Summer  Wreath

So all over the neighborhood I can see signs that everyone is sprucing up their homes for the upcoming outside weather. 

While I personally am more of a indoorsey type I went to work sprucing up my entry way  :)

I found some amazing vintage fabric on one of my thrifting outings and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it...

I collected my supplies 

I had some fat quarters ( why in the world do they call it that... anyone...anyone??) that I got on clearance that matched my fabric perfectly. 

Don't you just adore the birdies??? It screams SUMMER to me.....

If I could sew worth a darn I would save this and make a gorgeous tank top for the Princess or myself, but since my sewing skills are equal to an 8 yr old I am using it in the next best way!

 I cut my fabric into roughly 2 inch scraps....

Than a broke out the most used small appliance in my house.... my trusty glue gun :)

When I was finished wrapping my wreath I set to work making it my own (or in my Mothers words Bedazzling it , LOL)

I ADORE fabric flowers and at any given time you can find these all over my house is different places... I just can't get enough :) In a matter of minutes you can make the ordinary .... EXTRAORDINARY ( ok now that you all think I am odd I will continue)

Isn't she lovely??? It took only about 15 minutes and $10 to bring some sunshine into my home :) 

 I hope you all are having a FABULOUS Memorial day weekend ! Thank you to all the men and Women who have or are serving to keep my  family safe. God Bless you!

Love,

Lilie

Surfs Up

So yesterday I worked on a project for a friend and her little guy Ian. I wanted to share with you how I made it. In the past I have made growth charts in many colors and designs from a 2x6 ft board. 

But Ian's Mommy had big plans for his room to be a nautical theme (super cute idea ...right?) 

So off to Google.com I went to find some Inspiration... (do you do that?) 

I found tons of surf board growth charts that were just awesome, but most needed a special saw to cut the shape... ( I think its called a jig saw)  so I pitched the idea to Ian's Mommy about an antiqued wooden board with a painted surf board.

Off to Lowes I went to find a wide enough board that wasn't going to be super heavy. My personality tagged along so that he could ride in the race car cart ( he loves yelling directions for the drivers seat)

I found the perfect thing in the finished lumber section. A 6ft board that was 12 inches wide and still only 1 inch thick. ( I was tempted to buy two just in case I messed this one up :/)

 Next I drew out on a piece of paper what I wanted it to look like. ( I have NEVER done that before , but in hind sight it did help organize my thoughts before putting brush to wood)

than deep breathe......

I took pencil to wood and measured out my markings

 Next I drew the outline of the surf board on the wood and taped out the parts I did not want to be stained. The tape was the most difficult part. Trying to get a curved line out of straight tape was ANNOYING.. But eventually I showed it who was BOSS :)

Can you see where we are going here??

Than I made my secret recipe stain... LoL... If I show you and you leak this recipe I may have to hunt you down (just a fair warning) LOL....

I hate using chemicals so this came about after many tries

Yes that is Elmers glue you see... It actually makes the stain easier to work with and it allows for cleaning once the board is dry. 

I mix three colors of acrylic paint... Brown, Tera Cota, and Vanilla in a bowl. I add about a half dollar sized amount of glue and than I add warm water.. Stir and viola... chemical free stain that is washable and safe to use :)

It goes on like Butter..well not butter exactly... more like melty margarine on corn ;)

LET IT DRY ALL THE WAY!!!

than peel off the tape and pick a color for the growth chart part...

Since this is for Ian and his favorite color happens to be yellow ....

That is exactly what we used :)

Ok... if you are anything like my sister and her amazing ability to pick out the fine details ( I love watching movies with her BTW she can pick out a mic or repeated walking extra in a hot second)

You notice that I made a mistake here... In my sketch on the board I did not make it as wide as it turned out to be... But this is where my brush went when I was painting on the out line of the surf board (stupid brush) 

So I had some touch up to do.... no biggie

after painting and waiting for it to dry and painting some more... Ian's surf board was finished

VIOLA

I love how it came out... how about you? And I made the banner out of canvas and twine and burlap. The pictures on them are the actual marina flag letter symbols :0) I can't wait to see the finished big boy room ! Hopefully I will get a picture that I can share with you!

