Acts of Love and Kindness Chart

Commit.

And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Commit.

It’s my focus word for 2018. I’ve chosen to commit to teaching my children (and others) about Jesus. Of course, I will continue to teach my children about Jesus and weave it, hopefully, ever so seamlessly into my parenting beyond just this year. But, this year, this is the year that’s going to get me started on that path!

Last month my 2.5 year old and I (who am I kidding, it was just me) created an ‘Acts of Love and Kindness’ chart. At this point, you’re probably assuming I’m going to link you to a pin on Pinterest showing you where I found this idea. Am I right?? Well, guess what!? I did NOT find this on Pinterest, although I’m sure it’s out there :). I came up with the idea on my own! Actually, I take that back. I’m SURE the idea was given to me by the Good Lord above. I do NOT come up with ideas like this so easily!

Below the title of the chart, I included the second half of Galatians 5:14, For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Each circle on the chart represents something my daughter can do for someone else that is kind or loving. Every time she does something that’s on the chart, she puts a sticker in the corresponding circle. We love it!

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I’d love to hear your ideas! What ways do you teach your children about Jesus and how to be like him?

Craft Booth…Take One

My dad and I participated in our first ever craft fair this past weekend. It was quite the experience, and we learned a lot!

Pictures of our booth are below. I was happy with it for our first ever booth display. It just seemed so overwhelming, though – too much stuff in too small of a space.

We learned from other vendors that it’s not so much about having a ton of items as it is about having a really eye-catching display. Which, of course, makes sense. After seeing other craft booths over the weekend, we now have ideas about how to make our booth more inviting.

We plan to do this again, but need time to recuperate. Craft Booth…Take Two may have to wait a year :). This was exhausting! Lol.

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Check out my Shop to see the currently listed items.

What suggestions do you have about creating a successful craft booth?

DIY Personalized Ornate Frame

I have been looking all over for my inspiration picture and can’t seem to find it anywhere on my computer! Ugh. I guess I’ll just have to show you the final products by themselves.

Here are the personalized ornate frames I made for a couple individuals:

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Here’s how to make it…   Continue reading »

Open for Business

July marks the first month of owning an Etsy shop!

Click here or ‘Shop’ at the top of this page to see items for sale and/or visit my Etsy shop.

After the craft festival later this year, I’ll add more items to my shop. For now, though, the large majority of items I make have to be saved for the festival.

Any tips on being a successful Etsy shop owner?

 

For Sale

Recently, I began selling some of my crafts at a local store. I’m so excited! I hope to have an Etsy shop soon…we’ll see. Be sure to check back in the coming weeks to see if I’ve opened one :). Below are some of the items I took to the local store – chalkboards, chicken wire frames, earring and necklace holders, and ‘I love you because…’ dry erase frames.

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Here are some other items I’ve made…

Do you have any business tips for me???

Chicken Wire Frame

My dad and I are selling crafts at a festival later this year. Here is one item I plan to sell (if I don’t end up keeping it for my own house :)).

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Simply staple chicken wire to a picture frame. The frame I used was about 24×21 inches from outer edge to outer edge. I did spray paint the picture frame first – I didn’t like the wood color it was originally, so I used a silvery colored spray paint. When I was finished, it looked too bland, so I added the fabric flowers.

This makes a great picture frame, as it allows you to quickly and easily switch out pictures as often as you like. You could also use it as a place to leave messages, love notes, lists of chores…the possibilities are endless :)!

I will definitely be making more of these.

Happy framing!

Good Company Always Welcome

My dad and I are participating (for the first time!) in a craft festival. We were just approved today to have our own craft booth. I’m so excited :)! Our main items for sale are upcycled windows and frames. So, my task this summer is to rummage for items we can use for crafting.

On my first major rummaging adventure last weekend, I found a gold mine of old windows. I bought 9 of them for $33.00 (that’s just $3.67 each).

Here is one window I created and plan to sell at the festival. The problem – I have no idea how much to ask  for it :/.

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Below are step-by-step instructions, along with pictures of the process. Continue reading »

DIY Fluffy Fabric Flowers

This post from Girl Loves Glam was a great step-by-step guide for making fabric flowers. You only need a few supplies, most of which you likely have on hand – fabric, a hot glue gun, some type of circle to trace, a pen or marker, scissors, and a straight pin (optional).

I made two sizes of flowers and used three different fabrics. For the bigger flower, I used a yellow fabric and burlap. For the smaller flowers, I used the same yellow fabric and a white fabric. These flowers were used to add a little interest to the chicken wire frame I made (post coming soon – UPDATE: Here it is.).

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These are two of the fabrics I used (burlap not pictured).

Continue reading »

Memory Jar

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Our Memory Jar
(It still needs a little pizzazz, I know. I’ll do that eventually.)

After seeing this on Pinterest, I decided to start my own memory jar. I’m really excited!

My husband and I plan to fill our jar with notes of events (happy, sad, big, small, funny, odd, significant, seemingly insignificant, etc.) that happen throughout this year. Two ‘memories’ are in the jar already – yay!

At the end of the year, after reading all the entries, I plan to put them in a scrapbook. I can’t wait! This will be a good way for us to recap the year and see how the Lord has blessed us, guided us, and strengthened us along the way.

It’s not too late to start your own memory jar, so get goin’ already :).

Deck the Halls!

Our Christmas tree has been up since just after Thanksgiving. Last year, my husband had the bright idea (seriously) of storing the tree, fully decorated and intact, in our basement. It took literally 3 minutes for us to ‘trim the tree’ this year – how convenient!

The rest of our house; however, was lacking the Christmas spirit. This weekend, my husband and I finally had time to do a little more decorating. Using sticks I spray painted from our yard, unused treasures in our basement, and some items from Wal-Mart, we decorated our mantel (all while listening to Christmas music). The hubby even helped! He’s such a wonderful husband :).

Though we enjoy Christmas lights, decorations, gifts, and time with family, this is not the TRUE reason for the season. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior’s birth. Let us not lose our focus – Jesus is the reason for the season!

(You’ll see a window picture frame in the pictures below. Click here to see the post about that project.)DSC00534 Continue reading »