" Farm Style Love " DIY

When I first laid eyes upon this vintage table I realized

you had to see her beauty beyond the flaws.

This table had a price of 25.00 at Country Roads

and I just kept thinking I need to take you home.

Well I did but not until the following day when

Mr. Dior called to tell me the table had been marked down

to 10.00 dollars. I said " bring her home to me. "

 I wanted to restore her beauty and breathe life...

 I removed the layers of dust and dirt

so I could see her bare bones.

A little tender loving care was in order

and a man with some skills...

Her petite size made me

wonder how beautiful she would be

as a small farm style table...

So I placed her at the top of someone's " honey do list "

Mr. Dior removed the top of the table

while I gathered an old wood pallet I found

curbside a few weeks ago.

He began building a new support

while I chose the planks that I wanted for the new top.

We truly enjoyed working on this

together deciding how we should

restore her into a new table of beauty.

The imperfections make me love her more...

Here is the transition to the finish.

The wood pallet was perfect for this project.

I sealed the wood with Miss Mustard Seed's

furniture and antiquing wax.

I used the antiquing wax around certain areas to

make the dark spots more prominent

then sealed completely with the furniture wax.

I will share her complete makeover in an upcoming post...

I will be linking up with my favorite lovelies

this week in blogland...

Kristin's Tuesday's Treasures

Jann's Share your cup Thursday

Debra's Be Inspired Friday

The soul that sees beauty

may sometimes walk alone...

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Have a beautiful and blessed week

XOXO

" The Game Changer "

After all of the Superbowl excitement I thought

this was a perfect lead to share my heart this week.

This is a DIY of a different sort

 Here we are on the field trying to reach

the finish and to succeed in life

where our dreams have led us.

The past two weeks I have watched and lived

a very different type of play on the field the one

that hits you in the blindside.

You know that one that steamrolls you

then completely knocks the wind out of you

and you feel pain you never ever expected.

A month ago my precious Gracie

decided to achieve a goal in school that required

much sacrifice and dedication. She was struggling

and had fallen behind. Since she is well liked and has

a large group of friends Gracie really knew that there

would be a lot she would have to " give up " in order

reach the top. Gracie's teacher assured me that she

had it in her. The weeks went by and I watched her determination

as she stayed focused while all of the others enjoyed

their sports and fun activities. She gave up everything studying

through the weekends and not attending play dates with her cousin.

I was proud of her even through my recent stay in the hospital

she continued to move forward past her worry. I kept in touch with her

by phone but I could hear it in her voice. She is a trooper when it comes to my

battle, she does not understand Lupus but she knows

it takes her mama away from her with no prior warning.

I'm proud of my girl, real proud, darn proud!

{Forgive me today my words are raw with emotion}

So with great anticipation she gets to the top and

we as her family are celebrating, her big brothers are

cheering her on. Her teacher is proud of her great effort

and then she gets sacked!

I watched her sweet face as she walked through

the door and placed down her backpack.

As the tears stream down her face she speaks

with quivering lips " No one was happy for me, some

of my friends did not want to hang out or talk to me today "

Then she said it " they liked me better when I was at the bottom "

Gracie knew it! At nine her insight and her heart was

telling her the truth, some of her friends were not rejoicing with her.

I grabbed her and held her tight and I knew

mama had to share with her girl some

 of the ugly life would have in store for her.

I could not spare her this painful lesson.

This lesson was a DIY that she had to struggle through

regarding the actions of others.

The weeks prior God was already preparing my heart

for this.  I had been steamrolled and as a big girl

I called in the " besties " for back up.

You know there is strength in numbers

and that was " The Game Changer " for me.

As I spent time talking with the girls

we all had faced the same challenge. There were those that

were not happy for us, did not support our endeavors

did not rejoice in our success. Those that stopped talking to us or

 treated us differently. Bottom line it hurt

and it stunk to high heaven.

For me I realized God had placed incredible women

in my life. Ones that are warriors women of strength

and honor. Women that can carry you off the field with one

arm when you are lying there helpless

 and kick your fanny back into a position

to fight for the finish!

{ I love you Girls}

As I prayed for an approach to help Gracie

I was blessed by the

strength of words from my beautiful mama.