 Ok now its your turn to get your beach theme on! Are you ready for Memorial day? I know I am ready to get in the cool pool! 

Have a blessed weekend!

Love,

Lilie 

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Yard Sale.... Flop :/

I had BIG dreams people! BIG OLE DREAMS that I would put together a yard sale/ craft display and it would be a smash success! (Part of me wanted to justify my millions of crafting hours spent) (And another part of me just wanted the junk out of my house :))

So I began to purge every  room... And make grand piles in the garage of stuff that needed to go...(most things were hidden in bags so the kids didn't know until that morning ) (yes some of you wiser Mothers would have foreseen the disaster that this was to become ....Sigh)

I also began to get together a sampling of the crafts that I have intended to try and sell on Etsy.com

I even scoured the internet on tips to making your yard sale a success... Tips like

• Laying everything in groups that are visable to the street
• Advertising on Craigslist and Facebook
•  Pricing your goods
• Put big ticket items towards the back so people need to walk through your junk to get to it.... (hee hee hee ) 

• Do it on a day when others are selling as well so there is more traffic ( Our town was having its anual Walkersville Days this Saturday)

So Friday night comes and I am running around like a banshee ( I know its is a stretch for you to imagine me like that ...Lol) 

But by the end of my tirade... the Garage is ready.

Oh

 Yeah 

the 

Yard 

Sale 

Junk 

Too

Ok so right about now you are thinking this girls got it together... she is prepared... I see big things in her future .... RIGHT??? 

WRONG!

You probably already know what I didn't

Yard Sale patrons want cheap junk... not handmade hair clips and art :/

Lesson learned...

We had about 100 people who all politely walked by my Simply Lilie display , and some really kind words were muttered :) But not one person bought anything.... Hahahaha.... 

The yard sale stuff was a hit though and in the end it was a pretty good day of getting to know new neighbors and life lessons learned for the princess who was just as distraught to find that no one wanted to buy her stuffed animals either !

Lessons Learned:

• Know your audience
• Know your audience
• Know your audience!!!!!

I hope you all have a Blessed and Fabulous Sunday... as for me I plan on relaxing......

Love,

Lilie

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Making old picture frames into Jewelry Hangers

I LOVE thrifting... I mean I  love it so much that it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE for me drive past the Goodwill with out a quick look. (Its such a problem in fact that Mr Filipino has figured out the routes around town that wont drive by the Goodwill or the Salvation army)

Today , however Mr Filipino was miles away at his day job (tee hee hee) and It was just me and Mr Personality... So I popped in , and I found the most amazing old wooden frames for $2.00.... (See why I love it) and a great wooden lamp $2.50

So $4.50 later I am at home with my treasures! I know exactly what I want to do with them. Since I have been dabbling in jewelry making I need a cute way to display it. 

I busted out my handy dandy can of Annie Sloan Chalk paint( have you met my friend Annie Sloan? She can be pricey but she goes on like Butter!!)( and she sticks to anything!)

I also grabbed some free labor 

(isn't he cute)

Once I fixed the paint he did (shut up you know you do it too) I grabbed the rest of my supplies

I had the fiberglass screen from when Mr Filipinpo replaced our slider screen thanks to our crazy Golden Doodle!

I cute a rather large square and began staple gunning (Grammar police be gone)

Once this was finished I just trimmed up the screen

Added some Jute twine that I had aquired at the good ole Dollar store

and 

TADA.....

 So For the grand total of $6.00 I have three GORGEOUS Jewelry displays!

