Child of God

Do you ever stumble across a portion of scripture, and have the words, the meaning, suddenly jump off the page at you with fresh significance?  That happened to me last week...  I love it when God does that :)

 "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir." Galatians 3:4-7

You know how we all get really excited when someone announces that they are going to adopt a child? And we lend our encouragement and even financial support... because we realize how HUGE it is!!  Well, if we claim Christ as our Savior and place our hope in Him, that's what has happened to us!! ... like that scripture says. 

Last week, I was really bummed about a closed-door in my life.  I was mourning the loss of an opportunity to share my faith...  I so desperately wanted to pass along the hope which I have; the hope I have it Christ Jesus as my Savior.  And when I say hope, I don't mean "hoping" for the best... "hoping" I will make it to heaven someday...  Rather, The Hope I have is secure anticipation of what is to come!  I wish so desperately that everyone could know the joy of that kind of hope. 

I'm overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.  My identity is secure... I AM HIS CHILD.  My freedom in this life is secure... I AM NO LONGER A SLAVE to sin. My future is secure... I AM AN HEIR to the Kingdom and the reward.

Blessings,

Cute Custom Idea...

This past week I had a sweet blog friend ordered a custom print from my Etsy Store for her daughter's nursery...  She liked one of my new scripture print designs, but requested a different verse and her daughter's name added (these type of changes are free of charge, btw).  Viola!  A meaningful, one-of-a-kind print for her daughter... to keep forever.  (Thanks Krista! ... it will be in the mail soon :) )

Take a look!

Blessings,

Sadie's Nursery... a KS HOME TOUR

Earlier this summer I gave you a little tour of JJ and I's bedroom from our little bungalow back in Kansas.  Well, I thought I'd show you Sadie's Nursery today!  Whenever I think about this room, I have to smile.  It was such a happy place for me :)  I loved the wall color.  I loved all the vintage baby decor. I loved the custom bedding that my mom-in-law made for me (although you can't really see it in these pics... I had taken the front bumper pad down already).  I loved the high ceilings and old woodwork and doors.  I loved how all you saw out the windows was tree branches and sun... because it was on the second story.  Hmmm... it was wonderful. 

Anyway... the pictures aren't the best... but you get the idea.  ENJOY!

 

 

Blessings,

Fabric Covered Book How-To/ Tutorial

I've noticed lately that I've been getting quite a few hits on my blog from Pinterest... from a really old post about some things I made for a craft fair! Ha! ... it was such a long time ago, but the ideas are still quite cute. 

Well, based on one of those crafts, I made a tutorial( a year or so ago) about how to cover a photo mat with fabric.  Today, I'd like to show you how to cover an old book in fabric... similar to another craft on that ancient post :)

MATERIALS

• enough cotton fabric to cover the book you've chosen... I love using vintage fabric for old books
• an old book, preferably one that has a blank cover, as some titles or illustrations can show through
• spray glue -nothing beats 3M Super 77 found at Hobby Lobby or hardware stores
• a scissor - one you don't mind getting glue on
• Mod-podge
• small foam brush 

(you don't need a knife... I don't know why I put that in there, Ha!)

1. Lay out your book and cut a rectangle of fabric larger than the size of your book... 1 to 2 inches larger on all sides  (you might want to iron your cut fabric at this point if it's creased or wrinkly).

2. Spray the back side of the fabric and the outside of the book with spray glue (not in the house!). Make sure you get a good coat...  and don't forget the spine of the book.  It works well to clip the piece of fabric to a wire hanger with clothes pins and stand the book, spine up, like a tent to spray.

3. Next, carefully lay your fabric out (glue side up!) and place your closed book on one end. Press book firmly down, checking to make sure the fabric is smooth and securely adhered to the book cover.

4. Carefully flipping the book over, while making sure the the spine keeps contact with the fabric, wrap the other side of the fabric around the front of the book. Once again, being careful to make sure there are no air bubbles or wrinkles in the fabric.

Your book should look like this at the end of step 4.

5. Cut off all 4 corners of the fabric, leaving about 1/8 of an inch margin between the corner and the edge of the cut.

6. Make two cuts in the fabric by the spine.  The cuts should line up with where the cover creases.  Do this on both ends of the book.

7. Smooth the fabric over the edges of the cover on all sides.  Pay special attention to the corners, making sure to pull the fabric tightly over the edges. Use Mod Podge if necessary to make sure the flaps are adhered completely.

