An Awakening Moment

I had a major hiccup with my quote project and struggled to find the words or ideas to blog today. It was a busy day working in the salon and I had an awakening moment!

Halfway through my day, one of my regular clients arrived. As I walked up to talk about what we would be doing with her hair today, I noticed she looked very tired and upset. She had tears in her eyes as she told me she wanted to shave all of her hair off. I have been cutting this woman's hair for five years and have become close with her. We both just looked at each other and had a moment of pure reality of what this meant. We both had tears. She was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. She had surgery and then went into remission. A few weeks ago it had gotten worse and she began a very forceful treatment causing her hair to fall out. She decided she couldn't stand the torture of finding clumps of hair on her pillow and decided to have me cut it all at once. I was very resistant at first, but after she had explained, I pulled her into my chair and told her how fantastic she would look! This is honestly a haircut I have never done before so I was telling her she was helping me as well. I took the clippers and began shaving her head as tears rolled down her face. This made it real. I began to lighten it up with other subjects and tried my best to make her feel good. 

She walked out of the salon with no hair on her head, but she was so brave with a smile. She inspired me today. This makes my daily problems seem so small. Thank God, for he gives us these awakening moments to teach us. I thank God for my blessings.

A Linen Wreath

I fell in love with this wreath at Beautiful Nest and decided to head off to the fabric store for some linen! She gives a wonderful tutorial here on how to make it so I won't go into too much detail. I do want to add that I used 4 1/2 yards of fabric. I felt it needed to be full. I also tore my strips at 4 1/2 wide and then folded them at 4 inches.

I added a bit of personal touch with the fabric flowers. I love how each one turned out and the colors go nicely with my bookends in the living room!

I'm hoping of hanging this in an old window frame (which I don't own yet)... Guess I will need to do some antique shopping to find one!

Enjoy your weekend!

A Sneak Peek

I have been so busy with a couple of different projects going. I thought I would show just a sneak peek of what I have been working on!

One includes quotes I have gathered over the years and a cheese box...

This one is made up of folded linen and a wire hanger!

I have been a little under the weather from getting a Tetanus shot yesterday. I had a side effect of a full blown fever with cold and hot flashes and achiness all over! I feel much better today and hopefully will finish up these projects soon so I can share! Thank you for the patience this week.

In Different Light

While searching for inspiration, this Pottery Barn lamp caught my eye. I loved the lamp, but definitely not the price tag! So I began the search for a more affordable way to achieve this farmhouse chic look.

While wandering through Hobby Lobby, I found a pair of candle holders on sale for $8. They were the perfect pair to transform into PB knockoffs!

BEFORE

AFTER

First, The Hunny drilled a hole down the middle of both bases (he discovered they were ceramic). With the help from my Mom, I began the painting process using a textured spray paint. We used Rust-oleum Multicolor Textured Paint in Autumn Brown for the base. Layers of white paint, crackle paint, and a brown glaze were then added to achieve the distressed look. It took some time and patience to get the look I wanted.

I bought lamp kits to transform the bases. The kit fixtures were painted with a bronze spray paint. The Hunny helped me feed the cord through and attach the fixture.

I bought natural color lampshades at Wal-mart and covered them in burlap fabric purchased at Jo-Ann Fabrics. We made a pattern from craft paper that was used to cut the fabric. We used Mod Podge to adhere the fabric to the lampshade and left it to dry over night. I used twill tape to finish the edges.

I love how they turned out...It was fun to find inspiration and make it for less! The overall project cost more than I hoped but still less than PB! What do you think of my candle holder lamps?!

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A Reflection

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! I had a fun-filled weekend with my family. My nephew turned 3 and we celebrated with a train themed party on Saturday. Sunday we enjoyed a fall festival including a car show, mud volleyball, a derby, and fabulous food! Yesterday, I got to start painting furniture again in the new barn and enjoyed just being around the farm.

I happened to catch a few pictures of the gorgeous sky Saturday night. This is truly a reflection of God's glory. This is how he expresses his goodness.



Lean on Me

I found a fun and quick project to make bookends in this issue of Better Homes and Gardens Do It Yourself Magazine. The only materials needed for this project is fun fabric and decorative sand, which I found in the silk flowers aisle at Joanne Fabrics.

First, I cut inexpensive muslin 9 inches by 11 inches for the interior bag that holds the sand. I folded the 11 inch width in half and sewed the side and bottom. I repeated those steps with the decorative fabric I chose. Make sure you put the right sides together when sewing the two sides for the finished bag. I then poured the sand in the interior muslin bag, folded the unfinished edge, and stitched it closed (this doesn't need to be perfect since it's unseen). I turned the finished bag right side out and put the sand-filled muslin bag inside. I folded the unfinished edges to the inside and top stitched along the edge to finish my bookend! SO SIMPLE and CUTE!

I love that you can make different patterns and colors depending on your decor or books you want to display!

The magazine suggested using a plastic bag to hold the sand inside and also instructed to top stitch around all edges of the bag to finish it. I tweaked the process a little and found it was pretty quick and painless! I hope this gives you some inspiration!

Have a wonderful weekend!

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A little help...

Today I thought I would share something that has really helped me grow spiritually this past year. I have been listening to a radio station called K-LOVE. This station includes Contemporary Christian music and short educational elements that really help guide people to understand God more.

I have found listening to this radio station in the car really helps me think about and talk to God all day long. Before, I had a bad habit of only seeking God in the bad moments. I'm so glad that I have something like this that encourages me to pay close attention to the world around me and build my relationship with God.

This station has little interruption from music with no advertisements! K-LOVE also has updates on national news. You can listen to K-LOVE nationwide or online! You can find your local station here.

Have you heard of K-LOVE? I would love to hear if this station has made a difference in your life!