of the Christmas Cookie plate IS....
AMY Schlabach!
Her oldest son helped with the "winning" drawing-- what a coincidence!
Check out the video on our Facebook Page:
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Purchase your tickets!
We've been hanging posters all over the place TODAY! AND also delivering tickets to local businesses. You can now purchase tickets at Moxie (in Berlin), Millersburg Furniture (in Millersburg), Stone Barn Furnishings (In Mt Hope), Rebecca's Bistro (in Walnut Creek), Homespun Treasures (in Walnut Creek), The Amish Country Peddler (In Walnut Creek) and Heini's Gourmet Market (In Sugarcreek). Tickets are by donation only (suggested price $20). Checks can be made out to CIRCLE OF FRIENDS with "Home Tour" written on the memo line. If you are interested in the Christmas Home Tour but you live out of town, we can mail tickets to you. Let us know by contacting Barb at barbchalmers@aol.com or send us a private Facebook message. THANK YOU EVERYONE! We are so excited for this years Christmas Home Tour!!
Friday, October 19, 2012
A few little DETAILS
The Design Team has been hard at work as we finalize all the teeny little details that go along with preparing for a Christmas Home Tour. It definitely takes a TEAM to get the job done! To keep everyone on the same page, we will update this website with the latest news. So, be sure to check back in with us!
**A few little DETAILS**
The tour will take place on November 16th from 4-9pm. The 5 beautiful decorated homes will be in the Berlin, Winesburg and Walnut Creek areas. The addresses will be on the tickets once they are purchased. Tickets are by donation only ($20 suggested price). Checks can be made out "Circle of Friends" with "Home Tour" written in the memo. TOMORROW, you will be able to purchase Christmas Home Tour Tickets. We will be back tomorrow to list the different locations. If you are from out of town and want to join the tour, please contact us and we'll be more than willing to mail you tickets. If you are interested in tickets being mailed to you, please contact Barb at barbchalmers@aol.com.
**Take a look around our website**
Click on links below
Meet the Hostesses of the Home Tour
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Posters and Tickets have arrived!!
Win this Christmas Cookie Plate!
Be sure to log in to your Facebook Account and head over to the Blessing Design Team Facebook page for a chance to win this Christmas Cookie Plate. Read instructions on the Facebook page on how to enter your name into this drawing. The winner will be announced next Thursday...October 25th! GOOD LUCK!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Tickets are off to the printers!
The tickets for The Christmas Home Tour are off to the printers! We hope to have them ready to sell on Saturday (October 20)! The tour will take place on Nov 16th from 4-9pm. The 5 homes will be in the Berlin, Winesburg and Walnut Creek areas. The addresses will be on tickets once they are purchased. Tickets are by donation ($20 suggested price). SOON the tickets can be purchased at local stores in Holmes county BUT we are more than willing to send tickets in the mail if you are from out of town. If you are interested in tickets being mailed to you, please contact Barb at barbchalmers@aol.com.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Win this Pillow on Facebook
Be sure to log in to your Facebook Account and head over to the Blessing Design Team Facebook page for a chance to win this burlap "painted" pillow (Designed and painted by Amy!). Read instructions on the Facebook page on how to enter your name into this drawing. The winner will be announced next Wednesday...October 10th! GOOD LUCK!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Chosen Nominees
Meet our chosen nominees:
Julie Yoder and Debbi Hoxworth.
Julie Yoder and Debbi Hoxworth.
They are both wonderful, well deserving moms.
To learn about their heart touching stories, please read the posts below.
Winner of the Fall Pumpkins Giveaway
!!!!CONGRATS to MARILYN WENGERD!!!!!
Be sure to check out the FB page (link below) to see how we picked the winner!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Tomorrow
TOMORROW we will announce the winner of the FALL PUMPKINS, so make sure you check in tomorrow afternoon for that announcement! But even more exciting, we will reveal the 2 women that have been chosen for this years room makeovers. We so appreciate all the nominations you sent in and we truly wish we could have done them all. Tomorrow you will hear from these 2 special women about the story that God has given them. We hope after reading their stories you will be inspired to be part of their blessing by attending the CHRISTMAS HOME TOUR on November 16th. So, go and get a van full of your friends and come celebrate this Christmas Season with us! Together we can make a huge difference in a family's life. We can't wait to meet you all:)
The Design Team
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Meet our Hostesses
Introducing the five women who so graciously opened their homes for the 2012 Christmas Home Tour fundraiser. To view these stories, please click on photos below.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Inspiration by Amy -- APPLES
Apples, Apples, Apples ...
We are thinking of auctioning off a "measuring tape" table runner (just like this one) to help raise funds for our next room makeover!... what do you think?
Sooo delish, yet sooo simple! Everybody so far LOVES it... tonight will be the third night in a row that i make it!!! thank you Rebecca :)
After school snack for one of my sons and a cousin... they loved it!
Next day... after school snack for other son and his friend... they loved it too! notice the friend getting every last drop ;)
I used my husbands organic apples... I call the orchards his "mistress" because he spends so much time out there;)... sometimes even cross pollinating;)
This is the younger orchard... These chickens have free range and are here to help take care of buggy pests... aaand provide delicious healthy eggs... and entertainment and jobs for the cousins :)
HONEY CRISP... great for cider!
LIBERTY... my fave for a tart delicious apple sauce.
just perty...
Cider time!!!
This is a cool antique press the brothers found on Craig's List... just needed a few modern tweaks...
... up and running the old fashioned way :)
getting started...
a family affair...
adorable nieces helping out... here comes the cider!!!
