CRAFT MORNING!!!

I'm surrounded by all kinds of lovely women.  Our lives don't let us enjoy each other often though.  Schedules and taking care of children limit when we can get together.  I also am surrounded by lots of craft supplies.  For many many years, I've been collecting it like it's my job.  I say collecting because it's not often I actually get to use it. Pretty ribbons, shiny tools and a myriad of other glittery beauties stacked around at my disposal with no time set aside to use them.  Thanks to pinterest and the many craft blogs I visit, I'm also surrounded by a catalog of awesome projects to try.  I cut them out of magazines, I pin them to my board (TryThisAtHome) and I bookmark the links to things that tickle my fancy.  When oh when will I ever have time for this growing list of craft ideas.

I was pondering about how these three things together could be a grand time indeed.  So late one night, I picked a few projects I'd been dying to try and punched out a little invite on photoshop.  I attached it to the event I created on facebook and BAM....Craft Morning was created.

My sweet friends all trudged through the snow that never melts and we had a fun ole time.

Here was our space (a.k.a. my dining room) to craft.

 It felt so good to use so many supplies that hadn't been touched in a while. 

I did purchase just a few things that we had to get for the projects we had in mind.

 Everyone that came had a little gift bag and a folder of ummm...nothing.  

It was supposed to be a folder of instructions, but didn't get printed. 

 I found these chalkboard tags at HobLob....they were soo cute!

 I also loaded the middle of the table with paints, tools and other supplies.

 Their bags were complete with Target dollar aisle goodies as well as a few things put together from HobLob.

 The letters took us the longest. We wrapped them with scrap fabric.

 Everyone picked their own word.  Some choose LOVE,  PLAY and HOME.

 It was really neat to see fabric scraps from other projects being used.  It made me a tad sentimental.

 This was the only boy and kid allowed! : )

 We also made chicken wire frames. 

 Another project was etching letters to our glasses. 

It didn't take too long and we found it was pretty easy.

 We just used stickers and sticker paper to make a frame. 

Painted on the etching cream.

 Here was Nina's finished glasses. 

 We ate a lot of yummy food. 

 People brought some to share. Seriously, every single thing was soo yummy!

 Here are my letters.  Love how they turned out.  Going to redo my mantel with them soon. 

The project that took hardly any time were these nest pendants made from wire and beads. 

All it took was a picking a place and time.  Everyone brought $10 to cover the cost of supplies.

The best news is that one of the girls has already planned next months crafting get together. 

I can hardly wait!

Get some of your girlfriends together and do this soon.  I promise you won't regret it!

Endless possibilities.

I think I've shared this...we are selling our house.

The main deal is that we are trying to get to McLean County (my home turf) so my sweets doesn't have to drive a half hour to work everyday.

Plus, there are a gazillion other benefits.

Our house has been for sale by owner for about 3 months and I already hate this part.

Selling a home...BOO!!!!

It's a hard process.

Let's be honest, anything that involves me being patient is a hard process for me.

So allow me to cool my anxious about the future jets by dreaming of a few new spaces to decorate. 

I love the little corners of our home now, but I'm excited to explore and create new corners to make a different house our home.

Here are some things I've pinned on pinterest. 

Follow my board, Happy Home!

www.goinghometoroost.com

Heather Bailey

www.jollygoodegal.com

www.lifemadelovely-blog.com

www.bhg.com

Our Little Home

Sometimes I get trapped in the unhealthy cycle of comparison.  It's a dangerous thing - leaving you ungrateful for God blessing in your life.  I long for more square feet, refinished hardware floors and a large porch.  I get tired and cranky as I trip over toys in my peg pen of a house.  I overwhelm myself with the projects and leftover home "to do" lists.

Then I think of the splendor these walls contain...

The little feet that happily run across these floors each day.

The meals and gatherings we've had over the years with our friends and family.

The sweet splashes made in our kitchen sink by our bathing babes.

The labor of love we poured into countless hours fixing so many projects to make this house our home.

It's where our littles' childhoods are made up of pretend, forts and bedtime stories. The prayers, tears and laughter heard through the rooms.

The holidays with all the dressed up magic making traditions and forging what makes up our family.

Where I'll always remember the pitch catch games between my boys and a little girl running barefoot chasing bubbles.

Then there is those moments of fullness of joy as the late aftertoon sun streams through the back of the house- straight through the front making me realize how thankful I am for all the long day has held.

It's the place each of our children were brought home to.  It holds our families stories. These walls may be small but they are busting with fullness and a very rich life.

Lastly - it wraps up every single moment of our marriage fixing it up together so proudly as we awaited our wedding, spending the first night together as husband and wife. Weathering storms, hard times and lots of fun.  Remolding our "suite" upstairs to have a place of our own after the kids came.

Looking at our little home this way - leaves me with a totally different perspective and a deep thankfulness to the Lord for such a gift.