Inspired by Family Magazine Spring Edition

Inspired by Family Magazine Spring Edition

Create. Live. Laugh. Grow.

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Chocolate Bundles

Loving Your Man When it Hurts Series

5 Helpful Mantle DĂŠcor Tips

3 Ingredient Punch

Make your Own Tortilla Bowls at www.inspiredbyfamilymag.com

fashion

A Note from the Founding Editor am so excited to be able to share with you the first edition of our online magazine. The Lord put this dream on my heart years ago and for two years, I sat around thinking up excuses on why I couldn’t fulfill this goal. Finally, through much encouragement from the Lord and my husband I took a step of faith and here we are.

I

My cup runs over!

Our desire is that this creative space encourages you to live, laugh, create and to grow in your walk with the Lord and in your relationships.

This magazine is only possible because the Lord has crossed my paths with such wonderful contributors!

Our contributors rock!

Grab your cup of cafĂŠ con leche and be inspired!

Counting my blessings,

Mari

Mari Hernandez -Tuten

“Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do…. But how much Love we put in that action.” ~Mother Theresa~

Meet the Contributors

Contributors Emily Jones

Jenny Dixon

Beth Saavedra

Janis Steward

Laurel Macdougall

Yvonne Pratt

Renae Bryans

Mari HernandezTuten

Cascarones Mari Hernandez-Tuten

Empty Egg

Dye Eggs

The Cascarones tradition is celebrated all over Latin America during Easter. It brings such fond memories of my childhood.

Gently tap the end of an egg with a spoon and break off.

Empty the egg into a bowl and clean the inside of the shell with running water.

When they're thoroughly dry, fill the eggs with confetti (use a funnel). The adults in my home are much more mischievous so we fill ours with flour. Then cover the opening by gluing colorful tissue paper over it.

Traditions

Fill Eggs

Crack Eggs

Easter Brunch Table Yvonne Pratt

The bunnies have come out to play in this Easter tablescape.

The inspiration for this table are these happy blue and green polka dot egg plates .

Some colors were just meant to be put together. Blue and green are perfect examples of this color pairing.

Alternating blue and green at each place setting brings interest to the table and keeps this springtime table fresh..

Nature Inspired Spring Center piece

Craft Home

Whether the flowers are budding or snow is still falling in your neck of the woods you can bring Spring into your home with just a handful of flowers, moss (can be store bought), Quail eggs and a bird’s nest with a splash of happy yellow.

Sun-dried Tomato Bacon Mini Quiches

Eat

ingredients -Prepared Crust either your favorite recipe or store bought -6 eggs -1 cup whole milk -3-4 pieces cooked bacon, crumbled -1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper -3/4 tsp fresh sea salt -1 cup grated gouda cheese -1/3 cup grated mozzarella -1/2 cup chopped spinach -6 Sun-dried tomatoes chopped w/ a little bit of it's oil Directions: 1. Heat oven to 350.

2. Lightly grease a pan and press crust into pan and crimp edges.

3. Beat the eggs and milk until light and fluffy, add salt and pepper. Whisk in bacon, spinach, SD tomatoes, cheese. Pour into the prepared crust.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set and not wiggly in the middle.

Craft kids

Easter Buddies Feathered Bunny & Chick

-Styrofoam ball -Feathers -Glue gun -Orange felt

Glue feathers.

Make body parts from felt and glue eyes.

Adorable Little chickie!

Little Chicks Aren’t these boiled eggs adorable?

These are great to make for your Easter brunch or to pack in your kids lunch! Use carrots for the nose and for the eyes use: seeds, chocolate or raisins.

POUTING ISN’T JUST FOR KIDS

BY BETH D. SAAVEDRA You know those days when you deserve better than what you’re getting? The days when you slaved over dinner and the children all turn up their noses? The days when the kids’ antics have you hanging on by your fingernails for your husband’s arrival and then he calls to say he won’t be home until late? The days when you’ve counted every calorie and skipped the doughnuts and the scale still won’t budge? The days when all your Facebook friends are talking about the gathering you didn’t get invited to, even though you just had the hostess over to your place last week?

