This picture was from my painting curtains post that you can find here….but I”m amazed how many people have asked if I made those prints in the background.  Although I wish I could take credit for them, I can’t.  I actually found them on an online auction sale as is.  I was bidding on three of them and “won” two:)  Ry hates when I say I won them…he asks if I got them for free.  Well…. :)

Anyway, the bottom one was in a wood frame so I just took some cream paint and painted it up to match the top one and hung them as is.  They are worn and ripped and stained and i.love.it.  They are authentic:)

I’m not a horse person either in case you wanted to know, but I loved that they came from Minneapolis and have that on them, a little history preserved close to home.

Anyway, I was online looking at a blog called Vintage Home Love and saw this picture…

source

Wow they looked familiar!  It was fun to read her story of how she was trying to “win” some on ebay but missed out at the last second so she decided to make them instead!

Hers…

Mine….

So…the good news is that since she did make them herself, she has a tutorial!  In case you wanted your own:)  You can find it here.

I noticed one more familiar thing as well….

source

Did you spot it??

Maybe this helps..

Pillow love:)  Crazy huh?  I had to take a double take…:)  She’s got fun style too!

 I’ve had people ask me where I got the medallion fabric from as well and I posted it in a comment but I’ll put it on here as well.  I got it here.  It’s a little pricey but it’s a lot cheaper than buying the pillows outright with designer fabric.  Plus 1 yard will make you about 2 pillows if you use it for front and back, or my trick, use drop cloth on the back and you can get about 4 pillows out of the deal.  Then it only makes each pillow cover around $5!

So, I hope that helps for all those people that loved the grainsacks and I was no help before:)  Thanks Our Vintage Home Love:)

Have you ever seen people who through some disaster were driven to great times of prayer? And have you noticed that once the disaster was long forgotten, a spiritual sweetness remained that warmed their souls?

It reminds me of a severe storm I once saw in late spring–one in which darkness covered the sky, except where the lightning violently split the clouds with its thundering power.  The wind blew and the rain fell, as though heaven had opened its windows.

What devastation there was!  The storm uprooted even the strongest of oaks, and not one spiderweb escaped the wind, despite being hidden from view.  But soon, after the lightning was gone, the thunder ceased and was silent, and the rain was over; a western wind arose with a sweet and gentle breath, chasing the dark clouds away  I saw the retreating storm throw a scarf of rainbows over her fair shoulders and her glowing neck.  She looked back at me, smiled, and then passed from my sight.

For many weeks after the storm, the fields raised their hands, full of heavenly, fragrant flowers, toward the sky  And all summer long the grass was greener, the streams were filled, and the trees, because of their lush foliage, cast a more restful shade.

All this–because the storm had come.  All this–even thought he rest of the earth had long forgotten the storm, its rainbows, and its rain.

–Theodore Parker.

And then, because God has a sense of humor and it had rained for 65 of the 90 days at some point (and was raining at the time I read this) there was this poem.

Is it raining little flower?

Be glad of rain;

Too much sun would wither one:

It will shine again.

The clouds are very dark, it’s true;

But just behind them shines the blue.

Are you weary, tender heart?

Be glad of pain;

In sorrow, sweetest virtues grow,

As flowers in the rain.

God watches, and you will have sun,

When clouds their perfect work have done.

–Lucy Larcom

I chuckle at God and how He can give me a nice little nudge to set my thoughts on the right track:)  And how He can use anything to speak to us…even rain!

The part I loved in this devotional though was the phrase, “…a spiritual sweetness remained that warmed their souls.”

I have always known God to be a father figure.  And I know that God even carries the name “Abba” which means daddy.  And I had tried so many times to pray to Daddy, because I wanted to be close enough to him for it to feel normal, but quite honestly it always seemed a bit hard to roll off of my tongue.  But ever since we have gone through our whole story with Jules, I have felt a whole new side to God.  He has become a daddy to me.  He held me up in the darkest hours.   He NEVER let me down.  He revealed Himself over and over again through people, songs, words, and peace.

I clung to Him, and He held me up.

I hadn’t even truly realized this until a few weeks later when I would lay in bed at night and would start praying.  I would start out saying, “Thank you Daddy….” and it came naturally.  God and I had been through a storm together, and it was brighter than I could have guessed on the other side.  I was left with, ” ..a spritual sweetness that warmed the soul.”  and I didn’t know how to put it until I read those words.

I thank Jules for that.  For bringing me closer to God.  For allowing me to see Him in a  father role.

And I pray that the storms you are enduring will be brighter on the other side as well!

This was the only pic I could find from before we bought it.  It was from the day we bought it at auction.  If you can see though, the steps go right into the landscape rock.

We also want to replace this door, its a wood door and is starting to rot on the bottom a little bit so the seal isn’t too tight in the winter.  I want to get a matching door to the front door….

