Broken Hearts

I felt you pulling away. I felt you pushing me away. Time for me cannot be. How to accept this. I remember there are seasons but still........my heart bears another scar left deep from a piece broken. Heal it will. But when alone I will feel a tug from the time I lost you as my friend.  I held onto hope but time has shown I have to let you go as it is clear you are already gone.  The light was dim, now the flame is out. Time to move on. To find  a light shining bright into my life. A smile meant just for me.

Gratefulness

It is that time of year again where I see people everywhere showing thankfulness and gratefulness in their blogs and posts, on Facebook and Twitter, although I don't twitter yet. 
One technical thing at a time for this ole gal!

I am very happy to say that I practice thankfulness and gratefulness every single day. It is a principle taught to me by Scripture and by friends and my step daughters and son who are so wise!  I am surrounded by such special people who keep me standing in gratefulness when I tend to go off the deep end into bitterness and anger when my triggers are triggered.  They reel me in when they are there and help me get back into the place that is naturally peaceful.

I don't like leaving this place of peacefulness but daily life has a way of taking me into the world of chaos.       So I am actually grateful for "gratefulness"!!

Hoping you find peace today! Find one thing to be grateful for!  Today I am grateful for very old gorgeous trees!

At a Crossroads

One of the last pictures of just me and my son before he went off to college and met his wife to be.

So much has changed since then.  Most for the better.  I was a very lucky mom, blessed with a boy who loved me and respected me.  Who made me laugh with such ease.  Who made me cry with such ease.

There is no love like a mother of her child except for the love of God for his children.  There is no other.

My boy is not my boy anymore.  He is a man with another.  He is a man on a journey making a life of his own.  How lonely it is without him.  I never knew it would hurt so much to lose him to the world beyond our home. 

I miss you son.  I'm told you will be back.  I'm told you will always have a special place for me in your heart.  I'm told you will be back but not to stay.  But to engage in a new relationship with me. 
I know that I know you better than any other could.  But that is not what you say and there are times when you speak and I wonder.  Who is it saying those words?  I didn't know you felt that way. 

Don't venture too far from the way you were raised.  Remember who you are.  You said to me once.  Don't worry, you raised me, remember?  I said yes I remember.  But I worry.

Have faith and know that you are God's, not mine.  This keeps me peaceful.  You are grown but you are still young.  Foolishness is still the tempter.  So I will pray.  Every day.  I will pray goodness and mercy, grace and wisdom be with you all your days.

If you will not come to me, go to God with all your questions and cares.  Go to God when you come to a crossroads.  Go to God when you get angry and frustrated.  Go to God in thanks when you are blessed.

My heart will break again and again but I heal for the Lord is with me.  I will heal for time goes on.  I will grow for change is what life is and accepting and adapting to that change is life in action.  I am at a crossroads too.  I will pick the path God chooses for me and follow, walking in faith.

It is a moment in time that changed my life forever.  And God said.  It is good.

Making My Touch-Up Sample Bottles of Paint

I thought I'd share another little tip I learned out of necessity the other day. 

I was getting ready to put my blue end table in my booth and I wanted to include some touch up paint as a special little touch that just I do.  I've never seen anyone do that before and if you don't know what the paint is it is hard to touch up something if someone in the house or a mover gashes it. 

I was feeling extra generous because I was going to put some red chairs I got in my booth and I notices something black on a couple of the legs.  I couldn't get it off so I tried to match the color to go over it.  I went through so many reds and custom mixes trying to match it exactly.  I hate to say it but I never did get it.  I got close but a shade off is enough to tell a difference.  I was so upset. 

I have sold two of the chairs and have to see if the 2 left are the ones I tried to fix.  If they are I may have to take them out and repaint them entirely.

Anyway, here is a cool idea to include some touch-up paint with your furniture for sale.

I found several racks of spices in small cylinder containers for a couple dollars at the thrift store.  I took one, scrubbed it well and proceeded.  

