a (pretty big) peek into our home
I know many of you have been asking for pictures and I honestly didn’t want to share until I had finished a lot, but let’s face it, that will take a few more weeks and months even! So I guess I will share as we go along and make our home ours.
First, I really have to share a bit about my first impression when seeing this duplex. :) Our friends (the Rowlans) called us to tell us there was a rent sign up across the street from their home. When we called to get more details, I was super discouraged to hear it was a “lower level” duplex (the duplex wasn’t the problem, the lower level was.) My fears were confirmed when we arrived and from the front, the bottom half of the “duplex” was actually the bottom level of a house. It looked like a basement home from the front and I immediately told Ted I couldn’t live here. (I really wasn’t being dramatic, we lived in a basement of a home for 2 years and it was dark and dreary and the thought of doing that again… yikes!) But we decided to go ahead with the tour. There was a sidewalk path to a fence entrance in the backyard and as we walked into the yard my skepticism began to melt away. First, there was a big privately fenced yard (that’s just ours!) Second, the duplex opened up into the backyard and I could see right away the living room had two large windows like any upper level home would. I knew it would already feel different from the basement home we once lived in. When we walked in I saw so much potential. I had to imagine it clean and set up the way we would want it because the previous tenants were messy college kids. We walked from room to room to find there were actually 3 bedrooms for the price of a two bedroom home! Score. And there was a really nice sized kitchen. The only downfall of the home was that the bathroom was small but besides that, we really saw potential in making this our little home for the next year. So we thought about it and decided to get it that same day. (This is a college town and places like this were rented in a heartbeat!)
Okay, so now for the “peek” into our slow transition into a hopeful home!
I am not showing you our front door until I do some major cleaning and a little bit of decorating. Don’t worry, I will do a before and after but for now, this is all you will see :) I absolutely love this covering over the back entrance though, can’t you just see the potential! Lights and hanging decor?!
A peek into the yard.
Our little bathroom which does have a toilet that you just can’t see :)
This room was supposed to be half Ted’s office/study space and half my craft space but when they moved his huge desk in, I realized how impossible that would be (more of that desk later, because it’s really MY fault he has such a huge desk! haha) All that to say, this is now just Ted’s study room/office which honestly is already proven to be a really good idea.
For now, this is our guest room/craft room. Thankfully it’s the largest room because I have a lot of craft things! The plan for this room was to paint it teal on one wall (which we did) and horizontally striped pale yellow on another wall but that didn’t work because of the texture of the wall. And then in the evening the pale yellow looks more like an icky green that we’re re-painting it … coral pink! Which makes me super excited.
Now for the kitchen tour. See our cute little pantry! Remember I thrifted that for a whopping $20! I need to work on it a bit but for now it’s being put to good use. The little wicker chest (thrifted years ago) is holding all of our towels since our little bathroom can’t hold them all. :)
The kitchen island cart you see ($5 at a garage sale!) will probably end up being a craft cart instead because I’ve already realized I’m not too sure I’ll use it for kitchen purposes as much as I could for craft ones.
Hints of black,white and …
…red accents.
And my favourite part; our newly painted teal wall.
Our hallway which, yes, has the washer and dryer in it. :) I’m making a curtain to hide those beasts!
Now onto our living room!
We painted a few walls teal and you might noticed we changed our colour scheme.
Ted wanted something a little less girly than teal and pink so we agreed on red which I now am loving! Plus I got to pick our the rug and it has a hint of pink in it :) A good compromise!
I love how it’s already coming together, just one week in! We have a lot to do still, like curtains and figuring out how to hang wall art on cement walls :) We still need to find an armouir so we can hide away our TV when we want to… a lot of work ahead!
For now his toys are in the living room too. The bookshelf and his books will stay but his organizer will be moved into the craft room when we get that area straightened out :)
The view as you walk into our front door. Um, you might have noticed I didn’t share a photo of our bedroom ;) That wasn’t an accident. It’s a mess of boxes and clothes! Sometime soon I will.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this home tour. I know my sweet mother-in-law (Hi, Anisa!!) will be excited to see photos of our little home and that some of our friends would as well. Thanks for checking it out, now come on by for real!!!
