The Great Blog Train #5 {May}

Follow Me!

Part of the rules is following the hosts {Angie @ God's Growing Garden, Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures, and myself}. Here's where you can connect with me so choose what works for you and let me know how you followed by leaving me a comment so I can visit you too!

The Great Blog Train

A monthly blog hop departing from your online train station on the first Wednesday of every month!

About The Name & Blog Hop

The railway and trains helped build North America and brought people together. We also want this blog hop to bring people together -- we designed it so that nobody will be left out. Don't worry if you are late boarding this train! Even the caboose will be chugging down the tracks to new relationships because the very last entry will receive a feature next month!

RULES

1. Follow all three of the hostesses in at least one of the following ways: GFC, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Linky, Networked Blogs, or Facebook. Then leave us a comment telling us how you followed so that we can come back & visit you! The hostesses are:

  

2. Now link up your family friendly blog to the train...please only use your homepage, NOT a specific post! As you see below, we are quite serious about this rule:

3. And last, but not least, connect to the boxcar in front of you (the blog in the linky just before you). Stop by that person's blog, have a look around and leave a comment letting them know that you stopped in!

Now that you have your ticket you are

ready to board the rest of the train!

OPTIONAL: You may grab our "Great Blog Train" button and post it on your side bar or linky page. Also, feel free to spread the word! The more the merrier!!!

<a href="http://blueeyedbeautyblogg.blogspot.com/search/label/TheGreatBlogTrainBlogHop/" target="_blank"><img alt="Blue Eyed Beauty Blog" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihM3Zzb620T9mhjgdaGbKXGWQRgVyOPS3jCBnYGKiB3v-QNslglOCrkWR8m5zVl544QGo7aYLRb0Nhft0LwJvdf68_TsBpZh2ieAzP0rZ_JnBG8BMU_RflnpaRqB4ducCZgDee6hUYyls/s1600/BlogTrainFinal.jpg"/></a>

The Featured Caboose!

Judy H-J's Thoughts

Congratulations, Judy! Here's a little about her: Judy is a twinless twin. She is a Jamaican Freelance writer on a healing journey after facing loss. On her blog she shares memories, hobbies, interests, pictures, and much more.

{Were you featured? Stop by my "Grab A Button" page to get "The Great Blog Train:
I Was The Featured Caboose" button!! Congratulations!}

My 3 Picks From April!
Life has been quite crazy lately! I'm sure that many of you can relate! Anyway, here are my top three blogs from last month's blog hop. Enjoy!!

Back To The Basics
Domesblissity
Postcards from Rachel

Hop on Board!

Receive A Heads Up Next Month!

I send out 'reminder' emails for this hop.
If you'd like to be on the list just leave me a comment!
OR email me @ mrshelenstafford {at} yahoo {dot} com!

Thank you!!!

Apostolic Pentecostal Everything!

COMING SOON!

All you Apostolic Pentecostal people out there reading this: I need your help!! I'm working on putting together a combination of things which are specifically for AP people! I'm working on creating {hopefully} huge lists of links for each of the following things. If you're interested in contributing to the list and connecting with other Pentecostals then please either leave me a comment on this post or send me an email! I would LOVE to hear from you and would appreciate any help you may have in sharing other sites of interest! Thank you in advance!

Pages I Will Be Opening

Everything that I plan to link off of the following pages will lead directly to Apostolic Pentecostal people & ways to connect with them! If you'd like to be on one or all of the lists please let me know so I can get you added!!!

CHURCHES: If you currently attend a wonderful Apostolic Pentecostal (UPC) Church please send me the church name, location and if possible a way to contact that church! Service times would be a plus too!

DEVOTIONS: If you have come across a great devotion written by any Apostolic Pentecostal person please email me a link so I can add it to the list! I would love to have a large selection of things for people to be able to read and feel encouraged!

BLOGS TO READ: If you are an Apostolic Pentecostal Blogger I'd love to have you on this list!!! However, if you KNOW of any AP blogs please send me URL's so I can add them for other people to find! I know there are quite a few AP bloggers out there and I'd love for us to be able to connect!

This page is up! Check it out here!!

