It's Just Too Easy- Decoupaged scrap paper ornament & the Barefoot Contessa's New York egg cream

Ever had one of those days where there's ninety-trillion things that you need to be doing, therefore you end up doing anything but? That's been my life lately.. not good. I knew it couldn't be Biblical to chronically procrastinate, so the other morning I woke up at the crack of dawn and searched the Bible cover to cover groggily headed to Google and typed, "What does the Bible say about procrastination?" It took me here, BackToTheBible.org, which had some great and
convicting points-

• We are to be imitators of Christ, who didn't delay in doing anything His Father set before Him. He knew how valuable every second of every day was, and He never failed to take advantage of the time He'd been given.

• God created us with potential that can only be fully found when we're serving Him with everything we've got. It's hard for me to see how getting my laundry done or responding to the emails that have been piling up in my inbox qualifies as stepping into my God-given potential, but it makes sense when I remember what Jesus says in Matthew 25:21 and Luke 16:10 about those who can be trusted with very little being able to be trusted with very much. If I can't discipline myself to load the dishwasher and study for tomorrow's exam, how can I expect to be able to handle the things that eternally matter in the way God created me to handle them?

• And lastly, time is limited. Ain't that the truth? There have been too many reminders of that lately. When my days and deeds are read before the throne, I would really rather hear less of how I updated my Facebook page for the 569873th time and more of how I listened to the Lord and acted accordingly

Again, conviction. And I wish I could say that I changed my tune immediately.. my car's half-unpacked trunk and the mound of unfinished Christmas presents staring me in the face right now would rat me out if I tried.

Dang you, sinful nature.

But I'm trying. And actually, today I was pretty successful. So when mid-afternoon rolled around and I needed a break, I decided do a few quick-and-easy DIYs that are perfect for all the cash-and-time strapped of us out there.


Since I'm kind of a hoarder when it comes to saving cute tissue paper (as in, I have drawers full of it that I can't make myself get rid of), and since I'm still in love with this guy-




 I decided to make use of both. Add a little Elmer's Glue Stick and Modge Podge in on the action and viola- 15-minute Christmas tree ornament that costs next to nothin'.


Decoupaged scrap paper ornament
Supplies:
-Clear glass ornament
-Colored tissue paper
-Glue Stick
-Modge Podge
-Brush

Cut one sheet of tissue paper up into small square pieces.

Take the topper off of your ornament, then use your glue stick to spread a line of glue around the ball. Be generous, because you want your tissue to stick well.

 

Start sticking tissue paper squared on the line. Don't be afraid to overlap, and don't worry about getting them even. It works better if they're layered.

Continue this process until you've covered the ornament, then fill in any blanks in the same manner.

 Modge Podge the whole thing. Try to brush it on in the same direction the tissue paper is going so there aren't any big bumps. Smooth out any excess.

Let it dry thouroughly. I found that a bendy straw stuck in a cup (especially if that cup has some beautiful burnt orange horns on the front) make a great drying apperatus. Hey, I'm nothing if not resourceful ;)

After it's dry, pop the topper back in, stick a big ole' bow on it, and hang it on the nearest tree! I added some sparkly puff paint to up the pizzazz factor. Lovin' it!

And while we're going with the the quick-easy-cheap theme, I'd like to introduce you to my new favorite way to satisfy a sweet-tooth craving... the New York Egg Cream.

I found the recipe in Ina Garten's (aka the Barefoot Contessa. Check her out here) cookbook, How Easy is That?, which is filled with easy-to-make recipes that seem fancy enough to have taken hours (savory coeur a la creme or spaghetti aglio e olio, anyone?).

I'll take two.

New York Egg Cream
from The Barefoot Contessa's How Easy is That?




Fox's U-bet chocolate flavored syrup (this po' girl's hershey's worked just fine)
Cold whole milk or half-and-half (I used 2%)
Ice-cold club soda or seltzer water




Pour 3 tablespoons (or just go ahead and squirt as much as your little heart desires, because we all know you can never have too much chocolate syrup in anything) chocolate syrup and 1/4 cup milk of half-and-half into a 16oz. glass. While beating vigorously with a fork, slowly add club soda until the glass is almost full. add a straw and serve very cold.


No pictures for this one, y'all.. it was gone faster than you could say, pour me seven more. I wasn't quite satisfied with the sweetness level so I added a few packets of Splenda to the mix. It tastes a lot like a "poor man's milkshake" (Anyone else ever had one of those? My dad makes them all the time- cold milk, a spoonful of sugar, and a generous amount of chocolate syrup- stir until frothy and sip through a straw), and since club soda is cheaper than milk it would be less expensive too. Perfect





As I think about the battle it's been to kick this procrastination habit, a song by Chris August comes to mind. The title, Battle, is pretty self explanitory, but it's the last line of the chorus that says it all-

"Life's a fight of wrong and right that tearing me apart,

but it's what the cross has done;

The world will try to battle for my heart,

but the war is already won."

Yes and amen





And just because it cracks me up every time, this is a video from one of the freshman orientation sessions we had when I was in school warning us about the evils of procrastination. It's terrible quality, but listen closely.. it'll be worth it. Couldn't have said it better myself :)








 
 
Until next time,