Our “Hopeful Home”
As I write, sunshine is peaking in through the window as the sun begins to rise. Chasey-boy playing cars and trucks on the floor in front of me. It’s peaceful, quiet and I am writing for the first time in weeks. I woke up with the desire to write, to share and to express… for the first time in a while. The incredible part is that of the above is happening in our new “hopeful home”. Yes, we officially moved into our own little place which is a part of why I pretty much dropped of the face of the earth :) We’ve now been living here for almost a week!
It has been an incredibly busy time in our lives but all for the better. Since we moved to Fort Collins a year ago, we’ve lived with my grandparents. The “plan” was to stay with them until we found a place of our own but I was put on bedrest less than 3 months after our move up here, we needed the help and we stayed much, much longer than anticipated. Our time there was such an amazing blessing and honestly a huge life saver for us, but now it was time to pick up the pieces and try to get back on our own two feet.
From the beginning of our 3rd attempt to search for a “home” (duplex, townhome, apartment etc) I began calling it our “hopeful home”. I felt like moving and getting back on our own feet would be a very hopeful step for us and I also determined that wherever we would next call “home”, I would make it us and ours immediately and try to create a hopeful atmosphere with cheery colours and inspirational decor. We’re slowly getting there… :)
One thing I didn’t anticipate was how heavy my heart would be as we began a new season. A “hopeful” one as we were calling it. I knew that by no means was I done grieving, but what I couldn’t prepare for was how much my heart would ache as we began really dreaming again for the first time since we’ve lost our precious Eisley. I sat in a room unpacking Chase’s things and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I literally had to sit against the wall, it caught me so off guard. I just gasped and put my hand to my mouth and began to cry. I would never unpack her things to set up her space in our home. Yes, I would unpack the memorabilia that I’ve collected and the paintings and little things that I’ve made… but never would I set up her bed, her clothes in the closet, her favourite toys… It hit me in an entirely different way then ever before. At my grandparent’s home, we never had set up her things. We had a bassinet and a very little amount of things prepared for her. Because of the bedrest, I wasn’t able to go out shopping for cute clothes or practical things for her. It was another part that I had to grieve, even on bedrest, knowing I wasn’t able to prepare for her and do what was normal when you found out the sex; be excited and prepare and even shop for cute things. After we lost Eisley, I was thankful that we didn’t have a nursery set up for her that we would have to tear down. Just the little things alone made my heart ache that I wasn’t sure I could ever have torn down a nursery too. All that to say – moving into our own home and our own space… it’s stirring up new aches and broken dreams.
I know I’ve said it a lot on my blog but this truly isn’t how it should be. I should be setting up her place in our home and having her here to be apart of our family’s dreams. I keep trying to remember what the doctors would tell me … if she had been born when we had planned, a week later than she passed, at 28 weeks… she would have been in the NICU for a year and possibly more. Even though she was perfect, being born too small and too early would cause so many health problems and aching and pain in her. I never wanted that for her and I try to remind myself that this was for the best but it’s so hard. I just really want her here. I even just sometimes imagine if my pregnancy had been normal and healthy, with the normal pregnancy aches and pains, huge pregnany with baby girl’s feet jammed in my ribs… where would be now?
I think a lot of people expected a lot more out of me than I can give currently. I am hopeful in our new home, I am very thankful that we finally have a place to call our own for the time being, I am hopeful as we enter a new season… but that doesn’t mean I’m all better or healed or done grieving. This new and hopeful season isn’t replacing the past season, it’s slowly intertwining with it and we’re learning to hope again, to dream again all while grieving and aching as we miss our daughter here with us.
I didn’t plan on being so raw the first time back to writing on my blog, but I really can’t help it today. I am so thankful for the community of people “here” that read my blog and I think, want to know where we are at and what’s going on. You’re love and encouragement to us throughout everything has been an incredible blessing to us and especially to me. Thank you so much! I’m back now and hopefully will be posting some fun pictures of the progress as I make this little 3 bedroom duplex our hopeful home :) For now, here is a sneak peek of our day one in our new home;
Thrifted Treasures {7}
I really love sharing my thrifted treasures to share the exciting finds but also in hope to inspire you to thrift! This bunch of treasures is actually a combination of garage sale and thrift store and craigslist finds!
