Barn Charm Birdhouse

I picked up a plain wooden birdhouse from the dollar bin at Joann's and transformed it to the above birdhouse. I think it's so cute, I am in love with barns and this reminds me of a birdie sized barn!

I took moss from the backyard, dried it out and glued it to the underside of the roof and in little clusters on top. The roof underneath is painted a russet brown and then has been given a light coat of metallic bronze glaze. The rims around the openings as well as the little perch have been painted olive green.

I also took some bronze colored flat glitter (not shiny) and sprinkled a bit on top here and there admist the moss. The wood is actually tanbark from the front yard planting beds! I just made sure to pick out pieces of wood that were strips to have them more closely resemble "planks".

The body of the barn is painted with a base coat of tapioca, then a coat of crackle glaze was applied. Once dried, I did a topcoat of oxide red and it dried to the lovely aged finished look. The base of the house as well as the roofline were painted complimentary shades of brown. I then used the same tanbark as I did on the roof to glue around the base of the house.

If my Momma likes it, it's hers. If not, I'll be keeping it for myself!

What do you think, does it look like a barn? I hope so! Please click on, "Linky Parties I Love" to see where I'll be sharing my latest project.

Happy Mother's Day to my Mommy

Mom, I know that you are semi-irritated at me before even reading this. I know you don't like getting your picture taken, let alone having it posted for all of blogland. However, I hope that by the end of this post you'll forgive me.

Thank you for being such an amazing, "Nonni" to my babies. You show love, patience and joy towards them every time you see them. You know when to laugh at them, and when to tell them to reign it in and behave.

Thank you for all the times you've reminded me that love is a decision. That no matter what the situation, you choose how you are going to feel about it and how you are going to respond towards it. You've shown me that you can love and like someone, and even when you don't like them, you still can love them.

Thank you for the way you showed me many times that in life, you just need to roll with it. When you have a house full of sick kids, and a newborn baby too...instant slumber party in the living room. Getting mad and irritated and overwhelmed, while all valid in and of themselves makes for a disaster when combined and will lead you nowhere.

Thank you for all the stories you told me, and still do, about you and Daddy and your courtship. How you thought on more than one occasion that you were going to meet your maker due to his crazyness. How you two made plans, and you loved, and you looked forward to the future.

Thank you for showing me what a true blessing we as mothers have in that we get to grow our babies. How pregnancy was hard, but it wasn't something to be scared of. Labor was worth it, our bodies could do it, and you showed me and I watched in awe. Then you held my hand when I was in the midst of the worst and looked me in the eyes and told me, "It's ok, look at me, you can do it, breathe".

Thank you for telling me, and modeling to me, that our past doesn't predict our future.

Thank you for showing us that you loved your dying mother enough to drag all four of your kids up and down the state to fulfill her wish of an "ultimate vacation" with us. Thank you for loving us enough to give us that last big vacation with her while she was able and for all the memories.

Thank you for the camping trips and beach drives and McDonald's runs and park days and ice cream trucks. Thank you for the way you loved us without spoiling us.

Thank you for not accepting what you knew many would just accept. You showed me that we are not victims in our life, but we are survivors. Thank you for fighting for each of us in different ways, but in ways that each of us needed you to.

Thank you for protecting us. Thank you for caring for your babies and all of their needs. From collic to croop to bacterial menengitis to sleep apnea to broken bones to autism. For enduring the tests and the scares and the beeping alarms. Thank you for the prayers to God begging Him to let you keep your babies just a little bit longer. They worked.

Thank you for showing us how important God was. For scrubbing toilets when you were 8 months pregnant so we could attend our perochial school. For volunteering for church plays and VBS. For regular early Sunday morning rituals and ironing clothes and crying kids and brushing hair and getting out the door for church. For making sure we prayed before eating and before sleeping. For getting us bibles and CD's and movies that promoted Christian values. For making sure that we wern't fed spiritual junk.

Thank you for wearing the same three outfits over and over so we could look our best. For wearing the same glasses for 15 years so we could have that money for other things, for us. For sacrificing creature comforts because you'd rather spend the money other things, for us. For driving, "Mechanic's Special's" for cars and not caring about labels. For having perspective and remembering the big picture, and in the end if we didn't have Guess jeans we wouldn't die.

Thank you for all you've done, and for all the ways you've loved, and for all the ways you've served. Thank you for your prayers, and your advice, and your encouragement and for the swift kicks as needed. Thank you for your sacrifices and your tears and your realizations and your commitment. Thank you for your friendship. I love you, Happy Mother's Day.

"It is not that you have chosen me; but it is I who have chosen you. I have appointed you to go and bear fruit that will be lasting."~ John 15:16 ~

From Like to Love

My sister bought me this print back when Hubby and I were first married, over 10 years ago. I absolutely adore it, the print is beautiful. However the frame and the mat made it look dated. I didn't want to get rid of it, but it needed a change up.

This is what I did originally. I used crackle medium on the oak frame and "whitewashed" it. Then I dry brushed some acrylic paint on the mat. Iused a pinkinsh brown on the outer portion and then dry brushed white on the inner portion. To finish it off, I cut up some linen and used it as a border between the two colors. I liked it, but it was still missing something.

Then I had the idea to use some galvanized french chicken wire. I took my wire snips and cut a square out, then cut out the center as to not cover the print. Didn't want that sweet girl to look like she was in a cage ;) However, I messed up and cut a portion too short as you can see along the bottom. I debated wether to start over again, but decided not too. Since the whole thing now has an aged, worn look I decided the messed up chicken wire helped with the overall look. That is what I'm telling myself anyway!

So next time you have something around the house that you like, but it just looks out of place try updating instead of replacing. It's a great way to upcycle and it lets you be creative at the same time.

Please click on "Linky Parties I Love" to see where I'll be sharing my latest project. Thanks!

"A Life So Full It Seems Empty"

I read this passage today from the book I started awhile back, One Thousand Gifts . It really struck me, I can completely relate to what the author, Ann Voskamp is saying. A life so full it seems...empty. Monatonous. Predictable. Busy. Routine.

I think as a mother, my life tends to be pretty much on "auto pilot". It starts and ends the same pretty much every day. The fullness of each day is lost on me, because I tend to just go through the motions as a Mom so much of the time. Feed. Bathe. Instruct. Clean. Organize. Cook. I tick off the things I do every day in my head, my mental list of what I accomplish in a day. Since I think it's so "no brainer", I don't put much thought into it.

However, my life, it is so full.

My life is so abundant.

My gifts from God are lavishly given, I lose track of them.

My blessings are so many, they meld together and take a shape I don't choose to recognize.

My cup overflows so much that I don't realize it's past capacity and I see what can't be contained as opposed to the full reservoir I already have been blessed with.

My God loves me so much. He will provide. More. Abundantly. Every. Single. Day.

What I have is exactly what I need. He will give me just what I need. When I don't focus on what I don't have, and instead focus on what I already have, I will see what I already have been given. It's enough. It's a gift, given with purpose. Given from my God. Given. Not earned. A gift.

Sharing my thoughts today at Blessed Little Nest. Go check out her blog, it's worth the click!

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