Encouraging Hearts and Home: Hello Again!

We're back from our family vacation and while it is so good to be back home I already miss my sister, her family, and my aunt & uncle.  We had such a great week together!  Of course being away from home for a week I have quite a to do list to focus on this week including getting Alec's uniforms and school supplies all squared away for school and working on getting our basement furniture.  I already feel like this month is just going to fly right by!  Have your local areas schools started back already? 



And Now, It's Time for This Week's Encouraging Hearts & Home Blog Hop!  

 

Join your Encouraging Hearts & Home Co-Hosts each week for encouragement and support for your heart & your home. We hope to provide a space that builds each other up and lends a helping hand along the way. With all the negativity in the world, let's shine a positive light!



Some of my favorites from last week:

These Strawberry Crumble Bars from The House on Silverado look amazing!




I simply adore this card Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday- August Challenge: For Boys or Men by Ellibelle's Corner



More Neighborhood Landscaping Projects by Debbie Dabble Blog; Have you seen all the work Debbie and her husband have been doing for all their neighbors?  It's amazing!



Use the form below to share your family-friendly posts this week, and please consider these nice things you can do:

  • Follow and/or subscribe to your host's blog.
  • Visit a few other bloggers and show them your support. We all love getting comments, and who knows what inspiration you may find? Be sure to share the love--that's what a blog hop is all about!
  • Check out our Encouraging Hearts & Home Pinterest board where each host pins her 10 favorite posts each week.
  • Join us every Thursday!
  • If you are interested in co-hosting, contact Linda at Apron Strings & Other Things!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
Linking up with:


Comments

  1. HollyAugust 12, 2021 at 5:47 AM

    Welcome home! Best of luck getting everything organized for school! Even though it can be busy and stressful, I find it to be so fun too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne August 13, 2021 at 9:36 AM

      Thank you! I'm trying to find the fun in it... but can't help think I enjoyed it so much more when I was homeschooling and everything was done by my own time table. LOL.

      Delete
  2. Handmade in IsraelAugust 12, 2021 at 5:49 AM

    That Strawberry Crumble looks so good! Thanks for hosting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amy JohnsonAugust 12, 2021 at 8:07 AM

    Ellie's card is so cute! Thanks for the party!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shelbee on the EdgeAugust 12, 2021 at 9:00 AM

    I am glad that you were able to enjoy time with your sister before the back to school chaos begins! We still have more than 3 weeks of summer vacation left here so I am not feeling the pressure yet! But I am ready for the structure of school days returning.


    Shelbee
    www.shelbeeontheedge.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne August 13, 2021 at 9:37 AM

      We have 2 weeks left and I'm trying not to let all the school stuff overwhelm our summer fun.

      Delete
  5. Michele MorinAugust 12, 2021 at 9:05 AM

    Enjoy the onramp to school! Such a challenging but exciting season!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble ChristmasAugust 12, 2021 at 9:29 AM

    Joanne,
    Thanks for taking the time to visit!!
    And thanks so much for the feature!! I gave you a Shout Out on Face Book and will do so in my next post too!! Thanks for hosting such a lovely party each week!!! Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne August 13, 2021 at 9:38 AM

      Aw, you're welcome, Debbie. Everyone should have a neighbor like you willing to pitch in! :) You deserve that feature.

      Delete
  7. Niky | The House on SilveradoAugust 12, 2021 at 10:25 AM

    Welcome back from vacation, and thank you so much for featurning my Strawberry Crumble Bars!
    Niky @ The House on Silverado

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne August 13, 2021 at 9:39 AM

      Thank you! We had a great time. Thank you so much for sharing your yummy recipes and how-to posts with us each week.

      Delete
  8. EllibelleAugust 12, 2021 at 10:40 AM

    Thanks so much for including my fish card with the featured posts this week! The strawberry crumble bars look delicious!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne August 13, 2021 at 9:39 AM

      You're welcome! You always have such eye catching cards.

      Delete
  9. Sparkles and LattesAugust 12, 2021 at 12:09 PM

    Our Summer and August is flying by too. Glad you enjoyed your vacation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne August 13, 2021 at 9:39 AM

      I can't believe how fast this summer flew by.. really this whole year feels like it's moving at warp speed.

      Delete
  10. Nancy 's Fashion StyleAugust 12, 2021 at 2:29 PM

    Back to normal again! Thanks for hosting.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kim CarberryAugust 12, 2021 at 3:03 PM

    It sounds like a lovely break away. We have just less than a month until my two are back at school & college.
    Those Strawberry Crumble Bars look amazing and the card is so cute x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne August 13, 2021 at 9:40 AM

      We have two weeks left and I really think they are going to fly right by.

