Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all a blessed day filled with love, laughter and praise to our wonderful Father above who has blessed us with family and friends to make memories with.

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Today I'm also sharing my Thanksgiving Mantle:

Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Love,

Tyler's Dresser is Finished!

I'm sure you all remember what this dresser looked like before.

But just in case you don't...

And here is what it looks like now!

I painted the frame with ColorPlace India Black Tea and the drawers with BHG Cream Mist.  The drawer pulls and knobs received a coat of Rust-Oleum's Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.  It isn't perfect, but it's beautiful to me and looks great in the nursery.  Hubs and I are very pleased with how this turned out!

Love,

Making Peace

God desires for His children to be of a peaceful nature.  As the verse in Matthew states, those who make peace will be blessed and will be called sons of God.  Isn't this something we should be striving for in our everyday walk?  Don't we want to be called "sons of God?"

Romans 12:18 gives us this instruction: "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men."  God understands that sometimes peace may not be possible, but it had better not be because of the choices we are making.  As much as it depends on ME, I must strive to live peaceably with all those who are around me.  Others may make peace difficult or impossible.  But that's their choice.  They will have to answer to God on behalf of their decisions and I will answer for mine.  We must do everything we can to live at peace with all men so that we may not become separated from our Father.

In Romans 14:17 Paul says, "Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another."  This means we need to actively be seeking to act and speak in such a way that peace may be attained.  Our hearts must be in the right relationship with God in order for our actions and speech to be such that enable peace.  This eliminates argumentative, proud, deceitful, pouty, and woe-is-me attitudes.  We need to focus on the goal:  Heaven, and being more and more like Christ our Master.

Here are some other passages that encourage us to live in peace:

• 2 Corinthians 13:11 - "Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you."
• 1 Thessalonians 5:13 - "...Be at peace among yourselves."
• Hebrews 12:14 - "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:"
• 1 Peter 3:11 - "Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it."

May we all seek peace and pursue it, today and everyday!

Baby Shower!

This past Saturday I was blessed with an opportunity to gather with my momma, sisters, MIL, SIL, GIL and many of my sisters-in-Christ to celebrate the up-coming birth of our son.  We shared a light lunch, played some games and learned some interesting facts about babies, birth and pregnancy.  To wrap up our time together I opened the many gifts baby and I were showered with.  I was very emotional and couldn't read all the sweet things people wrote in our cards because they would bring on the water-works. 

I feel so blessed to have so many family and friends that love us, are excited for us, and wanted to provide things to help us as we bring our little guy into the world.  Even some who weren't able to come sent gifts!  God is certainly to be praised!  Generous and loving hearts are such a blessing!

Starting to look like a Nursery!

Two months before baby arrives and the nursery is finally looking like a nursery!  (I'm one of those who works better under pressure...so perhaps I'll actually start sewing sometime this month, too!)

Check out these posts to see the how the contents of this room have changed over the past several months:

• Nursery Progress?  Nope, not yet!
• Nursery Update!
• A Dresser for Tyler

And here we are now!  I'm so excited that Tyler's room is starting to come together!

 View from the hallway.

Standing in the closet and looking into the room.

A close up of the dresser...still waiting to be painted.  I put the drawers back in and moved it since my sisters slept on an inflatable queen bed in this room when they came up for my shower.

A close up of the changing table which we found on Craig's List for $20!  Score!

I plan to make a new cover for the changing pad and add lots of storage bins/baskets so there is more functional storage.

His bassinet, which will be moved into our room once he arrives.  

$25 from a friend. :)

His closet.  This closet is really long (goes the whole length of the room) and one of our main storage spaces.  There are some things in here that are going to stay just because we don't have a better place to keep them.  However, there's still plenty of space for all of Tyler's adorable little clothes!  I plan to add some shelves in the bottom to maximize storage.

All-in-all I am very pleased with how the nursery is coming together.  I have lots of plans for his crib bedding and decor.  Can't wait to share the finished room with you!

Have a blessed day!

