such a very little thing can make a big difference.

You could make a difference between $1,000 being thrown away on rescuing birds,

like the ones that sadly fly into our windshields every now and then, or by providing a better life

and education to a precious, orphaned child...a human being who has a calling and destiny.

Your vote stresses the importance of Christ's love to children.

Thank you for reading my little rant.

And thank you in advance on behalf of India Partners, for your vote!

Refashion Webinar with The Renegade Seamstress!

Most days I feel like a very little person in a busy world,

and then instances come along which snap that feeling to pieces.

One of those is the fact that I'm acquainted with such a talented person

like Beth, The Renegade Seamstress, who was recently asked

by BurdaStyle to host a live Web Seminar on refashioning!

BurdaStyle.

You guys, seriously! 

So exciting!

Have you ever wanted to learn how to refashion your wardrobe?

With this new Webinar, Beth will show you how to do just that!

For those of you with a visual learning style,

this will no doubt be a great tool, 

that just might hold the key to helping you step into the world of refashioning.

If you want to read what Beth has to say about it,

read her post here.

To find more information on the upcoming web seminar,

follow this link to BurdaStyle.

Here is a brief overview of the course.

Refashion: Inspiration and Projects 

to Revamp and Recycle Your Wardrobe

By Beth Huntington

 

Live Web Seminar Date: March 31st
Start Time: 11am EST (4pm GMT)

Length: 60 minutes

 

What You’ll Learn:

• Reasons why refashioning is one of the most exciting movements in sewing today
• Where to find inspiration
• How to find great pieces at the thrift store
• How to organize your stash
• How to get over the fear of making that first cut
• How to bring new life to second hand clothes
• How to refashion a too small dress into a dress made just for you 

 Congratulations to Beth for such an exciting opportunity,
one I hope may interest some of you!
Go check it out!

Day 27: Blogs of Note

If you have been hanging around here for any amount of time,

you probably have a pretty good idea as to some of my favorite blogs.

I mentioned several of them in this post, as they were my nominees

for The Sunshine Award.

And, of course there is the blog roll I keep 

in the sidebar of my blog.

BUT,

just in case you are still wondering,

I'll spell it out for you.

Friend's Blogs

 Atlanta @ The Story of a Seamstress

Atlanta and I have been friends for several years now.

She is an amazing seamstress and historical garment expert,

AND just recently a new mommy!

Since her prince charming came and swept her off her feet,

and consequently brought her home to his castle in Tennessee,

I keep very close tabs on her lovely blog to keep in touch.

Aspen @ Texas Rebel Girl

Aspen is actually the younger sister to Atlanta!

Thankfully she still lives close by,

but I can keep up with the going on in her life at her new blog.

For all you true farm girls and super healthy eaters,

Aspen's blog is definitely for you.

Kayla at My Corner of Middle Earth

Also a personal friend,

Kayla is temporarily in California,

so I use her blog as a means to keep in touch.

Also a new blogger, she shares her own music,

drawings, adventures, and all things LofR.

Favorite Refashion/Sewing Blogs

Renegade Seamstress

Refashionista

Diary of a MadMama

Charity Shop Chic

House of Estrela

Carissa Knits 

Second Chances by Susan

Other Blogs

Eccentric Owl- fashion blog

The Enchanting Rose- crafts, recipes and general loveliness

Wearing It On My Sleeves- humorous fashion blog

That pretty much covers my 'main skeeze' blogs,

and the ones I keep close tabs on.

Here are a few that I've come across lately that peaked my interest.

Newly Discovered Blogs

 A Splash of Tan- fashion blog

Fifties Darling- fashion blog

Into the Woods- GREAT retro fashion blog

So, 

juuussst in case you didn't have enough blogs to follow,

I gave you a few more.

