In His Grip

My Garden Bench

This holiday weekend has been one of yard work, pool time, and a couple of fun garden projects.  When I took the bench off of the front porch that had been there for years, I just could not bear to get rid of it just yet.  Who cares that it is rotting and grows mushrooms in its cracks, I love it.  I am pretty attached as it has been on our front porch for about 20 years and also Jeff and his Dad made it for me.

This is how my bench started out the weekend, but I wanted to give it a new fun garden look and what better way then to paint it pink!

So of course I picked up Rust-oleum Berry Pink spray paint and went to town.  I did not pay too much attention to getting a full coverage of paint as I wanted to end up with a weathered look anyway.

I wanted to add a "gardeny" type quote to the back of the bench so I Google searched garden quotes and found this one and painted it on with a bright yellow.  Although, I couldn't have made this painting perfect if I tried, but I really was going for a more whimsy look. 

Next came out my handy dandy sanded to weather up the paint a bit and make it look like this bench has been in my garden for a while.  I think I love my bench even more now that it is pink.  Now I just hope that it will last for a couple of more years before it completely disintegrates.

I love the pop of color out on that side of the back yard.  Now it needs a big basket of flowers sitting on it.

 

 

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Three Word Thursday

Business as usual

 

 

 

 

Shut Up!

The best advice I have received lately is to just shut up.  This was, of course, given in great love and kindness, and something that I will remember.  By stopping and allowing others to speak, asking good questions, and letting them come up with their own solutions is so much better then me telling others what to do.  Does this take more time?  Yes.  Does this keep me from making sure the other person knows how much more knowledge I have on the subject than them? Yes.  Does this build relationships, rather than breaking them down?  Yes.  This sounds like a win, win sitiutaion.  Wow, I wish there was a good book out there that would help me know just what the right questions were to ask so that I can become a coach rather than a consultant.  But, I have learned and I will remember to shut up, already!

Flower Dish Cloth

I have always loved the cotton crocheted dish clothes that I have received as gifts from my good friend Debbie.  Every Christmas I could count on her giving me a handmade dish cloth or two.  They are way better than any store bought dish cloth so I went on a quest to find a dish cloth pattern of my own that would be different than your standard square type.  Because I could not find any that I liked I came up with one of my own.  I call it the Flower Dish Cloth.  This is a pretty easy pattern, you will need to know the following stitches:  chain (ch), slip stitch (sl st), half double crochet (hdc), double crochet (dc). 

Flower Dish Cloth

Supplies:

• Several colors of worsted weight 100% cotton yarn
• Size 5mm (U.S. H/8) crochet hook

Instructions:

Note:  Ch 2 does not count as a hdc in 1st to 3rd rounds.

With 1st color, ch 4. Join with sl st to first ch to form ring.

1st round: ch 2. 10 hdc in ring.  Join with sl st to first hdc.

2nd round: ch 2. 2 hdc in each hdc around.  Join with sl st to first hdc. 20 hcd.

3rd round: ch 2. 2 hdc in each hdc around.  Join with sl st to first hdc. 40 hdc. Change color optional.

4th round: ch 2. (1hdc. ch 1. 2 hdc) in same space as sl st. *Miss next 2 hdc (2 hdc, ch 1, 2 hdc) in next hdc.  Repeat from * around. Join with sl st to top of ch 2.

5th round: sl st in next st and ch 1 space.  Ch 2. (1hdc. ch1. 2 hdc) in same ch 1 space. *(2 hdc, ch 1, 2 hdc) in next ch 1 space - shell made.  Repeat from * around. Join with sl st to top of ch 2. Change color optional

6th and 7th round: Sl st in next st and ch 1 space. Ch2 (2 hdc, ch1, 3 hdc) in the same ch 1 space. *(3 hdc, ch 1, 3 hdc) in next ch 1 sp. Repeat from * around. Sl st to top of ch 2 at the end of 7th round. Change color optional.

8th round: Ch 2. *8 dc in next ch 1 space. Sl st in space between 2 shells. Repeat from * around.  Join with sl st to first dc. Fasten off.

Best Vintage Store!

Friday we left Lake Vermilion with the clouds rolling in.  I hate leaving the lake on a beautiful day, so clouds were good.  Our friends went one way, and the girls and my sister, Janet went the other.   We had a mission at IKEA to get Lindsey set up in her kitchen in her new home.  Once our mission had been accomplished we were on our way to find the Goodwill Outlet, which was not really worth our time, but that is a whole other story, when we came upon this store hunt & gather.  This has got to be one of the best vintage store I have ever been in.  Not only was the merchandise unique and old, the way that it was displayed was great.  I will defiantly be coming back here on our way through Minneapolis in the future.  Or maybe again in July.

 

Three Word Thursday

Because He lives!

Front Door Decoration

This is my update to my front door decoration.  I am still working on making the front porch a great mix of pink and black.

This is what it looked like on my old pink door, but I wanted it to look like it went with the pots that I painted earlier.  

I started by painting it black and then applied the same dry brush technique that I used on the pots to help bring out the detail of the pocket. Then spruced it up with some new pink and white flowers and a new bow and a totally different look for my pink front porch. The porch is coming together, as soon as it is complete I will post pictures.

 

Three Word Thursday

What a thrill!

Picked It Up At Borders

I picked up my favorite magazine today at Borders.  My thought was to put it away until next week when I am on vacation, but I just could not wait that long.  I had to break it open just a little bit.  This magazine is really more like a book in that it only comes out four times a year and it is a little pricey, but I soak in every page.  I like to read it with my laptop sitting right beside me so that I can not only read the articles but check out the related websites as well.  The fact that it is dedicated to women and the space in which they create, is more than inspiring to me.  It motivates me to make the space in which I create a lovely place to be.  Although, in my studio on a daily basis, I am making up other designers' creations, I do make time to do my own creating there too.  Over the past year or so, my studio has really become a fun place to work and and make my own treasures.  I continue to add loveliness on a regular basis and am making my studio a place "Where Women Create."

