Classic Book Titles {Synonynms!} Quiz

The book club I'm a part of recently played this  fun book title guessing game.  Here's how you play: You're given synonyms for a book title & you have to come up with the real title.  Here's an example: Tiny Females is Little Women.  Got it?  Good, now let's see how many you can come up with!  Leave your answers in a comment, if you like, & I'll be posting the top guessers {& a link to their blogs (if they have one, that is)} in a future post where I reveal the answers!

Let's get started, shall we?

1. The Grasp-er in the Barley 

2. Amazing Prospects

3. Arrogance & Bias

4. Courageous Fresh Earth

5. A Goodbye to Upper Apendages

6. Conflict & Solace

7. Away With the Breeze

8. Eden Misplaced

9. Trek to the Middle of the Planet

10. Creature Ranch

Bookish Love,
-Bess-

Simple Autumn Art {Nest Feathering}

This past Christmas I came up with an easy-peasy idea to cover up my non-Christmasy canvas art.  I decided to do the same for fall, but with an autumn quote I discovered on Pinterest {it's originally from a writer named Faith Baldwin}...

{source}

Click here to learn how to make your own!

Autumn Love,

-Bess-

It's My 500th Post!

It's officially my 500th post!

You'd think I'd have ran out of things to say by now, but nope, I'm still chatty {& crafty}!  In honor of this milestone, I'm listing 50 random truths about moi {cause 500 would be way too many}...  Click on any underlined words to visit the matching post!

1. My favorite place to shop is a local thrift store where the prices are low & the selection is vast.
2. My favorite book of the Bible is Romans.
3. I pretty much always sing along with the radio… provided there are no passengers!
4. Some of my favorite smells include cookies baking, pumpkin spice, wild honeysuckle, & salty ocean breezes.
5. I’ve never been kissed. {The period after that sentence seems so definite! =)} Actually, I’m aiming to save that first for my future husband.
6. The last book I read was Wish You Were Eyre by Heather Vogel Frederick.
7. I’m not gifted in cookery!
8. I love the name Felicity. If ever I have a baby girl that will likely be her name!
9. I like to skateboard, but not all trickster-y {yet}.
10. I’m an introvert.
11. I’ve had both long & short hair, but am currently long & seriously debating cutting it shoulder length {or so} again. Any thoughts?
12. The last movie I saw in the theater was the animated snail flick, Turbo, with my nephew.
13. I love the word zephyr {which is a gentle, heavenly breeze}.
14. One of the bravest things I’ve done is traveled to Scotland & England without a tour guide, & all by my lonesome. Yikes!
15. The songs Nothing Is Wasted by Jason Gray & The Truth About Me by Mandisa really speak to my heart.
16. I love to take walks around the neighborhood for exercise – I’ve been known to go on an hour stroll on many an evening.
17. I’m in a book club.
18. I don’t drink coffee.
19. I’m very old fashioned & vintage-y. For instance, I don’t tweet, text, or have a fancy cell phone.
20. The craziest college course I took was Stone Carving! I thought I could be Michelangelo. Uh, not so much.
21. I love vintage TV shows! Some of my favorites include The Doris Day Show, That Girl, & Punky Brewster!
22. I have bunting hung in pretty much every room in my apartment. I like to treat each day as something special.
23. I drive a PT Cruiser.
24. My living room wall is covered partially in book paper.
25. I recently attended my oldest nephew’s wedding! Crazy!
26. I’ve never ever had a boyfriend. The one time a guy told me he wanted to be my boyfriend {when I was in college} I told him, “Get in line.”
27. I’ve never been good at consistently writing a daily diary/journal.
28. I’ve been known to procrastinate.
29. I’m awfully fond of libraries.
30. My first paying job was at the large downtown library in my city. I was the assistant to the Teen Summer Reading Program director & a reference page. I absolutely loved it!
31. I once faked a British accent in London.
32. I saw something strange in Loch Ness! Not saying I spotted Nessie, but I definitely saw something.
33. I rode city buses for the first couple years of college.
34. My couch {which I covered with a comforter} was my mom’s & is older than I am!
35. I once was a volunteer guide for a traveling Anne Frank exhibit that came to my college. As I was leading a home school group through, & explaining different things about Anne’s life, a girl completely passed out right in front of me! Thankfully, she was okay {I think it was low blood sugar}.
36. I feel like God’s given me a heart for kids & the elderly.
37. I have a really good friend who is over 90! We met in church when I was in high school & she’s a true kindred spirit & a gift from God!
38. I played the violin all through middle & high school.
39. Autumn is my favorite season, although recently I’ve struck a fancy to spring, as well.
40. I’ve seen Jane Seymour in person & spoken to her {in the briefest of moments + snagged her autograph}.
41. I’m in, what feels like, a real in-between time right now, searching for the path God wants me to walk - & waiting & trusting Him for guidance & purpose along the way. I know He’s working on me through it all, too.
42. Sometimes all I can do is pray, “Jesus help me.” But, I’ve found that’s sufficient.
43. My favorite part of blogging is interacting & sharing with all of you!
44. I have strong insecurities about my legs – I just don’t like how they look. However, I’m so thankful I have legs & that they can walk, jump, & run. It’s only for this temporary life that I have em, so this pilgrim that’s passing through is going to strive to be thankful, remember I was created by the amazing artist God, & forget the rest.
45. I talk to myself sometimes - okay, probably a lot of times - but only when no one’s around. I think living alone can do that to a person.
46. Once I found myself forced to walk alone in the dark in Wales – not exactly knowing the way. Long story. It was a little {okay, more than a little} scary, so I softly sang the hymn, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus” & prayed most of the way to my destination. I made it all in one piece! {Thank You, Jesus!}
47. In middle & high school I loved to make fashion design sketches.
48. I call my mom at least once a day.
49. I’m mostly an evening person, because I just don’t like waking up early for work throughout the week, but I love Saturday mornings!
50. One day I’d love to go on a missions trip.