What are some of your favorite blogs?
Leave a comment!
I always enjoy discovering new blogs and meeting new people.


~~~~

I'm linking up at Anchored in Love Divine
for the Blog Everyday in February Challenge!

Day 24: Guest Post with Diary of a MadMama!

Today, 
I am so pleased and excited to share with you one of my favorite bloggers!

I stay on top of all her posts, and look anxiously forward to each one!

Allow me to introduce to you, Jen from Diary of a MadMama!

This t-shirt dress and the floral hi-low hem makeover below

 are just two (there are so many to choose from) of my favorite refashions from Jen...
can you tell I like dresses?

 I 'met' Jen through the very first Refashion Runway Competition,

held by Beth at Renegade Seamstress, and immediately singled her out as my favorite!

I've been following her ever since.

I love her sense of humor and creativity!

She does some of the most unique and 'out of the box' refashions I've ever seen.

I hope you enjoy her as much as I do!

~~~~~

Hello there!

Jen here, from Diary of a MadMama.

I am so honored that Desarae would so kindly ask me to be a guest blogger!
I have been blogging for a little over a year, and I've really enjoyed the journey so far!

Recently I refashioned the sleeves of these sweaters into fingerless gloves:

Meh

Since all I used were the sleeves (and not even all of the sleeves), I still had a lot of sweater leftover.

Not wanting anything to go to waste, I thought of the perfect way to use up the leftovers...
A WINTER MAXI SKIRT!

I love the comfy-coziness of maxi skirts, and I HATE being cold
(especially this winter in Michigan, with arguably the worst winter weather I have ever experienced).
A maxi skirt made out of sweaters = warmth and style!

As a side note, I purchased the grey and red sweaters for 49-cents each at my local thrift store,
which fits my weekly "49-Cent Friday" blog series (the black sweater was given to me for free!).

The grey and red sweaters have strands of sparkly silver threads woven into them,
giving them a shimmery effect.

The black and grey sweaters are very stretchy, making them perfect for this skirt.
I mean, if the sweaters aren't stretchy enough, I'd end up walking like a geisha!

Since the red sweater had a higher wool content, it wasn't as stretchy,
so I decided to use it as the waistband (and top section) of the maxi skirt,
keeping the other (more stretchy) sweater pieces as the bottom of the skirt.

So to begin, I cut the sweaters across at the armpits like so:

Snip!

Snip!!

With the red sweater, I trimmed higher above the armpits to give myself more material, since I was using it as the upper, waist portion of the skirt.

Snip!

I just trimmed down the sides a bit to make it smoother.

Snip!

Using the brand-new serger I got for Christmas, I serged around the top of the red sweater...

Pretty stitches 'eh?

...and then trimmed the ribbed waistband off of the black sweater:

Snip!

After that was trimmed off, I placed the black sweater into the red sweater (wrong-sides together):

And serged them together...

Whirrrr...

Then I placed the grey sweater into the black sweater (once again, wrong-sides together):



Once I serged that together, it was all done! And since I left the ribbed band on the grey sweater, the bottom was already finished.

I love that the red sweater already is snug, which means I didn't need to add elastic.

This skirt is super comfy and I love it dressed up with my wide, black belt:

By the way, what do you think of my slippers? ;)

I hope you like this quick and easy refashion.
Thanks so much for having me, Desarae! :)

~Jen


~~~~
I'm linking up at Anchored in Love Divine
for the Blog Everyday in February Challenge!

Day 19: Little Known Facts

Ok, today I'm going to share some little known facts with you!

Since it is the 19th, I'll list 19 things.

I'll start off by listing  a few things about myself...

1. I'm currently obsessed with salsa and fresh cilantro!!! Yum!

2. I love soup- more than likely, if I'm cooking, it is some sort of soup

3. I hate washing any kind of condiment off of dinner plates...ewww, grosses me out!

Especially mustard...I hate mustard!

4. I have a crooked top lip- one side is puffier than the other, it makes putting on red 

lipstick a little tricky.

5. I love dolphins!

6. I've never been to the ocean

7. I used to have repeating dreams about rocks 

and those colorful pick-up sticks in a reflective room.

8. I'm allergic to horses.

9. For Valentine's Day once, I and my girlfriend went toilet shopping. No joke.

10. I totally wrestled a guy to the ground once in a skirt playing spoons...I won. 

The spoon looked like the letter 'U'.

11. I'm certified in the Science of Iridology, Kinesiology and Herbology.

And now here are some USEFUL little known facts.

12. 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs equals 1 teaspoon.

13. Yeast and mold in the body are the main causes of most diseases/illness and physical issues.

14. Your stomach can get jostled out of place by sneezing hard, throwing up, wrestling etc.

and it can cause stomach aches, difficultly breathing, back pains etc. 

But you can easily pull/tug it back in place on your own. 

15. Fluoride was invented in Germany under Hitler and is actually used to make

people more docile, accepting and dumbed down. 

(Article here and here.)

16. Sugar is as addictive as cocaine.

 

17. Tea Tree/Melaluca oil or Slippery Elm herb can be used to stop bleeding.

18. Clove oil (diluted in olive oil) rubbed onto the gum and tooth is good for tooth ache.

19. Heart burn is often caused by a kinked esophagus...to fix this,

position your hands right under your sternum (the middle of your chest, where your ribs meet)

and tug downward in a jerking motion down to your belly button. Repeat.

This will be sensitive if it is kinked, but just keep tugging!

And there you go!

A few things to get you thinking, have a great day!

