You Capture: Chocolate

I can't think of a yummier theme for this week's You Capture...Chocolate!  

I stopped by The Chocolate Box for a little inspiration, since we were in the area today.   

Daisy, the owner, graciously gave me a tour of her delightful shop, and showed me some of the many chocolatey treats she makes:

Dipping a sample blueberry

Dark chocolate covered blueberries, plus one sample sized berry

Oooeee Goooeeeys:  Daisy's version of s'mores in a bag.

Chocolate covered Twinkie...How could this be wrong?  :)

Chocolate covered Nutter Butters

Dipped Rice Krispy treats

There were chocolatey-themed aprons...

 

And signs...Oh!  Her signs!  Loved them!

(But not as much as her chocolatey treats!)

 

Why, yes, those are chocolate handcuffs.  No comment.

This was her sign at the register.  :)

  ~~~~~

 
Here's a bonus shot of chocolate...A Hershey's Kiss in the glow of a computer monitor's button.  (This is SOOC except for cropping.)  The kiss is out of focus, but the shadow effect was pretty cool.

You can find The Chocolate Box on Facebook here.   If you're in the Conyers area, you can meet Daisy this Saturday at the Taste of Conyers event in Olde Town to taste some of her delicious treats! 

This post is linked to I Should be Folding Laundry (You Capture).

Giveaway: 5x7 Postcards (NOW CLOSED)

I was recently contacted by PrintRunner, an online printing company, about hosting a giveaway on my blog.  PrintRunner offers--among other products--online postcard printing.  I am pleased to tell you that I have a giveaway for 100 5x7 postcards!

Giveaway details:

• Postcard Size : Postcards 5x7
• Quantity : 100 
• Colors : 4/0 Front Only Printing
• Paper : 14 PT. UV Coating on Front
• Rounded Corners : Yes 
• Proof : None 
• Ready to Ship In : 4 Business Days

 

*Please note:  This giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above.

So, what would you do with 100 postcards? Leave a comment telling me how you would use the postcards for a chance to win! (Please make sure I have your email address so I can contact you if you are chosen as the winner.)

For additional entries, you can leave additional comments for each of the following things you do:

• Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect
• Receive my blog posts via email (enter your email address in the Feedburner box at the top of my left sidebar)
• Promote the giveaway by posting a link to this post on your blog
• Promote the giveaway by posting a link to this post on Facebook

The giveaway ends on April 17th at 7:00 p.m. ET, at which time I will randomly pick a winner from the comments. On April 30th, PrintRunner will email the winner with instructions on how to claim the prize.

Disclaimer:  This generous giveaway is offered by PrintRunner. No monetary compensation was given and I will receive postcards for hosting the giveaway. For more information about postcards, please visit http://www.printrunner.com/postcard-printing.html.

You can follow PrintRunner on Twitter and/or Like them on Facebook.

Easter

Happy Easter!

On Sunday, in addition to celebrating Easter, we celebrated my youngest nephew's 4th birthday.

The kids had an Easter egg hunt...

 

Grace (6), with a look of total concentration as she flies down the steps.  She tickles me!

Even some of the big kids hunted eggs (Robert, 14, with a borrowed basket)

while everyone else watched from a safe distance.  ;)

My Dad

(The scurrying of all the children made for bad pictures.  I didn't get even one good picture of Josiah hunting eggs!)

Grace (6) and Josiah (9)

"What do you mean, I've had too much sugar?"

There were fun confetti eggs to smash on other people's heads. (Robert got me...twice.)

Grace with the birthday boy

Stomping on the remains of the confetti eggs

 

Silly cousins

There was even a puppy to love on.

Grace and Josiah loving on Mr. Bingley, my niece's puppy.

And, of course, presents to open

and play with.

What did you do on Easter?


This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom (Wordless Wednesday) and I Should be Folding Laundry (You Capture).

Good Friday

He was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our sins.
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him
And by His wounds we are healed.

(Isaiah 53:5--written over 700 years before Christ's birth)

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Watch the video of "By His Wounds" from the CD Glory Revealed here on YouTube.

Happy Easter!  He is risen!

In Christ Alone

The photos in this post were taken during a recent trip to the Explorations in Antiquity Center. 

A mosaic of loaves and fish near the entrance to the Explorations in Antiquity Center.

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe

A rock-cut manger.  Caves were often used as stables.

This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save

The inscription "King of Jews"--the written charge against Jesus--was written in three languages:  Hebrew, Latin, and Greek

A shadow box filled with a description of crucifixion, lots like the soldiers used to decide who would get Jesus' clothing, and an example of a crucifixion nail through a foot

They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing (Psalm 22:18 NIV)

'Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied

Existing trees were often used instead of an entire movable cross in areas that did not have an abundance of sturdy trees.  The condemned criminal would carry the horizontal piece rather than both the vertical and horizontal pieces; that is what is depicted here. 