I am a sucker for wicker baskets (and spray painting them to match). Large one: $2 Medium one: $.25 Both found at garage sales.
I got all of this for a whopping $1 from a garage sale. I love garage sales like that!
In this lovely stash of all of our things is a new end table (which I’m redoing!) and a kitchen island cart! I got both for $5 each!
Teal and coral pink blankets. I honestly can’t remember the price of the small teal one but the large coral one (for our living room) was $4 from a thrift store.
Let me just say, garage sales are the BEST places to buy frames. They are SO cheap (usually) and much cheaper than most thrift stores! I got the chalkboard for $.50 and the frame came with the bunch of stuff I got for a buck (a few photos above) and the smallest frame for $.25.
I’m also a sucker for doilies :) I have a plan to do something like with them.
I won’t even need to paint this pretty little tea light lantern ($1 thrift store)! It’s teal!
Matching sugar and cream set for $3.50 at a thrift store. Red and black to go with our kitchen colours! I love the patterns!
Deep coral, teal and black rug thrifted for $1.50! I was very very very happy to find this!
I got this for $1 at a garage sale! I already began step 1 of my plan for this and it’s looking awesome already!
More jars to add to my slowly growing collection to do something like for food/craft storage!
Below is one of my favourite finds of this last week;
This beautiful antique cabinet for a stunning $20! My heart sunk when we arrived at a garage sale just a few steps behind a lady who decided to get all of their beautiful and amazingly priced antique items! I almost felt like crying (which might sound ridiculous but I have been SEARCHING my little heart out for something so perfect for in one area of our kitchen!) I told the lady at the garage sale that if the woman didn’t end up buying it, she could call me because I really wanted it. Just seconds later the woman decided against getting it and I bought it! I was so excited. When I showed Ted, he too loved it! I might leave this as is, except for the door knob.
This was seriously such a steal. I got this little skateboard half off for $2 at a thrift store. I had just seen idea on pinterest and knew I wanted to do this in Chase’s space!
Another HUGE steal; step 2 fire truck for $15 off a craigslist add. This was another one where my heart sunk because I knew Chase would LOVE this (and he is in need of outdoor toys for his new yard!) and I called but the lady had just had a lady decide to come get it. The lady never showed so she called me to tell me it was still available! I was thrilled and Chase was especially thrilled although he did NOT want me to leave it outside. We did but it was kinda a struggle :)
So what does Chase do when I’m taking pictures of my thrifted treasures? He helps of course! ;) It sometimes drives me crazy, not gonna lie but today we realized…. He was setting up a display and waiting for me to take a picture and then he’d put it “away”! So above is his display of the thrifted treasures!
Once mommy needed her table back, he sorted his dinosaurs on his own table nearby :)
Okay well I know without a doubt I’m missing a lot to share, but it’s in a pile in my grandparent’s garage because….we’re moving next Saturday to our “new little home” aka a duplex! EXCITING! From now on it will be so exciting to show you WHAT I am doing with these thrifted treasures!
Realizations.
It’s been a while… again… since I’ve blogged. Writing on here has been incredibly hard lately…but tonight I just wanted to share a little bit about where I’m at, 6 months later.
I’ve been in a really contemplative place. “Sorting through” the last 6 months and “processing” everything from beginning of June 2010 when this entire journey began, in the best way I know how; leaning on Him, facing our reality, lots of tears, etc. There is one entire week that I’m truly unable to face right now and I’m okay with that. I know someday, maybe sooner than I thought, I will face memouries that are the most difficult.
A few things I realized “recently” truly hit me suddenly, like a slap in face;
1) The internet and television became my way of escape (and sleep when I could). I’ve been online and watched more TV than I have in my entire life (including my time on bedrest). It was becoming so unhealthy. I don’t think I even consciencly realized what I was doing initially but now that I do I’ve finally made some much needed changes. I guess apart of the reason for my lack of blogging recently too would be guilt. Guilt because of how much my time online avoiding my reality had taken away from one of the best things in my life; Chase. Which brings me to my second realization.
