The Flowers have Bloomed

Today I put up phase 3 of the "growing" bulletin board at our church. I was going to change the board last week but here in the northeast we had hot, humid rainy days that turned into cold rainy days. Not the kind of weather that makes you think of flowers growing and thriving. 

I have to say this third phase is my favorite of this board. Yes, the flowers are artificial. The morning glories, sunflowers and gladiolus were purchased from a local floral distributor which insured having quality pieces. The pansies were purchased at Michaels. I also purchased the monarch butterflies from the floral distributor.  

I wanted to make sure that the board stayed consistent through all its phases so my goal when placing the flowers was to have it appear they were springing from the seeds and bulbs. The flowers were attached with hot glue and floral wire that was secured into the foam board and bulletin board with thumbtacks (which have been well hidden). 

The most difficult part of phase three was changing out the original blue background with this sunny yellow one. I did have to remove the watering can, shovel, gloves, grass, picket fences and trellis. Once that was done, I removed the paper keeping the "dirt" in place. I was able to cut the yellow background piece so that I could tuck a small portion behind the "dirt" and staple it back in place securing the yellow paper. 

Because of the height of the flowers, I chose not to place the verse on the yellow background.  Instead, I chose to make a "plate" that I attached to the watering can. The verse chosen for this phase of the board is I Corinthians 3:7 "So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." 

In order to show the progress of this board, here are pictures of the first two phases.

Phase 1: the planting phase

Phase 2: the rain phase - the trellis was also added in this phase

 Phase 3: flowers blooming & butterflies flying

Imitating: Its a Good Thing!

I've come to realize that my life includes a great deal of imitation. Imitation of ideas (crafts, decorating & recipes), people (family & friends), etc.

I remember as a kid not liking it when I being imitated. I'm sure you'll recall in your own memory saying a few times, "Stop copying me". As a kid, being copied was annoying. You wanted to be your own person and someone doing exactly what you were doing whether on purpose or not was unacceptable.

As you get older, you learn that life is a lot of imitation but it is what and who you choose to imitate that is key. 

One person whose idea I've chosen to imitate recently is my brother, Dennis. Dennis is a lover of nature and that includes birds and bird watching. On my recent visit to his home, I spent some time sitting on the family couch looking out the window at the bird feeders outside. It inspired me! Emily has always loved birds and her Uncle Dennis has sent some bird books our way that have found a permanent home in her room. For several years, I've been wanting to get a little more decorative and creative outdoors, birdhouses included, but haven't known where to start. Our yard has been treeless for 5 years now and making holes in our home's exterior for decorative purposes is not really something I wanted to start doing. In my brother's yard he had a bird feeder station. Basically it looks like a hanging plant holder but it is for tree houses. Well, I am happy to report I found one at my local Lowes and this weekend we are installing our own bird feeding station. Of course, my brother does have other attributes that are worth imitating too, like being an amazing dad and husband, a man of integrity who makes decisions and stands by them, and so many more ........ oh and did I mention he makes the most amazing tacos and chips.

Another person I've chosen to imitate often is my very good friend, Debbie. Debbie and I have so many things in common, I think we just have to be related somehow. She is my creative soundboard when it comes to working on bulletin boards, my crafting co-conspirator for making decorations for our homes, my Hobby Lobby and craft store shopping buddy and most importantly my sister in Christ who encourages me and keeps me accountable.  

Recent imitation of her has been in the area of color. My home has tended to be decorated in earth tones and muted colonial colors but oh, the color that has been running in my veins lately! For the last two days, I've been painting my home and the colors are bright and vibrate just like my friend. As a matter of fact, even her daughter mentioned that my house is starting to look like their home which I consider a true compliment. Oh and I did get her stamp of approval when I completed the color change. 

Of course, I imitate others...... Pinterest alone has given me an astounding amount of craft & decorating project ideas and recipes. 

My biggest source of imitation - my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I truly want to be a imitator of Him. I pray that my life shows my love for my God and His amazing love for me. The incredible gift He's given through His Son, I desire to live the life He wants me to live for His glory. I pray that He may be seen in my words and my actions. Will I always get it right? No, but living the way He wants me to He will be seen.  

So, let me encourage you to take a different perspective of being an imitator and not to be upset if you are imitated. It truly is a good thing if you choose wisely and always keep in mind the effect your imitating will have on others.  

Crimson - My Kind of Red

Today was day two of painting here in the Wessel home.  

I was a little more efficient and did the taping of the dining room last night which meant painting began a little after 8 a.m. The early start was possible because Dave took the kids to school like he usually does on Fridays.

