The past few weeks I have been going to the thrift shops twice a week hoping to find some Christmas gifts for my children. I wish I could tell you my finds, but my children read my blog. I did find a Christmas crafts book for 10 cents, and I decided to make the beaded ornaments shown in the picture. I am not crafty at all, so this was a real step for me. But I can follow directions, so I dove in.

I couldn't find any prebeaded strands, so I decided to buy the beads and make my own. Ha! It took all of my free time yesterday and today to bead the strands. But I have to admit it was fun. This would be a great craft to do with girlfriends since it doesn't require any thought. I chose silver and blue, and Allen chose these pretty Christmas colors:

To give you an idea how tiny these beads are:
I used 2" styrofoam balls, and two packets of beads to make 6 yards of beads. The glueing part wasn't bad at all. Believe me, if I can do this, anyone can!
If you can believe ~ I ran out of beads only 4" from the end!! So Monday I will go pick up more beads and finish. Only I would do that!
Did I mention this is a great craft for children? Now that I am almost finished mine, I will help Ruthie and Allen with their beading.

Added the next day: Anna came home today and immediately started beading. She used quilting thread with beading needles and used the needle to sort of scoop up the beads. I tried it and was able to bead 5x faster!

While I was beading, I listened to one of my two favorite radio stations called, Heartland Public Radio, the Western Music Channel. It features a mixture of cowboy poetry, western music and western gospel. Once in a long while I will have to turn the mute on because of a Western Swing or Country song. It all depends who the DJ is for the hour. But mostly it is wonderful music.

The unbelievable part about this radio station is that the gospel is presented often in music and poetry. Can you believe?! Makes me want to move to the heartland!

One last thing. Remember my thrift shop trips? Well, I told Mike two weeks ago that I'd really like to buy a cast-iron wok. I really wanted a Lodge brand since I own many Lodge pans, and I like them a lot. So what do you think I bought for $4? I have been thrift shopping for 20 years and have never seen one! Thank you, Lord!

Doesn't it look nice? And it cooks like a dream.

Have a wonderful Sunday. Drive safely, pray often.

Many blessings ~ Kathie