2) Chase needed his mommy back. I took care of his basic needs but wasn’t meeting his emotional needs. I wasn’t able to be his mother, the “momma” he remembered. It hurt him, I can still even see it in his behaviour sometimes. I feel immense guilt and I’m working through that currently. I’m processing how to still be the momma he once knew when I feel so broken up and honestly sometimes messed up inside but I know that he accepts me like this, tears and mess and all. And truly has been an incredible joy to me even at my darkest times. I’ve said this before but sometimes he reminds me so much of a tangible evidence of God. That might not make sense, but seriously… there are times he astounds me with how he loves me so much and how he’s there.
3) I realized that after we lost Eisley, I had this overwhelming need to share her story with everyone, whether they wanted to hear or not. My outlet for this was mostly my blog. I shared so many very personal things throughout our journey dated all the way back to April 26th when I first found out we were 2 months pregnant with Eisley. I’ve shared so so much and I really don’t regret it because I know (and those closest to me know) I haven’t shared everything, I’ve just scratched the surface. There are pieces I can’t share because I don’t know how to. There are pieces I don’t want to share ever. There are pieces that I shouldn’t share. But I wrote my heart out and often and realized a lot of had to do with processing yes, but a lot of it had to do with wanting to me sure people didn’t forget her life and who she was.
4) Ted. I knew from day 1 we were grieving differently but I realized recently how he is truly doing and where he was at throughout everything. I’m not talking physically. He was right beside me as much as he could be when I was on bedrest and in the hospital. I am taking about emotionally, mentally etc. Recently Ted had a paper due for a writing class he’s taking this semester. He told me he had decided to write about Eisley and what we went through and when he finally finished, he asked me to read it. As I read it I wiped away tears until I just rested my head on the table and cried. When he came back into the room he asked me what I thought. I felt speechless. Hearing it from his perspective was so heart wrenching. I asked him how it felt to write it out and he realized he needed this to process. He did that once before, on his facebook. In fact, when he shared then, he welcomed his friends to ask him how he was (because sometimes people just need to hear you want to be asked) and he shared the most vulnerable part of himself and even a part of the birth story I have yet to share on here, if ever. About where Ted was at the time of the birth of Eisley. I realized then and even more so now where he was at during everything and it breaks my heart. I can’t explain it… it just does. Whew.
5) Today I finally asked myself, why have I stopped writing… A lot of it has to do with fear of people judging where I am currently. Also I’ve been working through bitterness in my heart towards others. And ultimately I stopped writing because I couldn’t clearly express where I was/am at. Even as I write all of this I still feel like I can’t.
Here’s what I do know. . .
6 months later; I’m still a wreck inside, I’m still dealing with waves of grief as they come, I’m learning how to continue living life without her, I’m learning how to face the reality that she’s gone, I’m missing her every. single. day., I’m trying to process everything we’ve walked through, I’m learning how to enter this new season of our life which should seem so hopeful (a new home, a new beginning, etc) and being filled with hope all while grieving (whew!) and on top of grieving; processing a situation that’s caused so much hurt and bitterness within me and also processing the loss of people I once considered friends who haven’t been here for us in the darkest season of our lives.
There is so so so so much… it’s hard to even know how to process all of this, but 6 months in… I realized something so significant last week… we can do this. We are doing this. We are surviving. There was a time when I wasn’t sure we could.
And now… we’re about to entire what should be a hopeful season; a new home and a new beginning. I realized that we can enter this hopeful season all while grieving and missing Eisley. We do and will miss her every day. Today I saw this photo on pinterest…
I cling to the promise of heaven and that I will someday see my precious Eisley-girl.
Thanks for stopping in and I’m sorry I’ve been MIA. On another note; DIYs and more listings on my Etsy store coming soon after our move (We move April 2nd!) Trust me when I say… there will be lots! Especially now that I can finally create for our own home!! :)
Thrifted Treasures {6}
Time for another Thrifted Treasures post because this Saturday I’m taking another trip to Cheyenne, Wyoming to visit my Aunt and to go thrifting along with my mom and grandma (and of course, Chasers)
But before I show you Monday’s finds… I must show you a {incredible} treasure that I forgot to show you last week!
This kids TotSpot lounge chair, a whopping $3! And it looks like it’s never been used! When I found it I even thought to myself, How is this still here?! What a steal! And most importantly, Chase LOVES it :) (and yes, if you noticed, his feet really ARE that big! He has a monsterous sized foot for a 20 month old!)