The bottles are a decent size.  Picture spice bottles.  I didn't want to fill the entire bottle with paint because that's a lot of paint to give away but I didn't want it to be noticeable that it wasn't all the way full. (Merchandizers do this with product all the time and I didn't feel guilty because I thought it was pretty cool that I was giving my buyer some paint.)

I decided to paint the outside of the bottle the same color as the touch up paint.  In order to do that I had to find a way to hold the bottle so I could paint the bottom of it.  Just put it on top of your paint stirring stick and put that in a cup. It will hold it while you paint.

 

 

Now to make the label for the top.  I went to my publisher program and found some round labels, put in some colored paper and printed a few sheets.  I knew I was going to have to practice.  It had been a while since I used my little stencil cutter for circles and it doesn't always match up just right on the circle you are cutting.  This wasn't going to be perfect but it still looked good.

 

 

Not bad.  You can see through the paper a little after I used the spray adhesive to adhere the label to the top of the glass bottle but I thought it would dry ok.  I'll do better next time.

 

 

I got this spray adhesive at the local Michaels Craft store. You can find many comparable spray adhesives at home improvement, Walmart type stores, and craft stores. 

 

The finished product turned out great. I put it in a hemp linen bag that I received a gift in (Reuse, Recycle, ReInvent) and tied it shut with twine and my label stating that it was with the table.

I did the table in August and didn't get it into my booth to sell until this week.  Crazy I know!

 

 

 

Have a great day!

 

I am Linking up with What's it Wednesday and The Scoop!

 

 

Reupholster Chair seat - Get Those Tiny Long Staples Out

I have been wanted to reupholster my chair seats in the kitchen for a few weeks now.  I ordered a pretty hemp linen fabric so before it arrived I wanted to get started on getting the fabric off the seats.
Well.  I turned the first seat over to start removing staples and this is what I saw"

 

 

Can you see those teeny tiny staples around the edges?  I tried my usual screwdriver and the head was too big. I thought I would be able to quickly find something at a fabric store or Walmart or Home Depot that would fit under that staple.  It was down in there and really tight.  I didn't know people used these staples to reupholster a chair seat.

 

 

 

I couldn't find anything.  So I gave up for a while.  I stumbled across the perfect thing one day while I was cleaning up some of my tools after a different project.  My 5 in 1 tool was staring at me saying.  "I can do it.  I can do it."  Ha!  I ran into the kitchen and tore into the seat.  That very pointy end did the trick!!

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't as easy as I thought but they were coming out.  As I'm taking them out I see not one, not 2 but 3 layers of fabric that have to come off this seat.  That meant 3 layers of staples.  Luckily the other staples were the easy ones. 

 

 

I finally got one chair seat done.  It took about 2 hours.   But I did it and I did it right.  Now my chair seat won't have any fabric designs peaking through my new fabric.

I wanted to share this because I was so frustrated that I couldn't get these staples out and couldn't find anything out there that gave me any idea other than the usual professional tools that are costly and hard to find or the standard screwdriver and hammer.  I will never use those staples!

 

 

 

InBloom Book Club, A Million Little Ways by Emily P Freeman

 

I've been meaning to join this book club for a long time now. I read small bits of several books at a time and would love to actually finish a book for a change.

Just like the Big E word "Exercise" I need structure to be consistent.  On my own I will go in with guns blazing and all the best intentions of being totally COMMITED and a few weeks later I find excuses to put it off and put it off again!!  OOhhh. There's the ugly C word. 

This is all so sad when I think about it.  I am the one that everyone can count on when they need Anything!   I am the stable one, the sensible one, the dependable one.  I once took a seminar at church to find out about "my personality type".  I arrived early for class and the facilitator said "I knew you would be one of the first ones here" and gave me a big smile.

