Lev HaOlam: Goodness from Israel

I am a big supporter of Israel, since I am a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and a follower of MessiahYeshua of Nazareth. Israel and its people hold a special place in my heart. Since I am "grafted in" to the commonwealth of Israel because of Yeshua (see Romans 11), I feel a special kinship with Israel.  When I visited the land of Israel it felt like home.  So, when I heard about the European Union's boycott on Judea and Samaria earlier this year, I wanted to do something about it.  (You can read an article about the boycott here.)  My family and I learned about a project called LevHaOlam, and we signed up right away!

By signing up with LevHaOlam, we are able to support Judea and Samaria by sending some funds directly there every month.  In return, we receive a box of wonderful hand-crafted, artisan quality products produced in Judea and Samaria.  It is so exciting to get a box of goodness from Israel each month!

So far we have received three boxes.

Our first box was the June box.  In it was a big box of organic herbal tea from the Samarian village of Ofra; a jar of organic honey from the Tzuf Harim beehives belonging to the founder of Lev HaOlam, produced from wildflowers that grow in the Judean Hills; a pair of coasters with beautiful scenic photos of Samarian landscapes; some delicious organic chocolate from Maaleh Hever, adjacent to the Tomb of the Patriarchs; a do-it-yourself mosaic kit,

and a Hebrew alphabet magnet set for the refrigerator!

In July, our box included a beautiful artistic picture of a Torah scroll which highlights Psalm 121:4; more organic chocolate; a magnet set with four magnets that say "Love", "Happiness", "Success", and "Health"; a handmade hot mitt from Kibbutz Rosh Tzurim in the Etzion Region in the Judean Hills; and a bottle of bittersweet chocolate liqueur from the Lavie Winery. It is named Lavie (lion) to commemorate the Tribe of Judah, on whose tribal land the winery is located.

I used some of the chocolate liqueur to make the best brownies I have ever tasted in my life. Seriously. Best brownies ever!

The box we got in August was equally as fabulous. In it was a package of Dead Sea Mud from the bottom of the Dead Sea; sun dried tomatoes from Tekoa Farm in the Northern Judean Desert; a handmade wooden message board, beautifully painted by an artist in the village of Hemdat in the Jordan Valley; organic "Milky Makeup Remover" made from avacado oil and citron water from the Samarian village of Itamar; a Mehalvad cheese cloth with a recipe to make traditional Israeli cheese called "lebane"; a Lev HaOlam hat;

and a Land of Israel Memory game!

Rebecca with the Land of Israel Memory Game

We decided Haley should keep the hat, because she looks so cute in it!

Haley in her new hat

We can't wait to see what will be in the next box from Israel!

If you would like to know more about Lev HaOlam, please click here to visit their website. Here is a short video about them:

The Front Porch

One of my favorite things about my house is the front porch.  It's a nice big front porch that wraps around one side of the house, and it's perfect for sitting at any time of the year.  My husband and I especially like to sit on our porch and enjoy our morning coffee on summer mornings before he goes off to work.  We love our two person rocking chair, the shabby chic single rocker found in a thrift shop, the cute little side table (also thrifted), and the chair I found across the street last year during community clean up week and painted white (I sanded it a bit so it would be shabby chic, too.)  

This summer I made some pretty porch pillows for the chairs.  They are made from inexpensive vinyl tablecloths and stuffed with stuffing from some old pillows I had in the attic.  They turned out so cute, and they add a nice pop of color to the white furniture.

 Some pots of bright flowers help add some cheerful color, too.

We needed a new doormat, so I bought a plain one at WalMart and stenciled "Shalom" on it.  I love it!

Just some simple little touches make the porch even more welcoming and cheerful, and it's one of my favorite places to be.

New Design: Feedsack Coin Purses

 Well, I did it. I could hardly bear it, but I finally cut into my little collection of feedsack fabric!

Feedsack fabric is from the 1930s and 40s era, when flour, sugar, seeds, rice, fertilizer, and feed were packaged in brightly printed cloth bags. The prudent housewife would save these bags and make useful and beautiful things out of them, like dresses, quilts, and aprons.  The sacks came in many different prints and colors, and ladies would save them up and even trade them to get just the right prints for just the right project.

If you look carefully, you can sometimes find feedsacks in thrift and antique shops. If you know what you're looking for, you can easily identify them by the look and feel of the fabric, and by the little holes along the edges where they were previously stitched into sacks.