Okay, now onto my treasures from this week;
Set of black dishes (minus one bowl) $6.50
Shutter $1.50 I plan to paint this and used it in my craft room.
Brand new Target brand towel which I got half off; $2.50!
My mom found this book for Chase which was perfect. It has a little camera which he loves. I found this chair for $2! I plan on spray painting it because the original colour is pretty banged up.
These beautiful jars for food storage like idea. $1-1.25 a piece!
One of my favourite treasures of the week!! Kid’s art easle for $3!!! I plan to make the whiteboard side a felt board for learning!
Below is my all time favourite treasure of the week;
This stunning eclectic patchwork quilt $22. This was pricey but so worth it and such a steal!
This will be our spring/summer blanket for our bed when we put away our black duvet and down comforter. It has ALL of our bedroom colours and more; black, blue, aqua, red, deep yellow, etc.
We’re slowly gathering everything we need for our new home which we get April 1st!! We’re so excited!
If you’re a thrifter please join in and let me know so I can be inspired by YOUR finds :)
I’ll leave ya with this fun photo. We had gotten home from thrifting and decided to work on my Etsy store stuff outside because it was a beautiful sunny day. So we made this “thrifted fort” for Chasey-boy which he enjoyed :)
Colour Her Hope Etsy Store
It’s finally here! I’m so excited to share with you… Colour Her Hope Etsy store is now up and running. I have posted a few headbands to start out and over the next week I will add more items until everything I currently have made is up!
I decided to open my store on my birthday (today I’m the big 24) but most importantly on the very week which marks 6 months since we lost Eisley (September 14th) and 6 months since we first held our precious baby girl 3 days later (September 17th). It is an incredibly bittersweet week and we can’t believe it’s already been 6 months. I wanted something hopeful in this week, that amidst our grieving we can remember how much she touched and inspired our lives.
My store is inspired by and in honour of my Eisley-girl. I’m not too sure how this store is going to do, but even just the healing that’s taken place in me in just creating for this reason… that is enough for me. I almost gave up completely on my store, it was a slow digression. I struggled greatly in my grieving and in lies I was believing about myself. I remember one day I was trying to get myself motivated and suddenly thought “Why am I even doing this? It’s not Eisley and it’s not going to bring her back.” I was crushed. In my head this made sense and I stopped creating for weeks straight. I believed it to be true that it was so stupid wanting to open a store when I should have my Eisley-girl here. I struggled big time until one day I recognized it as a lie, I just got up and created. I thought of my Eisley-girl and just literally cried and created. The truth is I would give anything to have her in my arms but I can’t have that, I have how she has touched my life, how she inspired me, etc. I grabbed ahold of that and created. WHEW. It has been incredible.
Also, if I do sell items, each person will get a little note about my precious Eisley and her story which is one of the greatest feelings; knowing her life is still touching others around the world. This store is just another little way to be her voice in this world. To share her story and to hopefully draw others into His loving arms.
Eeeeep! It’s really up (kinda of frightening to put yourself out there :))! Go and check it out if you’d like :) http://www.etsy.com/shop/colourherhope
Favourite Finds {4}
Today it was light outside until around 7:30 pm! I personally love the”spring forward” time change. We gain an hour of sunlight! I am finding hope in that spring is coming. The reminders that spring {always} comes is especially encouraging this year. Does anyone else find this particular season hopeful?!
Here’s number 4 of ‘Favourite Finds’ of the past two weeks. I started last week but was too wiped out to do it but tonight I really wanted to share some beautiful, inspirational ideas with you all. Most of these I’ve found online elsewhere but pinned on to my “boards” on (if you haven’t checked pinterest out yet, I recommend it! So inspirational!) but I will link them to my pinterest and you can check out all the other inspirational and some brilliant DIY ideas.
Beautiful idea for chandeliers! I want to do something similar above our dining area and in our bedroom or living room with different twists. I would use embroidery hoops!
I found this idea and pinned it from Young House love. You use magnetic paint first and then paint over it. I want to do this for Chase’s part of our craft room!
Does any one else find this brilliant? Idea for stray socks. Ted thinks it’s nerdy and it is, but I love it! Idea for our laundry area.
