Wednesday, December 23, 2020

12 Days of Christmas Days 11 and 12 Adding Stencils to All the Things

12 Days of Easy Christmas Ideas

Oh goodness, we are coming in hot to Christmas so I am finishing up my final two days of 12 Days of Christmas projects with a few fun things I created using Old Sign Stencils. If you need a super last minute idea or gift, check out these ideas!

Stencil Thrift Store Ice Skates

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Sunday Verses

Devotional About Being Distracted
Happy Sunday! Have you watched the series Alone on the History channel? We have been binging this show, a reality, survivor type program where contestants are dropped off in a remote place with very few items. They film themselves as they try to build shelters, find food, stay warm, and safe. They can "tap out" or quit at any time, and whoever stays the longest, wins. Different things cause the participants to leave--hunger, injury, loneliness and boredom. I often wonder how I would respond to the quiet, to being alone with no electronics, no distractions. We are experts at keeping ourselves, our thoughts and activities, busy enough to distract us. Sometimes diversion seems good-- it keeps me from worrying and stressing about the hard things. But, distraction keeps us from paying attention to what is good, what is true, what is worthy. It prevents us from completely sitting with and fully experiencing our thoughts and feelings. I am working at finding those places and spaces, both in nature and in my thoughts, that allow me to pay attention to worthwhile practices and ideas--to the important things that draw me closer to Jesus.

Friday, December 18, 2020

12 Days o Christmas Day 10 Easy Ornaments Made From Blocks

12 Days of Easy Christmas Ideas
I am still tweaking my Christmas decorations here and there and decided I needed (and I use the term needed loosely) a few more ornaments. So, I went to my little craft stash (a few shoeboxes filled with junk, aka treasures) and found some blocks to play with. Um, oops, I didn't mean to spell out an inappropriate saying in the middle of the ABC blocks.
Turn Children's Blocks Into Ornaments

I knew a little paint and some beads and tassels would easily transform these children's toys into ornaments. 

Easy DIY Ornaments Made From Blocks

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

12 Days of Christmas Day 9 Easy Wood Wall Hanging

12 Days of Easy Christmas Ideas

I knew I needed a little something in this wall space between our front door and family room windows. Normally I have a lovely piece of art picturing the Montana mountains that hangs there, but the blues and oranges weren't working with my natural and green Christmas color scheme. 

I knew I wanted something natural, something temporary that won't be stored, and something with a rustic, boho feel. 
DIY Wood Wall Hanging for Christmas

This wood wall hanging is the perfect solution and took me 20 minutes or less to make.

Monday, December 14, 2020

12 Days of Christmas Day 8 Twigs and Stockings

12 Days of Easy Christmas Ideas

And the stockings were hung...

Make Stockings From Thrift Store Items
So, I have a confession...I think I might have a stocking problem. Here's the thing, when you (and by you I mean ME) frequently change up your Christmas decor scheme, new stockings are necessary. This is the fifth set of stockings I have made in 32 years of marriage, that isn't too many, is it?

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Sunday Verses

Devotion on Being Content
Happy Sunday! How do you quiet your soul? Seems like slowing down and being still should be easy enough, but for many of us, it isn't. And in this season when we are trying to create some normalcy amidst uncertainty and upheaval, contentment seems even more challenging. David, the author of this verse, certainly knew about living a life of strife. He experienced fear and weariness, defeat and what it felt like to be overwhelmed. And because of this, he absolutely understood the importance of stillness and the gift of peace and being at ease. As Christmas approaches, I can't help but think that there was no room at the busy, overcrowded inn for Mary and Joseph because incarnate love needed to enter into this world in place of calmness and stillness. Today, this week, let's practice being still. Find a place to sit with the quiet, notice contentedness, look for serenity and in it, recognize Jesus and the love and peace that can only come from him.  

