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Pinterest….

2013

When we moved into the pop up for the summer 2 years ago, I had so many people tell me about Pinterest and how much I would love it. Unfortunately we didn’t have internet, so I always smiled and said thanks, I’ll have to look into it:) In the back of my mind I was thinking, I already have too much to do/look at, do I really want to add one more thing to my life??

Well, eventually I did.

oops.

Actually, surprisingly, I was able to exert quite a bit of self control. I think for a diy-er like myself, Pinterest can become very overwhelming. I loved all of the ideas, but I just felt like I couldn’t do all of them, so I would pin a few, then not go on for another couple of weeks and try to actually accomplish a couple.

I loved looking at projects like this…

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and this…

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and this…

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And thought, I can do that. And did!

But then sometimes I ran into a problem. I started seeing pictures like this….

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and this…

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and this…

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and found myself looking around my house and becoming a bit discontent. I would think, my house is so dull. and found myself always wanting to change something to try to achieve those looks. That’s when I realized something.

1.) I’ll always want to change something:)

but more importantly

2.) I need to be content with what I have. These pictures were all in my “dreaming” board, and that’s the truth. They would all just be in a dream. It will never happen. So why do I set myself up for failure and discontent like that?

I realized I needed to know my limits and boundaries. Pinterest wasn’t worth looking at if I felt defeated and discontent. It was worth looking at if I could feel inspired and uplifted.

So now when I look at Pinterest I usually only pin pins that I know can be achievable in my world. With my budget, and my skills. Sometimes I still pin pins like those above because I can like the furniture layout, or one idea in the picture that I can execute, but more than not I look at them and say that’s beautiful, and keep going.

What’s been even more fun for me on Pinterest lately is to see some familiar pins. I was on yesterday and saw this pin that was pinned by the Home Depot!

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I was like a giddy little school girl.

It said….

This kitchen update turned out so beautifully! The cabinets are Sharkey Gray from Martha Stewart Living | From Allie of Proverbs 31 Girl blog.

Even though I know that I have a few followers, I’m always blown away when I see something and realize that what I write and post, people are reading! And hopefully getting inspired:) Every time I’m humbled and surprised!

I got a call from my mom a few months back when she was in Florida, and she was sayings she was scrolling through Pinterest and couldn’t believe when she came across my living room on one of the boards she follows:)

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This ones on there a few times:) I especially liked the saying that was attached to this one specifically…

Love this idea for a reading nook in your room – pay no attention to the blog post where the crazy woman painted curtains! LOL

HA! Made me laugh:) I am crazy sometimes. You gotta be to save a buck or two:):)

So, I just wanted to throw out a huge thank you to you all. The Lord seems to continue to bless our family and this sweet little blog we have started, and yet again I am humbled:) And giddy:) and loved:)

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Board and Batten

2013

11 Comments

Ryan took off a couple of weekends ago to go fishing up north with a couple of the nephews. When he’s away I always think it’s a great time to do a project:) The house can be a mess and it’s no big deal:) So the project I decied to tackle?? Board and batten in the entry way. I have read a thousand posts of people that diy’d their own board and batten, and it looked manageable. I took my measurements and figured out how much wood I’d need and headed to Menards. I was planning on buying pine 1×4′s for the top and 1×2′s for the vertical boards like we did in the guest house, but when I got there I realized that the primed MDF, which most people use, was actually cheaper. These boards aren’t solid wood, it’s a composite. But that makes them perfectly smooth and nice and straight, much easier to work with! Plus, they were already primed white. Score! They only had the ones I wanted in 12 foot pieces……and I couldnt’ quite see myself driving the mini van home with 5 feet of MDF sticking out the back. I found a guy that worked there and asked if there was any way he could cut them in half for me, which would be the perfect size. He said he’s supposed to charge for it (which was fine by me…even though lowes and home depot offer it complimentary) but he said I”ll do it for you for free:):) Gotta love that!

So, I spent $35 on my MDF and figured this would do it.

Where was I going to put board and batten you may ask??

I’ve been eyeing it up for my entryway. I thought this would be a great place to start since it seemed a quite manageable area. Here’s what it looked like before…

The first thing I decided was how high I wanted my board and batten to go. I decided to go up 5 feet from my baseboard, which would make it 5’4″. Since I had bought 1×4′s, that means the top of the board would be at 5’8″. I then measured and drew a line at that height the whole way around the area I was going to do…

Our thermostat was right there, which helped decide the height for me:) I did’t want Ry to have to remount it.

