DIY much?

Well I'm still admiring the creamy white/distressed look so let me show you another blog I've come across!!

Centsational Girl

Isn't that incredible? You could probably pick all that stuff up from a thrift store for less than $20. (More money to splurge on those rich soaps and nice candles heehee). I went to my local 'Sally Ann' as most call it (I have no idea why...?) and found some brass candle holders I might go back and get as my first 'distressing' project. We'll see. But she gave me another idea as well, a DIY entertainment center! have a look at what she did:

Now that just shows you the general idea. The only things I need to buy in this case are the two tall shelves on either side. But whether they come from a garage sale or walmart or otherwise I can't see them being too expensive. A piece of wood to li on top would be nice as well, I'm thinking if I actually do embark on this project maybe I'll employ my papa's skills to make a nice curvy beveled edge type thingy. (Can you tell by my descriptions that I'm new to this whole decor thing?!) And then when all four pieces are gathered....yes, you guessed it. Painting and distressing them all for a uniform finish. *Sigh* this is what I daydream about. I'm going to pretend I don't hear your snickering.  Tata for now....

PS: I have so many unfinished projects at the moment, and a cruise (WAHOO) coming up in a few weeks that I may make myself wait until closer to the end of October to try anything. But then again.... I've never been a very patient person. We'll see what happens :)

Maybe....just maybe.....

Well I have spent the last few days wiping drool off my keyboard. Okay, thats not only an exaggeration its also a little gross - never the less - you HAVE to see what I've found. This blogs has me so inspired and eager I can barely contain myself.

Her name is Holly. And she is amazing.

How bout another?

So perdy. K one more:

So simple! Just some paint! (Love these airy french looking pillows as well...)

Her blog is In the Fun Lane.

So.....this got me thinking. We have a loooot of mismatched wood in our home. Outdated wood, plain boring pieces (that aren't really worthy to be called a 'piece') and all different shades and types :) So after reading this blog, my mind has wandered onto the DIY course. Why purchase new, expensive furniture when just a few cans of paint will recreate what I have already?? And then maybe, just maybe, some magic Holly dust will rub off on me from reading her blog and I will be able to create something almost as nice. Okay okay, I won't kid myself....;)

The Truth About Lightning: God is AMAZING.

THE WAKE-UP CALL


Nobody likes a wake-up call—and I’m not even talking philosophically. Ask any businessman who travels for a living. There is nothing more annoying at 6:00 o’clock in the morning than a cheery-voiced desk clerk telling you it’s time to get up.

There’s another type of wake-up call. If you have a six-year-old at home, you know what I mean. No sooner does a thunderstorm begin than he’s at the foot of your bed, shaking your foot and telling you that he’s scared. And no matter how many times you tell him that it’s only God snoring, or the upstairs neighbors bowling, he still won’t go back to bed until it’s over.

As we all know, the booming sound of thunder is only noise. So what is this wake-up call of thunder announcing?

Simply, the greatness of one of God’s creations—lightning. And what is so great about lightning, besides the fact that it makes the perfect background for a murder-mystery? Consider this.

There’s a verse in Psalms 135 stating that, “God made the lightning for the rain.” A great twentieth-century thinker, Rabbi Avigdor Miller, explains that this refers to the fact that rain needs lightning in order to accomplish one of its jobs. What did he mean by that?

I know from my farm in Brooklyn that if I want my tomatoes to grow, I have to water them (which is one of the purposes of rain). But if I want them to be really big and juicy, I have to use Miracle-Gro, or at least some type of fertilizer. Water only helps the chemical reactions take place, but a plant still needs healthy soil in which to grow. And since soil is only a few inches deep anywhere in the world, its nutrients get used up fairly quickly and need to be replenished. That’s where fertilizers come in. And they come in a variety of different types, potencies and smells.

What do they all have in common, though? Nitrates, which is a combination of oxygen and nitrogen. There’s only one problem, and that is that nitrogen is practically inert: it doesn’t combine easily with other chemicals. The only way to overcome this problem is to use intense heat to fuse it together with oxygen. Since the farmers of the world haven’t the time to go running around with Bunsen burners looking for spare nitrogen, God does the job for them. Each time that lightning strikes, the intense heat generated by this electrical reaction causes the nitrogen in the air to combine with oxygen. These gases, combined with the traces of ammonia in the air, dissolve into the rain, which then brings this life-giving fertilizer into the soil.
Score a point for the Psalmist.

