Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts

Podcasts, peanuts, and playing

Happy weekend friends! What are your Saturday/Sundays like in this season of your life? This is our busy time of year on the farm and at home. We are doing lots of gardening and yard work, going to church, trying to get some Sabbath rest in, and spending time with family.

A while back I blogged about a colorful spring bouquet I made. Before I'd even arranged a single flower I had all of the supplies strewn about the craft room counter and they stopped me in my tracks. Something about all that color and possibility smooshed up together just made my heart skip a beat, a sure sign that I needed to pay attention.

You may be wondering what podcasts, peanuts, and playing have in common. Paying attention, would sum it up well. In times of too much business, even if it's just in my head, I often look to the weekends as my savior, a cure-all if you will. I think something magical will take place on Saturday and Sunday that will make me feel rested and caught up and excited about everything in life once again. I'm learning that simply isn't the truth, and that by slipping little moments into my week to be fully present, my mind is clearer, my focus undistracted, my love big.

Moments like sitting at the table with the girls, cracking peanuts open for the fun of it.

Moments like teaching the girls how to make pom poms, watching them giggle and get excited about a simple ball of yarn craft. Just playing, for the pure fun of it.

Another little way I like to turn off the inward noise is by occasionally listening to a podcast.

My current favorite is Christy Nockel's podcast, called Glorious in the Mundane.

What are you listening to lately? Are you making room for bits of play?

A (diy) happy SPRING bouquet!

Good morning friends! Are you warm and well? Last week was cold and even snowed randomly and oh, so grey outside. It felt like it was close to night-time all day long. That combined with a headache a day or two had me almost desperate for something colorful and creative. I was browsing Pinterest (my fave) and suddenly an idea began to take root in my mind for a happy, spring bouquet. I pictured colorful flowers, things like butterflies tucked in for extra whimsy, and tiny, fabric flags standing tall in celebration of spring. I simply couldn't put the idea to rest until I'd seen it come to life with my own two hands!

The best part? The bouquet won't wilt if the watering is forgotten.

The girls and I headed to Hobby Lobby, where floral stems were half-off.

I started arranging a few yellow and pink stems in hand, tucking in a few extra treasures throughout the store, like the butterflies and bows.

Once home I made some yarn pom-poms (just search "yarn pom poms" on Pinterest) and attached them to colorful straws and kitchen skewers. I also cut some tiny, fabric flags and hot-glued them to skewers as well.

Once I had all my bouquet components ready I began to do the arranging. My favorite part!

I used a clean, recycled jar and put the bigger flowers in first, tucking yellow next to pink, and alternating between tall and short stems.

Last I added in the pom poms, butterflies, and fabric flags.

To make the jar a bit fancier I added two rows of ribbon and one of washi tape (the black and white stripes you see). I also hot-glued my last polka dot bow right in the middle of the ribbon.

The bouquet now sits on my dining room table and the word that comes to mind every time I see it is "happy".

We could all use a bit more happy, don't you think?

*Hint-this would be such a joyful gift for a friend!*

My spring mantle

I sent this text to my twin last week-"Brett is just going to love my new mantle", followed by a string of laughing, hilarious emojis. Because if this mantle doesn't say girls live here and they just wanna have fun, I don't know what does.

In fact, when Brett walked in from work that night he gazed up at the mantle and noticed it immediately, which is saying a lot. :) Obviously I am queen of the decorating in our house and my king puts up with a lot, happily.

Let's get into the details, shall we? The hoop on the left is handmade by me. The doily in the middle came from my Papaw's mama's chest, so it is very, very old. I tied it to the hoop with colorful string, making a kind of dream-catcher look. The blue shutters I painted myself and got from my parents years ago and the yellow "Joy Comes in the Morning" is a free printable from Pinterest (my fave).

The & sign is a $1 sticker from the craft aisle at Wal-Mart, the pink, wooden stick I found on the farm, and the letter board is actually a canvas with plastic letters I bought on Etsy. Then.....meet my pink dress form! I've had her for a few years and decided she needed her debut on the mantle, adorned with paper flowers I made.

Last but not least, the little banner is made from washi tape and string.

I adore decorating in general but usually take hours on the mantle. I finished this one in record time and I love it! I look at this a lot while I'm standing at the sink doing dishes and it makes my heart happy. (random fact-I still have a dream of decorating store-front windows someday)

Where are you on the decorating train of thought? Love it or not?

Project Life: Week 2 and resizing photos to print!