I have found several of these lovely sacks, and I've started my own collection. I decided that, besides looking pretty, they were doing me no good just sitting on the shelf, and I want to share them with others. They needed to be made into something useful. So, here's what I've made with them so far for my etsy shop:

I thought coin purses would be appropriate. You can now carry your own pennies in a little piece of history from a time when saving pennies was an important part of daily life.

And they're cute on the inside, too!

An Organized Pantry!

One of my favorite things about our house has always been the lovely pantry.  I love all of the shelves and the quaint, original countertop and cupboards.  My pantry had become very disorganized, though...to the point that I didn't even want to look in there anymore.  Something had to be done!  So, I slowly started organizing.  I'm finally finished, and so happy with the result!

I organized the big cupboard where we keep most of the food by grouping things in plastic bins and a lazy susan.  This cupboard is so deep, and the plastic bins give us easier access to everything without shifting it all around.

On the open shelves I put down pretty red-checked shelf paper.  I gathered all of my miscellaneous glass jars to store beans, rice, flour and sugar.  Don't they look pretty?  I thought chalkboard labels would be cute on the jars, and I decoupaged the mismatched lids with light blue polka dot paper to match the walls.

I got a small chalkboard from Hobby Lobby and mounted it on the food cupboard door to write our weekly menus on, and I painted a little coat rack so I can hang up and display my apron collection.

I love my aprons! And I love my pretty, organized pantry!

Antique Jars

I recently discovered Pinterest, and let me tell you, I lo-ove it! What a great place to find project ideas and inspiration! I saw the idea for these soap dispensers made with antique canning jars, and I just had to make them. They are so cute, and it was so easy! I just used a hammer and nail to make a hole in the top of the lids, and made the hole just the right size with some needle nose pliers. Then I inserted the soap pumps that I already had...and done! I didn't even have to use any kind of glue or anything, they seem to be staying in place just fine. One holds dishwashing soap in my kitchen, and the other is for hand washing in the bathroom. Isn't the aqua color of the jars so pretty? I wonder why they stopped making canning jars colored like this?

Speaking of antique canning jars, earlier this month I found this:

I was with my husband in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for a weekend getaway, and we went to visit one of my favorite places in Bird-in-Hand. (Isn't "Bird-in-Hand" such a cute name for a town? My great-grandmother was born there!) The last time I visited this shop in Bird-in-Hand, it was called "Old Village Store" (or something like that), and now it is "Old Village Antiques". It is absolutely packed with antiques! We spent quite a while in there. Hours, maybe. My husband found a whole shelf full of jars of buttons for me, and I chose this one. It has so many buttons in it, I figured I only needed one...for now. 

My New Old Machine

Yesterday I found one of the best thrift shop finds ever!  I was driving by a local thrift store and decided to make a quick stop.  Just after we walked in, my daughter Rebecca said, "Mom, look! They have old sewing machines!"  Later, I returned to the store, husband in tow, and he bought me the gorgeous machine pictured above and lugged it out to the van and then into the house for me.  (Thanks, honey!)  I love it.  It was made in 1952, so it's electric, and it seems to be in great working condition.  It's in a cute cabinet that folds up to look like a little table. I figured out how to thread it, and it sews oh, so quietly.  Now I am looking for an instruction manual for this model so I can learn how to make adjustments and oil and care for it properly.  Someday I still would like to get an old treadle machine, but in the meantime I am so happy with my beautiful old machine! 

Best Giveaway Ever! Trip to Paris

I just found out about the best blog giveaway I have ever seen.  Seriously.  Jordan at Oh Happy Day is hosting a giveaway for a trip to Paris, France!  The winner receives a 7 day trip for two to Paris, including airfare and hotel!!!  I have never won a giveaway.  This is the one I want to win!  I love Paris.  Love. It.  My husband and I visited there for a few days during our 20th anniversary trip to Europe.  It was amazing, and I have wanted to go back ever since.

You can enter this amazing giveaway at Oh Happy Day. 

The Value of Virtue and the Worth of Wisdom: $3 or Priceless?