Here are the things you will need to do this job:

Drywall glue

I bought it in the big tube, and used 1 for this project. You also need the caulk gun to use it with:)

Nails and a nail gun:

I used 2″ nails in Ry’s finishing nailer. He showed me how to load it. Watch out, now I’m trouble:):)

MDF

Level

Compressor

A chop saw, circular saw, or table saw.

I think that about does it.

So, after I got my line up I took my measurements.

This is seriously how I measure…gotta work on that. Ha. I’m not good with all the little unlabeled lines, hence the +1 line comment:):)

Once I had my pieces cut I glued them up…

Make sure you have a paper towel or something to catch the drips. Sometimes it keeps coming out:) You want enough glue, but if it squirts out the sides make sure to clean it up right away as it doesnt dry clear and it will be bumpy.

Then, use your level to make sure it is straight, and hang it up.

I shot 4 nails into this little piece, on the edges. The more nails you put in the more holes you need to fill:)

So here’s how the progress went….

Top board is up!

vertical boards went up next. I butted my corners up instead of trying to do 45 degree cuts. That was just going to be a disaster:) The only one that really shows, is this one on the corner, but after it’s all painted and patched, it really isn’t that noticeable. If you have some mad carpentry skills, I would have 45′d that one:)

I ended up putting my boards 14″ apart. I have so many breaks in this area though, that I could play around it a bit. I marked them before I started putting them up so that I didn’t have to deal with any outlets or light switches. Don’t bring your tape measure over…I guarantee they will not measure out perfectly:)

After all the pieces are up, I filled in the nail holes with some wood putty, and then I painted it in the Decorators White that the rest of my trim is painted in.

Okay, now for some before and afters…

before..

after…

before..

after..

before..

after….

and a few more for fun…

I love how the decor on the table pops more now with the white behind it..

Here’s the view from the stairs..

And I even like it that you can see it peeking through from the sitting room..

Last ones, looking into the office..

And…if you think my house is always put together and clean, I decided to show you these pics..all for you Abbey:)

This is what my office looks like during Whimsy time:)

haha, it’s amazing what you can hide in pictures:)

secrets out!

We want to do built in storage on that whole back wall for all of my crafting supplies. But until then?? This is what you get:)

So, for $35 and about 4 hours of cutting, gluing, measuring and painting this is what you get. I think it added a lot more than the price tag:)

Filed Under: How-To's, Makeovers, Uncategorized

Thoughts

2013

9 Comments

I stumbled across this verse the other day on another sweet blog of a family who just lost their 5 months old to brain damage caused in utero. If you want to read their story, you can find it here.

I found it quite interesting that throughout our whole journey I had never come across this verse. I had read lots of books, blogs, and God’s word and although I found exactly what I needed when I needed it, this verse was not one the Lord revealed to me….until the other day. Here it is..

John 9:1-3 “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I smiled because I KNEW that God displayed himself through our little angel girl. I KNEW His name was glorified. I KNEW God used her for a very special purpose. And I smiled because even though there are hard days, and some days where everything seems unfair. Even though I wish my kiddos had a sister to hug and squeeze and I had fuzzy hair to smell and precious little lips to kiss. Even though I desired a baby so bad…..I got to be a part of something SO MUCH greater!

Something AMAZING

Something ETERNAL

And I felt HONORED that God chose us.

That I’M the one that got to hold this precious angel while she was here.

That I’M the one that got to tell her story

That I’M the one that was so blessed by her.

And learned so much from her.

How to TRULY live.

Jules was not MIRACULOUSLY healed, but she was a MIRACLE.

Jules’ body was not PERFECT but Christ’s love was made PERFECT in her.

Jules’ time was SHORT, but her legacy is LONG.

And for that, I smile. Thank you Jesus.

Filed Under: Juliet Faith, Uncategorized

Sense of Humor

2013

23 Comments

The last week I was starting to get depressed. The arctic freeze got to me. I have projects to do and a few pounds to work off. I want to dig in the dirt, use power tools, paint in the shed…..not to mention not have my lips crack every time I smile and my fingers go numb every time I walk outside the door. But alas, we live in Minnesota. That’s what we ask for. But then this morning I wake up and see this…

and once again the Lord takes my breath away.

I. am. in. awe.

and I pinch myself.

seriously??

I get to live HERE?