But don’t think that you have to wait for a thunderstorm for lightning to happen. Lightning is taking place continually in the atmosphere every day in order to keep our soil rich and healthy.
Thunder is God’s reminder to us that even when we are too busy to take care of the things we need to survive, the benevolent Creator of the world is ably taking care of them Himself. So the next time you hear a clap of thunder, wake up and smell the fertilizer.


origin: http://www.aish.com/societyWork/sciencenature/The_Mysteries_of_Snow_and_Lightning.asp

Fun Fall Projects

Remember that binder and the seasonal folders from my last post? I finally put them together with some scrapbook paper and stickers. Here's the finished result:

I love the rich burgundy and golden colour on the paper! The words read 'Love' 'Family' 'Sharing' 'Warmth' etc.

And the Seasonal folder! Some stickers just for fun and labels -because they're fun too. The labels dont quite match the bright stickers and the folders themselves, but they match the outside of the binder and well... I like them just fine. :)

I've also created a notebook to use, hopefully like Dawn uses hers. I love making collages, so it seems logical (? - to me that is -) to make a collage EVERY DAY (wahoo!!!) of my thoughts and things I see in magazines etc. Here is mine:

I have the book laying open so you can see the front and back - and a ribbon bookmark weaved through the spiral. I was going to take pictures of my first attempt at collaging my thoughts - but it was too messy. Maybe one day when I've got the system down pat ;)

And of course some fun fall decor projects from Michaels - LOVE that store.

For this very simple project I took a terracotta pot, a candle, a branch of fake fall leaves, some mod podge and a paintbrush. I separated the leaves into smaller bunches, and took 4 straight off their stems. These 4 I mod podged onto the pot. Then using a little wax to hold it in place, the candle was set. Lastly I stuffed in the leaves (not gluing them down so that the candle can be replaced easily).

This project took another little pot, some rub-ons and a tealight. Voila! Harvest-style candles. (I made 4 matching candle holders -apple, pear, plum, and cherries - would make a cute gift I think too!)

This was the easiest of all. Flower bunch + Vase = Fall floral arrangement. :)

Organization

I've been reading a blog lately called By Sun and Candlelight and been very inspired by her organizing. She uses a file crate system which looks quite efficient - however as I currently have no children, I don't think I have enough to organise to make this system worth it! However I am planning on implementing a seasonal planning system, a sort-of miniature file crate system if you will. I have purchased a binder, a notepad and 4 dividers with pockets. Blue - Winter, Green -Spring, Yellow -Summer, Red - Fall.




I'll post again when I've made this into something I will actually use :) But for now I thought I'd share what I currently use for my organization and planning.

Right now I have a home planning notebook, and an agenda. In my home planning notebook, I have 4 tabs: Hospitality, Organization, Food, and Money. In Hospitality I simply record who we have over for dinners when, what we eat and what we do. This may seem silly, but with my memory we'd likely serve the same people lasagna 3 times in a row otherwise :) Under Organization I have notes, organizing tips, details for projects etc - a whole mish mash. In food I keep lists of meals we like and grocery receipts are in a pocket in the front. I also have meal planning lists as well as a few recipes in here. Under money, I list our utility and gas bills. We have people living in the basement who pay half, so I have to have an accurate record of these bills and when they pay us! At the very front of my home planning notebook (before any of the 4 tabs) I have a section where I designate one month for each page. On these pages I write brief goals and notes. So thats that! On to the agenda.

Its a very simple Moleskine agenda with the days of the week on the left page and a lined page on the right for notes. In my agenda I record when I do (and don't) work, pay day, bill due dates, special events and things I have to remember. On the lined page I write my to do list.

The only other thing I use to organize papers etc is two folders on my desk 'To File' and 'Require Action'. For example, if I get a bill in the mail, I put it in the "Require Action' folder and note the due date in my agenda. When its paid, I write 'Paid' and the date in my agenda and put it in the 'To File' folder. About once a month I take all my 'To File' papers and file them! (I guess that would be another system I use - maybe I'll post on it another time - but in a nutshell its just a bin with hanging folders that hold all of our important documents, receipts, manuals, pay stubs, paid bills etc.)

Organization aside - I found a friend while doing the laundry today :) Kittins!

What do you use to organise?