Let’s turn it around. How about the days when you realize you are getting better than you deserve? The days when you look at all the blessings in your life and ask what you could possibly have done to deserve a husband who works so hard to provide for the family? Beautiful children who adore their mother? More food than your body needs for a day or a week?

Communities of friends who are busy reaching out to each other?

Photo by Stacy Wachter

When we stand in front of a holy God and are truly honest about our sinfulness, what we actually deserve is to be separated from God and his blessings. But instead he reaches out to us, undeserving sinners, with his forgiveness. In the words of Gary Thomas (author of the excellent Sacred Marriage), “If I deserve hell, anything less than that is a pretty good day.”

By God’s grace, by his redeeming work on the cross, we are getting what we deserve.

ENCOURAGEMENT

Photo by Amanda Keener Black

Back in the ‘90’s the Newsboys sang,

When we get what we deserve, that’s a real good thing, a real good thing. what we don’t deserve, When we that’s a real good thing, a real good thing.

When we feel short-changed, we need to turn to the cross and remember we are what we don’t deserve: forgiveness, a new chance at life, even a better attitude, if we will only ask for it…

And that’s a real good thing!

In the little trials of our day - or in the big ones that life throws at us - Scripture says to “arm yourselves with the same attitude [as Christ], because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin,” (1 Peter 4:1). Wow, who doesn’t want to be finished with sin? What if we looked at circumstances we feel we ”don’t deserve” and saw them as opportunities for God to transform our character and free us from sinfulness?

Peter goes on to say, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed,” (vv. 12-14). Instead of feeling angry and out of sorts when life is unfair, could we use these moments as reminders to turn to the cross? To meditate on Christ’s sufferings for us? To rejoice that we can allow him, this very moment, to create in us an attitude of gratitude and worship?

“Grateful-worshipper.” Wouldn’t we rather have that title than, “Unhappy-Complainer”? Let’s work to make it a name that we actually deserve.

Craft Home

DIY Moss Cross Janis Steward

I LOVE moss!!! I think it adds such an organic element that doesn't require a green thumb...so it's perfect for me!

Styrofoam- 1 rectangle, 3 squares 3 bags of sheet moss glue gun Use your glue gun to adhere the styrofoam pieces together to form your cross, like I layed out here in the pic. Then begin laying the sheet moss on top and sides until no white styrofoam is showing through. Glue the sheet moss on with your glue gun, and watch those fingers!

When the cross is covered, you can lean it against a wall in a display, or attach a ribbon and hang it on your front door for Easter.

Sweet

Sweet & Salty Bunny Pretzels

Salty

Ball of dough

Strips of dough

Twist once

Twist again

Ingredients · Water · 1/2 cup brown sugar · 2 envelopes active dry yeast 4 teaspoons · 1/4 cup vegetable oil · 5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading · 3/4 cup baking soda · 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water · Salt · Yellow mustard, for serving

Add bunny tail

In a large bowl, stir the brown sugar into 2 cups of warm water until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vegetable oil and 3 cups of the flour. Knead in the remaining 2 3/4 cups of flour; the dough will be slightly sticky.

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead until silky, about 3 minutes; if the dough is very sticky, knead in up to 1/4 cup more flour. Transfer the dough to an large, oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450°. Line 3 large cookie sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper. Punch down the dough and turn it out onto a floured work surface. Knead the dough lightly, flatten it out and cut it into 24 pieces. Roll each piece into a 9-inch stick about 1/2 inch thick. Transfer the sticks to the prepared cookie sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between them. Let stand uncovered until puffed, about 25 minutes.

Prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups of warm water and 2 tbls of baking soda. Stir it often. Transfer the pretzel sticks to paper towels to drain, then return them to the cookie sheets, spacing them evenly.

Brush the pretzel sticks with the egg wash and

sprinkle with salt. Bake until richly browned, about 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, with mustard.

April Showers Party Jenny Dixon

My son loves wearing rain boots, jumping in puddles, and searching for rainbows. Throwing him an April Showers party was an easy decision for his 3rd birthday.

The colors for the party were var-

ious shades of light blue with an accent of rainbow. To set the mood for our party, the windows were covered with rain drop garlands and oversize clear umbrellas filled with rainbow colored paper lanterns. A rain boot table runner covered the dining room table, and coat racks were filled with toddler size raincoats.