So what that I gave up a heated garage….

or even more….ATTACHED garage:)

These views are PRICELESS!!

So today I choose to thank God for the snow, and for the seasons. For His glorious creation that seems to always take my breath away.

I thank God for cold and winter…

For the things I don’t think I want to thank Him for, I thank Him.

And I especially thank Him for this lil cutie pie…

Who I drug out into the cold so mom could “play” with her camera:)

She was a good sport!

and I even got a somewhat decent smile!

I would have loved to shoot her brother as well, but he’s still asleep at 10:23

So, I’m choosing to embrace these last few weeks of winter, and thank God for his gentle reminder this morning of how great He is.

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Calling All Downton Fans!

2013

10 Comments

Is anyone else in love with this show as I am???

I can’t figure out if it’s the era I’m in love with…

or the clothes…

or the character..

or the magical castle setting…

or the idea that people actually lived like that.

But, I.love.it

Yes, there is a bit of scandal and drama, no doubt about that, but for the most part it is quite clean and entertaining. It is a PBS show after all:)

Does anyone else like to google search to find pictures like this…

and this..

Yes, that IS Mrs. Hughes by Mary and praise the Lord Sybil really is still alive!!

I’ve even heard that Tom is actually a pretty nice guy in real life. Shocker!

Maybe a bit stalker-ish…I”ll be the first to admit:)

So I was just curious if there was anyone else out there that gets giddy when the music starts playing and the car drives up in the beginning.

If they think about the characters long after the show is over like they personally know them.

And has made their hubby watch with them so they could have someone to talk to about it:):) Even on vacation!

And…… is already starting to get sad knowing the last episode of the season is right around the corner:(

Just checking to see if this is a bit of a problem I need to address or if anyone’s with me!

If you haven’t seen the show, I hate to talk it up too much…you may not be quite as “attached” as I am. But you can watch season 1 on netflix or get them in the redbox if I have peaked your curiosity:)

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My Favorite Slip

2013

12 Comments

I told you I’ve been having fun working on projects around the house, and this last week was one of my favorites. Not to actually do, mind you, but the finished product.

Brenda, at Little Red Hen, another occasional shop in town that we love, knew I slipped furniture. She had come across two wingback chairs that needed a little update, and asked if I’d be interested. Of course I snagged them right up after seeing what great shape they were in! But they just weren’t quite my style…..

But they were in great shape, a huge plus! and they were a great price at $25 a piece. I also loved that she had a matching set! They did come with a cushion, I just forgot to take a before pic and the new cover is already on the old cushion:) They also came with a cute little throw pillow. Huge steal! Thanks Brenda!

Can you believe I’m going to cover that up! :)

If you know me well, I don’t love to sew. I only do it out of necessity. I taught myself how to slip by watching you tubes and blog tutorials, for the sake of saving myself money while still achieving the look I love. So, these bad boys have been sitting in the shed for the last 6 months, just waiting to get a little love. Or waiting for me to get motivated enough to do them. I thought what a better time to work on them for Whimsy than winter, when I can’t be painting the shed full of furniture I have because it’s -30 out. So, that’s what I did. At least to one of them. Now I have to work up the gumption to finish it’s twin.

I decided to try to keep track of about how long it took me to do this project, for selling purposes. And I did keep track (somewhat) of time….but kinda fell in love with these so I’m not sure they will make it to whimsy. I’m not showing you how I did these today, you’ll have to look back to my first diy slip project to see that. I can say though that they have become a little less intimidating and easier to do. If you remember correctly I did this chair first…

That was way back in the day at our old house, and since then sold it in our first whimsy sale.

This chair was my second venture….

Sorry, this was the best pic I could find. It was a lovely rose velvet wingback that I covered in white duck cloth. That little chair to the left was actually another fun mini slip:)

And this was my last slip…

Well, 4 of them to be exact. Out of drop cloth…and that’s where my dropcloth relationship was formed:) Since this pic it got some cute white ribbon ties on the back:)

So, as I’m feeling a little more confident in my abilities, I started the flower chair.

Once again, before..

And after….

I loved the fun lines this chair had, although it did make it a bit more tricky. I think she has more of a feminine feel to her though….

See how pretty her back is:) I’m twitter pated. I still need to iron her little dainty skirt down.
I decided to use dropcloth with white trim. I like the contrast. I also added a little pleat skirt to keep her girly. I always think wingbacks tend to be a bit masculine, so any chance I can get to girl them up I’ll take:)

Isn’t the pop fun!