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

12 Days of Christmas Day 7 Temporary Christmas Art

12 Days of Christmas Ideas

If you took my Christmas Home Tour (see post below if you missed it), you might have spied my snowy woods Christmas art.
Stencil a Temporary Christmas Art Piece

Monday, December 7, 2020

Holiday House Tour

Holiday House Tour

Welcome to my Christmas House Tour 2020. This year I am linking up at Jennifer Rizzo's Holiday House Walk Tour Linky Party 2020. For TEN years now Jenn has been sharing wonderful holiday home tours. I look forward to this event every year and always curl up with my laptop and a cup of tea to slowly peruse each home shared. I often wish I could crawl into the pictures to sit down and enjoy each home a little more.

Natural Boho Christmas Home Tour
A new home in a new state means all kinds of new Christmas ideas and decor for me this year. It has been fun and challenging to come up with new things for a home that is much smaller than my home in Montana.

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Sunday Verses

Inspiring Verse
Happy Sunday! We all have some battle, some uphill climb that we face. Each person's struggle, mountain, staircase looks different. When someone we love and care about is hurting, we want to make everything better and take their pain away. But, because our strife is unique, we cannot  complete someone else's arduous climb for them. We can't fix it or make everything better, even though we so badly want to. What we can do, however, is lighten the sufferer's load and help bear the burden. We do this by listening, by being present, by holding a hand, by praying. When your dear ones are hurting, when the scramble is steep, do not take the strength building, hard climb away from them, but rather offer hope and encouragement and life-giving tools to teach them and help how to ascend their staircase step by step.

Friday, December 4, 2020

12 Days of Christmas Day 6 Cute Curtain Ring Ornaments

12 Days of Easy Christmas Ideas
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...how shall I decorate thee this year? Decorating the tree happens in layers at my house. First, I like it just with lights on it, then garland and a few ornaments. After a few days of that, I add more ornaments, mostly in one or two colors. 

I've added the tassled pinecones I made (HERE), and some warm and fuzzy ornaments (see tutorial from a few years ago HERE), and snowflake ornaments. 
Cute Boho DIY Christmas Ornaments
I decide I wanted a few more natural looking, boho style ornaments so I dug around in my craft supplies and found some wood curtain rings and wrapped them to make these cute ornaments.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

12 Days of Christmas Day 5 Easy Custom Pillow Covers

12 days of Easy DIY Christmas Ideas
When Funky Junk Old Sign Stencils introduced her newest stencils for Christmas, I fell in love with the Christmas Sweater stencil. I knew it would be perfect for fabric and I was right.
12 days of Easy DIY Christmas Ideas

Using the Christmas sweater stencil and some scraps of fabric I had, I created custom Christmas pillow covers in less than two hours.

12 days of Easy DIY Christmas Ideas

Monday, November 30, 2020

12 Days of Christmas Day 4 Simple Advent Centerpiece

I hope you all had a Thanksgiving that was peaceful and safe and that reminded you that there is always something to be grateful and thankful for. My crew was small and the day was quiet and delightful. With turkey day behind us, I am ready to forge ahead into ALL of the Christmas things. It is fun to decorate a new house for the holidays.
12 Days of Simple Christmas Ideas

I decided I wanted an Advent "wreath" or centerpiece this year. Something about mindfully preparing for Christmas that seems important and special this year. Advent is a preparation for the feast of the epiphany and lasts the four weeks before Christmas. Traditionally a candle is lit each week, so that by the fourth week all four candles are lit. I think the lighting of the candles each week is a good time to remember how long the world waited and prepared for a Savior, how people anticipated something better and hopeful coming into their lives. 

Create a Natural Boho Advent Centerpiece With Found Items
I wanted the advent centerpiece to be simple, natural, and have that boho feel I am going for this year and I am happy with this one that I created, it has the perfect look and feel I wanted.

Monday, November 23, 2020

12 Days of Christmas Day 3 Simple Snowflakes


12 Days of Christmas Day 3 Simple Snowflakes
I sure had fun coming up with my day 3 project. I love the challenge of creating something with parameters. My self-imposed guidelines for Christmas decor this year are to create items with supplies that I mostly already have or can find, to create items that don't have to be stored for the year, and to have what I make fall loosely into my simple, natural, boho style that I am choosing for Christmas this year.
Easy DIY Boho Snowflakes

These fuzzy snowflakes fit all my criteria and are super easy to create. 