Painting started right away mainly because the way my body was feeling from painting the day before, if I sat down I would not have gotten back up.

I started painting in the far corner of the dining room. We decided to keep the original color heading up the stair well. It flows with the "Crimson" paint color I also got at Lowes. It is part of their Eddie Bauer Craftsman Bungalow series.

Once again, the cutting in was not a favorite chore but thankfully there was much less to do today than yesterday.

Here is the  finished dining room with a view of the new yellow color in the kitchen. I took this picture around 2 or 3. 

This is a view of the dining room looking into the kitchen. Of course, the walls look a little bare but oh do I have plans for that wall. Another plan is to remove the "glass" in the cabinets and replace it with some metallic tile, like you would see on a kitchen ceiling or backsplash. Also, the hardware on the cabinets would be changed to black wrought iron. 

I took this picture this evening around  6 when  the sun was setting in the front window. What I love about the color is that it is not too dark. This was also before I put up some white linen sheers on the windows.  

Well, my paint brush has been put to "rest". Two straight days of painting takes its toll on a body but I'm not done. Matt's room is the last one on "official" docket. I say it that way because all this color change has me wanting to change the color in my craft room.  

Truly a little paint can make a big difference!  

Yummy Yellow

The last two days I've been busy changing the color in two rooms of our home. 

First up was the kitchen and hallway. On the walls currently is a "Apple Spice Cake" color. For several months, I've been eyeing up the Lowes Valspar color "Grand Hotel Awning Yellow" which is from their National Trust for historic Preservation series. 

I really wanted to make the color change this spring so Wednesday after I worked on the bulletin board at church I took the plunge and purchased the painted needed to transform the rooms.

UGH!! The worst part of painting is cutting in and there is so much to be done in a hallway and kitchen. This is where I started my effort.

It took me from 9 to 3 along with another hour once I got the kids home from school to tape and do two coats of this color. The picture doesn't really do the color justice.

Here is a view from the dining room into the kitchen. The wall to the left in the picture is the most painted wall space in the room. You can see how the color varies from the picture above.

This is another angle from the kitchen. You can see again with the change of angle and the light from outdoors the color transforms to a brighter yellow. 

Also from this picture, you can see that the current color in the dining room (Acorn Squash) doesn't flow with this new color. Even Dave noticed its lack of flow. Oh and he does like the new color which is a major win!! No worries about the dining room color its next on the docket to change. 

One room down, one to go.

Soupdillicious!

Once again, I have found another absolutely amazing soup recipe. It is truly scrumpdillicious or should I say soupdillicious. 

I made this Monday night while the boys were at a baseball game. Emily and I did not stay for the game due to the cool, rainy weather along with her homework load. While she worked on her homework, I made the soup. I found this recipe for Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup at the website Key Ingredient through Pinterest.  

This is such an easy recipe. I didn't make any modifications this first time. Next time, I may use a light cream in place of the half and half to lighten it. Oh, I also didn't add the Parmesan garnish, just remembered that. The boys reheated the soup when they got home from the game and it was a BIG hit. We all gave it a thumbs up and the request was made that this soup be made again when the next cool, rainy day passes through.  

Its a soup you definitely need to try! 

Spring Cleaning - Outdoors

Here in Northeastern New Jersey we've had a true spring. 

The temperatures have stayed mostly cool with just a handful of days with warmer temps. This past Saturday was the first weekend day when the weather was warm and we were home to be able to "work" the yard. 

This spring the weed cover in the flower beds around our home took on the appearance of a blanket. Thankfully we decided to make the yard work a family work project. All hands were on deck and required to put forth a good effort.

In the front of our home, we have 3 bushes - 2 small pines and another small shrub.  The smaller shrub never really developed correctly so we decided this spring to remove it.

Dave decided to have Emily lend her strength in the removal of the small shrub. She did a great job!! Dave did help with the positioning of the shovel but the effort was all Emily. Go girl!!

Matthew and Emily helped in taking the sad shrub to the yard debris bag. 

About 5 1/2 years ago, we had our underground oil tank removed. Due to its location in the front yard, we had to have our Japanese maple tree removed. Sadly, our oil tank issues didn't end there. The tank had a small leak (the size of the top of a pencil eraser) in it so, we had to have the soil remediated. Then we had to have a well put in so samples could be taken over a period of time to show that the soil was "okay". After those two processes were completed, a report was sent to the state, which sadly did not make it prior to the state changing its soil level requirements. Once again, the soil had to be remediated. Why do I tell you this story? So you are aware that for those 5 1/2 years we have not touched this side of the house in regard to sprucing up in fear of a new dig having to occur. Finally, we did get our seal of approval and this spring we took action. Dave created a new bed around the pine and under a portion of the windows on that side of the house.