The dessert table displayed

beautiful rain boot and cloud cookies, a s'more mix bar (teddy grahams, marshmallows, and M&Ms), rain drop cake pops, and rain puddle cupcakes.

Find the rest of this party here.

Alphabet Rainbow Bean Bags Laurel MacDougall

Rainy Day Activity

just thinking of these makes me happy and a little giddy! I made them with my kiddos this week and we had so much fun doing this together.

I have a 4 year old who is reading up a storm and I am strongly encouraging her any way I can. I chose to stencil letters of the alphabet – upper case on one side and lower case on the other side. We have spent so many hours with these beanbags – seriously, the possibilities are endless. You could do numbers or shapes or even words.

Carrot Shaped Calzone

Pizza Dough Recipe 1 1/2 c. warm (105-115 degrees) water 1 Tbsp. sugar 1 Tbsp. yeast 1 tsp. salt 2Tbl. Olive Oil 3-4 1/2 c. flour 1/2 c of diced pepperoni 1/2 c of shredded mozzarella Parmesan Italian Seasoning Garlic seasoning In a large bowl, combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes or until yeast is bubbly.

Add salt, olive oil and stir. Add 1 1/2 c. flour and mix well.

Gradually add all the flour until dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.

Spray a bowl with cooking spray and place dough in the bowl.

Cover and allow it to rise for 15 minutes.

Roll out on floured surface.

Spinach, Pepperoni & Cheese Filling 3/4cps shredded Mozzarella 1/2cp shredded Cheddar Pepperoni slices 2 tsp Garlic seasoning 3 tsp Italian Seasoning 1/4cp Sundried Tomatoes w/ oil shredded Spinach Mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl .

Fill rolled out dough.

Line pan with foil .

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35min or until crust is golden.

Egg Dyeing & Drying Techniques

You can use supplies that you have at home to make some unique eggs for Easter this year. Wrap rubber bands or tape around the egg, put alphabet stickers to spell a name, wrap tissue paper on a slightly damp egg or draw with a crayon. Then immerse in the dye.

Celebrate

There are lots of easy ways to dry your eggs: Use a styrofoam cup and snip the end off, place straight pins on a styrofoam cube, use toilet paper roll or leave it in whisk for drying.

20 drops Food Coloring 1 tbl Vinegar 1/2 cp Warm water Leave eggs in dye 5 min for lighter colors or 10 min for darker colors.

Spring Cleaning Homemade Cleaners

Free Homemade Cleaner Labels Here.

“Spring cleaning” - those two words can either make the hair on your neck stand up or it can bring sheer delight. It’s a mix of emotions for me because I love that feeling of a clean, uncluttered house, but I hate how time consuming it can be.

With the growing concern of chemicals in our home and their negative health effects, these homemade cleaners will definitely make cleaning a bit more pleasant, and you will save some money in the process.

First, I will start off with a word of caution:Never mix bleach with ammonia or vinegar, as it will cause toxic fumes that are very dangerous. Enjoy these recipes that I have collected along the way.

You will notice that a lot of the homemade solutions floating around the internet use these basic natural ingredients: ●vinegar ●baking soda ●water ●borax ●castile soap ●essential oils- a lot of them have anti-bacterial & anti-fungal properties and smell great:

Image via Jos Dielis

Get these free labels for your home cleaning supplies here.

These are basic recipes that I use in my home and they work wonderfully.

1 cp vinegar -microwave for 2min.

Then add 1 cp of dish soap and 1 cp of water

Equal parts Vinegar & Water.

Add the juice of half lemon.

Mix 1/2 cup vinegar If on painted surfaces use baking soda applied to a damp sponge. Rub gently, then wipe and rinse.

1/4 cup baking soda (or 2 teaspoons borax) into 1/2 gallon (2 liters) water.

You can also use this on water deposit stains in shower, &

Mix equal parts of vinegar and water. Spray on stains, let sit for 5 chrome fixtures.. minutes and scrub with soft brush. Add 1-2 drops of dishwashing liquid for tough stains.

For tough grease stains, pour cornstarch liberally on the stain and let sit until dry. Vacuum up and then use method above.