SHOPS & STORES: If you're AP and you have an online shop or store {etsy, storenvy, facebook page} please feel free to email me your info! I would love to write a post about your products to share them with my readers and fellow Pentecostals as well...if you'd be interested in this please include that in your email too.

WEBSITES: There are a lot of websites (not blogs, shops or stores!!) out there for Pentecostal people. If you know of any of these please send me links so I can get those added! Thank you!

ON FACEBOOK: To clarify, this is NOT a list of Facebook profile pages of people, this is a list I want to put together of different pages which are groups of Pentecostals from different areas, churches, etc. If you are apart of any AP Facebook "fan" pages, I'd love to know about them and be able to share them with other Pentecostals as well!

ON INSTAGRAM: Do you share cute hairstyles, outfits, etc. on Instagram? If so you're more than welcome to email me your link to be added to this list!

ON PINTEREST: If you're AP and you pin send me your link! I personally really enjoy following my AP friends on Pinterest to see what cute things they're sharing!

This page is up! View it here!!

ON POLYVORE: You outfit creators out there now have a chance to share your creations! Send me your link to be added to this list!

ON TWITTER: If you tweet & want to share those with others please send me your link to be added to this list!

MISSING SOMETHING?

If I missed an area that needs to be added PLEASE let me know so I can create that! I'd like to have as many of everything as I can so that all of us AP people are able to connect easily!

Computer Issues

Hello lovely readers! If you have noticed the lack of posting the last few days it is because I'm having a lot of computer issues and haven't been able to write or post! {or respond to emails either!!} :( Basically my laptop screen is coming apart from the rest of the laptop and causing some pretty major problems. I will be taking my laptop to be repaired hopefully next week, but it will take probably another three weeks before I get it back...I will TRY to write a few posts and get them scheduled before that happens so that everything stays fairly active while I'm "off the air". This is really aggravating for me and frustrating as well, but fortunately my warranty is still valid. it should be an easy repair even though it will be time consuming. So dear readers, please bear with me as I work through this issue. I will be back on regular posting asap!

Blogger Announcment | Promoting With Pinterest

Non-Blogger Readers you may want to go ahead and ignore this post since it's all blogger related things! Sorry!!

Everyone else, please read on!

Recently I was invited to join several different boards on Pinterest. Now at first I was reluctant to join them, but eventually I gave in and realized that group boards are a PERFECT way to promote your blog posts.! I've decided to give these multi-contributor boards a try.

First things first...you must be a blogger, and of course to be added as a contributor to a board I would like to be a reader of your blog! Now I've never done a group board of my own, but if this first one goes well then I'll create four more boards for a total of FIVE group boards on my account.

So the first board I am making will be all about desserts! If you're a blogger who shares or has shared a dessert recipe in the past now's your time to step up and promote it!

View the Multi-Blogger Board: Desserts!

If you'd like to contribute to the board please EMAIL ME and I'll get you set up!
{p.s. in your email please let me know which email to use--if it's different--to add you as a contributor!}

Contributors:
-Will post/share ONLY dessert posts.
-Will link directly to the recipe post.
-Will put in the comment of the pin the name of the dessert and who it's by {Example: Edible Cookie Dough Bites. Recipe by Helen @ Blue Eyed Beauty Blog}
-Will follow the board.
-Will not post anything except for dessert posts. Anything else will be removed.

Approved Board Contributors
Angie @ God's Growing Garden
Annie @ Annie's Noms
Debi @ Adorned From Above
Kari @ Cupcakes & Bling
Lisa @ Akawest
Melissa @ Design.Eat.Repeat.
Rob @ Bepa's Garden

Check out some of these dessert posts from my blog!

{click photo to view recipe in a different window}

This Post Was Shared

• Tweeted on @BEBBlog {click to view/retweet}
• Better Blogger Network. Group: Pinterest

My Wedding | DIY Lace Garter

So wedding things can be really expensive...and if you're super crafty and creative like me then creating your own things for your dream wedding is totally up your alley. Thanks to Pinterest there are TONS of ideas floating out there for planning your wedding. Unfortunately many of those cute photos have no tutorials or even links for that matter... Due to this, I ended up creating a lot of my own things with the help of wonderfully inspirational photos and creative friends.