One of my favorite antique shops is called "Antique Alley". It is one of those places that I can get lost in for hours, with both an upstairs and a basement filled with all sorts of vintage treasures. One day I was browsing in the basement, and I found this beautiful cross-stitch sampler that I knew I must have. The elegant alphabet letters were flanked on either side with vases of tulips, all surrounded by a lovely border, and below was this phrase: "may virtue all my steps attend and wisdom be my constant friend". I picked up the sampler and flipped it over to find the price, and what I found made me feel like crying. $3.00. All the time and effort someone had put into this piece, stitching such a meaningful phrase, and now it sat in a dusty basement corner, available for me to purchase for a mere $3.00. What a sad commentary of the things that are no longer valued today.
Dictionary.com defines virtue as "1. moral excellence; goodness; righteousness. 2. conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude." In the Bible, Proverbs 31 tells us all about the virtuous woman. She is a successful, happy, industrious woman, and her husband and her children love and praise her. Virtue is something to strive for! Wisdom is defined as "the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight". Wisdom is definitely something we could all use a little of! Virtue and wisdom should be foremost in our minds when considering our actions. This phrase should be one to live by, not hidden away in a basement somewhere in Delaware.
This sampler now hangs on my bedroom wall, right by the door. Every time I glance at it as I walk through that door, the phrase makes its way into my heart and life a little bit more. "May virtue all my steps attend and wisdom be my constant friend". I imagine the loving hands that stitched this little phrase, carefully working for hours, crafting a work of art for someone special. Was it made for a young bride perhaps? Or maybe for a sister, mother, grandmother, or dear friend? I will never know who it was for or how it ended up where it did. But now I have discovered it. And to me, it is not worth $3.00. It is priceless.

Snail Mail

I love snail mail! I love checking the mailbox and finding something there besides just advertisements and junk. I also love paper, especially beautiful writing paper and envelopes (and, of course, scrapbooking paper, but we'll save that subject for another time). The other day I saw some envelopes made with old maps. I knew I had an old road atlas somewhere in the attic, so I dug it out of a box, and my daughter and I spent an afternoon making the envelopes and stationery pictured above. They were quick and fun to make and I wanted to make a LOT more, but I thought maybe I should use these first and write some letters. So, if I have your snail mail address, don't be surprised if someday soon (or...not so soon) you get a little something in the mail from me! And if I don't have your address and you like mail as much as I do, give me your info and I'll be glad to write to you. I've been writing a lot more letters in the past few months. I've been inspired by my new pen-friend Julie, and her blog The Letter Writing Revolution "Revitalizing a lost art one letter at a time". I am also intrigued by the idea of "mailart". Elle at Art of a Letter sent me some of her "stampart" in the mail. It's so intricate, and very beautiful. My daughters and I also recently joined Postcrossing. We send and receive postcards all around the world. Here are some of the postcards I have received so far:

It's so much fun to get a brightly colored card from a person in some random place around the world! Does mail make you happy, too? Write a letter or send a card to brighten someone's day, and maybe you'll get one back!
P.S. If you send one to me, you will definitely get one back!

Rediscovering Jane

Yesterday evening I was reading "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen, and this morning I happened to stumble upon the information that her birthday was just a few days ago, December 16, 1775. A few years ago I read "Pride and Prejudice" (I think I read it all the way through) , and I love watching the movies based on her books and her life, but now I am rediscovering her.

She was only 41 years old when she died. I am 41. Wow. To think that she wrote all of those lovely books before she reached the age I am now! What an accomplishment! And the language! The beautiful, complicated way she expressed herself on paper, while here I am, writing in incomplete sentences (and not even on paper)! Did people really speak like that in her time? Or did she just have an amazing way with words? I like to imagine it was a little bit of both. Reading her work brings to memory the reason why I love reading books written in a time other than my own. It's like being transported to a more elegant, romantic time. Yes, I understand that I am reading fiction, but it is like a looking through a little window into the way people thought, spoke, and conducted themselves during that time. Reading Jane Austen always inspires me to attempt to speak, dress, and act a bit more eloquently. I think we all could use a little dose of Jane once in awhile.

Here is a video of the home in Chawton where she spent the final years of her life. It is now a museum preserved in her memory.

Challah

My little family observes the Sabbath on Saturdays. "What? Are you Jewish?" you ask. No, not Jewish...but...this quote about sums it up: "I am not Jewish. But I follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am a disciple of the Jewish Messiah. I live as a Jewish person lives. Messianic Judaism is my faith. But I was born a gentile, and by grace I have been grafted in." (Rick Spurlock of BereansOnline.org) Because we put our faith in Jesus (we like to call him by his Hebrew name, Yeshua), we are able to be a part of God's people, so we follow his instructions for life, the Torah. We are learning more every day how to do this. Because the Jewish people have been following Torah since it was given, we have adopted many of their traditions and customs, which are full of SO much meaning.

