Think on these things

My Father is very sick and has reached the part of his journey where hospice has been called in. If you have never had the privilege of meeting the wonderful men and women that work with people at the end of  their lives you need to seek them out! (No seriously!) They are peaceful, kind , serene , and confident in an unsure situation. They continue to make this hard time more bearable!

I have been so busy that my craft room has sat vacant and lonely for many weeks. But at the kindness of my Mother and Super Uncle I was given the weekend off and I got busy! 

I broke out the sewing machine and made the princess a pretty dress and a couple of  rice ice packs. 

I than began to think about a way to get Philippians 4:8-9 on the wall in my parents kitchen where my fathers hospital bed now lives. He has been having some rough nights where all the peace that he feels during the day drains away. He begins to worry about what is happening to him, and what will happen to my Mother when he is fishing in heaven. 

I had some scraps of wood and got  busy.

I started by painting the boards different colors that would match their kitchen.

To make a better covering  of paint I mixed a teaspoon of chalk paint with the acrylic color of choice. It went on like Butta! 

Next I worked on the lettering. I used different stencils, free handed some and decoupaged some as well. 

 Than I waited for the paint to dry and went on the hunt for some sand paper... In  my house my tools seem to walk.... Or at least a little 4 yr old walks them all over the place 

I distressed them to a pulp and weathered them some more ... I love the look that says " I am old and well loved and I have seen better days"

I than grabbed two more scraps of wood and a handsome Filipino with a power drill , and had him drill my wood together. 

I took my handy dandy spool of jute and made a handle to hang it by.

As I was working on this project the bible verse began to roll around in my head...

Whatever is true, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely . If anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. 

Philippians 4 8-9

It became a balm to my soul ...

I hope that you have a chance to make this sometime when your soul is dry and the Lord feels far away. Being back in my craft room working with my hands has energized me more than anything in the world!

Love ,

Lilie

 

Just do it already....

I have this problem.... I walk through a yard sale or thrift shop and see something that peaks my interest and sets my creative juices flowing. I immediately buy said inspiration and than it 

SITS IN MY GARAGE FOREVER!!!!

(Does this happen at your house???)

So I have decided that if I can not get the project done in one week from purchase than it needs to stay there....

Here is this weeks "Just do it already"

I found these great shutters at a yard sale a while back and knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. I was going to turn them into a message center for my dining area. With three children my life can get hectic and I have recently been dropping the ball on important appointments out of sheer forgetfulness...( I can hear your collective sighs)  

I love starting a project with a half done slate... I mean look at the gorgeous aging already happening around the edges... It sends tingles of joy to see antiqued wood pieces... ( please tell me I am not the only one that loves wood)

 

I simply dry brushed some vanilla colored acrylic paint over the wood centers... Dry brushing is an awesome technique that allows you to still see most of the grain under the paint. The picture does not do a great job of showing you what I mean but next time you have a wood project try it out. You need a thick bristled brush and a tiny amount of paint.. Keep working the paint until you get the desired look. Your walls will thank me , your wrists how ever will not :)

This shows the grain through the paint a little bit better :)

Next I rummaged through my random supply bucket ( I know you super organized few are gasping at the thought of a bucket with random nails, hooks, screws, bobby pins, door handles and clothes pins. But for me its like shopping every time I go in there )

I chose four clothes pins and two hooks....

Here is my PSA for today... clothes pins are fragile and made of the cheapest wood possible... screwing directly into them will result in many failed attempts , some choice words, and lots of frustration!!!

Enter .... My knight in shinning Armour... and his power tools :)

Once he made the hole it was smooth sailing!

Isn't it lovely... I can already see it hanging in my dining area full of weeks old papers and coupons :/ 

So what projects are hanging around your house that you can do? Do you like me hoard goodies in your garage knowing that someday that they will make a wonderful this and that???

JUST DO IT ALREADY.....

Happy Friday :)

Love,

 Lilie 

 

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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