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Sunday Verses

When Life Stops You in Your Tracks
Happy Sunday! We all have plans, paths that we hope to follow and stay on, clearly showing the way and guiding us. But life sometimes, many times, stops us in our tracks. Hard, horrific things happen that we want to turn from and run away from, but we can't. What do we do, how do we respond when hard life happens that forever changes our course? I am not going to tell you to be thankful for your pain, to look for the good in it. I am not going to say there is a reason for your pain or tell you to keep moving forward, putting one foot in front of the other. I do not know why bad things happen to us. But, this I do know: God weeps with us, holds us, stays with us, goes before us. God can handle our questions, our anger, our pain. His grace is enough to see us through. He is present, do not be afraid.

Friday, November 20, 2020

12 Days of Christmas Day 2 Stenciled Mirrors

I am doing my best to use what I have or what I can find for my Christmas decor this year. My goal is to not need any more plastic tubs to store my Christmas stuff. This is a challenge for me as I truly do adore Christmas decorating. 

12 Days of Christmas Ideas
But, I am enjoying the challenge of coming up with ways to use what I already decorate with. If you have read my blog for awhile, you know that I like to scatter small mirrors throughout my home to fill holes and to bounce light around the room. 

(affiliate links. What this means that if you choose to purchase something through my link, I may receive a small compensation.)
Stencil Mirrors For Temporary Christmas Decor
When some of the newest stencils from Funky Junk Old Sign Stencils arrived yesterday, I knew immediately what my first project would be--creating temporary Christmas mirrors with the stencils.

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

12 Days of Christmas, Day 1, Natural Boho Christmas Ornaments

12 Days of Christmas Day 1 Natural Boho Christmas

It's that time of year, time for my 12 days of Christmas Ideas Posts. Except, this year feels different, right? Celebrations will be small, intimate. Huge, over the top decor feels out of place for me. Plus, I am in a new, smaller home in a new state with an empty nest and so decorating will be different. 

Here's the thing, different is okay. I am a Christmas tradition lover, but I am working at embracing less, using what I have rather than creating more stuff to store in space I don't have. I am embracing simple, but still new to me Christmas ideas. And so keeping that in mind, I am working on a natural, semi-boho theme for Christmas and look forward to sharing a dozen idea with you. 
use what you have to decorate for Christmas this year

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Sunday Verses

Devotional About God Being in All of Us
Happy Sunday! There is something about the downed tress in the woods that catch my attention. I like seeing the moss growing on them and the critters living in them and how their decomposition is enriching the forest floor. Is a downed tree any less of a tree than one standing tall? The fallen tree has the same amount of tree DNA as the tree that is standing. In the same way, Jesus lives in every person, regardless of what we see on the outside. Friends, God is in all of us. The person preaching and reciting God's Word, sitting in the church pew every Sunday, whose children attend a private, Christian school does not have more God in her than anyone else. Yes, sometimes it seems easier to see God in others, but that doesn't mean that Jesus is any less present in each and every one of us. Let's work at and train ourselves to look for Jesus in everyone--in those we have deemed unlovable, worthless, different--he is there. Seek God's presence in ALL the people he has placed in your path.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Make a Cozy Light With Thrift Store Find and Fairy Lights

When I spied this yarn spinner at the thrift store for $3.99, I knew I had to grab it. 
Yarn Spinner from the Thrift Store
I had a few different ideas for it, but as I played with opening and closing it (like an umbrella) I decided it needed to become a light.
Make a Cozy Light With Thrift Store Find and Fairy Lights


Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Creating a Cozy TV Room

Decorating a new home sure can be fun, but also a challenge. I think the biggest challenge is not only deciding what to do and how to use ne spaces, but also getting ALL the projects done. I am trying to take my time and enjoy the process. I had a few different ideas for this window alcove in our front bedroom. I knew it would be a great spot for a window seat, but...
What to do with a window alcove
we decided to make the space a TV, lounging room. One reason we decided to put the TV in here is because our sectional was bit too big for the family room space and because I didn't want a big TV hanging above my wood stove. I also wanted the kitchen, family room space TV free for entertaining (which we may get to do again some day...).
Gallery wall of favorite things
I used many of my favorite items from our Montana house and gallery wall. I made an engineer print at Staples of a favorite photo of my kids and put it in an old window frame.
engineer print wall photo
Since the sectional went in this room, a window seat wasn't going to work. Instead, I decided a shelf above the window would warm the space up and would be a great space to display a few favorites of mine.
Reclaimed Wood Window Shelf
The reclaimed wood came from a local thrift store. It is old and I think had some type of fabric insulation maybe attached to it at one time. It had lots of nails in it, some square nails. I left as many of the nails as possible, took some out for cutting the board. 
Reclaimed Wood Window Shelf

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Sunday Verses

Devotional on Being Kind
Happy Sunday! "What are you taking a picture of?" "The snow and the leaves, the two seasons coming together, aren't the pretty together?" Differences are dividing us in a way I have not seen before. Families, friends, acquaintances are arguing, disagreeing, shutting each other off and out, being mean and ugly with each other. Kindness and decency are in short supply. Kindness does not mean we agree with everyone, but it does mean we state our opposing views respectfully without name calling and rudeness. Being kind may look like driving your neighbor to the polls even though they support a different party than you do. Kindness means that the day after the election you do not gloat or shout fraud, but rather that you show compassion to someone whose candidate lost. Kindness does not mock, it does not name call, it does not demand, it does not practice violence. Kindness listens, respects, understands differences are okay and even beautiful. It is action and good deeds for all, even those who do not think like us. Kindness is love--take some extra steps this week to practice being kind, especially to those who think differently than you do. Peace. 


Tuesday, October 27, 2020

How to Create a Simple Wreath for Fall and Winter

Today, we are going to start with a little history lesson on wreaths because I was curious so I did some research. Wreaths date back to the Persian Empire where they were used a sign of power and authority when they were worn on the head. Over time, wreaths were hung on doors to represent victory in Rome. Later, believers hung wreaths as a symbol of everlasting life and as a sign that Christ was welcomed in their home. Today, wreaths are generally used as welcome to guests and as a household decoration. And while wreaths were typically made from greenery, today we use a plethora of items and objects to create unique, decorative wreaths.

How to Create a Simple Wreath for Fall and Winter
I started with some wooden embroidery hoops in different sizes that I picked up at the thrift store.
thrift store embroidery hoops

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Sunday Verses

Don't Give Into Anger
Happy Sunday! I love looking at nature reflected in still waters. When the water is tranquil enough I can often see what is being reflected better and more clearly than looking at the actual thing. There is so much anger and offense, frustration and worry these days that all create rough and violent reflections of who we truly are. When we respond in anger without calmness, people are unable to see a clear picture of Jesus and his love that we are called to mirror. Worry and anger do not cast back who Jesus is. It is okay to be upset and angry about what is happening in our world, but let's stay calm in our response putting love above all else so that people can truly see a love and a peace that can only come from God. 

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Comfortable Casual Cozy Boho Bedroom

I have been waiting to share the rest of my guest bedroom with you because it is not quite finished. But, it may take awhile to find exactly what I am looking for and more importantly, I am learning to not wait until everything in my home is just right before I invite guests in. 

So, please, come on in and check out this fun comfy, casual boho style wall I am putting together in my guest bedroom.

Comfortable Casual Cozy Boho Bedroom

If you have been following along (if you missed it, check out my earlier posts HERE and HERE), I am working at creating a multifunctional guest bedroom with a cozy, comfortable, casual, boho vibe. I decided I wanted to paint something fun on the wall the bed would be on. I chose an arch, rainbow type detail.