On top of all of this “funness” if I can make up that word…I got some great fabric in the mail. Double love

Can I get a ooh..ahhh :) Love the Ogee pattern in this fabric. And I”m also in love with the blue gray colors. I want to mix them with some yellows for summer.

This fabric has a linen feel so the texture is great. An inexpensive way to get the most for your money. Find a fabric you love and make pillow covers out of it. If you want to stretch the fabric a little further you can even back it with a solid, like your dropcloth or white duck cloth.

For now I just wrapped this around my pillow to get a feel for it…

Yep! She’s a keeper. If you are thinking how in the world is that girl gonna keep that chair there, there’s not nearly enough room..don’t worry, I’m not. I am thinking they may end up in our bedroom….yet I love the look of them down here as well. I may just be playing around with them for a bit to their best fit:) But sadly I don’ think that will be in Whimsy. Not this chair at least. Or her twin…which speaking of, is calling my name to get started on :)

Oh, p.s. I never told you how many hours I have into these cuties. I figured it was probably around 6 hours. Not awful…not great…and it came with about 30 pin pricks as well. But for $30 worth of material, it’s a steal of a deal for the quality of chair.

Filed Under: Makeovers, Uncategorized

Celebrating….

2012

20 Comments

6 Years ago today I was getting my hair all done up, perfecting my make-up, and putting on a beautiful white dress to walk down the aisle to my life long partner, Ryan. I can honestly say that never in a million years did I think that we would be celebrating our 6 year anniversary in a church, for a wake for one of our little girls.

None of us have a magic crystal ball that we can look into and see the path the Lord will take us on….we can’t tell the Lord what we can handle and what we can’t. He gets to decide that for us. The one thing we do know is that if we truly place our faith and trust in Him, He will see us through til the end. If you would have told me even a year ago, after having experienced the love of being a mom, that I would lose my little girl at just a little over a month old, I would think there’s no way I can do it. Not me Lord.

We’ve had so many people tell us they could have never done this journey the way Ryan and I did..and I just respond, you could of, Jesus see’s you through. You’ll never know if you can do it until you have to, and truly experience the love of others and of God to see you through every step of the way. With that being said though, you have to know this Jesus to truly experience His love. You have to have a personal relationship with him that goes beyond rituals and religion. You have to rely on him for every breath and every move. You have to give thanks in all circumstances and truly believe He is good…all the time.

So many of you probably know this Jesus I am talking about, but others might be wondering who He is…how they can know him in this way. Throughout Juliets life I have had to tell myself Lord, she is yours. If you can just bring one precious person to know you better, then her life will not be in vain. It made it easier for me to give her back to Him knowing the bigger purpose she was serving. To glorify God and ultimately bring people to know him better.

I’m pretty sure the next few weeks/months?? this lady is going to be taking some good “couch” time and adjusting to the new normal. With that being said I’ll have a lot of free time on my hands. Time that I’d love to chat/answer/be there for anyone that wants to know Jesus in a personal way. Anyone that’s been trying to find peace but just hasn’t gotten there yet. I have been so blessed by the prayer warriors that have gotten us through this time that I’d love to repay the favor for anyone else that needs it. So, if you wanna take me up on it, you can email me at alliemay425@gmail.com with any questions or to get my number so we can chat:)

Thanks in advance to the so many people that are going to celebrate Jules’ life with us, and the so many that made me realize her purpose here on this earth. To bring others to Jesus and spread pure love:)

Filed Under: Faith, Juliet Faith, Uncategorized

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2012

Aged Distressing…and Sleepless Nights

2012

3 Comments

Well, I can honestly say this is a first. For those of you who know me this girl is not a morning person. The great hour of 8 or later is much appreciated in the morning, so for me to be sitting here writing this at 5:30 a.m. seems terribly alarming to me :) A few things have created this scenario I’m in…

1.) I have a little girl who can’t quite get rid of a bad case of the hives, even on steroids, and we can’t figure out what’s causing it=a stressed mom+a daughter sleeping on a sleeping bag on the floor next to me. I know, a bit extreme, but I’m having this problem of being a little too attached to my kiddos right now…trying to give that one to Jesus.

2.) A little boy who can’t quite “make it” through the night all the time and ends up waking me up at 3:42 saying my bed is soaking. Get up, tear the bed apart, put on new blankets and get him back to bed.