It just lets in so much light, I would love that in the back corner.  The problem is that we just haven’t.done.it.yet.  I know, I know, what in the world have we been doing??  Well, since I finally realized it might not happen tomorrow, I thought it was finally time to address the door and make it look a bit more purposeful.  So, I pulled out my rustoleum black paint that I used on the front door to dress this one up a bit.

It really matches the rest of the house now.

I also put my lil man to work and we started shoveling rocks.  My least favorite job ever.  I can’t believe how strong little man is though!

He seriously did half the work himself.  I can see this relationship really working for me great in another 5 years:)

After we got the rocks moved we dug out big rocks that were hiding behind the chicken coop to make a path.  I still have to get some mulch to lay down, but at least now the door doesn’t look like it’s leading to now where:)

I was also stoked when I found this pink diamond hydrangea tree at Menards.  I had just saw one at a nursery for $89 and was half the size.  This one was at Menards for $50 plus 11% back, can’t beat that!  I”m so excited for it to bloom.

 It should look like something like this..

So this is it for now….She’ll be changing a bit yet, so I’ll be sure to update:)

Tomorrow I’ll show you a few more things I’ve been working on outside.  I love playing in the dirt!

]]> http://proverbs31girl.com/?feed=rss2&p=2939 3 http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2917 http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2917#comments Mon, 10 Jun 2013 15:55:21 +0000 allie http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2917 read more »]]> Well, as you can tell this is going to be a smorgisboard of a blog.  I have been trying to be more diligent about blogging more frequently, but time seems to get away from me.  Whimsy is soon approaching again (our next sale is June 27th and 29th, you can find more here) and much of my time is spent crafting, cleaning, mothering, and digging in the dirt now that it’s nice:)  So I’m gonna fit a few things in this blog!

First of, if you live in the midwest, many of us may have the same favorite spring flower….

Lilacs!

Oh my goodness…I wish this blog had smell, because it’s amazing how I added a few bouquets of these to the house and you could smell them everywhere!

Plus the fact that they are beautiful!

The only downside is that they only last for a few weeks:(

But, there is one more fun thing to show you…

You see that cute little guy in the background?? Above the toilet??

I have seen simliar ones at Pottery Barn and other stores for a pretty penny.  This one I ended up finding at a home store called Gordmans.  I love that store.  I had a coupon and ended up getting it for $30, which I thought was a steal!

It was the perfect size.  I’m still playing around with what goes in it, but I’m excited to have a piece that I can accesorize for the seasons:)

I had the little jars and filled them with some bath salts…

added some shimmer, and some practical pieces…

and she’s good to go:)

Moving on, we had a great weekend.

I pretended to be country (shhh) as we went to a country music festival with some good friends…

Ryan’s a country boy so he sang me all of the songs:)  Romantic.  We saw Miranda Lampert and Dierks Bentley. They put on a good show!

The kids had a crazy cousin party put on by Ryan’s mom and aunt.  It’s AMAZING every year.  The kids had a blast!

Every year is a different theme and this year was Duck Dynasty and Daisies.

The boys got to dress in camo…

Uncle Si even showed up…

There was no fun to be had..

and the girls got to be princesses…

pretty cute if I say so myself:)

Thanks Grandma and Aunt Marlis for a lot of fun memories!!

I mean, “Miss Kay” :)

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…

source

and this…

source

and this…

source

And thought, I can do that.  And did!

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

source

and this…

source

and this…

source

 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!

source

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:)

source

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:)

Then I had Tate.

Boy did that blow the selfishness right out of the water, and honestly I had  bit of a hard time adjusting.  I dreamed of being a Momma my whole life and when it actually came to be I remember having a melt down and crying, “I’m never gonna get to sleep in again!” Ha.  The hormones didn’t help.

I did settle into  motherhood though, and soon new worries seemed to take over.  I remember one night thinking of how much responsibility is truly on us for raising these kiddos.  I was worried I wasn’t going to raise them with a strong enough integrity, or love for others, or even more, a love for God.

And lately the worries seem to creep up more and more.  Maybe its the changes I see in the world.  Maybe it’s that my kids are getting older. Or maybe it’s because I realize now more than ever how short lived this world is and how eternity is waiting.  My kids souls are at stake.  As sweet and tender as their hearts are now, and how much they love Jesus, I know He gave us each free will.  And as much as I wish we could love Jesus for them, I have to realize that that is going to have to be their own personal choice they have to make.  And in a world with mixed morals, subtle messages everywhere, and worldly draws, I have realized that the only thing I can do is PRAY.

Pray like crazy for their hearts.

And pray that they make the right decisions.

And even when they fail, pray they come back.  Pray the Lord grabs hold of their hearts.  Pray they decide to love Jesus and make their relationship their own.

and this verse always seems to bring hope..

