Our Tennessee Snow Days

It's always super exciting for us to get snow. This year, we got some good snow! It started with a layer of ice, then a layer of snow with perfect conditions for some great sledding. The cold temperatures kept the snow around for longer than usual, so we got to enjoy sledding every day for the better part of a week.

Coke Bottle Penguins
Because of the 2-inch layer of ice plus 2-inch layer of snow on the driveway, we were a little stranded in the house. We decided to make these Coke Bottle Penguins.

We found this idea on Pinterest and followed the instructions from the image below. It's good to note that for each penguin you need 2 bottles from COKE products. The shape of the bottle from Coke products is imporant and necessary to this project. We'd have made these a long time ago, but I'd been saving bottles from other brands, and I quickly learned those wouldn't work. We rarely drink soft drinks, so I resorted to taking empty bottles from various gatherings where 2-liter Coke products were served.

These are our penguins. Aren't they so cute? We each made our own pom-poms, and I crocheted the two scarves, too.

Colored Ice Balls
As I drifted off to sleep one night during our snow week, I suddenly remembered another idea from Pinterest that I'd told myself I needed to remember should we ever have cold enough temperatures for it. Considering I'd already gone to bed before the rest of the family, I got strange looks when I walked into the kitchen and called the girls to come help me. We filled balloons with water and food coloring and set them outside to start freezing.

I used regular balloons. I put them outside close to midnight the first night when it was in the low 20s and the next day all day it stayed in the low to mid 20s. They'd been outside well over 12 hours when one of them broke and it WAS NOT frozen enough to keep the water from spilling all over my shoe. The second night got below zero and the next day stayed in the mid-teens, and it was only then that they were solid enough to unwrap.

I used big balloons, too. I suppose you could use smaller balloons with less water and it wouldn't take as long to freeze.

The picture above doesn't show at all how cool the color was inside each ball. You can see it more with this purple one below. As you can see, most of the color was in the center of the ball. But even the yellow, green, and red balls had a similar effect that the photo doesn't show.

They were a fun addition to our yard during those very cold days, and it was fun to see how they melted a little each day.


Cabin fever set in, and out of desperation we took a sledge hammer to the 2-inch layer of ice on the driveway to finally set ourselves free. True story.


When the next round of snow came, it was very powdery and not good for much more than snow angels. We decided it would be fun to shovel the driveway. As we shovelled, we made a large pile into which we dug a snow cave.

We couldn't build a snowman in the normal sense of building a snowman, so we made another pile of snow into which we carved a snowman.

The next day, sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures made conditions right for building a proper snowman.

He cheerfully helped with the shovelling.

The kids missed two weeks of school. Maybe more. I lost count. They did manage to have one full week of class before dismissal for Spring Break.








"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1:18

Old Window Makeover

If you're on Pinterest at all, you've probably seen people taking old windows and doors and shutters and other house parts and re-purposing them into something new for their home, or into pieces of art.

Oh how neat it would be to re-create furniture in every room in my house with old stuff like that! If I were still newly married and looking to furnish my home, that would be the way I might do it.

But I don't need a headboard or coffee table made of old doors. I don't have an empty wall that would benefit from an old window turned mirror. So even though I have wanted so badly to do a window project at the very least, I did not allow myself to buy any old windows.

Then, recently, I saw some folks who took old window frames sans glass and hung them from their covered patio area, giving the outdoor area the appearance of a room with windows. I didn't really need a lot of prodding to decide I needed a window to hang from the "ceiling" of my covered deck. It was game on!

The very best part was that I was visiting my Mom when I discovered I needed a window and we got to hit the junk stores together looking for one. She knew the perfect place to go.

I sanded the window just a little bit, and cleaned it up, but otherwise,
I left it in a rustic state.

I used a dry erase marker on the underside of the glass to draw my design.

My daugher helped with the drawing.

Using the drawing as a guide, I painted the correct side of the glass.
When I was finished, I washed off the dry erase marker.
I decided to make it a simple silhouette of tree limbs and birds,
so I just painted with black paint.

I used hooks and short pieces of chain to attach the window
to the frame of the deck.

I love the homey feeling of my deck. When the weather permits,
I like to bring my laptop outside and work from this tempory office.

We recently made some changes in the girls' bedrooms, and I needed to sell my old wicker furniture. This wicker etagere was the only piece I didn't sell. I painted it red and gave it a new home on the deck, adding to the homey feel.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3

Bistro Table Makeover

This afternoon, I'm sitting on my deck enjoying my "new" bistro table. Actually, my Mom bought this little set for me 17 years ago when I was newly married and we'd purchased our first home. As the years flew by, it began to show its age. I had been wanting to give it a makeover, thinking maybe I could put a mosaic design on the table top. But that seemed like a really tall order, too complicated and expensive of a project. I had no idea where to begin. To be totally honest, I was afraid to try it.

Definitely time for a makeover!

As Spring began to bloom and stores began to display pretty new sets, in the back of my mind I was shopping for something new. But the practical side of me told me that even if a makeover project was a little bit expensive, it wasn't going to be more than the price of something new. I'd need to get over my fear.

I started out by painting both chairs yellow and the table frame green. Thanks to my neighbor, Tony, for helping sand a few rusty places. My initial plan for the tabletop's mosaic design was to use broken dinner plates. I figured I could get some plates pretty cheap at Old Time Pottery and break them up. But I didn't find all the colors I needed and ended up looking at the stained glass at Hobby Lobby.

I asked a man at church who makes stained glass windows about how best to break the glass, and he invited me to get glass from his broken pieces. As a result, I was able to return most of what I'd purchased! Thank you, Mr. Summers!

First, I cut the glass and laid the pieces on a paper drawing of my design. 

Using a dry erase marker, I drew my design on the bottom side of the glass table top. Then I transfered the stained glass pieces to the table top and glued each piece in place using a glass bonding adhesive. It was easy to erase the marker once my pieces where all in place.

When the glue was dry, I added the grout. I had to add two layers of grout to build it up enough to fill between the pieces of glass. After the grout cured for 24 hours, I sealed it.

But that's only part of the transformation. Okay, it's most of it. But I couldn't put those old cushions back on. No way! I already new it was difficult to find small round cushions. I'd actually been looking for new ones for a few years. And by "looking," I mean when I'm in a store that sells that sort of thing, I glance over what they have to see if they have any to fit my set. I never really took the looking very seriously. But knowing that it might be difficult to find what I needed, I half decided I would either leave them cushionless, or try to re-cover the old cushions. But as I was perusing the back corner of Target, I came across their outdoor section clearance and found two pillows I happened to like. I decided I could add a center button and turn them into cushions for my chairs. Who really cares if they're not round? They would offer far more cushion than the old ones if I were to re-cover them, and I didn't feel I could make something for less than the clearance price I would pay.

Here it is! My new table with fat new cushions on the chairs!

The moral of the story? Whatever project you're afraid to start because you think you can't do it, don't put it off any longer! Go for it! You won't know until you try. Well, maybe within reason. You won't see me replacing the linonium with tile on my bathroom floor any time soon.





Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17