God Bless Our Bedtime Prayers -Review

Find peace in your bedtime routine.
Do you long for your children to grow close with God? Join the adorable animal families as they learn to pray about every moment of the day—the fun times, the hard parts, and everything in between.
Whether the animals ask God for help finding a toy or thank Him for the day’s adventures, God Bless Our Bedtime Prayers will create a special, quiet bedtime routine of prayer and will instill God’s Word in your children’s hearts.
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God Bless Our Bedtime Prayers
Written by: Hannah C. Hall
Illustrated by: Steve Whitlow



God Bless Our Bedtime Prayers is truly a beautiful way to end your little one's day. The peaceful rhythm of each prayer is helpful in calming a child and a lovely way to encourage them in their bedtime prayers.

Each page illustrates a different animal family and a special experience from their day. One illustration pictures a bear family enjoying ice cream in the park, the prayer to accompany this page is one of thanksgiving followed by "Always be thankful" Colossians 3:15. Another page shows a little bunny searching for his teddy bear before bed, the prayer is a request of help and is followed by "Give all your worries to him, because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7. What a beautiful reminder that we can take all of our concerns to the Lord, even the smallest one.

Each illustration is precious. The soft coloring and variety of animal families really attracted my daughter's attention. When the book arrived she was very excited to read it with me. I loved how the book presented so many different ideas of prayers to children, and that each prayer was followed by a scripture. There are prayers of thanksgiving, concern for a sibling's health, fear, confession of not sharing with a friend and a desire to help others. All wonderful lessons for children!

My daughter is 3 1/2 and really enjoyed God Bless Our Bedtime Prayers however younger children would find this book enjoyable too since the pages are short. It is a board book which is perfect for little ones who have yet to learn the importance of treating books with special care. : )

I would definitely recommend this book!

*I received a complimentary copy of God Bless Our Bedtime Prayers from Book Look Blogger in exchange for my honest review*

Clothes Pin Bags, Aprons and Laundry Day Inspiration

Once spring arrives I am always excited to hang laundry outside to dry on my clothesline again. There is something absolutely wonderful about wearing a garment that smells of fresh air and sunshine!

 I have found my clothes pin bag to be a very handy accessory. In the past I would sometimes be guilty of leaving clothes pins on the line. Over time the clothes pins would become discolored and the springs could become rusty. But with a clothes pins bag it is so easy to collect my clothes pins up at the end of the day.

Over the past two years I have enjoyed making my own homemade laundry detergent. I found this recipe on Pinterest and really like how quickly a batch can be made. I always add lavender essential oil to my detergent.

Homemade Laundry Detergent:

• An empty  1/2 gallon old detergent jug or 1/2 gallon canning jar
• 1/2 cup liquid castile soap
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 5 drops lavender essential oil

Combine ingredients in 1/2 gallon container, fill container with hot water. Shake to combine. Gently shake before each use. Use 1/4- 1/3 cup per load.

Another laundry favorite is this stain remover recipe.

Use 2 parts peroxide and 1 part blue Dawn and baking soda. I usually use 1/2 cup peroxide, 1/4 cup Dawn dish soap and 1/4 cup baking soda. Apply to stain remover prior to washing.

 

I shared this some time ago, but thought it would be a nice addition to this post....

Old Recipe

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Years ago a Kentucky grandmother gave the new bride the following recipe for washing clothes. It appears below just as it was written, and despite the spelling, has a bit of philosophy. This is an exact copy as written and found in an old scrap book (with spelling errors and all).

1.Bilt a fir in backyard to heat kettle of rain water. 2.Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert. 3.Shave one hole cake of lie soap in bilin water. 4.Sort things make 3 piles. 1 pile white, 1 pile colored, 1 pile work britches and rags. 5.To make startch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with bilin water. 6.Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and then bile. Rub colored don’t bile, just rinch and starch. 7. Take things out of kettle with broomstick handle, then rinch, and starch. 8.Hang old rags on fence. 9.Spread tea towels on the grass. 10. pore rinch water in the flower beds. 11. Scrub porch with hot soapy water. 12.Turn tubs upside down. 13.Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings.

***Paste this over our washer and dryer and next time when you think things are bleak, read it again and give thanks for your blessings!

 

The clothes pin bags featured in this post are for sale in my Etsy shop. I have also added some pretty new aprons too.

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Colossians 3:23

Springtime Dresses

Earlier this spring I sewed some new dresses for my daughter, Jemimah. I love to sew, but sewing something for my little girl brings me the greatest pleasure! In the photo above is a jumper/sundress, which has been Jemimah's favorite new dress this spring. She selected the fabric herself, in spite of my efforts to talk her into a similar fabric in lavender. Pink is her favorite color and she reminds me of this fact often.

I think another reason this jumper is a favorite are the pockets! I had fun designing these pockets. They are simple rounded pocket cut out taller than usual, so that the extra fabric can be folded down to create a casing for elastic. Jemimah loves pockets! She carries her little treasures with her in these pockets; flowers, bows and her little Thomas trains. : )

My mom and I are offering this jumper/sundress on our Etsy page here. It can be custom sewn in a variety of pretty cotton calicos.

 Another favorite has been this sweet little rose print dress, because it is also pink! This is one of my favorite dress styles due to it's simplicity. I sewed this dress style with a collar and long sleeves last fall.

I used Robert Kauffman fabric that I had purchased from fabric.com for this dress, and the dress below. I was very pleased with this line of fabric, it was hard to choose just two from the collection.

I especially enjoyed sewing this dress! It was Jemimah's Easter dress this year. I love the soft lavender floral pattern.

It was fun to select the different trims and ribbon to make this dress special. She looks so sweet and old-fashioned wearing this dress.

Since taking these pictures I have sewn a few other garments for Jemimah's spring/summer wardrobe. I am so grateful and blessed to be able to sew most of my daughter's clothes. It is also a joy to see her pleased with the what I have made. I remember the excitement I felt helping my mom choose fabric for my dresses when I was a girl, and then the feeling of trying on my new dress for the first time! All of the dresses my mom made with such love are special memories to me.

I hope you are enjoying a pleasant start to your week. Do you have any special sewing projects this week?