Adorned From Above Jewelry and Blog

It has been such a long time since I have written anything, but I wanted to share some exciting news about Adorned From Above Designs and my Adorned From Above Blog.  

Starting this weekend, Thanksgiving weekend, you will find my new 10 Piece Jewelry Collection, called The Inspired Collection at Adorned From Above Designs.  I am so excited to share these beautiful pieces with all of you.  When you sign up for our VIP Newsletter List for Adorned From Above Designs you will automatically receive a 30% discount coupon, and this is good for your entire purchase!!! Yeah!!!  You can even use it on top of the sale prices.  Which means on Cyber Monday there will be a site wide sale that will be 20% off of everything in the store, after you receive that discount you can use your 30% coupon, also!!!  The thing is only the people who sign up for my VIP Newsletter List will receive the 30% off Coupon, because you are my extra special friends.

This VIP email list is going to have amazing benefits such as coupons that only my VIP friends are entitled to, exclusive sales for just my VIP's, and great jewelry giveaways.  Oh, and my first jewelry giveaway will be sometime in the first week of December.  So keep and eye out for my weekly newsletter, because that is where I will keep you updated and post a picture of the what you will have a chance of winning.  I am so excited about embarking on this new journey with all of you. I hope that you will sign up and become one of my VIP friends.

You also should have gotten an email this morning about my Adorned From Above Blog email list.  You don't have to do anything, if you want to keep receiving my newsletters, and if you don't there is and unsubscribe button in the footer of the email.  I hope that you will continue to follow Adorned From Above.  I have so many exciting things in the works for all of you.  Adorned From Above will continue to share recipes, crafts, and Bible Studies. 

I am so excited about sharing all of my new adventures with all of you.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Debi

Adorned From Above on Etsy

Have you ever wondered what to do with all of the things that you make for your blog?  I came up with a solution for mine.  Adorned From Above on Etsy is an Etsy store, and I am so excited to share the jewelry that I have making with all of you.  I, also, have a friend Gwen Taylor who is an amazing jewelry designer, and she has been making all kinds of bracelet, necklaces, and earrings for Adorned From Above on Etsy.  

This post contains links to my Etsy store. If you buy something from my Etsy store I will earn money.

Right now, Adorned From Above on Etsy, has many different bracelets, along with some necklaces, and earrings.  I have more to add, so check back often, there is a lot more coming.  Right now I am focusing on jewelry, but I may add other items in the future.

Please go in, take a look around, and shop.  I would be so excited, if you find something that you like in my store.  Here are a few of the pieces that are online right now.

As a thank you,  I am offering a 5% discount for shopping on Adorned From Above on Etsy, good for any purchase over $10.00.  Input coupon code 031017 to receive your discount.  This coupon is valid until March 31, 2017, so shop this month and receive your 5% discount.

Have a great week.

Aqua Hematite, Turquoise, and Tahitian Bead Necklace

Lapis and Pearl Wire Wrapped Bracelet

Fuscha Agate and Sterling Silver Earrings

Peridot Necklace

Pure Flix Movie Channel

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase something, I will receive a small commission.  All of the opinions are my own.

I love PureFlix.com, and I have had it for several years.  If you have not heard of it before, it is similiar to Netflix, but with Christian content.  It has something for everyone and you can let your kids watch it without worrying what they may be seeing.

They have also added PureFlix original series such as The Encounter and The Inspectors which are both great family shows.  I started watching The Encounter series at the end of last year and really enjoyed it.  It is based on the movie series The Encounter with Bruce Marchiano who continues in his role as Jesus.

They are offering, Watch "The Encounter" now and get the 1st month FREE at PureFlix.com.  Which means you can try it for a month for nothing and if you like it continue, or if not you can cancel your subscription.

I hope that you will give Pureflix a chance, they offer great family entertainment, which you don't really find anywhere else.

Have  a great week.