Your books should look like this at the end of step 7.

 8. Add a very thing layer of Mod Podge to the left over tabs of fabric on either side of the spine. Then using a letter opener or a butter knife, push the tabs down into the little gap between the cover and the binding.

9. Add a little Mod Podge to the the corners of the book and use your fingers to push down the fabric (if necessary) to make a clean looking corner and keep them from fraying in the future.

Let dry and display... :) YOU'RE GOOD TO GO! 

Blessings,

AND THE WINNER IS....

Hello Friends!
Well, I had a great birthday weekend!  Thank you to those of you who blessed me by sharing birthday wishes and also your favorite verses of scripture.   I was so uplifted and encouraged by reading them!

Well...  for those 19 of you who are actually reading this post...
As far as the giveaway goes, The winner is MALINDA!  ...  email me Malinda and we'll get you a customized print to adorn the walls of that new house that you love so much :)

On Friday, my birthday, I got to go out with the hubs for a bit in the evening... I requested that we take V with us and try to snap a few 8 month pics of him.  And that's really the best way to describe how it went down... we tried to get a few good shots, the timing just wasn't right... too rushed and not enough light... oh, well.  But we still ended up with a few decent pics.  

 

Blessings and Happy Monday!

Free Printable Tags and A GIVEAWAY!!! ...because it's my birthday!

 So today is my birthday.... yea!  I'm 29.  I'm okay with that, because I'm the baby of the family and I'll always be younger than my siblings. He He.  Sorry, Erica :) (at least I didn't say how much younger I am than you!)

To celebrate the day, I'm giving you some free printable tags and doing a GIVEAWAY!  ...I've never done a giveaway before...  hmm... should be fun!

So...

 I designed the patterned background in these tags to look like vintage sheets... I love vintage sheets.
You can either download the ones that say Happy Birthday or Hello Friend...  Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD HELLO FRIEND TAGS HERE

DOWNLOAD B-DAY TAGS HERE

*As always...File and finished product for personal use only... not for resale or profit of any kind.

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY...

I'd like to giveaway a fully custom Scripture Print/Nursery Scripture Print from my Etsy store!  

The winner can choose any design, any colors, any verse. 

And I just added 3 new scripture prints today!  I really love them... they really reflect my personal style.  I used one of my hand drawn doodle-y borders and designed a pattern that looks like vintage wallpaper.  FUN! 

Here are those new designs... and head on over to my ETSY STORE to take a look at all the other options.  And REMEMBER you can fully customize any design you see in my store with colors of your choice and a verse that's especially meaningful to you! 

TO ENTER,  LEAVE A COMMENT and tell me your favorite verse of scripture :)

Entries will be accepted till

Monday night, Oct. 10 at 10:00pm CDT

Winner will be announced Tuesday morning! 

Winner will be chosen at random by the

infamous True Random Number Generator :)

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED.

Blessings and Happy Birthday to Me!

Honey... make me a chalkboard... please! and PINTEREST

A month or so ago, I told Jeremy about an idea I had for a chalkboard for the school room/my work area.  I went on elaborating about how I thought we should do it, what the top should look like, what I'd use it for... on and on, as I always do when describing ideas I have.  He liked the idea, but I didn't really expect him to think it was worth pushing to the top of the project priority list. To my amazement, only days later it was complete!  ... my dear sweet, hubby... thank you!

Our walls are textured, so we had a thin piece of wood cut to size from Lowes.  Then I drew the shape I wanted for the top and Jeremy cut it in the garage with our Dremel :)  He painted it with chalkboard paint,  and screwed it to the wall.  Ta-Da!  I love it.   I love the way it looks, and it's awesome for school.

You can't really tell from the pictures, but it's on the open end of our school room/ my work space,  in our kind of open hallway.  It perfect because it's very central in the house and it's also above tile... making for easy chalk dust clean up. 

And one more thing...  Do you PINTEREST?  You probably already do, but in case you haven't discovered this LOVELY thing... check it out.  Its a place to "pin" fun things you find on the internet to save for future reference and inspiration!  Not to mention, you can look at other peoples "pins".   fun, fun, fun.  By the way... if you ever care to check out what I'm pinning these days... HERE ARE MY BOARDS :)

Blessings,