For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

To the left and behind the cross, you can see the sponge on a hyssop stalk that is similar to what Jesus was given vinegar to drink from while he hung on the cross (John 19:29).  When the crucified person was on this type of cross (using an existing tree as the vertical piece), they were not very high off the ground.  Hyssop plants grow to be up to 60 cm long.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain

A body prepared for burial in a tomb

Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

The empty tomb

Empty burial cloths (center), as well as a wrapped body and ossuary boxes

And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of @#!*% , no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
'Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand


Listen to one version of "In Christ Alone" here on YouTube.

 More photos from our visit:

An example of a city gate on the right.

Bells hung from a doorpost.

Inside a home

A millstone:  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. (Matthew 18:6 NIV)

 

For perspective on the immense size of the millstone.

 

The entrance to a tomb was small enough that an adult would have to crouch down to enter.

Works For Me Wednesday: Homemade liquid hand soap

You can read through this post to get the general idea of what to do and what not to do*, but I'll tell you the simple thing I do now:

I use 4 cups of water for 1 grated bar of soap (I use Ivory).   Heat the water, stir until the soap flakes dissolve completely, and let the soap mixture cool enough to handle the pan you've used.  Use a funnel to pour the still-warm soap mixture into a storage container (an empty Softsoap refill container works great) and/or go ahead and refill any soap pumps you have.  That's it.  I don't use the liquid glycerin anymore, either.  Super easy!

*Here's one thing not to do...forgetting to let the soap mixture cool first before putting it in a storage container is definitely not a good idea.  Not that I've done that or anything, of course...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I saw a recipe for homemade liquid hand soap on Pinterest recently and decided to try it out this week.  The recipe calls for liquid glycerin and a bar of soap of your choice.  I bought the liquid glycerin at Hobby Lobby for $2.08 (it is in the soap making section and is $3.47 for 8 fl. oz.; you can print a 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby's website) and I bought the Yardley of London oatmeal and almond soap at Dollar General for $1.00.

There was no special reason for buying the Yardley soap except that it was the soap I found with the faintest fragrance, which I needed to prevent problems with asthma.

I followed the directions for the recipe, which are basically:

1. Grate the entire bar of soap (an 8 oz. bar)
2. Heat the soap shavings, 2 Tablespoons of liquid glycerin, and 1 gallon of water over medium-high heat on the stove top
3. Stir until the soap shavings are completely dissolved 
4. Let cool 12+ hours
5. Stir and pour the mixture into a container for storage

 

If you've made liquid laundry detergent and want some comparisons, the hand soap is much quicker to make because these soap flakes dissolve much quicker than the Fels Naptha soap flakes and, of course, there are fewer ingredients to measure out.  Before the soap cools, it looks so watery that you think you've done something wrong.  You haven't; it just needs to cool.  The finished consistency after the hand soap has cooled is very similar to the liquid laundry detergent.  I will probably use less water the next time I make it so that the soap will be a little thicker. (See my note below.)

As you can see in this photo, I ended up with less than one gallon of hand soap simply because we had a spill as we were transferring the soap to the clean milk jug.  It may or may not have been after my husband asked me, "So, is it tomorrow that we make our own butter?" 

OK, so the spill was actually from an overflowing funnel.  But Jason really did say that.

And subsequent times I've made liquid hand soap, I put the cooled mixture in an old Softsoap refill container.

Even though our current batch is just a little thinner than I'd like (thin liquid soap = messy countertop), I like the recipe enough to make it again when we finish off the gallon jug.  I figure this homemade liquid hand soap will save us some serious money, especially with the way my children use copious amounts of this stuff every day.  And that works for me!

See the original recipe for more detailed instructions and hints.  I am just now seeing that I should have used two bars of the soap I bought since the recipe says to use an 8 oz. bar of soap.  Hmmmm...guess that's why it's a little thin!  Still, there is plenty of lather with my batch even though I went a little light on the soap.

*Since this post, I have made another batch of soap using a different recipe:  2 bars of grated soap, 1 Tablespoon of glycerin, and 8 cups of water.  I used Ivory soap and liked the results even better.  Click here for my post for more details about that recipe. 

Wordless Wednesday

Golston?  Gholston?

Click on photo to enlarge

Hmmm...The hand-painted signs are each spelled differently.

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom (Wordless Wednesday).