I had no idea why he said that.  We didn't know each other yet.  That night we all got the results from our "test".  I was apparently an "over-achiever" and he gave me an all knowing nod and that smile again. It turns out he was the only other "over-achiever" in the group.  We had a secret bond all of a sudden. 

I am not tooting my own horn, believe me.  I don't consider myself any of those things. More of a control freak would be how I would put it!

 As a mom you have to try to always be those things because usually somebody has to.  If you get my meaning. There is usually someone that is the glue that has to hold things together unless you are very lucky and have a wonderfully supportive partner who shares the burden of making a union and a family work.  I wasn't lucky that way and it was always me who had to make sure it all got done.  Another story, another time.

Anyway.  I have so much trouble these days committing to anything.  I don't make promises I can't keep anymore and I don't sign up for anything.  I tend to be late for appointments if I don't forget about them altogether.  I know it's because I have been overwhelmed with what has been going on at my house for the past year and a half.  Fighting furiously to get order back in my life I feel I am on track.

I am finally in a place where things have calmed down and I can breathe and do some things for myself.  While reading my daily emails I ran across a post from a blog called InCourage that was a reminder of their book club, InBloom's Book Club.  It was already in progress but we could still join up.  If you sign up make sure and go here for instructions.

The book is A Million Little Ways by Emily Freeman who as it turns out is the very talented blogger behind Chatting with the Sky, a blog I have enjoyed reading for some time now.

I watched the video "Meeting the Author" where the girls from Incourage describe the book and I was sure this was where I wanted to begin my journey back to normal life and feeling better about myself and my future.  Here is the trailer for the book.

Just a brief mention that it is about "uncovering the art you were made to live" and how we don't think we have anything to offer but hope that we are wrong about that.

It is just what I need and can't wait until I get the book and get involved!


Hope to see you there!

Easy Furniture Painting Tip / Swivel/Prop Plant Stand Idea / Furniture Moves Instead of You

I was beginning to get weary of walking around the pieces of furniture I wanted to paint.

I had seen a post on propping furniture legs to make it easier to get all the way to the bottom without some paint ending up o the floor and keep the paint from sticking to the floor and peeling when you move the furniture after it is dry.  There are all kinds of ways people do this but it still didn't solve my having to walk around the piece over and over.

Light Bulb!

 I thought of a great use for my extra rolling planter stand.  You can see one just like mine at Ikea here. One is being used for a large plant (my "Pineapple" which has gotten really heavy) and the other was sitting on a shelf.

 

Now I can sit or stand and just turn the tale as I go.  I am not missing any spots and my knees, legs and back are very happy!  Just turn and Paint!

 

 

It is true what they say about necessity being the mother of invention.  When you get to be my age (50 something) you find all kinds of ways to keep the aches and pains at bay!

Wood Aging an Oval Silver Mirror

I found the perfect mirror to go in the spare bedroom.  It is oval and simple, big and was "silver".  I had a tiny mirror where I want to put this mirror.  It was one of those "It'll make do for now" that lasted for years.  I didn't want a silver mirror so every time I saw one I passed it up.  When I saw this one I decided I couldn't wait any longer for the perfect solid wood mirror.  I could make it look like wood. 

Like this one -

I primed it with Annie Sloan Pure White chalk paint so I didn't have to sand it.  It worked perfectly.  I then went to it with an aging glaze mixed with dark wax.  No paint at all.  Just glaze and wax.  I painted it on with a brush and it came out beautifully.  It looks just like wood that has an aged patina.

 

I don't have any before pictures but just think of "silver oval mirror". 

 

 

I like this mirror because it is large and heavy.  But not too heavy.

A truly solid piece. 

It's going to look great in the spare bedroom.

 

1 Year Anniversary

I have been spending more time working on DIY projects,
my booth at the antique mall I am in right now,
decorating the house for the holidays,
getting new floors FINALLY
and of course writing in my blogs.

I was trying to figure out how to add pages at the top of my site and while I was going through the archives linking things together I noticed my first post was "Halloween" last year and I just started laughing. 