When it comes to manicuring the beds, we love the look of black mulch. It makes the light color of our home "pop". On Saturday, we mulched the front and on Sunday Dave mulch the beds on the side of our home.  Now, it is time for color. We are planning to add a birdfeeder post to the one side of the picture window and a birdbath in the area next to where we removed the shrub. Also on the docket, some potted flowers and I plan to paint the front door this spring. It is currently green, the new color is called Spanish Tile, an amazing deep red. 

Things came together nicely and I am happy to report that our temperatures are staying on the warmer side of 60. 

Picante Roast & Rice

This is another new meal we tried over the last few weeks. Its one for the crock pot which is such a life saver on those baseball nights.

The roast recipe, 3 Envelope Picante Roast, I found on the website Deep South Dish via Pinterest. Everyone really loved it and it was yummy as leftovers too!! I paired it up with "Chipotle" Cilantro Lime Rice found at the Skinnytaste website also found via Pinterest. This rice was so yummy!!! The two paired together were the perfect combination. Both of these recipes have been added to our family recipe binder. Pinterest definitely has been a great source for recipes and has seriously replaced my "need" for buying cookbooks. 

Photo Finish

Recently, I had an epiphany... okay, another epiphany!  I tend to have these often. 

When the kids were younger, I had wonderful intentions of creating individual scrapbooks of all their momentous occasions. I also wanted to create a family vacation scrapbook. With this plan in mind, I would print duplicates of pictures (yes, I print pictures) so I could make sure each child would have their "events" documented.  

A few weeks ago I realized now that they are about to turn 11 & 8 that I would not be able to make these individual scrapbooks a reality. I don't have the time although I admit, sadly, I probably do have the supplies. Even though the "dream" of individual scrapbooks dimmed with time, my purchasing of scrapbook supplies did not.

I've decided to change the style of my scrapbooking to Project Life. Basically, over a two page scrapbook spread you document the events of a whole week using photos and journaling cards. I've "tested" this style in the past and I find it more doable. What make this style nice is that if there is a special event like a birthday or vacation I can choose to scrapbook more than two pages. 

Knowing I would be following this plan, I realized the amount of duplicate photos I had in my organized photo chaos was overwhelming. In order to start this new project, I needed to put my photos in chronological order and weed out the duplicates. Behold the mess you see above! Now don't worry, I didn't waste trees and toss the extra photos. I have them set aside for the kids to go through and make their own scrapbooks during their summer vacation. 

The above photo containers are filled with photos in chronological order starting with January 2006. I have them going from most recent to latest so I can work on them in either order. 

These smaller bins hold the most recent photos so that I can experience the accomplishment of completing some more  recent events. Also, I have been taken photos with the Project Life format in mind so these will go a little more quickly than the older photos.

One major plus from this whole photo reorganization, which took almost a week,  was I went through a few drawers looking for extra pictures put in "incorrect" places. There it was right in the middle of the drawer under a few layers of "stuff" the Cricut Straight from the Nest cartridge I misplaced quite a few months ago. Now if only I could find my engagement/wedding ring that I "misplaced" almost 2 years ago. The finding of this cartridge has renewed my hope in the possibility that some day my ring will be found. 

Into Every Garden a Little Rain Will Fall

In the beginning of March, I put up a Garden "Growing" themed bulletin board at my church.  

This is a 3 phase board. Sadly, I got a little behind on executing the second phase. Thankfully, this week I got back into work mode and produced the additional elements need for Phase 2 - a trellis and raindrops. Today I was able to go to the church and add these new elements. I also added a "budding" stem emerging from one of the gladiolus bulbs.  

In making the rain drops, I followed the same instructions I referred to when I made the snowflakes for the winter themed bulletin board. I didn't use a template, just free handed the shape of a tear drop. 

Instead of coating the raindrops in mod podge and sprinkling them with glitter like I did the snowflakes, I painted them with a clear glitter paint. Wow, did that save a ton of time!! The glitter gave it that additional dimension needed to help the raindrops stand out on the board.

Standing back I was very pleased with how the board looked.  

The rain drops add a layer of dimension that would not be able to be created with paper. Also, the trellis which I cut from a piece of foam board added height to the other end of the bulletin board. In two weeks, I will be adding flowers: gladiolus, sunflowers, pansies (had to switch out the marigolds) and morning glories climbing the trellis. Also, there will be a change that will surprise you. Something  you may or may not notice. 

I look forward to showing you Phase 3 in 2 weeks.