Whoopie Pies for Valentine's Day

I made these really easy, super cute Whoopie Pies for Valentine's Day to share with all of you.  I wish you could taste how delicious they are. Yum!!!  These are semi homemade Whoopie Pies.  I used big soft cookies from the store bakery and then fill them with the heavenly filling. There are two kinds in this batch, peanut butter cup cookies and chocolate chip cookies.  I think the peanut butter cup cookie Whoopie Pies were amazing.  I loved them.  It was reminiscent of marshmallow fluff and peanut butter for any of you who like marshmallow fluff / peanut butter sandwiches.  I thought it was absolutely delightful.  The chocolate chip ones are scrumptious also.  Are there enough adjectives describing these Whoopie Pies for all of you?  I was trying to be creative.

I first made them at Christmas for my daughter in law's birthday.  She requested them for her birthday party.  I didn't have time to make the devils food cakes for the Whoopie Pies, so I bought several different kinds of soft bakery cookies from the grocery store and then filled them.  She was very happy with this tasty alternative.  Everyone at the party thought they were really good also.

Anyway, here is the recipe.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Whoopie Pies for Valentine's Day
Serves 6
Print Screen

Ingredients:

12 large soft bakery cookies (any flavor you would like)
4 cups Marshmallow Fluff - 16 oz plastic tub
2 cups Crisco Baking Sticks All Vegetable Shortening, 20 Ounce
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tsp OliveNation Alcohol Free Gluten Free Vanilla Extract - Add Great Depth of Flavor in Baking and Cooking Recipes - Size of 2 oz
any type of Valentines Mini Hearts sprinkles

*Marshmallow Fluff, Crisco, Olive Nation, and Culpit are not paying me to give you my opinion.  If you’d like to order any of these products, though, click the Amazon* links above (who will pay me a small commission for your purchase).

Directions:

Put the marshmallow fluff, shortening, and powdered sugar in you mixer and mix using the whisk attachment until well blended.

Next add the vanilla.

Spread a several large spoonfuls on one cookie, then top with the second cookie.  I used a lot of the marshmallow frosting

Then, over a plate sprinkle whatever sprinkles you have on the frosting edges.  I did this way rather then rolling them in the sprinkles, because it worked better.

Finish putting the rest of the cookies together and put them on a serving plate and you are done. 

The only way these would be easier would be to buy them, or maybe buy the frosting.  This frosting is so good though, that you can be really proud of serving this for dessert.  They look and taste like you worked really hard on them.

I hope that you enjoy these Whoopie Pies.  I always love hearing from you.

Have a great week.

Apple Banana Bake

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In a recent post, I told all of you that I had joined weight watchers, well this Apple Banana Bake recipe is delicious and only 1 point per serving.  I am enjoying eating fruit after so many years of only eating very small portions.  I am loving making new recipes for desserts with fruit that are healthy and low in points.  This came out so delicious and I think you are going to love it as much as I did.  It was so easy to make and you should have all of the ingredients in you house.  Especially, since there are only 3 ingredients.  Give me an easy dessert recipe to make any day of the week. 

I am also giving you an alternative option, using Log Cabin Sugar Free Syrup.  This would be 0 points and that would make the whole baking dish 0 points.  So you could eat 2 servings instead of 1 for 0 points.  This is a delicious alternative and if you are really hungry, it would certainly fill you up.

Apple Banana Bake

Serves 2

1 Smartpoint per serving - with maple syrup

0 Smartpoints for all of it - with sugar free syrup

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

1 large granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly

2 bananas sliced

2 tsp Butternut Mountain Farm Grade A Dark Maple Syrup - 8 oz  (or substitute 2 tsp Mrs. Butterworth's Syrup, Sugar Free, 24 Ounce for 0 points)
1/4 tsp cinnamon 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a small baking dish with non stick spray.

Put your sliced apples and bananas in a large bowl and pour maple syrup over them.

Toss the fruit and syrup.

Pour into the baking dish.

Bake for 25 minutes.

  

Eat and Enjoy!

I always love hearing from you, so send me your comments.

Mrs. Butterworth's and Butternut Mountain are not aren't paying me to give you my opinion.  If you’d like to order either of these syrups, though, here’s the Amazon* links (who will pay me a small commission for your purchase).