Thanks for reading!  Here's to 500 more posts!

Love,

-Bess-

Make a Book Paper Statement Wall {Nest Feathering}

There's no question that books - & the written word, in general - are high amongst my favorite things.  What better way to embellish a bare, blah wall than with something you love?  Here's how to create your own book paper statement wall in 5 easy steps! 

Step 1:

Find an old book you don't mind ripping apart.  I unearthed this lovely children's treasury out of a favorite used book store's free box!  When searching for a tome look for special type/font, illustrations, & page color.  Depending on the size of your project, you may need more than one book.

Step 2:

Carefully tear the pages out your book(s) or cut the pages out with a craft knife.

Step 3:

Figure out the layout for your pages.  This can include drawing the plan out, as well as placement rehearsal, & trial & error.  In my experience, this took a while {& a lot of rearranging}.  I first thought I would create horizontal stripes, but after I began that I felt it sort of cramped the space {instead of making it look wider}... eventually the more organic {i.e.: inexpiable} design took shape, & made me strangely happy.  

Step 4:

Use wall sticker material to hang your pages {that way they're removable & won't damage the surface}.  You can either buy wall sticker material or you can recycle the packaging from previously purchased wall stickers.  I did the latter, as I had bought several stickers for my apt. & kept the sheets they came on {which still had lots of wall sticker material on it} thinking they'd come in handy {which they did}.  I cut the leftover wall sticker material into strips {about 2-3 strips per page}, glued them to the back of the page with a glue stick {non-sticker side down}, let dry, peeled off the backing, & placed the sticker-side to the wall where I wanted the page.

I finally found a purpose for this large glassless/backless frame I snagged at a thrift store!  The dragon-looking creature in the left corner is the "Jabberwocky" & directly under it is Lewis Carroll's famous poem of the same name.  Love!

Step 5:

Enjoy!

Bookish Love {From the Nest},

-Bess-

P.S.: I'm so glad to finally share this project with you!  It's actually been done for over a year {talk about procrastination}! =)

Song Love {September}

"Beautiful Day" by Jamie Grace


"Build Your Kingdom Here" by Rend Collective Experiment


"Holding Nothing Back" by Ryan Stevenson

Musical Love,

-Bess-

Flameless Candle Easy Update

Flameless candles - what a fabulous invention!  I love that I can leave em unattended & not worry about my nephew being around their cozy glow {he's in kindergarten now, by the way (& reading) - mind boggling}.  However, they can look sorta plain.  Here's a super easy way to update em!

What You Need:

a medium {or larger} sized flameless candle {mine's from the Dollar Tree}; glue stick; vellum scrapbook die-cut; rubber bands; clear brush on glue {optional} 

What You Do:

Glue on your vellum die-cut & secure with rubber bands while it dries {I left mine overnight}.  If you want, you can add a clear brush on glue over top afterwards.  Easy, right?  

Easy-Peasy Crafty Love,

-Bess-

September, How Did You Arrive So Swift?

The hazy inbetween - 

Flirting with orb's rays & frozen dew.

Chosen amongst the powers to peruse 

Two seasons at once -

Melded into one month:

September, by name & by song.

Love {Anew In Sept.},

-Bess-