This beauty was created from...you'll never guess...a thrifted {and sort of vintage} curtain, pearl beads, and thrifted ribbon. I really loved how it turned out and it was MUCH easier than I thought it would be. First let me show the inspiration photo before I give you the easy tutorial:

{photo via Pinterest}

Alrighty! Now we're ready to go.

First gather the things listed below:

What You Need

An old lace curtain

Elastic

Ribbon

Pearl beads

Safety pin

Instructions

1. Lay the lace out flat. Choose the section you will be using for your garter. Cut a straight long line. You want it to be about double the width of your thigh.

2. Cut yourself a piece of elastic. Honestly it's better to cut it a little long in the beginning and trim it off later than to cut it too short {like I did originally}.

3. So now lay the elastic out over the lace and fold over the edge to see where you need to pin and sew. Make sure you pin and sew the correct side of the lace.

4. Now you have the perfect casing for the elastic.

5. Thread your elastic onto a safety pin and run it through the casing.

6. Now you will need to overlap the ends of the elastic and stitch together {very well} with zigzag stitches.

7. Pin the raw ends of the garter together and sew in place. Trim all excess strings.

8. If you really used curtain lace like I did you may find that trimming some of it gives a better effect. Notice the trimmed point on the bottom edge of the photo vs. the rest of the lace.

9. Time to trim ribbon! I cut mine at 15 inches which really worked out perfect so I suggest using that length for yours too. Here's a step by step for creating the perfect bow...

10. Start by making a loop.

11. Fold under the longer tail.

11. Create a space and then fold up the longer tail.

12. Fold down the long tab to create the second loop.

13. Fold one loop over the top of the other.

14. Tuck under the shortened loop.

15. And finish the bow off.

16. Sew the beads onto the bow and then sew the bow onto the garter. Make sure to center it where the sewn together split is centered in the BACK of the garter.

There you go. I do hope that you found this helpful!

Related Posts to the Wedding Topic

• Recipe: Ranch Cheese Ball
• Stafford Rehearsal Photos
• Recipe: Mini Cheesecakes
• The Invitations
• Recipe: Creamy Fettuccini Alfredo

This Post Was Shared

• Clever Chicks Blog Hop #31
• Wow Us Wednesday

My Wedding | Some Lovely Gifts

Okay so I know I've been a HUGE procrastinator about putting out posts which have something to do with my wedding, and I DO apologize. I haven't spent a lot of time editing photos because I've been more focused on spending time with Autry when he's home & then of course creating a home for us has also been something new & fun that I've focused a lot of my time on. Since the wedding my blog(s) have kind of taken a back burner even though I still manage to get a few posts out it's not as much as I'd like.

The last two weeks I've been posting stuff about How To Find An Apartment and then the First Time On Your Own about the things that you need to get going on your own. Later today I'll share a post on stocking the fridge & cabinets...yeah, I might change that to something else...who knows lol.

Okay, anyway here are some of the lovely gifts Autry & I received from our lovely friends & family. We are most appreciative of them and they have really gotten a lot of use too! Oh yeah, and this isn't all the gifts, there were a few other things like the mysterious vacuum--we have no clue where or who it came from--but it's a lot of them! 

Pre-Seasoned 10 in. Cast Iron Skillet

40 piece Rubbermaid set. LOVE IT!!

Lovely drinking glasses...which I love using for juice!

A wonderful toaster!

Some of my favorite pots!!!

And they are awesome!!

Lovely glasses and a glass pitcher! The only one in my cabinet!!

One of my favorite gifts (only because baking is my favorite hobby!)
A Paula Dean rolling pin! It's fantastic.

Some fantastic silverware which we love!

We were able to purchase a few things with the money gifts given to us by family and friends...Here's a few of those items:

Glass bottles which I now use for olive oil & syrup.

I've bought so many of these little baskets it's crazy!!

A lovely wire whisk (another well used item in my kitchen).
And stainless steel measuring cups which I LOVE!!!

A plunger...no explanation here I'm sure.

A box fan which Autry & I use every night. He feels like he's suffocating when he's trying to go to sleep so this helps him breathe easier.

If you love candles then you need to stop by Walmart and pick this one up!! LOVE IT! It's Autry's favorite.