Incredibly cute button top tutorial!
Jersey lounge pants for Chasers and honestly, I’d love a pair too :)
I love this but when I saw this picture it sparked an idea to make one of our dressers into a changing table. Most of the time the changing pad ends up on the floor anyways (or at least for this household)!
Another dresser idea;
Dresser with storage shelves on top and screwed into the wall. I also love the paper decorating the inside of the shelves!
This idea is {brilliant}! Add velcro to a dish towel to make it a “no slip dishtowel”! I have a little 19 month old boy who loves to run by and pull the dish towels down and sometimes runs around with them. So I’m definitely doing this for our new home!
LOVE! I want to do this as we add to our family more and more. We would do a balloon representing our precious Eisley-girl. She’ll always be apart of this family :)
Transform a small closet space into something so pretty like this. Another brilliant idea!
I just absolutely love this. Another idea for our bedroom wall.
I was SO pleased to find this one! With both of my pregnancies with Chase and Eisley. I wore out my Belly Bands. This is a tutorial on how to make your own Belly Bands!! Amazing, right?!?
Idea found on Prudent Baby to hold fabric scraps! This makes SO much sense! Right now all of mine are in an organizer tower, this would be much better so I could SEE them :) I am doing this ASAP!
This photo made me tear up. Just… wow, Huh?!
Okay, I could get carried away with a mile long post of things so I should stop. Let me know if you’d like an invite to pinterest!
Thrifted Treasures {5}
Oh wow… I really can’t believe it’s been a month since I’ve posted one of these ‘Thrifted Treasures’. Or much at all for that matter. I’ve been avoiding my blog lately, because I’m in a pretty hard-to-explain-place right now. A strength but also a weakness of mine is that when I write, I’m honest and raw. The place I’m at right now isn’t a healthy place, regarding my wounded heart.
I just want to write from a place in my grieving heart instead of being so overcome by this place of my hurt and bitterness and until then, I’m silent. I know it’s hard to explain because I really can’t. I had a friend recently tell me she too was in a “speechless place” and that’s it exactly. A speechless place. Just kinda stunned, taken aback, hurt and deeply wounded but seeking peace over anger and forgiveness over bitterness.
It might seem silly, but even little things like doing this Thrifted post are healing for me. I think it reminds me that I’m still me … and that I’m alive and surviving.
Okay, enough of that… this wasn’t meant to be an emotionally raw post ;)
Well, for the first time since…. ever… I set a goal with a friend of mine to “blog once this week”. If you know me, you know this is a pretty strange thing huh? Me; not blogging. Writing and blogging, creating and inspiring …they are just apart of me and I’ve felt super disappointed with myself lately, even in my personal life – regarding these areas. So we are, this is a step ;)
Garage sale season is just beginning to start and it’s pretty much the perfect timing since we’re getting our home April 1st!
Here are my most recent thrift store and garage sale finds; Hope you’re inspired to thrift!
Kid safe coffee table $5. We learned with Chase the sharp edged coffee tables are a major bruiser. I can’t decide if I’ll redo this because it’s really well painted. We’ll see.
Large and medium rugs $4 all together.
In this lovely mess is our new kitchen table $20 (I LOVE our old one but it’s not practical with kiddos because it’s bar stool heighth) and the room divider $10. I am planning on restyling both with lots of sanding and painting and a little sewing, etc.
This was my favourite find of the week. A pink chair I found at a used furniture place for $25. That might seem spendy (it pretty much is) but it reminds me of my Eisley-girl and it’s my new craft chair. (The two lawn chairs we got for FREE!!)
I wish this was a better photo but if you look closely… it’s TEAL inside!! This chair was a serious treasured find.
So this was $3 but I think it was worth it! It looks brand new, has a sealed lid and is the {perfect} match to our colours. Going in the kitchen!
$3 brand new wicker basket
$2 organizer for the kitchen. Going to restyle this big time!
$1 dinosaur plates :)
Brand new $2 shelf (Target brand found at Goodwill).
(Side note: Notice Chase in the background… when we get home from thrifting he always helps me takes tags off (or if we forget on his toys, he tears them off himself later, haha). Well, he’s so used to this that when we were at a Thrift store he kept trying to take tags off!)