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.  Philippians 1:6

Another lesson we learned with Jules: these kids are not ours, we just get the honor of raising them before they get to go home to be with Jesus.  So my challenge to you, as well as myself, is when you find yourself getting worried/nervous/uptight–PRAY.  As this world has gotten scarier, my relationship with Jesus has gotten stronger, because I know that He’s the one constant in it all.  He never changes. He never fails.  He is our only hope.  And their hope:)  So I’ll keep praying!!

At the time I was deciding between a drop in sink and a vessel sink.  I think I ended up going with the vessel sink just because it was different.  I’ve never had one before.  By the time we ended up putting it all together the very practical Ryan says, “well good, the kids will be able to brush their teeth by themselves when they are 16.”  Ha!  He was partially right.  The sucker was tall!

So since then I had been on the lookout for the perfect little stool.  This is where I say to the people that think a room can come together over night…IT TAKES TIME.  I had been on the look out for a year for the perfect little stool.

I almost settled and just bought a target one like this…

and it would have gotten the job done, but it just didn’t have much for character.

So the day I was at the occasional shops I came across this lil cutie for the shocking price of $6!!!

SCORE!

The bath wasn’t painted on top and distressed, I added that later, but the shape and color was perfect!

She’s got great legs:)  Nice and feminine.  I’m a bit jealous over here…

and the natural color wood warms it up just a bit.

So the kiddos can finally brush their teeth by themselves.

Mission accomplished.  Sorry honey that it took a year!

So keep your eyes out for cute little stools.  It’s amazing how a little stencil on top really dresses it up and makes it an original.

And the best part is when you find them cheap.   I eat $6 all the time at chipotle for a burrito:) This $6 will last  a little longer!

I found one for even cheaper that’s a perfect fit for the downstairs bathroom, but that room is getting some “tweaking” done, so I’ll show you it in a bit:)

And a lot of quality time with daddy, grandpa, and grandma.

Something they love.

My parents live on the Wisconsin River, so needless to say daddy was quite excited to get a little fishing in.  We barely got out of the van and some lines were in the water.

and they were as soon ans the kids woke up as well….

They

loved

every

Second.

It really got exciting once the fish started biting…

I loved how happy her brother was for her!

It doesn’t get much cuter than that.

They fished every chance they could get….and they have quite an amazing daddy who spent more time taking hooks out and untangling snags than he got to fish.

He even let the kiddos reel in every fish.

Love that man.

We did find some time to actually get out on the water on the pontoon…

No one had any fun:)

I just couldn’t get enough of this lil lady.  I got her swimsuit at a garage sale last year and fell in love.

I’m a sucker for mod

and for those cheekers:)

seriously.

Sorry, photo overload.

I can’t help it.

Keep in mind this water was freezing!

But the air was warm:)

He’s getting his momma’s freckles.  *love*

Evidence we were there:)

On the way back the kiddos watched the motor churn the water..

And Kynlee and Papa drove us home.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for a great weekend!  We love you guys!!!

Although I change it up a lot, I keep a lot of the same pieces.  Mantle decorating can get expensive, so I tend to keep my favorite neutral pieces and pull them in for every season.

I saw this mirror at Ballard Designs and fell in love…

But at $379, it wasn’t an option.  So, my solution was a DIY wood lath sunburst mirror.

Definitely not as cool, but hey, it only cost about $10 and a few blood blisters from hitting myself with the hammer.  Ouch.

It’s huge though, and makes a statement.

add in my trademark white dishes…

A rustic antler pop for the hubby….

and a few greens…

and you have a fresh, spring-y mantel.

A cheap trick to finding white pitchers is to go to Goodwill and buy the ugly ones with a pattern on.  As long as there is no raised parts on the pitcher, you can spray it without anyone knowing.  Trust me, that little cutie used to be mauve and blue with hearts.  But she only set me back 49 cents.

Bam.

I’m loving having real greens in my house.  I decided it worth it to spend a little bit more for live, oxygen purifying flowers and plants:)

I love them so much I just had to share a couple pics of the tulips I picked from our garden…

Mason jars make great vases:)

They make me smile every time I see them:)

The first room you walk into is the eating area/kitchen…

The wall color is called “Gull” by Martha Stewart.

and the cabinets

are another Martha Stewart color called “Sharkey Gray.”

I love this gray because it really takes on a warm tone.

My living room and dining room are next….

and..

Are another Martha Stewart color called “Glass of Milk.”

It’s a nice creamy white that I like.  It’s not too cold, not too warm.  Just right:)

My office is painted in Martha Stewart “Bedford Gray.”

Bedford Gray..

Although I like this color, I may repaint this room at some time.  This color is really pretty in a bright airy room, but the office only gets morning sun and then is quite dark the rest of the day.  The gray looks a little too ” cool” for my liking.