Hey friends, near and far! How (truly) are you today? I'm excited to share my second week of Project Life with you! If you're thinking "didn't she JUST share week one?!" the answer is yes!

The end of another week snuck up on me and before you knew it Sunday night had rolled around and I had this huge urge to design another page before Monday came knocking. Once again, I'm so glad I did! I truly am loving Project Life so very much, like wondering why I haven't done it sooner.

For me personally, being able to slip some cute journaling cards in with my photos is very appealing visually, plus I'm getting my story down a bit on paper, instead of just being lost on the "inter-webs", as Chewbacca mom calls it.

For right now I'm keeping this super simple and easy. I have a million ideas on how to include painting, more creative layouts, etc. but I think the point is to make it fit your life. Right now "simple" fits my life! I really enjoy recording a bit of one week, before another begins.

I had a good question last week about how I resize my photos and print them myself. I made a video to show how I do that in Lightroom. I have a whole list of disclaimers about the video-like the shifting light, the weird wind sounds in the background, etc. but this is real-life! I'd rather post it and help someone than hide it due to perfectionism.

You can view the video here: Project Life photo resizing

I hope this encourages you to give Project Life a try!

My first Project Life album!

I am super excited about this post today because I have something crafty to share with you! It's no secret that our family has been on a pretty twisty journey the past year or two, going from adoption to now foster care. Throw in a few other curve balls of life and you have me sometimes feeling a bit worn out. I am pretty good at recharging though and crafting is one way I like to simply have fun! I'm always kind of surprised when a mom tells me they feel guilty for doing something fun or resting or fill-in-the-blank, whatever fills you back up. My favorite quotes about this very subject are "an empty cup can't fill others" (or something like that), and "learn to rest, not quit."

I believe whole-heartedly in taking care of ourselves, because so many of us mamas are taking care of so many others! In order for me to give, give, give, I must sometimes fill back up. I do at least one thing a day to fill back up, even if it's a 10-minute sit by the fire or a cup of tea and a good book before bed.

Crafting and photography set almost everything right in my world. When I'm partaking in either of these activities the noise is silenced, my soul is at rest. It's when I reflect, pray, and worship. It was with this in mind that I began looking for a way to combine my love for the two in a tangible, hands-on medium I could easily fit into my busy life.

I considered my own form of bullet journaling, but it just didn't ever click for me. In the end it felt like too much work for a lot of lists, when really the things I want to remember aren't my lists but the stories and photographs. Enter Project Life!

I discovered the idea of a Project Life scrapbook album years ago but haven't ever made one. One day recently at Hobby Lobby as I was talking myself out of buying every single scrapbook item ever made, it clicked. I should totally make a scrapbook and put all the cute stuff I already have to use. I started reading up on Project Life albums to see how others started and kept up their own yearly scrapbooks.

I was delighted to see that anything goes, truly! You can spend as little or as much time on a Project Life album as you like and I like that.

So what is a Project Life album? It is a scrapbook album that you fill with scrapbook items, like these cute graphics and art cards you see, and photographs during the year. You can purchase a BIG album like I have, which is the 12x12. You can also purchase the clear pages with pockets to go inside the album. Last, there are scrapbook accessories GALORE online or at Hobby Lobby you can also fill your pockets with.

These are my first pages! Or really, one page, two-sided. You guys, this was SO easy and so wonderfully fun to do. I have my own printer so I quickly scaled some photos as close to 3x4 as I could and combined them on a sheet to print. Next I cut out all the photos, slid them into pockets, and journaled on a few scrapbook cards. Last I slid the scrapbook cards into the pockets and added a few extra embellishments here and there.

This was so super quick to do and I love that! I can easily keep this up by taking a few minutes each Sunday night, printing a sheet of photos, and having my page made for the week in under 30 minutes.

Here's a close-up of the pages I've finished so far!

Isn't that so fun?! You know how much I adore the blog, but I'm a very devoted book fan over a Kindle any day so it completely makes sense that my personality craves a real-life book of my life story.

Of course it didn't take long for the girls (ok, Anna) to spot some of my cute supplies laying around and get totally inspired.

I mean she does come by it naturally, doesn't she?

I had both the girls pick out some cute scrapbook cards and print some photos. Then they each got their own binder and we filled the table with stamps, markers, glue, and more! We've left this out on our table all week long and it is adorable to see how many times I'll find one of them quietly and happily working on their scrapbook. I'll share their pages with you soon! They are precious.

In this ever so busy season of life, scrapbooking is saving my sanity. It's keeping my creative spirit alive and that feels so good.