There is not a single picture, just a "Happy Halloween!" to whomever might be out there and find me.......it was crazy. 

 

 

I had no idea what I was doing (still on the low end of the scale, ugh). But I have learned so much this past year. 

 

I can see so well that I need to invest in a good camera and some lessons on how to use it.  I have so much fun looking at all the blogs out there and am so amazed and overwhelmed at all the talent in our little world. 

 

It seems like a really big world when I look at all the people and places and projects and food and pictures and on and on and on....whew!

 

It humbles me and also is very intimidating.  It has been a long time since I felt like and had time to be creative.  I have been through so much these past 8 years since my divorce.

You can see a lot of it on my 2 other blogs, Panic and Anxiety  and Hope in Him. 

 

I had long down times where I felt I was just healing emotionally. 

 

It really was in the past 2 years that I felt like writing again or antiquing and working on furniture.

 

~We used to write in journals in my day and I have a lot of journals.

~I have had booths in antique malls for many years and couple of my own store fronts. 

 

As I write this I feel like there is so much to tell and I actually feel like sharing.  It doesn't hurt so much. 

 

I got side tracked when my aunt moved in with us and I became a caretaker of 2 people.  You can see where I tried to start a blog about that adventure here.  I don't mention that blog on this blog.  It ended pretty quickly.  I had no time or energy.

But here I am a year later and I feel like I made some progress and am happy with where I am with blogging and doing all the things I am blogging about.  

 

Having a creative outlet is so important to me. 

 

I am having fun and I am feeling less stressed out because I have an outlet.  Everyone needs a safe place and an area where they can spread out and roll around. 

 

   

 

Happy Anniversary To Me!

Fall and Getting Ready for Halloween in Atlanta. Harvest Time

Fall came a couple of weeks ago and we still have green, green, green everywhere and it's still very warm during the day.  It's cooler at night but the air conditioner is still on (not as much but still on). It's a  little tough to get into the spirit of Fall and Halloween when you don't have red, yellow and brown leaves falling all around while a brisk coolness settles on the land and house but it's here so I better get on it!! Before we know it we will be planning our Thanksgiving menus.

We got the Fall (I call it Harvest Time) and Halloween box out of the shed and had so much fun. I surprised myself how much fun it was because it has been such a busy summer and I didn't think I'd have the "desire".  A few days later and a new laminate Brazilian Cherry wood floor downstairs and I am still tweeking but I'll show you what I have done so far.

The orange "clay" candle boxes lent the perfect whimsy to the fun metal witch. Very colorful and fun. Fits just right on our kitchen table in the breakfast room. The candles are a new addition to the Halloween decor this year. The table runner and witch we had.

 

Onto the dining room table. More color! This was fun. I took my mom around to a new antique mall and to Michaels. We got just a couple of pumpkins. All the rest we had on hand. I had a bag of fall colored leaves that I had fun just dropping over the centerpiece just like the leaves falling like they should be outside! Isn't Mister Scarecrow cute?

 

I wanted to make sure you saw the table runner up close. It can be dressed up or down!

 

 

I mentioned that we got new flooring.  Here's a peek.........

While rummaging through my Orange Halloween Box I found a baggie with a bunch of little felt pilgrim hats I made 10 years ago. I couldn't believe it. It's a long story but I had a lot of things in storage and am finally getting around to purging! Surprisingly I am finding some treasures in that storage. My crafting bug got me and I ran out to Cracker Barrel where they still had the same candy canes I used with the hats. At the same time I found the hats I was playing with cans and burlap. This is what I came up with. One for the mantle and one for the candy canes and hats!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I keep trying to figure out what was on the top of this mason jar but it was just created to look "earthy" and it does!

 

 

 

Coudn't resist including this fabulous Turkey Tray. 

 

 

 

 

 Don't you love the detail on this Turkey Tray?  Outdoor decorating will be another day.