The last room on the main level is the bathroom.  This room I needed to paint in a jiffy and ended up running to walmart to pick out a color since it was the closest.

It was a better Home and Gardens color called “Newsworthy Neutral.”  I have actually had a lot of people ask for this color.  It is a great neutral to blend grays and browns.

I couldn’t find a color of it online so hopefully they still have it.

That does it for the downstairs.

We move upstairs and in my bedroom I used another Martha color called “Whetstone Gray.”

and..

I love how subtle it is.  Surprise!

These colors all look quite similar online, and truthfully they are all very soft subtle colors, so there isn’t a huge difference, but a bit more than you can tell from the photos.

My bathroom is also in the “Gull” color that’s in our kitchen/eating area.

And Sharkey Gray is on the vanity.

Kynlees room is such a soft soft pink color, that my mom swore it was white:)  I love it though..

It’s called Billowy Clouds and it was a Behr color.

The last room is Tates, and I just used the stock white from the shelf..

All of our trim is painted in Bejamin Moore, Decorator’s white..

It’s a little bit warmer than a stark white, but still gives good contrast.

So there you have it, finally a post with all the paint colors in one spot.

Happy Painting!

]]> http://proverbs31girl.com/?feed=rss2&p=2839 4 http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2825 http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2825#comments Sat, 11 May 2013 00:12:22 +0000 allie http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2825 read more »]]> Who knows what I’m talking about??  Not yummy delicious buttery home made popcorn.

White, flaky, the so-not-my-friend-popcorn.

Yep, now you know what I’m talking about.

Fortunately since we pulled out every single bit of drywall and plaster in our current house, we could choose to not use this as a texture to cover up seams in the drywall.  We kept our ceilings flat.  In our last house though, it was everywhere.

I have to tell you that I wasn’t a big fan from the get go, but it seemed an overwhelming task to tackle, therefore we sprayed 10 gallons of paint onto our ceilings to give it a fresh white and left it as is.  I have a couple that I’m helping with their cabin this spring, and they had popcorn ceilings in just a few rooms of the cabin.  Since it wasn’t covering over 2000 square feet of drywall, the task seemed much more manageable.  I researched for hours (or quick you tubed how to remove popcorn ceilings) and found a great video.

It’s 11 minutes long, but after the first couple minutes you get the picture:)  So, we gathered supplies.  We needed a sprayers..

I believe this one was used for around the yard, but rinsed out it worked great!

A scraper..

It’s a drywall knife that you can get at any hardware store.

and  a plastic tub..

I took the sprayer and sprayed the ceiling once, let it sit for a minute, and then sprayed it one more time.  You want to make sure to get enough water on it so that it scrapes off nicely.  I found it best to wait about 5 minutes after your last spray to start scraping.

Then, you seriously just start scraping…

Make sure you hold the container so you try to catch as much as you can.

Here’s a small clip of me in action.  Note:  Your arm does get tired, and popcorn does get everywhere:)

Thanks Kelly Jo for taping it:) I didn’t quite know she was video taping, but it was great to show how smooth it actually works!

There were a couple of spot that some of the drywall got nicked a bit that would needed to be patched, but I really think we could have just primed the drywall and painted it smooth.

You might notice the tape lines are a bit extreme and decide to either get them re-sanded, or do a knock down texture (which I like a bit more)

Or if this looks like too much work, you could just cover your ceilings up with a wood treatment with something like this…

The Lettered Cottage

We actually ended up planking the ceiling with 1/4″ plywood, and they are looking so cool!  Hopefully I can show you soon!

Happy scraping:)

It’s a bit more subtle.

Ha, shows how bad this corner had gotten, I couldn’t find a picture of it since when we first moved in.  Since then I re-did the dresser and it turned out really cute.  It’ s currently in the barn though, and I”m a bit too lazy to go take a picture of it.  Maybe someday:)   So, This back entry has become a bit of a catch-all.

Eeek!!!

No wonder why I haven’t photographed it:)

 The dresser was overflowing with coloring/arts and crafts stuff, and dvds barely fit in the middle drawer.  Since we have a lack of storage already, I need to make every space count.  I found this from ikea and thought it would be nice…

Of course I”d get it in white.  What I loved about it is that it is tall, 77 1/2″, but more importantly, narrow.  It’s only 14 1/2″ deep.  This would open up the space a bit.  I was hoping the price was right, and although $365 isn’t  a ton of money for a big piece, it was a bit more than I wanted to spend.

I found out that the week after Whimsy, there were occasional shops near us that were open.  I thought maybe I could find a treasure at one of these, so my sister-in-law graciously watched my kiddos for a couple of hours so I could scour the stores for a good deal. Thanks Brielle!

I did find one piece that I loved, but it was again over the budget at $450, but what  a cool piece!