God Provides

I was trying to come up with a topic for today (on my own, never a good thing), and I finally turned to God and asked Him for a topic.  (Which I should have done from the start.)  I, of course, was provided with one while I was washing my hair, it always seems to happen that way.  He told me "I will provide", which He did.  On this day He provided the topic for me, other days He provides inspiration for my designs, or recipes, whatever I may need that day.  He provides.

  

He is our constant, our healer, our deliverer.  He is dependable, reliable, loving, and kind.  He is all seeing, all knowing, available.  He is our Father.  He is our Provider.

I love the stories about Abraham's life.  He was such a faithful servant to God.  He finally received Isaac, that child that God had promised.  Then God asked him to do the unimaginable, He wanted Abraham to sacrifice his cherished son to God.  I can not even imagine how hard that would have been, but he was willing to do it for God.  He took Isaac to the mountain and was prepared to sacrifice Isaac, but God sent and angel at the last minute and said not to sacrifice his son and provided a ram for the burnt offering instead.  You can read the entire story in Genesis 22.  God provided.

So Abraham called the name of that place, "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided."
Genesis 22:14

God will provide, you need to trust Him, you need to believe in Him, you need to ask Him. Spend time with God in prayer.  Get to know Him.  He is waiting to spend time with you.

I love Matthew 7:7.  Jesus told us exactly what to do when we need something.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you."

Matthew 7:7

Have a blessed week.

Valentine's Party Crackers and Dollar Tree

**I was compensated for this post. This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

I saw some images of Party Crackers on Pinterest, and thought that it would be fun to make some Valentine's Party Crackers for my family.  They are incredibly easy, you just need to remember to save the cardboard tubes from the center of  toilet paper rolls to fill.  

I bought lots of cute little candies at Dollar Tree to stuff the tubes with.  I was also able to get the tissue paper and ribbon to wrap them.  This is such a simple project and it cost me all of $14 to make 12 of these fun little Valentine's Day Party Crackers.  I still have more supplies left for another 4 or 5,  but I ran out of the toilet paper tubes.  Dollar Tree has so many fun things to stuff into them.  I bought 7 different kinds of candy, 1 Valentine's Day Tissue Paper, 3 Valentine's Day Ribbons erasers, and little foam stickers.  I had bought some other things also, but I ran out of room in the tubes, so I will just send them separately.  You can fill them with whatever you would like.  You can Shop For Quality Supplies Today! Visit DollarTree.com!

By the way, this cost about $1.16 per Valentine's Cracker, and it is so much cuter then buying a small box of candy at the store and the cost is so much less.  I can still make four more once I have more cardboard tubes, and that would bring the cost down to under $.90 per cracker.  An amazing price for such a cute little gift.

You can even have your supplies to make these cute Party Crackers Shipped To Your Local Dollar Tree Store For FREE*!  You don't get much more convenient then that, and the added plus is that you don't have to pay for shipping.

Now I know that you are buying these items in bulk, but they would make such a cute party favor for a school Valentine's Day Party, and you can do a ton of them for very little money.  They would also make cute party favors for birthday parties or weddings, just change the tissue for the outside and you are set.

Supplies:

7 small bags of any type of wrapped candy ( I used Smartees, chocolates, and suckers)
Valentine's Day Stickers
Valentine's Day Erasers
1 package Valentine's Day Tissue Paper
3 rolls of Decorative Ribbon (3 yards each)
1 double stick tape

These are some of the candies that I used for my Valentine's Day Party Crackers.

I laid everything out and then separated everything into 12 piles for each toilet paper tube.

I cute the tissue paper in half lengthwise.

Next, I stuffed the tubes with the candy, stickers, and erasers.

I then put a piece of double stick tape on the cardboard tube and set it on a piece of tissue paper and rolled it up.

Then put a piece of tape at the edge of the tissue paper and finish rolling.  This way you don't have to worry about getting the tape in the right place.

Cut the ribbon into 8 pieces, a little over 12 inches each and tie into bows on the crackers.  If the candy has fallen out of the tubes, just push them back in and tie.

This is such an easy gift to make and they are so cute.