I'm serious... if you know where I live drop by!... JoEllen (our design team FB and blog expert/administrator ;)) stopped by yesterday for a glass :) ... I love drop in visits, expectations (for a perfect house and gourmet food) are low ;)
Friday, September 21, 2012
A word from Rebecca Miller---The Importance of Hospitality:
(Read previous post, "A word from Barb"...)
I never really made a big distinction between entertainment and hospitality until the day I met Mattie Miller. I used to walk past her house every morning. Every time the florescent light would be turned on in her kitchen. I could see that light from the road. It was like a warm and fuzzy feeling every time I’d walk by. I often thought, “How fun! I would love to someday sit in her kitchen”. Well...
One morning, I took my walk a bit later than normal. This time when I walked by Mattie’s house, she was out in her yard, so I decided it would be nice to talk with her. Eventually, I explained to her how the light in her kitchen warmed my heart as I walked by every morning. She then said that she thought the kitchen would love to get to know me, so we made arrangements and met the following week. I walked in and the kitchen looked much like I would have visualized. Linoleum on the floor, yellow oil cloth on the table, chrome chairs with yellow backs and seats. Well, you get the idea. It was the typical kitchen that your grandma would have in her home....all of it has remained unchanged for many years. Maxwell house coffee and wonder white bread sat on her kitchen counter. She served me coffee and French toast. I think it was the best I have ever had. (*SMILE*) We sat down across from each other...she was 84, I was 46...our worlds were totally different, both culturally and almost in every other way. But then she changed my life...she reached across the table and held my hand and prayed for me. Wow, I started tearing up. I was thinking, “This lady doesn't even know who I am but yet she is praying for God to bless me!”. thought, “She really gets it”. She was completely comfortable in her nest/home, because she was connected to something so much bigger. Well, that breakfast at 7 in the morning started almost 6 years ago, and we still meet to this day! We meet every other Thursday and have breakfast at 7 in the morning.
One morning, I took my walk a bit later than normal. This time when I walked by Mattie’s house, she was out in her yard, so I decided it would be nice to talk with her. Eventually, I explained to her how the light in her kitchen warmed my heart as I walked by every morning. She then said that she thought the kitchen would love to get to know me, so we made arrangements and met the following week. I walked in and the kitchen looked much like I would have visualized. Linoleum on the floor, yellow oil cloth on the table, chrome chairs with yellow backs and seats. Well, you get the idea. It was the typical kitchen that your grandma would have in her home....all of it has remained unchanged for many years. Maxwell house coffee and wonder white bread sat on her kitchen counter. She served me coffee and French toast. I think it was the best I have ever had. (*SMILE*) We sat down across from each other...she was 84, I was 46...our worlds were totally different, both culturally and almost in every other way. But then she changed my life...she reached across the table and held my hand and prayed for me. Wow, I started tearing up. I was thinking, “This lady doesn't even know who I am but yet she is praying for God to bless me!”. thought, “She really gets it”. She was completely comfortable in her nest/home, because she was connected to something so much bigger. Well, that breakfast at 7 in the morning started almost 6 years ago, and we still meet to this day! We meet every other Thursday and have breakfast at 7 in the morning.
Hospitality is the "pursuit of strangers". Meaning, I am here to meet you at the heart, accept and love you in Jesus name and nothing else. The Bible says older women should teach younger women to be hospitable. Mattie doesn’t compete with me, she encourages me in my Christian walk and wants to really hear whats happening in my life. She has taught me so many great truths from the word of God and prays daily for me. She understands that as a Christian, hospitality isn't an option, but it is our responsibility to open our homes to those whose paths we cross. We need to offer them a "Place to Belong". Meeting Mattie has encouraged me to do the same to those ladies younger than me. A home isn't meant to be a place to showcase what you have, but a place that you love! A place where the food doesn't have to be gourmet. Its all about having the time in a busy schedule, to sit across the table with another precious person, to be able connect and make a difference in their life. Remember what we do now, is what we will think about when we are old.
A word from Barb---How this all began!
My thoughts began to race as I remembered a friend that I had helped in the past. She had a very sick husband and found herself needing to go back to work full time. She called me and ask for help with her home that she felt stuck in. She had an extremely minimal budget but wanted to feel good about her home. We made that happen for her! It was the most rewarding project I have ever been involved in and I didn't even make a penny. In fact, I spent a few of my own:) When it was over she turned to me and said, “I love my home! Every time I come home I think how lucky I am that God gave us a home that I can still afford and it is a beautiful place for my family”. As nesters we are created as women to want to create a HAVEN for the ones we love the most in this world. So, this is really important stuff!
As I sat in church I thought that's it! I want to do that again and again, but my life is so busy. Then I thought I need a team, we could recreate a room in a day and help encourage another women! So, I began to doodle in Church. I made a list of people I would need: organizers, cleaners, bakers/cooks, encouragers, painters, runners, joyful people, hairstylist and a web person! I know some of this sounds crazy, but that is what I wrote down (I found my old list .ha!) Now it makes perfect sense. :) I thought we will call it "Be a Blessing" Design Team.
After that church service, I began sharing this idea to all the ladies that I came in contact with. The most amazing thing happened, it seemed every women I spoke to had the same nagging question, “What am I to do with the gifts God has given me?”. Their eyes lit up and the Blessing Design Team was formed.
Not too long after that incredible day at Church, I ran into Rebecca from Rebecca's Bistro in Walnut Creek. I told her my (and God's) idea. She lit up like a Christmas Tree! Why you ask? I will let her tell you her story as only she can tell. Her thoughts on Hospitality have not only inspired me but the whole Blessing Design Team. I pray her thoughts will inspire you too! (Read following post..."A word from Rebecca Miller"...)
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Our very 1st Facebook Give-Away
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)