It was the perfect size.  I thought I would have painted the black white, and distressed it, and then left the wood doors.  But, I stuck to my guns and passed it up.

I ended up having no luck  with that piece, but what I did find was something else I had been looking for for awhile.  Small dressers for my nightstand.

I found this little cutie at the first store I went to for an amazing deal of $59.

The lady did such a cute job of painting it light blue and distressing, but of course it wasn’t quite what I was looking for color wise.  Such a shame, but I’d have to give her a makeover…

So let me just take you back to the small nightstands I had before…

And here’s how it looks now…

You’ll notice I kept the hubby happy with what’s hanging above the bed as well!  Although it still needs to have the base cut and painted white:)

This piece was a solid, well-built piece of furniture.  The piece was originally all cherry.  And I know there are a lot of cherry fans out there, but the color was a bit too red for me.  I tamed it down by sanding the drawers and staining them with Minwax “Weathered Oak” stain.  It was still a bit more “red” than I would like, so I took a dry brush and brushed on a tiny bit of white as well to give it more of a whitewash look….

I painted the body of it white and added some numbers…

Because everything is cuter with numbers:)

I topped it off with a date with the power sander, and she was finished.

I lucked out on the hardware, I loved the original.  And my favorite part is this cute little board that pulls out on top..

Now Ry doesn’t have to complain about my decorations and not having space to set anything.

Genius!

So once side of the bed is done, I”ll show you the other side next.  It’s not as great of quality as this cutie, but it gives a similar look:)

And then pretty soon it gets to the point where you start to hang out, to texting, to laughing about how you first met.  You know the routine.  But the thing is, IT TAKES TIME! And then there’s the relationship with the hubby.  You go through the “dating” phase and think you are in a wonderful fairy tale with all glitter and sparkles:)  Then you get married and live together, at least that’s how we did it:)  And that’s when you realize, I did marry my father:):) Love you babe!  But the point I’m getting at is until you live together, and see each other 24 hours a day, through thick and thin, makeup and no makeup, pms and cramping…you don’t TRULY know the whole side of the other person!  There are levels.  Levels to all relationships.

And isn’t it wonderful when our relationship gets to the point where we can 100% be ourselves.  We don’t have to try, it doesn’t have to be awkward, we don’t have to get blotchy while talking or second guess everything we are saying??  That’s when we truly know they will love us no matter what.

My relationship with Jesus has been quite the same.  I must say, it has gone through so many “levels.”  But if we truly are in a relationship with Jesus, than our relationship should change, just like our relationships with friends and hubbys change…they evolve.

My relationship with Jesus started as a kid and grew through high school, where I learned a lot of the character of God and stories of the Bible.  My knowledge of Jesus and God grew leaps and bounds.

Then I headed out to college and was on my own.  The Lord placed amazing girls in my life who had such a passion for Jesus.  Soon my relationship went from a knowledge of God, to a relationship with God.  I desired to spend time with Him in prayer and I desired what they had.  Isn’t that crazy how we can just see Jesus in other people and it makes us want it all the more.  The bugger about this time in my life though, was that I started to fear God.  Now the fear of God is a good thing, but I saw verses like…

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’  Matthew 7:22-23.

and I thought to myself??? What if He says that to me?  I would miss a morning devotion and feel as though God were so disappointed in me.  I constantly was trying to live up to what I “thought” God wanted me to be.  Soon I learned that this was not healthy.  It was not works or good deeds, or spending daily time in the word that would get me into heaven.  Sure it was all good stuff, but I was missing the point.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-  Ephesians 2:8

I didn’t need to DO anything.  Except accept, and truly believe God loved me.  I was freed from the unhealthy fear I had of Jesus and was able to focus on who God truly was.  God is love!

After college I ended up moving out to the middle of nowhere (oh wait, that’s where I still am:) and only knew 2 people.  My sister and brother-in-law.  I ended up living with them in their upstairs for almost a year until mister wonderful came along;)  At this point in my life though I needed Jesus in a whole new way.  I had no one else.  At least that’s how I was feeling.  I had no friends (in the close vicinity) to fall back on, no boyfriend of the sort.  All I had was Jesus.  This time was so sacred to me.  My relationship grew leaps and bounds.  I needed Him.  I remember Friday nights where I would just spend journaling, praying, and praising God to praise and worship music.  They were pretty amazing dates if I do say so myself!   And God met me.  I felt Him in almost a tangible way.  During this time God was preparing me for my husband, and brought him to me in a miraculous way:)  When I thought I gave up everything, the Lord showed me he was preparing something wonderful for me.  If you want to read about how Ryan and I met you can read it here.

