A Trip Down Memory Lane........

Happy New Year!

What a great year it was....I have so much to be thankful for......

Since I started this blog in March 2011, I have been so blessed by all of your encouragement and I have been so inspired by all of you too!

I wanted to take a little stroll down memory lane and revisit some of my favorite blog posts from 2011

Coming in at #10 is a painting I did for Teacher Appreciation Day

#9 Don't Worry bee Happy painted sign

#8 DIY, a place to hang your little ones art

#7 Family Art Project

#6 Happy Home Wall Art

#5 Fabric Covered Notebook

#4 Okra Stamp Art

#3 Bottle Top Stamps

#2 Mod Podge Transfer Art

And coming in at #1 is my favorite post....

The story of Liam...my most creative project of the year ;)

What an amazing year it has been!

This time last year I could have never imagined that I would be surrounded by such love and encouragement from all of you. I am truly blessed by your words and I hope that I bring a little joy to your day as well!

And...since I'm a hugger....I give you all a big hug and the greatest blessings for a great 2012....

I am so excited for the year to come!

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Let's Talk About Love...A DIY project

So I am jumping right on ahead to Valentine's Day....if Wal-Mart can put the candy out in December I can blog about it in December, right??

Really, I am just dreading the long days of January and want a little something to look forward to...you know, maybe a few decorations so that the hubby will be sure to remember to spoil me a bit ;)

For this little sign that is sure to find a place on my mantle just as soon as I can bring myself to take down the Christmas decorations...I used what I had and tried something new...

Here's what you will need:

a piece of wood

Mod Podge

scrapbook paper

acrylic pain

Cut the scrapbook paper to the size of your board, brush Mod Podge over the decorated side of the paper and place face down on the board....

It looks pretty boring now...but wait a few hours while it drys...then get your fingers wet and gently start to rub the paper...

Gently, gently....keep rubbing away the paper....

As you rub away the paper the Mod Podge magically keeps the image of the paper on your board...keep going until you have removed all of the paper....

No worries if you take away some of the paper...in the end it will still look really nice. I love how it looks like a painting when you are all finished, you can even see the wood grain shining through....

To add the painted lettering you can use this trace and transfer trick, it works like a charm!

What do you think?? It was the first time I did this trick with scrapbook paper...I really like the shabby sweet look it has...and it just sort of makes me smile when I look at it too...

Can't wait to get to eating all of those chocolates I'm sure to get from my Valentine ;)

(I just sent a link to this post to my hubby's e-mail...Hi Babe!)

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Frame it...a DIY project

Christmas is really over, huh?

Well...it was fun while it lasted!

I spent a lot of time making handmade gifts this year...yes, there were still some store bought things under the tree, I haven't learned the fine art of making barbies and power rangers yet :p

I made my in-laws a personalized gift...my kiddos call them "Giggy and Papa" and I would have never been able to find anything with this printed on it, so I did what I love to do....

I made them something myself :)

I use a super simple trick to do this...and it makes for a pretty nice finished product..If I do say so myself....

Start with a wooden frame, this one came from Wal-mart with a price tag of $2.50. Paint it any color your heart desires....

Next...head over to your computer and print out the words you want to apply...any font or size that fits will work

Turn the printed saying over, and color in with pencil. Make sure to cover the area entirely...

Now, place the print out on your frame right side up and trace. The pencil will underneath will leave a perfect outline of the font you chose

Using a small brush, paint in your outline with acrylic paints....

What do you think?? It was a lot of fun to make...easy and the possibilities are pretty endless too!

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Merry Christmas......

From our family to yours

Merry Chirstmas!

I hope you are surrounded by friends, family and a lot of love today



Turning a Necklace into a Coat....Part Two....

Wow!

What an amazing whirlwind of a week I have had!

Last week I shared how I turned a necklace into a coat.

It started with a prayer for a boy when I noticed him getting off the bus without a coat. I prayed for God to make a way for our family to buy him a coat....

He answered that prayer with requests for this "blessed" necklace that I started making a few weeks ago.

After selling 4 of these necklaces, we bought and delivered the first coat one week ago and I took a little time to blog about how God had answered that prayer and.....

 wouldn't you know....

there were so many others that wanted to help out too!

So....over the past week I made and sold a total of 48 of these little necklaces! All of the proceeds went to buying more coats for the children at the after school program that this little boy attends. So, I loaded up my three kiddos and off we went to buy coats.

We were able to buy 10 coats!!

My sweet babies we so proud of these coats!

We loaded up the car and went to deliver the coats.....

I have to say that this center is literally right around the corner from our home and in the 6 years that we have lived here I never knew the great things that they were doing for those children.

Children Are People is an after school program that believes that there is no amount of disadvantage in life that can keep you from doing the things you believe in. "Mr. Fred Bailey founded the program in 2000. Mr. Bailey is one of fifteen children of sharecroppers. He was born without the gift of full sight and despite an intimate relationship with disadvantage, he received a Bachelor’s degree from Tennessee State University, worked at General Electric and served as a middle school and high school wrestling coach."

I am so very proud of this man. He knows what it means to be a constant in these children's lives, and his encouragement, along with all of the volunteers at the center, are really changing lives!

I am so happy to be standing next to Mr. Bailey delivering coats!

I am smiling as I write this because I truly feel so blessed to be a part of this! I want to thank all of you who supported our effort in any way. Some of you bought necklaces, some of you sent encouraging words my way daily, and some of you simply stopped to pray for us.
The blessing of something so simple as a coat will mean so much to these children, and as much as we were trying to bless them, in the process you all blessed our family so much too!
I am so proud that our children got to see what it means to give selflessly, to remember how blessed we are, and to always know that when we pray God hears us!


Mr. Bailey left me with saying this, "I don't know how God works, I just know that He does!"


I could not agree more! So to Mr. Bailey, Susan, Stephanie and all the other many volunteers there at CAP, thank you for teaching me again what it means to be blessed and to share that with others.


And to YOU....that's right....if you are reading this I am talking to you.....thank you for taking the time to read this. I know our lives are so full and it's hard to find time to slow down, but you did and I thank you. This blog has given me a voice in the world far beyond the creative crafts that I share and for that I am so very, very grateful!


I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and are able to take a little time to count your blessings too!