Author Archives: ~~Rhonda

Living in a small town, I share my life with my husband Russell (married in 1977), five children (one still at home), and six cats (one indoors, the others outside).

I teach an online class called “The Christmas Notebook” which is about all things holiday prep. The many facets of celebrating Christmas comprises one of my favorite hobbies. Other favorite things include gardening, reading, cooking, and scrapbooking.

thank you, God, for spring

January and February are the hardest months of the year for me. Dark and cold. Depressing. March and April always save me. The way the garden greens and the flowers pop up and extra light brightens the days as the sun gets closer and the days get longer…surely everyone feels it to some degree. During […]

little putz church…continued

When we last visited the little Putz church, it had been affixed to its base. The next step was to add some bottle brush trees. I decorated the larger tree with a sunburst topper (a charm turned upside down) and a garland of gold beads. I cut a few beads off the beaded garland and […]

soldered nativity ornaments

The past few days I have been working on seventeen soldered nativity ornaments. I enjoy the entire process. I finished the soldering today and will add the dangles in a day or so. I appreciate all the Christmas cards people have shared with me. I am making good use of them! Christmas cards and all […]

menu plan monday ~ march 14, 2016

Thanks to all who have kept my Dad in mind this week as he is recovering from shoulder replacement surgery. He is doing well and has started physical therapy. Please continue to pray for his continued recovery and freedom from pain. We are enjoying spring! The Star Magnolia is beautiful right now. The daffodils are […]

beefy (or chicken) cheesy tomato soup

A few weeks ago, I included in my week’s menu the link to Beefy Tomato Soup. When it came time to make the recipe, I didn’t have a few items, so I revised the recipe. As I often do. And, of course, I used a small amount of dry onion rather than fresh due to […]

little Putz church

In my last post, I left the little Putz church fenced and ready to be affixed to the base. I had planned to glue the church to the base, but decided to add some window panes first. I found this Christmas card that had a piece of transparent acetate as the window pane. I removed […]

a fence for the little Putz church

Putz houses are a favorite of mine. They are fun to make and lend themselves to many different interpretations, depending on the crafter’s personal style. Yesterday I pulled out a little church and a base I made in the past. I wanted to make a fence for the church. Before I proceed, here are links […]

spring garden

The garden is bursting into yellow patches of daffodils along with other garden goodies. Today we got outside to get a close up look. ‘Tete-a-Tete’ is a miniature daffodil. It only grows six to eight inches tall. The blossoms are about an inch wide. Hosta ‘Invincible’ is always the first one up in our garden, […]

new decoupage ornaments

I worked on decoupaged ornaments today. I have a Ziploc bag full of Christmas cards that I think would be good for this method. Today, I pulled out three of them and made these ornaments. This is the front of the ornament I call “Let it Snow.” And the back… The Christmas card I used […]

menu plan monday ~ march 7, 2016

Today, my Dad is having shoulder replacement surgery. Please pray for effective surgery and a speedy recovery. I talked to him Sunday afternoon. He is looking forward to the surgery as a means of relief from the pain he has been suffering with. Here’s a picture of Dad giving the twins a ride in his […]