Soon we got married and not much longer babies came into the picture.  I felt the closeness of Jesus slip away.  My attention was torn in so many different directions.  I tried so hard to get back to that intimate time I had with Jesus and just couldn’t seem to get there.  I would get frustrated, try again, and give up again.  But through this time Jesus never left me.  This was a point in my life where I started to build relationships.  Relationships that would show me Jesus in a whole new way.

And then came Jules.  The biggest test of my faith.  This is where I was able to see the whole of my relationship with Jesus come to fruition.  I could look back in my life and understand why the Lord took me through each step that He did.  And I praised God for it!  I praised Him for the knowledge of who He is that I learned as a child.  I praised him for the dependence on Him I experienced as a young adult all by myself, and I praised God for the time that I thought was a drought, when He allowed me to grow relationships and see Jesus through others.  It was at this moment that God gave me such clarity.  He showed me that He had NEVER left me.  He was ALWAYS right there.  He was PREPARING me.

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Phillipians 1:6

In some ways, I wish everyone could go through an experience like we had with Jules.  Not because it was easy, because it wasn’t.  Not because anyone wants to experience loss, because we don’t.  But because of the way we got to EXPERIENCE GOD.  It was AMAZING.  And it’s something that is so hard to try to explain.  My relationship grew to a much deeper level through it.  I took everything I had learned in my 29 years of life.  The knowledge, the truth, the intimacy, the love, the relationships, and used it all in this one life changing experience.  And in the end I had a better understanding of what is truly important in life.  It’s been a process, but the Lord is helping me to see eternal, instead of earthly.  The bigger picture.   God showed me that He is good, all the time, by bringing about peace and love in the most difficult circumstances.  He poured His love on us through relationships we had created with so many different people.  He blessed us and allowed us to see just a bit of the eternal impact that Jules’ had, that kept us going, and still allows us to be so humbled and grateful that we got to carry this gift.  He held our hands the entire time and never let us go.

That’s where my relationship with God has gone, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I’m sure there are many triumphs and trials yet to come, and I pray that through them all I continue to grow closer to Jesus.  Because in the end it really doesn’t matter how much money I have, what my house looks like, what political party I vote for, how many people like me.  In the end it really only matters that I get to spend eternity with Jesus.  And see all my family and friends in eternity as well!

We had our first Whimsy Green sale of the year, and it was a huge success!  We are so humbled EVERY TIME by the devotion of our fans and followers.  So this is a huge THANK YOU to all of those of you who braved the weather, came early, fought the crowd, waited in line, and brought a smile to our face:)  We literally ran out of a lot of things, and although there were still some fun finds left in the store, the walls were pretty bare by the end of Saturday!

Here’s a picture of the workers Saturday morning…

it’s a pretty blurry i phone pic, but you get the picture.  My oldest sister Jenni came to help for the first time.  She’s on the far left, along with my next oldest Sonia, a wonderful helper and family friend Cindy, and myself.  My sister Melanie helped thursday but then had to head home to work on Saturday.

And thanks to Amanda for this picture…of what it looked like outside while we were waiting for the clock to strike 9 before opening the doors:)
That is the line of people waiting.  SO BLESSED!!   They started showing up just before 8:30!

So, for those of you that live a distance away, or weren’t able to make it, I thought I’d give you a sneak peek of what Whimsy looks like before it gets picked apart:)

In the front room we had the little girls room…

I loved how whimsical it felt….

and one more..

or 2:)

We had this fun rustic/shabby area by the front door…

I love how the natural and pops of color went together..

A classic is always our gallery wall..

It was plum full

Then we had the bright kitchen area…

I loved all of the color in here..

the bedroom….

With a gallery wall of it’s own…

and some fun accessories…

I’m always amazed how full we can make this shop thinking that there are only 4 of us crafting away, and how it always pulls together:)  Again, a huge thank you to all of our supporters!!

]]> http://proverbs31girl.com/?feed=rss2&p=2780 7 http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2772 http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2772#comments Sat, 20 Apr 2013 15:04:16 +0000 allie http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2772 read more »]]> Just thought I’d share another mini project I did a couple of nights ago for Whimsy.

My mother-in-law found this bench at a garage sale last year and I never got to it.

It had great bones, was in great shape, and full of potential.

I finally got to her and dressed her up a bit:)

White slips are so classic.  This would be a cute little bench at the end of a bed, or in an entry or reading nook.

I did a flat skirt on this one to give it a bit more of a traditional feel.