Have fun and thank you for joining me today.  I always love hearing from you.

Have a great Valentine's Day.

Apple Blackberry Gallette and Weight Watchers

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I joined Weight Watchers two weeks ago and I decided to make this delicious Apple Blackberry Gallette.  Yum!  It was delicious and super easy to make.  I always like easy recipes.  I adapted this recipe from a Weight Watchers recipe for a Pear Blackberry Gallette.  I didn't have any pears on hand, but I had lots of apples.  I took this to my cousin's house for dessert and was so excited to share it with everyone.  It is such a simple, rustic, looking kind of dessert.  Just so beautiful. It looks like something that would have been made for dessert after a long day working on the farm or ranch. That thought makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  There is something so comforting about connecting with our roots through food.  

Anyway, I never took the pictures yesterday, so I made another one today to share with all of you.  Only this time I made it without sugar and used my Sugar Free Sweetener - CopyCat Gentle Sweet, and that was just as delicious as the first Gallette with sugar.  So today you have a recipe for the Apple Blackberry Gallette with or without sugar.  The one with sugar is 7 points and the gallette without sugar is 5 points.  You get to choose.  You could also substitute Splenda, stevia, or Swerve confectioners also for the Copycat Gentle Sweet.   

Now, I want to share why I joined Weight Watchers.  I am not an affiliate right now, though I have signed up for their affiliate program.  I have done every kind of diet on record, only to gain the weight back and even more.  I was hesitant to share my journey, because a lot of people who follow my blog are also friends, and it makes me feel bad about myself that I can not keep the weight off.  Not only keep the weight off, but to gain even more, is even more difficult to share with people.  I have even done Weight Watchers in the past, only to gain the weight back again.  I have been on a Ketogenic diet for the past year for health reasons and those issues were taken care of by the Keto Diet.  I have done low carb diets, counted calories, the Atkins Diet, The Scarsdale Diet, The Palm Beach Diet, lots that I no longer remember.  I joined a health club a few months ago, so I had already started exercising several times a week, but I knew that I needed something to help me with weight loss.  Enter, Weight Watchers!

The reason that I am sharing this with all of you now, is that I decided to be transparent about what I am doing in hopes that it may help someone else.  To help someone like me to feel better about themselves.  You are beautiful and your worth is not in how you look or how much you weigh but the kind of person you are.  I am telling you right now that no matter your weight, you need to love yourself.  For me, it is trying to see myself the way God sees me, and I know He sees a beautiful woman.  I had been thinking about this for several months and kept seeing Oprah in the WW commercials and decided to bite the bullet and join Weight Watchers again. 

It has been even easier this time to start it.  I can eat anything, I just need to count my points.  Some of the things that I had really missed were pastries and breads.  I can eat these now, but again I have to count my points and make decisions about what I really want to eat, and what will I give up to have it.  I had pizza and garlic knots last week and it was delicious and worth every point.  What did I give up to have it, nothing really.  I had egg whites scrambled for breakfast, Trader Joe's Veggie Flaxseed tortilla chips for lunch, and for dinner and antipasto salad, 2 pieces of pizza, and 2 garlic knots.  All of that came to 32 points.  I get 30 points in a day and 35 extra points in a week, so I used 2 of my extra points for that day and it was worth it.  I also had a couple of apples for snacks that day, and they are 0 points.  Normally, my meals are a healthier then this, but this was exciting.  I didn't feel like I was cheating or doing something wrong, I am allowed to eat this.  It is a novel thought for me after years of not eating things because they are not allowed.  I guess that always set me up to fail.

Anyway, I lost 5.6 pounds in the first 12 days and that makes me happy!  I have a long way to go, but this is a good start.  Anyway, on to the recipe for this delicious Apple Blackberry Gallette.

Apple Blackberry Galette / Sugar Free or Not

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled, cored, and sliced very thin

2 cups blackberries

2 tsp butter melted

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup Copycat Gentle Sweet, or Pyure Organic Stevia All-Purpose Blend Sweetener, 16 Ounce, Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated 9.7 Ounce Bag by Splenda, Swerve Sweetener, Confectioners, 12 Ounce, or Sugar

1 Pillsbury Pie Crust

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Lay you pie crust on a piece of parchment on a baking sheet

Put you apples and blackberries in a bowl and add the butter, salt, and sweetener and stir together.