      Delete
  12. Kristie from Love My Little CottageAugust 13, 2021 at 7:32 AM

    Have a great week and thanks for hosting!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Favorite TV Shows Growing Up in the 80's and early 90's

Image
Do you remember the TGIF lineups on Friday nights? I can remember planning sleepovers and time with friends around TV Show lineups of our favorite shows... or else trying to set the VCR to record our favorite shows if we weren't going to be home. And through the years I had SO MANY favorites! Growing pains aired in 1985 which put me around age 8 and it stayed on the air until I was 15 or so; I'm pretty sure most people in my age group watched mostly for Kirk Cameron and all his antics.  I still have a soft spot for family sit-coms!  The Facts of Life aired when I was just 2  and stayed on the air until I was 11 so I'm sure the episodes I remember so fondly were either some of the later ones and then reruns shown later on when I was old enough to watch from the beginning. I think everyone would have loved an Edna Garret in their lives.   Benson another sitcom that began airing when I was just 2 and was done by the time I was 9 (another one I must have watched mai...
Read more

Things That Make Me Laugh

Image
I loved the challenge of this week's list for our 26 lists link up.  I don't know about you but I really need to laugh more lately.  It's such a great stress reliever. 1.  Books-- I love a good funny book that makes me laugh out loud.  I haven't read one in a while but if you have any recommendations I'm all ears.  The last book I can remember making me laugh was the Un-Honeymooners. 2  The boys being silly. 3.  Watching shows like America's Funniest Videos or Family Feud. 4. My husband.  Most people don't realize it but he's actually pretty funny and often makes me laugh. 5.  Whenever my sisters/ family get together and we get to reminiscing (particularly if my Aunt Elaine is around) we end up laughing so hard at all the old family stories that we are all in tears by the end of the night.  It's fabulous. 6. Movies like Mom's Night Out, Christmas Vacation, and Grown Ups make me laugh out loud. 7.  When my ...
Read more

Making Gift Card and Money Holders Using Scrapbooking and Cardmaking Supples

Image
I don't tend to keep a lot of crafting supplies on hand so when I saw this month's de-stash challenge I wasn't sure what I was going to make.  I finally realized that with so many of my Christmas gifts being cash and gift cards this year that I needed to make up some fun paper crafting/ creative ways to gift them.   I still want my nieces and nephews to have something to open so I pulled out my papers and stamps and made up some cute little money/gift card holders. They were much easier to make than I thought.  The first one I worked on was to hold some oversized Nintendo gift cards.  I made a standard sized card and folded down one corner of the card front.  Then I ran my double sided tape along the bottom an 1/2 way up the side creating a cute little pocket.  Finally I added some cute embellishments and ribbons.   Voila! A simple and easy gift card holder for those larger sized gift cards.  The bulk of the tweens and teens on my list j...
Read more

Making a Sugar Cookie "Gingerbread" House

Image
 Alec really wanted to try making his own gingerbread house this year without using a premade kit.  We talked about how we never really eat the house since they don't taste very good.  Years ago we gave up on the frosting that comes in the kit and began making our own so we thought perhaps we should try making our our house too. Only problem is that no one in the house likes gingerbread.  We talked about trying to make the house using a sugar cookie recipe.  Alec was so excited at that idea since he just LOVES sugar cookies.   He found a recipe online for a simple sugar cookie recipe and mixed up the dough.  He rolled it out an cut it to the size of our cookie sheets-- we had read that it's easiest to cut the house pieces out after the dough has been baked and is still warm and soft because then you don't have to worry about any of the pieces losing their shape while baking. I had picked out a simple cookie cutter set on Amazon and as soon as the ...
Read more

Dollar Store Candy Cane Wreath

Image
Today I am linking up with some fellow bloggers for a Dollar Store craft challenge.  I don't often participate in these challenges since I try to stay away from our local Dollar Stores; I find they can be quite dangerous for me!  I knew this was the perfect time to find some inexpensive holiday decorations though and I just LOVE how my wreath turned out!  I hope you stop by and see what the other hosts are sharing. Meet this month's co-hosts! Across the Blvd | Purple Hues & Me This Autoimmune Life | Our Unschooling Journey Domestic Deadline | Sew Crafty Crochet Stone Cottage Adventures | Sum of Their Stories | Two Chicks & a Mom I bought the candy cane wreath base and a few rolls of mesh (not knowing how many I'd need I bought waaay to many; I only ended up using one white roll and one red roll. Using some chenille stems I already had on hand I attached the mesh to the wreath base trying to alternate the whit...
Read more