~~~~
I'm linking up at Anchored in Love Divine
for the Blog Everyday in February Challenge!

Day 17: Five Favorites, Pinterest Recipes

Today I'm going to share with you

my top five favorite tried-and-true Pinterest recipes to date!

 

Top Five Pinterest Recipes 

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

 Brought to you by Chef Mommy,

this recipe is a family favorite and has been for over a year.

During the colder months it stays on high meal rotation.

Not only is this soup oober yummy, it is really easy!

I've made a few changes to the recipe such as adding:

water chestnuts

thyme, marjoram and oregano (about 1tsp each)

By skipping the cream and thickening part at the end,

I've also created a version that is dairy and gluten free for the other half of the family.

Easy Home Made French Bread

I've lost count of how many times I've made this wonderful recipe!

This recipe from Deals to Meals is just what the name says...easy!

With just a little bit of planning, 

I can whip this up and have it ready to go with any Italian or soup meal.

 If you are intimidated by yeast breads, 

this is the best recipe I can think of to get you started!

In fact, I have used the same method they use

for rising the bread with other yeast breads/rolls and it works wonderfully! 

It has changed how I make yeast breads!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

 

I haven't made this recipe as many times as the wild rice soup,

probably a total of three or four, but each time it is wonderful!

This has great flavor and rises above ordinary potato soups,

especially served with freshly snipped chives!

The best part?

This dish of yum is apparently served at the Disney Parks Coronation Cafe!

You can find the recipe at the Disney Parks Blog.

 Simple Seasoned Asparagus and Peppers

 

This is a relatively new recipe, I found it over the holiday season

while looking for a different sort of side dish that was gluten free.

I am SO glad I found this recipe!

This is FABULOUS! 

I have made it about three times now, and each time is great!

Not only is this a healthy dish, but it tastes wonderful and is really simple to make.

You can find the original recipe here at Scratch Mommy Blog,

although I have made a few changes to my version.

I double the asparagus, while leaving everything else the same,

and I use Red Wine Vinegar instead of plum vinegar, and it tastes great!

Also, I mixed up my own Adobo seasoning using this recipe.

This will make a lot of Adobo seasoning, and you won't use it all for this recipe,

so keep it in an empty spice jar for next time!

Sweet & Buttery Yeast Rolls

I love breads.

I know, I know...carbs and all that,

but I seriously can't live without them!

This is about my third yeast roll recipe,

and I can tell you now, the search is over!!!

These are so, so wonderful!

Someday, this will be Grandma Desarae's roll recipe, passed down through generations.

They are that good.

You can find the recipe at Eclectic Recipes blog.

These might take a little more time than some other yeast rolls I've made,

but they aren't difficult, and they are totally worth it!

 

 

And there you have it!

Those are my top five Pinterest recipes!

It was hard to narrow them down, because I have found other great eats,

but these are probably the most repeated and memorable dishes!

For more tried and true recipes and projects from Pinterest,

you can visit my 'Pinterest For Real' board, with thoughts,

tips and changes usually written in the pin description.

I hope you enjoy!

~~~~
I'm linking up at Anchored in Love Divine
for the Blog Everyday in February Challenge!