What about you? Have you ever done a Project Life album or another kind of memory-keeping?

Share hope (DIY painted rocks)

I kind of let a whole week go by on the blog, mostly on purpose. On the forefront of our nation's news has obviously been the presidential election. I've found it's simply brought out the best and worst of people on social media. I certainly have opinions and ideals about our country, the same as I hope everyone in America does. But you know me, I typically lean towards the rosy side of life, my half-full glass of optimism in hand. So I suppose rather than try to jump in with my own two cents I felt that quiet and creating could do more good than harm.

I've also been working on a few things with my health. Nothing major, but some changes that are long over-due and needing some time and attention. And let's see....what else haven't I told you?

I've been busier than ever with photo sessions and what fun I am having!! I truly, deeply, adore photographing love and emotions and joy and fun and real, life people and stories. My editing is keeping my heart full these days.

So maybe you're like me and this quote from Dallas Clayton rings true for you-"Maybe it's cold and maybe you're tired and maybe the road is long. But maybe conditions like these are required to birth your most beautiful song."

This month of November is all about changing habits, walking bravely into so much change (our country too, yes?). But just maybe the things churning in our stories, lives, and hearts are the exact ingredients perhaps for a catalyst to a new, fresh story we haven't even dreamed up yet.

I sure think so.

The way I unwind and process and let my soul breathe deep is by creating. Specifically painting. I also find that tucking little inspirational words and quotes into the nooks and crannies of my home are like leaving a trail of gifts for myself, to remind me of the goodness of God's grace and this life.

To make these I simply loaded up some smooth rocks, while visiting the river one day.

I then painted on them with acrylic paints, adding the finishing touch with a word sticker on top.

These would also be lovely reminders to stack up high and give to a friend or to leave randomly about town. You never know who may be needing your boost of encouragement.

Today, let's embrace singing our most beautiful song.

I'll help you, and you help me, together we belong.

DIY Painted Step

I'm sorta known for not being real organized, or at least it doesn't come naturally to me. However, when I used to teach I had 28 little souls to keep up with and that taught me a lot about having systems in place and being more organized. Those lessons transferred to being a mom and especially now that I'm a mom of two. So all that to say I found myself in the garage last week, looking around at the dirtiness, spiders, and junk wondering "where did all this come from?" My husband usually cleans out the garage, every few months or so. This time it was my turn.

I got to work cleaning out the whole garage and then giving it a good sweep and vacuum with the shop vac. After all that my eyes landed on this sad, dirty little step. We go over it a million times a week, seeing as it's the step that goes from the house to the garage. I decided I'd paint it.

A few coats of wild paint later, it looked much happier. Brett said he felt like he was living in the "My Little Pony" house and I told him his feet would surely thank him every time he stepped on this delight of a step.

This is our funny life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now go do your feet a favor and paint your own step! :)

DIY letterboard and the power of "no".

Are you shaking your head laughing, wondering why my title says "no" and my first photo says "yeah!" . I can explain, I promise! I have always wanted a letter board. If you unloaded the random wish list from my brain onto a notebook page the results would be strange and would leave you curious. Things like "set of lockers, letter board, and a good pair of overalls" definitely make the list, among other random objects I'm just waiting to come across serendipitously. I thought I was close to checking "letter board" off my list when I noticed them popping up all over Instagram. I did a bit of research and quickly discovered these cute little boards were way out of my budget.

So I put my creative thinking cap on and started hunting around Etsy. I came across a listing for these letters at a super great price and immediately purchased them.

To finish my letter board I simply stuck them onto an old canvas and watercolored the edges. This project couldn't have been any faster or easier, plus it was inexpensive!

As for the words on the canvas, well, they have a story of their own.

Does God work on you and work on you, slowly and steadily over time through all different ways of communicating? He does me. Perhaps I'm a bit slow to listen to Him. But whatever the reason, the past year He has done a life-changing work in me. Through sermon podcasts, discussions over bible verses with Brett, certain songs, books, being quiet, many prayers, conversations with others, and just complete signs from God, I have learned the value of both "no" and "yes".

Previously I was living a life of hustle, of "dream bigger", of serving my IG/blog world more than my world, of trying to be the skinniest, most successful, and biggest people-pleaser. This way of living was exhausting. Combined with raising two babies, being a wife, and barely being a friend, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. I have since learned the value of a good hearty "yes!" and a grace-filled no. I shared this with a friend over coffee this week (a wonderful yes!) and we got so tickled at all the ways people will truly to pull you, all the directions your time will be tempted to go.