3.) Thoughts of Jules soon arriving and once my brain starts on that it just doesn’t stop. Will I go into labor, will my water break, will she stop moving, will she survive labor, what will she look like, what will the after labor look like, (not the messy part, the part of will I get to hold a live baby:) how will I react, how will ryan react, how will the kids react, will we get to bring her home..and the list goes on…..therefore, I have been up since 3:42.

4.) lastly, I have my little and not so little hunter out this morning goose hunting at 4:30, so I sent them off as well.

So….seeing as though I couldn’t sleep I turned on a pot of coffee, played a couple games of spider solitaire, ate one (maybe two) special k bars, and decided to blog on what I did yesterday. That now brings me to 6:06 after uploading, editing, eating, playing and drinking:)

after all that randomness, I’m going to show you a technique I tried and kinda liked and is now all over my house:) I am also using it in quite a few pieces for the next Whimsy sale because I think it looks very fallish. I call it aged distressing. I would say antique, but I’m not an antique-y kind of gal, so we’ll go with aged.

I started out with this piece that was actually headed for the burn pile until my great father-in-law spotted it, loves his daughter-in-law…and rescued it for me:) I think of the few of the drawers were even in the pit and he dug them out. Thanks Tim! It’s a beautiful piece, solid wood and tons of storage…and character. It may look like a bit of a beast on the outside, but she cleans up nice…

Wow sorry for the picture. I took it on my phone ( a new one since I just shattered my old one, and then took a picture of the picture because I can’t get the new phone to sync yet on my computer) So that’s that story:)

I also had all the drawers out already by the time I thought of taking a picture and was too lazy to put them back in, pathetic I know. This was a part of a bedroom set, and had the huge mirror with built in shelves on the side that sat on top if you know what I mean. A little 80′s. But I saw other potential. It’s super long, and has some awesome pullout drawers behind that door. I’m thinking what a great buffet it would make. So that’s what I’ll sell it as.

To start with I sanded it and gave it 2 coats of Benjamin Moore Moonlight White satin paint.

once that was done I got out my handy dandy power sander to start distressing.

This sander is a little big, nice for sanding down the project before painting, but a bit big for distressing. My little palm sander crapped out on me and I found this guy at a garage sale for $5 so until I replace it, it does the trick. This is where you just have to be ballsy and go to town on your piece. If you are a perfectionist, this will be hard. If you are not (uh-hum) then it will be fun:)

You honestly can’t mess this part up. Chippy=aged so don’t worry! Take the palm sander over all the edges and raised areas. If you can’t get to some of the areas then use a block sander or piece of sand paper to get it.

okay, so distressing is done. I vacuumed off the dust and then wiped it down. Here’s where the Aged part comes into play. Although some of you may want to stop here, put on your new hardware and call it a day.

I went one step further…and pulled out these…

One of my favorite, minwax Dark Walnut 2716. No red tones, love it. I also used a foam brush and an old sock..or t-shirt, or rag, or anything you can find that won’t leave behind fuzzies. Note to self: if you don’t want brown hands for the next week, with a little stickyness to them, also where rubber or latex gloves.

I just put a little on my brush and brushed the edges to start with. I do about half of a top at a time so it doesn’t sit on too long.

Then take your rag and start wiping it in and towards the center. Continue until the top is done. I sometimes add a few brush strokes of stain to the top and then wipe it all in. If you want you can cover the whole thing, it will just get a little darker and be a little messier.

Then continue with the rest. You really can’t mess this up either. If you want it darker, add more stain. If it’s too dark, use your elbow grease and wipe it off.

Kynlee actually took this picture for me:) Got to love free labor!

And when you are done you will get something that looks like this..

Aged distressing. I still have to buy some pulls for the drawers and a shorter screw for my cute little bird pull:)

and some close-ups..

I must warn you, when you use stain you are gonna want to let your piece sit outside or cure for at least a couple of days. 1.) The stain stays a little tacky and 2.) It smells. You may even want to polyurethane or polycrylic the top to help harden it.

I also managed to do this piece at the same time..another one heading to the barn.

Unfortunately no before picture, but you can imagine:) I still have to put the metal claw feet on the bottom.

It’s got some fun character.

If you want to take it one step further in the aged process, you can do what I did to my kitchen table. I distressed the top even more to give it aged spots. You can do that by just holding the sander down in one spot til it wears through the paint. This is a little riskier, and I’m still deciding if I want to keep it or repaint it and have no aged spots. The jurys out.

before…