" Truth or rosey colored glasses? " is what she

has raised me by. Then she said " Love is a choice do not let

your pain hold you prisoner "

 Choose love...

I pray the Lord's guidance to teach Gracie

 that we can truly

show love to others even when they

hurt us, even when we feel such deep pain

from their actions and words.

I do not want her pain to hold her captive.

I want her to become a woman of grace

and forgiveness. To be a women whose heart can

love in the most difficult circumstances.

I know so many of us are facing

one trial or another at this moment.

We are trying to make it to the finish

and there are the ones that will tackle us

and pummel us right there on our own field.

Surround your heart with those who love you

and support your journey. 

Each of us need to be celebrated, cheered for,

coached from the sidelines and most of all

loved at the place life has us.

There is a new quarterback on the field this week

and she is living her fairytale!

Fight to the Finish...

Much love from me to you

XOXO

" Rustic Recycle " DIY

When I think about the love language

 that I share with Mr. Dior I realize

DIY in our household has a few bumps

before the finish.

We are as Kristin describes " comedic drama "

and yet flirtatious when we work together

on a project .

When Mr. Dior expressed to me a need for

a more " handsome " look in our home

I knew immediately where he was coming from.

What a love he has been living with the neutrals

 and the truck loads of branches and twigs

I have adorned inside.

There is nothing I would not do for this man

so my wheels began spinning harder than usual.

We are challenged this year by the costs

of my health expenses for the months ahead

more so than ever before.

I needed to come up with a " look for less " project

while working with what we had on hand.

{Enter the old gate door I found

in the dumpster awhile back}

I love this old gate door and have used it

as a back drop from time to time...

The more I thought about it I realized

it would make a nice focal point in front of the sofa

and it would be " handsome "

{Comedic drama ensues} 

I share with Mr. Dior that we can take apart

the old gate and marry it with a piece of glass

from a Goodwill find.

I tell him we can build a box.

Mr. Dior " you want me to build

a box to put glass on? " 

This goes on while I still try and

explain the box.

Finally my son comes outside and says

" I think mom means a crate ?"

Mr. Dior sighs relief for a moment still

not sure where I am going.

We begin...

Mr. Dior

 " You know the other side of the gate is white "

 Kate " yes Ira I know "

He always laughs when I call him by his middle name.

Mr. Dior

" I hope you know what you are doing?"

Kate " I don't but we are bonding "

Mr. Dior

" It looks horrid with the white showing "

Kate

" I know we are not done yet I have an idea"

We go back out to the garage

and I grab a container and mix 

polyurethane, expresso wood stain, and a cup 

of black chalk board paint.

Then just as I dip the brush to start

applying it to the white wood

he screams " Good Lord Wilma what are you doing?"

For those that are around

us the term " Good Lord " is always

 followed by Wilma.

 { No offense to anyone named Wilma}

He is in full panic mode at this point

knowing that he worked hard building

that horrid box.

This is when breathing

techniques come in handy even when you are not 

going through labor.

Finally after a few minutes of calming breaths

I said " Just trust me "

After a few hours of letting it all dry

I could see that the wood had evened up.

A nice blend of color had developed.

We brought the box/crate back inside

and placed the glass on top.

It was not a perfect fit

but someone was smiling

from ear to ear.

Yes Mr. Dior was thrilled as he just sat there

looking at our finished project.

I used equal parts of polyurethane

 wood stain and black chalkboard paint to achieve that

burnished wood look.

Mr. Dior used two inch roofing

and two inch finishing nails to build the box/crate.

We sealed it completely with a quick coat of polyurethane.

 Chalk board paint, wood stain and polyurethane were all items

we had on hand from Home Depot.

Mr. Dior even said he thought it was

"handsome"  a perfect ending to our project.

I love the rustic feel it gives and now I just have to

add the other elements back into 

our living room, ie our area rug and other accessories.

Graphic Pillows The Tarnished Crown

I will be linking up this week 

to my favorite lovelies in blog land.

Kristin's Tuesday's Treasures

Jann's Share your cup Thursday

Becky's Under 100 dollar linky party

Debra's Be Inspired

Funky Junk Interiors SNS # 173

Creating with the Stars

Have a beautiful and blessed week

XOXO