For heavy duty stains that won’t come out, mix 1/4 cup each of salt, borax and vinegar and rub into the stain. Let sit until dry and vacuum up. Use methods above if any part of the stain remains. From wellnessmama.com

Sponge vinegar over stickers several times and wait 15 min. Then remove stickers.

Equal Parts Vinegar & Water.

Make sure to test out recipes in a small section first or consult a professional.

Table Talk Fun!

You will need to follow the instructions for Cascarones, but instead of filling it with confetti, write on a strip of paper different questions that you all can discuss during Easter week.

What I love about this activity is that you can make it light, funny, deep etc‌.. By changing up the questions: 1. Whats the funniest joke you have heard?

2. What is your best memory this school year?

3. Who is your hero? Why? 4. Why do you enjoy Easter?

5. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?

6. What are you most proud of yourself for?

7. Who is the kindest person you know? Why? 8. Why do we celebrate Easter?

SuperKids for Christ

Serve

In Ecuador with the Bryans Kids Fun Facts about Ecuador: ●Located in South America ●Main language: Spanish ●Currency used: Dollars I am sitting in the car waiting at a red light in the big city of Quito when I hear a voice from the back seat ask me to roll down his window. From my rear view mirror I watch as my son hands one of his favorite toys to a little boy on the street who is selling strawberries.

Love...every person wants to be loved and every person is loved by the unfailing and everlasting love of Jesus Christ, but not every person knows how valuable and deeply loved he is. For this reason our family moved from Tyler, Texas in 2008 to the middle of the world.

Our family has worked with street kids, pregnant teenage girls, and children whose parents are in prison in Quito, Ecuador. My favorite thing in my home is my dining room table. It represents the power of God's redeeming love for every person. Our family has shared countless meals with former thieves, murderers, prostitutes, and drug addicts. Casey and I are no different than any of these beautiful people - we have all been saved and transformed by the unfailing love of Christ.

Luke is 12 years old. Last summer Luke served as one of the translators during Vacation Bible School in the jungle; nothing more encouraging to see your son share the hope of Jesus through words, actions, and love.

Jordan is 10 years old. You will typically find Jordan playing chase with the 3-5 year old kids or playing soccer with all of the boys at the children's home. It is not a ministry to him, it is just living life together.

Molly is 6 years old. Molly loves to go to the children's home to play with her 40 friends. She is a help to me with the little ones when we are coloring and making crafts together.

Because Luke, Jordan, and Molly love deeply the kids who are a part of our lives, they also hurt very deeply when a kid leaves the home. We would appreciate your prayers as we are working to open a children's home for all of the kids we are serving. The lease to their current home ends this July. For more information, you can go to our ministry's web site: www.incalink.org Maybe we were a little crazy when we uprooted our family and moved to Ecuador in 2008 but our lives will never be the same. We have seen God work in many lives, including our own and have experienced the unspeakable joy of God's crazy and irresistible love for every person.

We would love to hear your SuperKids for Christ story. Send your story to inspiredbyfamilymag@yahoo.com.

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

This easy cake box Lemon Cheesecake bars recipe will soon become your favorite!

1 box lemon or yellow cake mix 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened 3 eggs 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened 1 cup powdered sugar 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1.Heat oven to 350째F . In large bowl, beat dry cake mix, butter and 1 of the eggs with electric mixer on low speed until crumbly. Press in bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch pan..

2. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar on low speed. Stir in lemon peel and lemon juice until smooth. Reserve 1/2 cup; refrigerate. Beat remaining 2 eggs into remaining cream cheese mixture on medium speed until blended. Spread over cake mixture.

3. Bake bars 23 to 28 minutes or until set. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Spread with reserved cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate about 3 hours or until firm. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 6 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Recipe from Betty Crocker Photo from cupcakes and crablegs.com

Rolled Paper Flowers Emily Jones

What you’ll Need Step one: Cut irregular circle

Click here for detailed tutorial and more pictures.

Emily is the lady behind Jones Design Company, a lifestyle blog and papergoods shop. She is a wife, a mother of four, adorer of anything linen, collector of too-expensive jeans and indulger in all things sweet. Above all, she knows she was created to create. And so, create she will. Find inspiration, projects and everyday musings from Emily at www.jonesdesigncompany.com. !

Enjoy the journey.

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