All that to say: Every Friday night we have a special Family dinner to welcome in the Sabbath. I light the candles and my husband says the blessings over the wine (well...juice) and bread and prays for the children. On most Fridays I do as many Jewish women do and make two braided loaves of challah. As the mother of the family kneads and braids this bread, she prays for her loved ones who will be eating it. I LOVE this! It is a special privilege for me to make challah for my family and entwine my prayers for them within the braids. I recently learned how to make a six stranded braid, and it turns out so beautiful! I learned by watching this video:






Shabbat shalom!

Ode to Oranges

Ok, so I guess this isn't an actual "ode", since it's not a poem, but lately I have been really wanting my favorite fruit in the world, so I thought I would write about it. This is not just any average orange, at least not here in the United States. The orange I am talking about is called the "Tarocco" orange, and is found primarily in Italy. When my husband and I were in Rome about two years ago, I tasted the most delicious, juicy, sweet oranges I have ever tasted, and I am usually not a big fan of oranges!
My first taste of this wonderful fruit was the in the juice they served us on the plane from Paris to Rome on Alitalia Airlines. It was early in the morning, and the flight attendants came by with the beverage cart and asked us something in a different language. French? Italian? Or maybe just heavily accented English? I was too groggy to figure it out. I just said "juice?" and was served some kind of red liquid and a mysterious pastry-looking thing. The pastry was positively yummy. Then I took a sip of the red juice, and was introduced to my new favorite juice ever. I wish I could remember the name of it. It may or may not be this:

Sadly, this juice is not available in the U.S. They also served the juice in our hotel at breakfast. I was a regular juice-aholic! Oh, how I miss that juice! We then were able to find the actual fruit at a little fruit stand not far from the Colosseum in Rome. So yummy! Later I found out that Tarocco oranges are the most popular "table fruit" in Italy, and I can definitely see why. My question is, why, oh why can't I find these oranges where I live??? I love them so much, that I may have to go back to Italy just for their oranges...

Sock Monkeys!

I love sock monkeys! Yes, I love the old-fashioned ones made with the gray and red socks, but I especially love making sock monkeys with bright and fun patterned socks.
I first made a sock monkey last December when I was asked to teach a sewing class to elementary aged students at the school where my husband is the principal. Hmmm, I thought, what to have them make? I wanted to do something fun and easy, but that would also give them a challenge. I decided sock monkeys would be perfect. Just to be sure, my daughters and I made some first for practice. We sewed them completely by hand, just like my students would. So much fun! We laughed so hard with each new monkey part we completed. They were just SO CUTE! We sould hardly stand it! Those monkeys had to be the most fun project ever! And my little students did a fantastic job and had a lot of fun making their little monkeys.
I had so much fun with those monkeys, that I decided to make some to sell in my Etsy shop. These monkeys are sewn by machine first, then the individual parts are sewn onto the body by hand. I like to embroider the face so that little ones can play with the monkeys without worries about small parts like buttons coming off.

These are my latest monkeys. I love them!

Lavender

Ok, I must admit, I am NOT a gardener! I try, I really do, but I just don't have that green thumb. This year, the rest of the family is in charge of the backyard vegetable garden, and it's actually looking pretty good. I am just in charge of the flowers. I love lavender, so last year I planted five nicely sized plants. Well, two of them are doing great. The others...well I hope they survive. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I treat them all the same. But, at least those two have lots of beautiful and great smelling blooms! I'm seeing some cute little sachets in the future. Maybe made out of vintage flour sack fabric or antique handkerchiefs. Antique shops, here I come!

Banana Cream Pie

On Friday morning, I asked my husband what he wanted for dessert for our weekly Friday night family dinner. He said, "I want what I ALWAYS want for dessert". Now, we have been married for over 22 years, and I was clueless as to what he always wanted for dessert. Seems like something I should know. I just said, "Oh. Ok. And what would that be?" The answer was banana cream pie. I knew he liked it, but I guess I didn't realize just how much! So we had banana cream pie for dessert, made from scratch, of course. There is no fake pudding mix in this kitchen! And we topped it with real whipped cream. Mmmmmm, yummy! Note to self: his favorite dessert is banana cream pie.