$1 curtain for one of the rooms until I make some.
Hope you’re inspired to check out the Thrift Stores and garage sales in your area! And if you begin blogging Thrifted Treasures, let me know so I can stop by your blog and be inspired myself!
DIY Freezer Paper Stenciling
This is one DIY I think you’ll want to stick around for! The possibilities are endless!
It is a seriously long overdue DIY project I’ve been wanting to share since before Christmas when I did this! And it’s been two weeks since I’ve posted a DIY project anyways… so like I said, long overdue!
Supplies used:
Freezer paper- less than $4 at a Wal-Mart
Xacto knife - this really is a must, scissors won’t work
Paint – I used acrylic but you could use fabric paint too
Picture/design of your choice -You could either make it yourself or go to google images and search for what you’re desiring. The more detail in the image the harder and longer it will be to cut it out.
Iron
Canvas bags- you can get bundles or individuals for fairly cheap at Hobby Lobby. (you could also use t-shirts, pillow cases, canvas, etc)
How to DIY:
First, pick out your stencil idea and print it onto the freezer paper onto the NON-shiny side.
Then, use an Xacto knife to cut it out.
Iron it onto whatever your surface is. Make sure you’ve ironed the entire piece down because when you go to paint, you’ll want to be sure that it’s all down for the best outcome.
Carefully paint it. I used acrylic paint but you could use fabric paint and then you would be able to wash it without a problem!
Let it dry and then peel off the freezer paper and ta-da! It’s not perfect, but for my first one, it’s not horrible either. Just ignore the imperfection ;)
I used these canvas bags as a way to “wrap” my mom and sisters Christmas gifts. It took me an evening to do all of them. But it was worth it!
I also added fabric flower pins to my momma’s gift so she could leave them or take them off and wear them. Just another idea to add another little pretty touch! Or you could wait and buy a fabric flower pin or two from my Etsy store soon! ;)
Below are two photos my friend just sent me of the bag I made her. I forgot to take a photo of the final look.
She loves Hello Kitty and the Detroit Pistons and this was one of my favourites because of her reaction. <3
See, the possibilities are {endless}! I want to do designs on pillows, curtains, canvas, some of my boring shirts and some of Chase’s shirts, etc! It’s pretty incredible when it’s finished. The only part that’s hard is the cutting out and knowing where to cut out. But that got easier with each one.
Hope you’re inspired to create!
blurry.
I’ve been in a really hard-to-explain place. I can’t really pinpoint it and I feel I won’t even do a decent job of expressing myself clearly, maybe because everything seems so cloudy? I don’t know.
Every time I go to write in my journal, or when I hop on here to write a blog, I get stumped. What could I possibly say to express my heart clearly? Everything seems so blurry in my mind and thoughts lately. I am not going crazy or anything. I think this could best be described as grief.
I’m in a seriously explicable, blurry place.
I also am struggling with other things adding to my grieving the loss of Eisley. Things I feel I shouldn’t even be dealing with yet I am. It’s out of my control. And some days when I would get on here to write, all that would come out was from an ugly place of anger, frustration, jealousy and hurt. It would be super passive aggressive, ugly places that I just cannot. go. to. I can’t dwell in it for its eating me up inside and I don’t know how much longer I can handle grieving and this without just going totally crazy or without growing numb. I don’t want to be numb. I need to feel, especially right now.
Ted has been incredible and gracious and compassionate to me throughout all of hurt and my shocking anger toward this situation that I bring to him (I should probably say it it’s not him ;)). He is super loving to remind me of truth yet validate my hurting heart. I am so thankful for this man who somehow manages to stick with me despite where I’m at.
Each heart knows its own bitterness,and no one else can share its joy. Proverbs 14:10
Bitterness and hurt are stealing things that are so precious to me. Including my joy. It’s consuming my thoughts and I’ve even allowed it to dictating my actions.
But mostly I hopped on to humbly ask for your prayers for my heart to release this bitterness so I can freely grieve.
I guess I wanted to get on here and write you to say, “I’m still here”, I plan on posting a DIY this week. I do.
(p.s. …we finally found a place to call home. We signed the papers today. More on this soon…)
