Friday, February 15, 2013

Flowers for Winter


I am certainly enjoying these floral arrangements that I made to use at my nieces wedding reception.  They are refreshing especially during these cold winter months.  I love using silk flowers only if they look real.  There are really some cheap looking silk flowers out there.  I found these vases (which are actually candle stands, from Hobby Lobby).  They are black wood carved and very elegant looking.  I started with a piece of floral foam for each.  Covered the foam with moss, and used a floral pick machine to add a pick to each flower, so that they would anchor into the foam real well.  If you don't have a pick machine, you can add floral wire to the stems to give you either a longer stem or a more slender stem to go into the foam.  Make sure to use the floral tape to tape over your wire, so that your wire looks like a stem.  With the lily arrangement, I placed the lilies in first, the heads facing all directions, then added the mums all around to fill in to make a round shape.  Design tip:  Odd numbers of flowers seem to balance out an arrangement,  that is why I used 5 lilies.

The silk marigolds I purchased originally to use within the flowers that I did for my nieces wedding.  Try as I might, they didn't seem to look good mixed with the other flowers we were using.  I love, love, love them all by themself in their own arrangement.  I have gotten many comments on these arrangements.

After the flowers are placed into the foam.  I just sit the foam on top of the candle stand.  You really can't tell it is candlestand.  It just looks like an elegant vase of flowers.

Take time to create with beautiful flowers, they will warm your heart and bring color to your life, especially during these sometimes, dismal winter days.

Marilyn

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Simple Cure for Measuring Tools


I am loving my new solution for simplifying my measuring tool drama.  It took courage to tap those tiny brass nails into my cabinets.  But, really you can barely see them.  The cups and spoons I found at Walmart for .88 cents.  What a bargain.  The cups have an indentation inside for other measurements.  What I love, is there are just four each.  When I use them, I instantly wash, dry and hang them.  I don't have to dig through my drawer anymore to find the right measurement tool.  Love it!

Happiness



Just  came across this uplifting "Happiness Message" to send to my son serving an LDS Mission for our church.  My goal is to send a Missionary Message weekly, so that he gets a letter each week in the mail.  It is so easy to email our correspondence.  But, something different for him to look forward to each week.



Happiness
“Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5:134-35).
In this beautiful statement, the Prophet says not only that happiness is the objective in life, but he also explains how to go after it.  Lehi in writing to Jacob said, “Men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2;25).  Later in the same chapter, Lehi said, “The devil…seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Nephi 2:27).  The purpose of man, therefore, is happiness.  God wants you to be happy; conversely, Satan wants you to be unhappy.
President David O. McKay said, “There are three means of achieving the happy, abundant life:  first, making God the center of one’s life; second, using the free agency given to man; and third, rendering service to others.”  Each of these three means is related to the path outlined by Joseph Smith:
1.      Make God the center of your life.  Joseph Smith said that you must keep the commandments of God, that you must be holy, and that you must be faithful.  Richard Wagner said, “joy is not in things, it is in us.”  The Savior said, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).  He also said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25).
2.      Use the moral agency given to you.  Happiness consists in mastering evil tendencies.  There cannot be happiness without the freedom to choose.  If the spirit of man is in bondage or enslaved, there cannot be true progress.  You must find a way for your spiritual self to control our physical self.  Sir James Barrie said, “The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes to do but in liking what one has to do.”  Joseph Smith said that you must have virtue and uprightness. Horace Mann said, “In vain do they talk of happiness who never subdued an impulse in obedience to principle.  He who never sacrificed a present to a future good, or a personal to a general one, can speak of happiness only as the blind do of colors”  (in Horace Mann; His Ideas and Ideals, comp.  Joy Elmer Morgan [Washington, D.C.; National Home Library Foundation, 1936], 149; as cited in Marvin J. Ashton, “Be of Good Cheer,”  Ensign, May 1986, 66).
3.      Render service to others.  Happiness only comes to those who try to make others happy.  Robert Ingersoll said, “Happiness is the only good.  The place to be happy is here.  The time to be happy is now.  The way to be happy is to help make others so.”  Gretta Palmer said, “Happiness is a by-product of an effort to make someone else happy.”
The great German philosopher of the eighteenth century, Immanuel Kant, said that the great aims in life must be the perfecting of yourself and the happiness of others.  “Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy in the hearts of our fellow men” (in Eldred G. Smith, Conference Report, April 1967, 77). President David O. McKay said, “He who seeks for happiness alone seldom finds it, but he who lives to give happiness to others finds that a double portion has come to himself” (David O. McKay, Pathways to Happiness, comp.  Llewelyn R. McKay [Salt Lake City; Bookcraft, 1957], 188).
Happiness is not an external condition.  It is a state of the spirit and an attitude of the mind. (Raymond E. Beckham, How to Help Your Missionary, 150).

Happiness is not an external condition.  It is a state of the spirit and an attitude of the mind. 

This message was taken from the great book,How to Help Your Missionary, pg 149-150  
by  Raymond E. Beckham,



Friday, February 1, 2013

Valentines Day Gift Idea.



Looks like a great idea for Valentines Day. 

Just saw this offer for Buy One Get One Free for:  Scentsy Solid Roll on Perfumes.  Looks fun for Valentines. The cost is $18 (but you get 2 for this price)


These roll on perfumes remind me of when I was a young girl, and when the roll on perfumes were so popular.  I think I will put these on my Valentines list.

The scents that these perfumes come in are:
Coconut Lemongrass
Enchanted Mist
Love Story
Luna
Quiver
Sugar Cookie
Awakening
Be Still
French Lavender
Linger
Lucky in Love
Route 66 (hey, hey, for men)
Ru n2 Me
Satin Sheets
Simply Irresistible
Skinny Dippin'
Sunkissed Citrus
Vanilla Suede
White Tea and Cactus
Zepplin

To order online:  www, mhilton.scentsy.us/ or call me 801-782-1183.  Valentines orders would have to be submitted right away.

Results of "Sharing for Smiles" Fundraiser for Tabitha Davis

So happy to see the results of our "Sharing for Smile" fundraiser for Tabitha Davis. She now has such a beautiful smile. She is such a darling girl. The last few weeks have been full of some super intense dentist visits, but she survived, and looks so good. Thank you to Dr. Paul and his wonderful assistants Kathleen and Shelly. A special thank you to everyone who contributed; without you, all this would have never happened. Love you all so much.

To read prior posts following this story, click here here

Tabitha before her dental work, during our fundrasing.
Tabitha's Smile Before



Our  first visit to the dental office - Tabitaha's dental photos.

Dr. Paul Mackley, Tabitha, Dental Assistants, Kathleen & Shelly.  They did such a great job.


After Root Canals, & Temporaries, she now has her Porcelain Crowns.

Wow!  She looks so amazing!  What a beautiful young lady, and such a beautiful smile!

My Simple Solution for My Measuring Cups and Spoons

Since 2013 is my year of Simplicity, I decided to keep this project more simple than the great ideas I have seen for never losing your measuring cups and spoons.  I always seem to not be able to find the right cup or spoon that I need, and it is always a search.

So, while I was at Wallmart last week, I saw a simple set of measuring cups and spoons for 88 cents.  I liked the black color, because I have some black accents in my kitchen.  I was brave and found some tiny little 1/2 inche brass nails or (escutcheons - what is labeled on the box).  They are barely noticeable on the outside of my cupboard.  I love that there are only a few of each, the necessary ones.  They look decorative, are always in site.  When I use them, I immediately wash dry and hang in their spot.  NO MORE SEARCHING!  I love it!