The Best Adhesive Ever

This week I have found my newest crafting supply.  I have come upon the best adhesive ever.  It is called Household Goop.  It will stick to most anything and so far has work like a charm in my two latest projects.  The last couple of weekends have been beautiful here in Kansas and that means garage sales.  I don't mean just a sale here and there, I am talking whole neighborhoods and even the citywide garage sales like they have in Gardner.  Garage sales just get my creative mind going. How can take someones else's castoff and make it into something that will be useful to me in the future.  All of these items started out much differently, but then I came upon Household Goop and they became something much more.

 

This is what I purchased for $1.  Now mind you both pieces were covered in dirt and have been through the dishwasher at this point. 

 
Both could serve a purpose just as they are but with just a little of the "best adhesive ever".  and they look like the are ready for a much more formal affair. 

After applying my creative thoughts to some castoffs I got brave and as I was passing by some of the summer plastic plates in Wal-mart, I had an idea.  I could use the Household Goop on these as well.

The plates are from Wal-Mart, I think $1.50 each, the knob I picked up at Lowes for .97, and the little wooden candle sticks at Hobby Lobby sometime ago.

I used some Gorilla Glue to glue the candle sticks with the little ends together.  After letting the glue cure, I lightly sanded the and spray painted the pedestal white.

Using masking tape I marked the center of the top of the large plate and both the top and bottom of the smaller plate.

Following the directions on the tube of the Household Goop, I placed the pedestal in the center of the large plate and then glued the top of the pedestal to the bottom of the small plate and the knob on the top of the small plate.  All of this gluing and stacking created a wonderful pedestal server.  With this being so cheap, I keep finding all kinds of things that I can glue together to make them just that much better.   A tiered server does not have to be china or silver to be appreciated.

 

I Want to be Like Mom

Mother's Day is a day we can all tell our Mom's just how much we love them.  But I am not sure I ever really do a good enough job of giving my Mom the tribute she deserves.  When I was a little girl I watched with awe at how much my Mom could do.  She was a Mom with a career and back in the 60's and 70's that was not the popular thing to do but she did it anyway.  However, she did not stop there she was my Girl Scout leader, room mother, sat through endless swim meets, I even remember there being one on Mother's Day every year.  So as far as putting in her, time, she definitely ranks at the top. If something was going on in my sister's and my life she did all she could to be there.

But most of all, it was my Mom that taught me to be a mother.  I learned how to juggle the life of a mom of three with all of their activities, dramas, and demands with love, organization and grace by watching her do it.  I have seen her maneuver through good times and bad and coming out the other side of both thanking God for being there through it.  Knowing that my Mom is the prayer warrior for me and my family is something that I have come to rely on.

I continue to learn from her as I have watched her most recently walk through the health problems and death of my of my Dad.  She continues to be the women I have come to depend on, relying on God for her strength, trusting Him for His mercy, and showing His grace to those around her.  Today is the day that I can still say, "I want to be like Mom!"

 

Three Word Thursday

What lies beyond?

Here We Place an Ebenezer

These are some rocks that are on the road near where my mother lives in Minnesota.  I am not sure how long they have been there, but they have been there for a long time.  These rocks were placed there intentionally and with purpose.  I remember the first time that I noticed them when my kids were small.  We even talked about them a couple of times and what they might mean.  I have always believed that they represent someones Ebenezer.  Ebenezer comes from a verse in the Bible:

1 Samuel 7:12 ~ Samuel took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah  He named it Ebenezer (which means "the stone of help"), for he said, "Up to this point the Lord has helps us!"

Ebenezer is a combination of two Hebrew words that literally mean, stone of help.  I love that!  Samuel set up this stone as a reminder of the Lord's help.  It was a physical, in your face, reminder that God had not forgotten about them, he had helped them by protecting them from the Philistines.  Do you have an Ebenezer?  Something that reminds you of the love and mercy of Jesus?  I actually have several things that are in and around my home that remind me of where I have been and where I know Jesus wants me to be.  One of them is a stepping stone that my kids made me for mothers day one year, and another is a ring that I wear with Hebrew writing on it that represents the verse:

Ruth 1:16 ~ Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.  Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Find something that reminds you of God's help in your life.  Sometimes we need a physical reminder in front of us that God is there and He already knows what we are going through.

Target T to Fabulous!

Last week Target had their boyfriend v-neck tees on sale for $6 each.  So I purchased a couple knowing that I would have to spruce them up a bit.  With all of the fun embellished tee's that you see out there lately there were a lot of options.  Because I have been going a little crazy crocheting flowers, I already had a couple of little ones made that I had found no use for yet so I crocheted up some more and used them to spruce up my new tee.

This is how the tee started.  I love these t-shirts.  They are made of very soft cotton knit and have a cute little pocket on the chest.  The extra long length is the best part.

These little flowers were crocheted out of Aunt Lydia's crochet thread, size 3 and 10.  The smaller flowers are crocheted out of the smaller thread.

 
The flowers were tacked down on each petal so that when the tee is laundered the flowers will remain flat and not curl up.  I am not big on ironing, so anything I can do to keep from having to break out the iron is good for me.  The extra time to do this will be worth it in the long run.  Here, I introduce you to my new favorite tee.  Now, what to do with the white one, hmmmm?