The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Galentine’s Bash 2020: Donut and Hot Chocolate Bar

I adore Valentine’s Day! It is such a sweet occasion. The pinks and reds, the sprinkled goodies, and the LOVE! Not just romantic love, but the love one another kind of love. The love of Christ! My girls have been lavishly blessed by precious friendships in our small group, and Valentine's Day seems the perfect opportunity to celebrate that Christian sisterhood with a Galentine's Bash! After last year's cookie and hot chocolate bar was a success, Country Girl and I decided to do something along those lines again this year, but with a new twist. With a little thought, we decided on a DONUT and HOT CHOCOLATE BAR! It was so much fun, and we will definitely be doing it again! The ... Read more

Valentine Cookie Bar

Here’s a fun idea for a Galentine’s Party! (aka: Valentine party for the GALS in your life). Last year my daughter and I hosted a Galentine’s party for the girls in our Bible study group and the cookie bar was so much fun! Just set out stacks of heart shaped cookies, individual cups of pink icing, plastic knives for spreading, and all the pink and red sprinkles and candies your heart desires. Now, let your girls go all artsy and decorate their own Valentine cookie! Tomorrow our sweet friends will be back for another Galentine’s party and my girl and I have something else planned that we think will be just as cute, but I’m not saying yet what it is. You’ll have to check ... Read more

Raspberry White Chocolate Almond Bars

Last week my ladies and I got together for salads and dessert (and laughing, crying, and figuring out life). We kept supper simple with everyone bringing their favorite salad. I'm always delighted at how the meal comes together when everyone brings their specialty! It makes such a wonderful plate of food! We topped off our supper and conversation with coffee and a couple of desserts. Raspberry White Chocolate Almond Bars are perfect for ladies' gatherings. The raspberry flavor and color are ideal for a very Valentiney dessert. I also make them for bridal and baby showers (you can use blueberry jam for boy baby showers). They are so delicious and can be eaten easily with fingers while ... Read more

Valentine Ready at the House!

Happy First Day of February!! I don’t usually post on Saturdays, but I couldn’t wait any longer for this one. I get so excited about Valentine’s Day! I enjoy putting out a few little decorative items, and I find it only takes some touches here and there to sweeten up the place. Since you’re my guest here today, we might as well start at my front door! Remember my “Transitional Wreath”? If not, be sure and look back to see how with just minor tweaking, this wreath works for different seasons of the year. I had a completely different wreath out for Christmas, so my transitional wreath has been was stored away. Here is the Valentine-to-spring version! I added in some light pink fanny roses to ... Read more

One Year and One Hundred Posts!

This month marks one whole year of blogging here at The Work of Her Hands, and today is my 100th post! It has been a lot of fun to get back to blogging, even as simple as this little blog is. I blogged on my last site for 3 years and then prayerfully made the decision to end that blog and start fresh with a new site that would suit my schedule, my technical skills (or lack of), and my family’s privacy needs. With this blog, I do only as much as I have time for, and right now that’s pretty much limited to just writing posts. Promoting my blog is something I don’t have time for in this season of mommin’ and homeschooling, and I'm totally okay with that. My personality is more comfy with a low ... Read more

Valentine Hoop Wreaths

My hands worked on a new craft this week! I’d been seeing the elegant hoop wreaths around the internet and couldn’t wait to make one.....or several. My supplies were simple and inexpensive. Gold hoop rings: I ordered a set of 4 rings (2 big, 2 small) from Amazon for $10. Walmart also carries them for $2 or $3 a piece in their floral department.  Florals- The possibilities are endless here! Just get what you love! I found my florals at Walmart. They have some really good looking artificial florals these days. The picks I got were anywhere from $1.47 to $4. I also used some felt roses from Dollar General that you’ll see further down the post. Ribbon- Use whatever you like here, but don’t go ... Read more

BBQ Peach Pulled Pork (Instant Pot)

I promised another Instant Pot recipe and this is a good one! My cooking club met this month which gave me another opportunity to use my new kitchen toy! We meet every other month and the hostess for that month chooses a meal theme, a cookbook, or a celebrity chef for us to pick our recipes from for the meal. This month’s hostess decided on Trisha Yearwood dishes and left it up to us to choose one of her recipes. I haven’t seen her cooking show, so I wasn’t too familiar with her recipes, but I found plenty to pick from off the internet. Trisha’s BBQ Peach Pulled Pork had me at PEACH! And if that hadn’t been enough, PULLED PORK would have gotten me too! And then I noticed that it was prepared ... Read more

Fluff the Nest Friday: Let’s Do This!

Around here, Friday is the day to "fluff the nest", which is just a much cuter way of saying "clean the house". Am I right? So my Friday posts are all about tidying up and getting the house fresh and in order for the weekend. Some weeks my nest-fluffing comes more easily than others. I need motivation each Friday. Happy Friday! It’s been a long time since I’ve done a “Fluff the Nest Friday”! I really don’t have anything spectacular to offer today as far as cleaning tips, but I wanted to hop on here and cheer us all on in ending the week strong! After the kids and I finish school today, I’ve got a huge load of housecleaning to accomplish before the weekend. We’ve had some scheduling changes ... Read more