I won't go into all my "no's", because there are too many to list.

Just know that my "yeses" include those glorious words above. They include showing up in real life for my friends, day in and day out. Texting, dropping dinner over, sending prayer videos via text, or lending a listening ear in real life. My "yes" includes giving my family my best energy first, researching and learning more about adoption and foster care and scriptures concerning orphans more than ever before, painting because it's simply fun, and photographing families because it fits well with our family's schedule. My "yes" includes stacks of laundry, a fridge full of home-cooked food, opening my home to others, and also giving myself grace to rest and be quiet. It means not posting my whole life on Instagram or trying to be anything other than what I am, myself. No more, no less.

My "yes" means I can curl up with a good book, pressure-free. It means I can handle the big, hard things of life that seem so near some days because my brain and to-do list aren't clogged. It means a much, much shorter "to do" list than ever.

Where do you stand on all of this? Have you found the freedom in saying yes to the best, most needy things, leaving your soul filled to tend those actual needs? Have you included self-care and enjoyable things in your "yes", so you are refreshed to take care of others?

I'd love to hear your heart.

(p.s.-one way I stay refreshed is with music! Christy Nockels is playing while I'm typing!)

Craft room redo: Before and After

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. And yes, you probably really are asking yourself "Where did all the color go?!"

Friends, I went for it and in a mad dash, gave my craft room a makeover. A clean slate if you will. I knew it was coming. The nesting feeling is "game on" since being in the waiting stages of adoption. That combined with the fact that a shift has happened in my creative schedule the past six months or so had me ready for change. Looking back to when the girls were babies, I actually had loads (like hours) of free time when they napped to paint and create. Fast forward to now, where we have early-risers and no-nappers. There just aren't big chunks of time at my disposal anymore.

Do I believe I should just shrug off my desire to create and put it on hold to things slow down? No, if I do that my fingers will ache for years and let's be honest, life never really slows down. I simply must create! I can literally feel my insides settle down and breathe a long "ahhhhh" when I paint or make. So for now, I've found myself craving a fresh start, both literally and figuratively. I've needed the space to figure out how creating looks in my life during this season, instead of always longingly referring to all my ideas in the past. I'm so very proud of chasing my dreams like Rosy Retreats, but it's time to let things be new again. No more turning to chapters read over and over. It's time to face the blank page and see what new idea seeds sprout.

I thought it would help to literally create a blank space in the craft room. You can see my progress through the photos below.

(This photo isn't staged to look like a mess. It is really this messy. This is real-life folks!)

(getting there)

I painted the walls with my favorite white (Behr, "unwind", the same as my kitchen table) and wanted to dance a happy dance at the sight of the plain white. I have no idea why this big, blank space is speaking so much to me when there's nothing on the wall.

The after! I see this blank space and imagine possibility here, there, and everywhere. For now, I don't plan to cover it back up with more stuff. Instead, it will stay blank.

A little shelf display..

Another little display with collected bits and treasures.

(all photos taken with my iPhone)

I'll end with my thoughts I posted on Instagram yesterday that perfectly sum up me for now:

It's time to start fresh, to step back a tiny bit from social media, but not completely, to spend time alone with just God and I, to trust that quiet can move mountains, to let God speak about the direction of my dreams and loosen my grip on the steering wheel. It's time for a new year-round schedule for my life as an artist, for really living rich without sharing every single bit, for chasing ideas just because they'd be crazy fun. It's time to remember that it's in God I trust, not in the Internet I trust. Time for breathing, resting, quiet, and wide open spaces. Time for real connecting and grace. This is my heart today.

DIY foraged wreath

This time of year is simply my favorite for so many different reasons. Mostly because our lives on the farm are very much dictated by the seasons and we are also very much outdoor people. In fact, I can't imagine not being an outdoor person. Gardening, eating outside, farming, roaming, foraging...these are the things our dreams are made of. It's no secret I adore gathering whatever I can find on the farm, whether it be wildflowers, vines of leaves, dried plants, or feathers. There is something so deeply satisfying about making something from seemingly nothing. I imagine I'll have quite a few blog ideas for using flowers and foraged finds this spring and summer! Today I want to start with this little time-lapse video I did of making a wreath from leaves and dogwoods.

If you follow along on IG you know I'm a work-in-process when it comes to video (well and in all ways really, lol). So here's my somewhat wonky, less-than-perfect video of how I put together this lovely wreath.

The final result!

You can see the first natural wreath I made already hanging on the bed. I made it the week of Easter and it has since then dried but still looks lovely!