A Dresser for Tyler

Last Tuesday I finally did something I have been wanting to do for weeks:  prime Ryan's old dresser.  I spent way too many hours filling in an assortment of etchings, carvings, dings and scratches and sanding...partly because I'm an over-achiever and was sanding too much.  Oops!  Definitely something I don't plan to do on my next project!

Here's a quick reminder of what I started out with:

 And here is the dresser all primed and waiting to be painted!

It already looks like a completely different dresser!  Last Saturday while my momma and sisters were in town for my shower I was able to solicit some help from my baby sister.  She was sweet enough to spray paint the old drawer pulls/knobs for me so I didn't have to be around the fumes.  She spray painted them with Rust-Oleum's Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze, and they look beautiful!  She only had time to do the front (which is all that will really show anyway), before she needed to head back up to Purdue. But I'll probably take them off sometime in the spring and do the backs, just because it'll make the project feel more complete and thoroughly finished. 

Lord willing, I'm off to buy paint today!

Thanksgiving Printable

This morning I decided that since we're having my parents and sisters over for a Thanksgiving meal I am going to create a special mantle and table scape just for the occasion.  

I've been brainstorming and have several ideas in mind...many of which involve burlap!  Since I don't have any burlap on hand and the nearest fabric store is 45 minutes away, I'm going to have to wait until next week to start those projects.

However, I was able to finish one project this morning and I'm going to share it with you!
(Chevron Background Image by Mel Stampz)

(Free for personal use only.  Thanks!)

Happy Holiday Planning!

Linking at:
The Sunday Showcase Party @ Under the Table and Dreaming
Our Favorite Things Link Party @ My Life's a Treasure
Making the World Cuter Monday @ Making the World Cuter
Made by You Monday @ Skip to My Lou 
Mop It Up Monday @ I Should Be Mopping the Floor
Tutorials and Tips Link Party @ Home Stories A to Z
Meet Me Monday Link Party @ You're Talking Too Much
Craft and Tell @ Cherished Bliss
Take-A-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts
Tip Me Tuesday @ Tip Junkie
Titus 2 Tuesday @ Cornerstone Confessions
Lil' Luna Link Party @ Lil' Luna
Home Decor and Organizing Link Party @ Organize and Decorate Everything 
The Creative Spark @ Clean and Scentsible
Wow Me Wednesday @ Ginger Snap Crafts
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday Party @ Delightful Order
The 36th Avenue Party Time @ The 36th Avenue
Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest
Finished Friday @ All Our Days 
Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge 

Nursery Update!

It's been slow-going in the nursery these past few months.  I guess there is still "too much" time before baby Tyler will arrive for me to really buckle down and get to work.  I have made quite a bit of progress towards cleaning out the room, though.

Visit this post to get a glimpse of the mess it was before.

Here's where we're at now:

 Everything in this corner is baby related.  Not all of it will stay in the nursery, though.

 Pile of cardboard boxes that have since made it to the basement...this corner is empty now!  Yay!

 Pile of "stuff" that still needs to find a new home.  Some of it is my husbands that he needs to sort through.  I plan on painting the rug and updating one of the laps for the nursery.  The Big Lots bag is gone, now.

Everything you see here (except Tyler's clothes) need a new home.  Still trying to figure out where to store everything!  I plan to made a new cover for the beanbag...so that's another project waiting for me to have time and energy to tackle it.


Oh, and here's what I've been working on sporadically for the past few weeks:

This is my husband's old dresser from his teen-punk-skater days.  So far I have only been filling the various etchings with wood-filler and sanding.  I hope to prime it today or tomorrow.  This is my first time re-finishing a piece of furniture and using wood-filler.  It's definitely been a challenge!

I have most of the fabric and sewing notions needed to make the crib skirt, sheets, crib bumper and changing pad cover, so I plan to start sewing this weekend, too!  Stay in touch to see how this room makes it's transformation from a messy storage room to a sweet little nursery for our baby boy!

Have a wonderful day!