Love,

Lilie 

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Snarky Son

Have you ever had a day that was completely derailed by a snarky child? The trouble maker came home from kindergarten in a mood... and by mood I mean that before he even entered my van in the carpool line he had hit his sister with his back pack and pushed his way in front of the line :/ 

I of course handled this perfectly (NOT)  I corrected him soundly and proceeded to listen to the prattle of the princess and Mr Personality. Through out the afternoon he proceeded to hit his brother, kick the dog, break my beautiful flowers off my tree and sit in time out 4xs.....

It was right about the dinner rush ( you know what time I mean... the moment when you have three burners going and three kids screaming and a husband sitting at the computer pretending that he can't hear it)( how do they do that?) that God hit me over the head with the dummy stick " Hey you.... yes you... Trouble makers Mother.... There is something bothering my son.... Stop what you are doing and go tend to my lamb" I would love to tell you that I headed this warning immediately and ran to my hurting son...but sigh( hangs her head) I finished preparing dinner.

After a meal of constant corrections and frustration and indigestion I left the dishes undone (gasp... that never happens in my house) and took the trouble maker to my room to chat. 

I discovered that he had a Terrible , Horrible , no good very bad day....( you know you like the Alexander reference there ) He told me that he felt like no body liked him. (break this Mommas heart) As he sat curled up on my lap I was able to reassure him of my love for him and tell him about Gods love for him as well. As he was leaving my room and I went back to my dishes (sigh, the dish fairy never shows up at my house) I couldn't help thinking that if I had taken the time to put my agenda aside when I saw his struggle in the car pool line we would have all had a better evening...

Has this ever happened in your house?

I am a planner, and a doer( is that a word?) I am not someone who often gives up on my coarse of action. But as I was washing the dishes The Lord reminded me of a verse 

Proverbs 19:17 " Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" 

How many tender moments had I missed because of my plans? How many times had I snapped at my children ( hangs her head again) because they interrupted my " busy ".

I needed this reminder today :) Maybe you do too? 

Love,

Lilie 

Wooden Signs

First DIY... The good , the bad , and yes the UGLY

 I often troll Etsy.com and Pinterest when I can't sleep. Last night was one of those nights (sigh). I really loved the wooden signs with the family name and the established date on them that I found on Etsy. It screams grown up to me.. And while I fully understand I am in my 30's and have 3 children and a mini van I most of the time feel 15. 

 SO as I was strolling through Lowes today with Mr personality and an Idea hit me like a lightning bolt. I ... yes me... I could make one of those nifty signs myself , I mean how hard could it be really??? So I purchased the lumber and had it cut there . ( they will cut up to 20 cuts for you for free) ( a service I have abused many times) 

I busted out my handy dandy acrylic paint , and my circut , and some elmers glue and got busy.

The first thing I did was to mix a gorgeous cream color with some elmers glue and paint the board with the mixture. ( My theory was that the glue would help adhere the letters to the board more securely so I could paint over them easier)(hahaha... just wait)

Second I cut out the letters and a nifty flower design.. If you don't have a handy dandy cutting machine... a stencil or free hand painting would do well .

Ok ... here is where I messed up the entire project... pay attention.... I was in a hurry and I painted the top coat of paint onto the wet mixture of glue , letters, and paint.... Those of you that are true crafters are running from my blog in horror right about now... aren't you? 

ALWAYS WAIT FOR YOUR PAINT TO DRY BEFORE YOU DO A SECOND LAYER!!!!

That being said... it was a gooey slimy mess and I was too... I peeled the soggy letters off and thankfully was able to see where the letters should have been enough to paint with a tiny brush the cream color back on top of the now dry Blue.

I refused to end on a failure so I tried again....

This time I allowed the bottom layer of paint ( no glue) to dry completely and I painted over the dry pre cut letters very carefully one by one. It worked much better....

So for my first DIY blog I will admit failure... but than after a lesson learned success! You can do it too :) I kinda like how they came out... post me a picture of yours when you finish it! I can't wait to hear how it turns out!

Love,

Lilie 

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