Lay the apples on the pie crust starting at the center in a circular pattern leaving 2 inches from the edge free to fold over the apples and blackberries

 Then pour the blackberries over the apples

Next, fold the pie crust over the edge of the apples and blackberries.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until the crust is done and lightly browned.

Let sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting to let the juices firm up

Serves 8

with sugar 7 points
without sugar 5 points

I hope you like this recipe.  As always I love hearing from all of you, and if you have any questions please feel free to send me a message.

Have a wonderful week.

Craftsy BOGO Class Sale

I may be compensated for this post. This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

  Make 2017 a year of more making! Get two classes for the price of one. Use coupon code BOGOJAN17 at checkout.  I love Craftsy classes, and today I am so excited to share a great new buy one get one free offer.  I have taken all kinds of classes from Craftsy, and this is an amazing offer.  You can take these classes in your own time frame and stop and start them as you need to. I am going to sign up for a couple of classes that I have not yet taken. I think The Essentials for Understanding Light (w/ Alan Thornton) will be a good class to take, since I just bought a lightbox and need to understand lighting my jewelry designs.  I also always make chocolate candy for my family for Valentine's Day and I think I am going to sign up for this class on Homemade Chocolate Candy: Truffles, Bonbons & More (w/Jen King and Liz Gutman)  . I really hope you will give Craftsy a try.  Go in and check our their classes.  You have nothing to loose and everything to gain. Have a great week. Debi  *Purchase one Craftsy class and get another Craftsy class of equal or lesser value for free! Excludes classes from our Mastering in Minutes series and classes from our partner, The Great Courses. Limit one per user. Cannot be combined with any other offers. Expires January 15, 2017. 

John 3:16 Meme

John 3:16 Meme

I have been practicing working with memes a little bit and sharing them on twitter, but I wanted to share some of them here also.  Since Christmas is coming up, this is the time of year that people are thinking about Jesus more often,  I wanted to share John 3:16.  I have shared it in the past, but I thought it would be good to share again.

Have a blessed week.

Debi

Let Them See You In Me - Bible Study

Do you ever get a song stuck in your head?  Let Them See You by JJ Weeks Band has been playing in my head all day.  I am a Big Bang Theory fan and they called a song playing in your head an EarWorm, but I think it is more then that today.  Today I am hearing God.  The song is beautiful, but it also reflects what I want people to see when they see me.  I want them to see Him, Jesus.  I want to be a reflection of Him, Jesus.  

Prayer for the day

"God help me to be a reflection of you to this world, help me to be a reflection of our living Lord. Jesus Christ"

Amen

 Here are the words and I'll also share the YouTube video.  Maybe it will touch a nerve with you also.  If it even touches one of you then He has done His job and I have done mine.

Have a blessed day.

Debi

Let Them See You

JJ Weeks Band

Does the man I am today

Say the words you need to say

Let them see You 

in me

Let them hear You 

when I speak

Let them feel You 

when I sing

Let them see You

Let them see You

 in me

Craftsy Sale July 2016

Hey Everyone! I hope you are having a great weekend.  Craftsy is a having a great sale this weekend and I wanted to share it with all of you.  They are offering 50% off of their top classes.   I love their classes and have learned so much from them.  I would love to have you give them a try.  They also offer free mini classes if you want to give them a try to start with.  Just click on the picture below and check out all that Craftsy has to offer.

Have a great weekend.
Debi

This is a sponsored post and I may receive compensation for your purchases from Craftsy.

Happy to Be Back July 28th, 2015

It has been a long time since I have posted anything, and I really appreciated all of your questions about whether I was ok, and how things were going.  Life has been crazy for months, and I have also had to reevaluate blogging again.  I will probably post once a week and possibly start the party again at some point in the future.