I always fall in love with my projects.  I don’t know if it’s because of the labor of love, or seeing the transformation….but, there is no room for her in my house, so to Whimsy she will go:)

We’d love to see you Thursday! :)

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:)

]]> http://proverbs31girl.com/?feed=rss2&p=2737 11 http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2738 http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2738#comments Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:03:20 +0000 allie http://proverbs31girl.com/?p=2738 read more »]]> For those of you who are new to the blog, I just thought I’d quick fill you in on the little side business my sisters and I started a year ago.  It all started when I had quite a bit of furniture from the other house that just wasn’t going to work in our current house…and I didn’t want to just give it away. ( I needed funds for some new things:)  So, my friend said to me, you should have a barn sale in your big red barn out back!  Well, one thing led to the next and before you know it Whimsy Green came to be.  A small occasional shop in my backyard.  My sisters, mom and I, repurposed old furniture, crafted, sewed, created…and filled a shop full of small treasures.  We had 4 sales last year and are hoping to have 4 again this year.  Our first one is actually coming up on April 25th, only a little over a week away!  So, that is the reason for the sparse postings.  I have turned our guest house into a workshop since the weather is NOT cooperating!!!  I move a couple of pieces of furniture in at a time to paint, let them cure, and then move them out to bring a couple more in.  I thought I’d just give you a sneak peek of some of the pieces I’ve been working on:)

Here was this beaut.  I bought it at an auction and wasn’t sure I really wanted it, but no one bid after I raised my number up, so alas..I got it.  It is quite grand in size, way too big of a piece to but in our little house.  But it does make a statement.  For all you wood lovers out there, you may want to close your eyes:)  It was a beautiful wood before I got my hands on it:)

before…

I had already painted the top by the time I remembered to take a pic, so yes..it was the beautiful wood as well:)

and after….

She quite the looker now.  Sorry none of these photos are staged, I barely had enough room to walk around the furniture let alone stage it pretty:)  Too much work to do:):)

My father in law called me another day and said he pulled a dresser out of a burn pile for me (love that man:) and dropped it off in our shed.  Ry ended up having to fix all the drawers (he loves when he gets to help me–wink wink) and then she was good as new.  Again, I forgot to pick up my camera for a before, but here’s the cutie now…

I had cream underneath with a dark grayish cream on top.  I love the two tone paint effect.  (it’s even prettier in person:)  The sides and front of the drawers are chalkboard, so you can write whats in them for those of us with short memory spans.  Or to encourage your kiddos to put their own things away:)

And for the last one for now….

the before..

Okay, you think I’d learn by now.  This is the best picture I got;)  This dresser I also bought at an auction.  I’ts quite the piece. Solid wood and lots of storage.

and the after…

I painted it white first, with light blue on top.  I love when just a bit of the underneath color peeks out.  I distressed it and then stained it with a lighter stain.

I love how it distressed…

So, that’s all I can show you for now.  I have to get back out there and keep working:)  If you want to see them in person, I’d love to see you at Whimsy Green!  You can find more information here.  We are open April 25th and 27th from 9:00-3:00.

** Just a little sidenote, we can not do any presales or put anything on hold.  We really want everyone to have a fair chance so it is first come first serve:)  Can’t wait to see you!

But more importantly, my heart just BROKE for the mommies and daddies of those babies that let fear, uncertainty, judgement, and panic miss out on THE BIGGEST blessing they may witness.

I’m not going to lie and tell you Ryan and I weren’t scared when we thought Jules had a cleft lip/pallet.  Our baby would be DIFFERENT.  People might STARE.  Beauty is seen in OUTWARD APPEARANCE to so many in this world.  I wanted it FIXED.  I wanted her to BLEND IN. I wanted her to be NORMAL.

Wow.

Am I glad she WAS different.  People DID stare, because she was so cute:)  Her outward appearance WAS different, and it gave us opportunities to share Jesus.  She COULDN’T be fixed, but she’s perfect now!  She by no means blended in and she WASN’T normal.  She was extraordinary!  She was a miracle, she was a lesson to be learned, she was a blessing, and she was my baby girl.

I’m writing this as well for all the mommies that are facing a trisomy 18 or 13 or genetic/chromosomal disorder.  A diagnosis where doctors give you no hope, in fact some of them even scare you into what your baby may be.  A diagnosis that seems a death.

I was there.

I was scared.

I didn’t think I could do it

I was scared she would die.

I was scared she would live.

I didn’t know if I could raise a supreme special needs baby for a year, 5 years, 10 years….

In a blink of an eye our lives changed.

I remember standing in the shower a week before Jules came and the Lord gave me such clarity.  He showed me eternity.  And I told Him, Lord, if you have it in your plans for her to live for 20 years, we’ll do it.  Our work on this earth will be to serve others, serve our baby girl.  Our lives here are SHORT!  Eternity is forever!  And I want to honor you Jesus.

Funny thing is is that that’s all God wants from us.  He wants us to surrender our will to follow His.  He wants us to be WILLING.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

–Matthew 16:24-27

I wish I could say that I always have such clarity.  That eternity is always so easy to see.  But I fail at that every day.  But I do pray for a renewing of my mind.  In a very hard world.

