It's Good to Be Queen -- book review

In Liz Curtis Higgs’s latest book she dives into the life of the Queen of Sheba. The basis for the book is taken from 1 Kings 10:1-13. Liz is a seasoned author, and she knows how to do her research. Not only do you have the Scriptural basis, but there is a fair amount of other resources and information that she sites as well. All of that along with her personal stories, input from other women, and a dab of storytelling make for an interesting and quick read in It’s Good to Be Queen.

I don’t think that I would generally pick a book about the Queen of Sheba for my reading material usually, but being familiar with some of Higgs other works I figured it would be good. She did not disappoint. I know about the Queen of Sheba from the few Bible passages that she is mentioned in. I also have heard some historical information and some speculated stuff about her. Even with the knowledge that I already had of her, I felt that Liz did a great job of really diving into who the Queen of Sheba was in a fresh new way that made me look at her in a different way.

The book itself is broken down into ten different chapters that each focus on a portion of Scripture from 1 Kings 10, and what lesson or insight we can draw from that. This book covers a lot of subtopics. The story of Sheba ties it all together though, so it works. The way that the book is set up it would be great to use in a woman’s Bible study, Sunday school, or book club. Liz even includes a study guide in the back of the book. There is actually one that is meant for a one time discussion of the book; a book club setting. One that is broken up into 10 sections, one for each chapter of the book; a woman’s group or Sunday school setting. Now, of course you can also use the study guide for yourself to getting thinking about the reading a little more.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.

Autumn Wreaths

The weather is cooling down and I am waiting for the leaves to start changing. Ready for fall to arrive. Yesterday I put up the fall wreaths. It is September, so it isn't too early for that, right? One wreath I already had and the other was a quick make.

Here is the one that I made last night. It was super easy, quick, and cheap. Those three things go together quite well if you ask me. It only cost me a grand total of $4.00 + tax. All supplies from the Dollar Store. Here is the list of what I used:

• Round foam wreath form, now this is a bit small, I think it was 9", so if you want something bigger you will need to use something else.
• One spool of burlap ribbon, one spool was 3 yrds., and it exactly covered the whole wreath form. If you want a bow or more ribbon, you will need two spools.
• Two bunches of fall flowers, I cut them apart and rearranged them to give them a fuller look. 
• Small piece of leftover ribbon that I already had to make a loop to hang the wreath with. 
• Glue gun to attach the flower and secure the ends of the ribbon. 

There you have it. Wreaths are way overpriced in the store and you can make your own for much cheaper. The decoration that I put on the other door was something that I had made a few years ago, for FREE. I made it when I wanted something autumn decor-ish to put up, but didn't have extra money to buy stuff to make anything.

Here is what I used and how I made it.

• Small sticks that I picked up from the yard. just broke them to make them the right size. Bundled four together and secured them with floral wire. Then glued the bundles together at the corners, like a picture frame.
• Piece of a paper bag. Cut it into the size of square that I needed to fit inside the stick frame. Hand wrote our last name on it and then filled it in with a black sharpie. Glued the paper onto the back side of the sticks.
• Leftover fake fall leaves and a piece of ribbon. Hot glued the leaves to the sticks and the ribbon to the back of the sticks. 

Using leftover materials, it was all FREE!

Happy Fall Crafting!