We sold our house in Denver this month and closed about two weeks ago.   It took six weeks to get it ready, and we lived in that mess the whole time, but when it was done it was worth it. You'll find a few pictures of the house below, and I'll share some more next week.   It was great that it sold in 2 days, but bittersweet.  We raised our kids in that house, it's where I have lived for a big part of my adult life.  I am feeling sad that I wont be living in Colorado, which is where all of our kids and grand kids live, but I know that my sweet hubby's semi retirement is going to be fun.

So now on the the good parts of what has been happening.  As you know we moved to south Florida last December, and we live a block from the beach and on a canal.  It was wonderful having a warm winter this last year.  

Then, for the most exciting thing, three weeks ago today, our middle son and his wife had a little girl, so they now have three little girls.  She is beautiful, and mom and dad are doing great, but very sleep deprived.  I have been back in Denver since she was about 15 hours old.  It has been an amazing journey.  

Tonight, we get to have our two older granddaughters spend the night with us in our new trailer (a whole other story to come later in this post).  We are going to have Turkey Carnitas Soft Tacos (I purchased the turkey carnitas at Sprouts) for dinner with rice and beans. We will be making S'Mores for desert, and this grandma gives you lots of choices.  Our older granddaughter loves KitKat's, so she gets KitKat S'mores.  The 5 year old loves Reese's, so she will get Reese's S'Mores.  She is a lot like her daddy, he loves Reese's also.  We are going to make Pillsbury Minion Cookies and we will have french toast for breakfast tomorrow morning before I take them home.  

One of the things that I have wanted to do in retirement is to travel around the country.  The best way to do that with a dog and a cat is with a trailer.  So we bought a trailer at the end of May, and that has been quite the experience.  We left Denver on May 31st to head back to Florida for a few weeks, but about 40 miles west of Hayes, Kansas, near the little town of Wakeeney, we were in an accident with our brand new trailer.  To be specific, I was driving, a pickup truck passed me, it was towing a utility trailer, a spare tire flew off of the back of the utility trailer and was headed toward our windshield.  God was watching out for us that day.  I swerved to miss the tire, but in the meantime the trailer ended up tipping and when everything came to a stop, I was facing the oncoming traffic on I 70 and taking up both lanes.  All of the cars were pulled over to the side, and everyone was coming to us to make sure we were OK.  We were fine, just shaken up, but our cute little trailer was totaled.  God is so good and faithful.  I looked at SH (Sweet Hubby) afterward and said "God just saved us today!"  I am so grateful.  Anyway, we ended up getting me a new car (bigger) and a new trailer (bigger) and we are having a blast.  We have stayed at several nice camping places and since the house sold we have stayed at both Chatfield State Park and Cherry Creek State Park in Colorado.  We have had our granddaughters, ages 6 and 5 spend the night with us and the kids and grand kids over for a bbq.  We take the dog for walks and life is good.  The trailer is a cozy 22 ft Lance trailer with a bathroom, bedroom, fireplace, kitchen, and dinette.  It is a lovely place to call home.  (I'll share pictures next week.)   When I wake up in the morning, I look out the door at the beautiful reservoir and have my coffee.  The other morning I saw a balloon taking off.  I think we are ready for semi retirement (that means he will probably work 20 hours a week and from wherever we are rather then 60 to 80 hours a week in an office.  I can blog a little since most campgrounds have WiFi, which is great, and I can take my crafts with me.  Also, we have to eat, so new recipes will be coming your way.  

To kick off his slowing down, we also went on a 17 day transatlantic cruise in April and then spent 2 nights in Rome before flying home. It was a blast.  Our cousins went with us and we all enjoyed ourselves so much that we are planning another cruise with them next June to Northern Europe.  On this last one we went to the Canary Islands, Cartegena, Spain, Malaga, Spain, Barcelona, Nice, Florence, Pisa, and Rome. I have so many beautiful pictures to share with all of you.  I can't wait.

I took the picture of the peacock below in Cartegena, Spain.  It was mating season, so he was showing off his feathers for the females.

Here is a picture from last nights sunset.  It was truly spectacular.

Have a great week and I'll see you again next week.