So to the mommies and daddies that are dealing with a similar situation that are looking for answers.

for hope.

for peace.

Had we listened to the doctor who told us we could take care of this “situation” as our lively baby girl was on the screen kicking and moving……

We would have missed out on the MIRACLE of her birth..

Fluffy hair..

tubby time…

sibling love..

snuggles all day long…

and lessons learned by all of us of what true beauty is.

What following God’s will looks like.

 How the body of Christ holds you up.

How prayer truly is our most powerful weapon.

How God is ALWAYS there.

How He is GOOD–ALL THE TIME.

and Peace…

amazing peace.

“Taking care of the situation” would have left me with unanswered questions.

Regret.

An empty hole.

Solitude.

Because at the moment we may think it is the easiest solution.  They may sugar coat it and say you are doing a favor for the baby.  They may make you believe it’s not a precious life.  But YOU are the one that has to live with the decision.   YOU  are the one that will remember when everyone else forgets.    YOU are the only one that can protect them.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.   –Psalm 127:3

But last night, my heart broke for the mommas that missed out on this blessing.  The mommas who weren’t sure.  The mommas that loved their babies with all their heart but didn’t know what to do.  Didn’t know if they could handle it.  These were the mommas I was praying for.  I was praying that they know God STILL loves them.  That there is forgiveness….and hope.  Unending hope in a God that is full of love.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  –Romans 15:13

I’d love to chat with you, to love on you a bit:)  To show you where to find that hope, that love!  You can always email me at alliemay425@gmail.com   I’d love to hear from you!

The updated sitting room photos are here.

You can find them here.  They are 9.99 a piece, but hopefully you have a coupon (They accept Michaels coupons as well!) and you can get it for $5.

Well, for almost the last year it found a home in my office, hiding, behind boxes….and boxes.  A month ago I pulled it out thinking I’d spray it yellow for spring and put it on my mantle.  So then it turned into this…

(Ha! I love my lil streaker in the background!)

The yellow was a bit off so I stopped spraying before the third coat, and put it back in the office.  Although it has been out of site, I still was thinking of ideas for her, I hadn’t given up:)  I went over to my friends the other day and she had bought some of the smaller letters and wrapped them in yarn for her baby girls room.  They were so cute!  So that’s when the light bulb went off.  I can take this letter and wrap it in jute.  It will cover the yellow I so do not like, and give it some texture:)

So I got my tools together and got to work….

I decided to use jute.  If you are looking for the cheapest jute, I have found it to be in the hardware department at Walmart.  You can get this roll for 1.97, way cheaper than the jewelry making stuff in the art dept.  It’s a little rougher, but I love that for projects because it gives it more texture yet!   Then I just grabbed my trusty hot glue gun and a scissors and I was ready.

I picked a spot to start on the back and glued it down.  After it was dried, I started the wrapping process…

I found the ends are obviously the hardest when doing this, because sometimes the jute slips, so I would go back and forth and try to wrap it so it would stay as tight as possible.  I liked the look of the criss cross lines at the end too.  There were some areas that I couldn’t get to stay tight without the jute slipping, so I just glued it in place.

This is how far 1 roll of jute got me.  And that’s all I had, so it was on hold til I made another walmart run:)  You can tell that around the ends it’s going to be chunkier because of how many times you have to wrap to cover everything.  Another side note though, if I hadn’t sprayed my letter yellow (ish) I could have used quite a bit less jute because the natural color of the letter would have blended in.  I just wanted to make sure NO yellow peeked through.

So, after another walmart run, I bought another 2 rolls, making sure I wouldn’t run out.  I used a whole full one and a little bit of another one. I think you could get away with using 2 if you don’t have to cover a color:)  Here’s the end result..

No yellow!!

I love the texture.

I also changed up the living room a bit.  I had this architectural wood piece hanging from my ceiling, and as I was laying in bed one night:) I realized it would be much cooler hanging on the wall like a shelf.  Duh!

So, I mounted 3 anchors in the wall and put in 3 inch screws so they stuck out far enough for the wood to rest on and ta da!!!

It’s now a shelf!  I’ts a little shallow so I’m still playing around with what will fit on it  I’m debating putting a board on top of it to make it a little deeper so I can layer a bit better:)

But for now it warms it up a bit.  I also moved my tv over so I could put a lamp in the living room.  Don’t ask my why I thought my tv HAD to be centered on a stand.  But I thought it did:)  I like it much better this way…

I’d rather not have a tv out, but we haven’t quite figured out how to go without one completely yet.

The “L” is a big though, makes a fun statement:)  They do have 12″ letters as well, and think of the possibilities of what you could do with those.  Initials, names, words…..

So, for $5 I got the letter, and I put another $5 into the jute.  Quite a large piece of art for $10 I’d say, plus it’s a diy so you feel so good after accomplishing something:):)