Room Makeover and Reflections on Empty Nesting
Last summer, our nest officially emptied when our youngest son got married and moved out of our home. He wasn’t terribly amused that I required him to remove his belongings from his room when he left. I was not going to be one of those mothers who would someday put my grandchildren to bed for sleepovers in their father’s untouched childhood room. If you’re one of those mothers, please pardon my frankness. No insult is intended toward whatever choice you make. This loft bed stood in this corner for more than a decade. The paneling-covered walls AND ceiling was tolerable decor […]
Cedar Chest: Before and After Transformation
For today’s Thrifty Thursday project, I want to show you a cedar chest that I was able to transform for a very small cost. The chest had a very worn surface, and was missing some veneer on the lower leg part. I liked the texture of the trim and the detail work. But I knew that whether I painted it or removed the finish, I would lose some of the detail. Because of the missing veneer, I decided painting would be the best finish. And because of this damage too… First, I primed everything with a bonding primer. I like […]
Memo Board from a Broken Computer Monitor
When you don’t want to put a broken monitor in a landfill, this is one way to repurpose it! I could have repurposed it just as it was, but I decided I didn’t like the silver frame around the screen, so I chalk painted the frame. I neglected to take a before picture of the monitor! Oops! I taped off the screen with painter’s tape, and then brushed on an antique white paint. After the paint dried, I waxed it. I left the black parts of. the monitor as is. The finished product stands on my kitchen counter as a way […]
Fall Trash to Treasure Decorations
Before the snow flurries arrived in northern Wisconsin, which was ridiculously early this year, I decorated with some repurposed finds. I made some pumpkins from old books, and painted a pie tin with chalkboard paint. It’s hard to see, but that Sedum is growing out of an old oil can. I filled an old milk delivery cooler with fall blossoms from a bush that needed pruning. The rusty wheelbarrow holds mums in an enamelware bathtub. An aluminum teapot filled with the remaining summer flowers. I filled an enamelware pot with fall blossoms. The pumpkin books are easy to make when you […]
The Christian Chick’s Guide to Surviving Divorce
The Christian Chick’s Guide to Surviving Divorce: What your Girlfriends Would Tell You if They Knew What to Say Imagine you are newly divorced, or have just been served papers. You are a solid Christian and never imagined you’d find yourself in this position. What do you do next? Where do you turn for help? Now, imagine you walk into a Christian bookstore hoping to find something that would help you. You hope no one sees the tears on your face, so you keep your head down. You don’t want the world’s version of coping with divorce, and you hope […]
All My Belongings: A Book Review
Many Christian authors are off at the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) this week, hobnobbing with all the names in Christian writing. Which means, it’s the perfect ‘cat’s away, mice will play’ opportunity for us to talk about their books, post a bunch of praise on social media, and stir up some new readers for them. Did I lose you at hobnob? Sorry. I love goofy words. Author Cynthia Ruchti is among those happy ICRS hobnobbers, and I’d love to tell you about her new book, All My Belongings. It’s won a couple of awards recently, including a first place […]
7 Elements of a Great Nonfiction Book Proposal: A Guest Post from Nick at Grammarly
Today,we have a guest post from Nikolas Baron at Grammarly. Not sure what Grammarly is? Watch for a review post coming soon. In the meantime, if you’ve ever thought about writing a nonfiction book, you’ll find Nick’s guest post below helpful. 7 Elements of a Great Nonfiction Book Proposal Writing a nonfiction book isn’t as simple as sitting down to the typewriter, pounding out two- or three-hundred pages of brilliant work, sending it off to a publisher, and waiting for the checks to start rolling in. In fact, most nonfiction books aren’t written until the idea is sold to a […]
Cheerful Quilt Puts the Finishing Touches on Bedroom Re-do
When I redid the paneling in my bedroom, I knew that I wanted to replace the quilt, but my new one was only half-finished. So, my ‘after’ pictures looked like this…with a quilt that was outdated and need some repair. Not exactly what I had in mind. Yeah, that was from back in my mauve and sage days. It’s finally done! I love how cheerful the new quilt is. This was made from all of the leftover fabric I had around from some other projects, like tote bags and purses. Michelle Trash to Treasure Decorating View the full post at http://www.trashtotreasuredecorating.com
The Turning: a Review of Davis Bunn’s Latest Book
Have you ever had a sense you ought to do something, but didn’t know what it meant? Perhaps a pull to go somewhere or say something, but you weren’t sure if you should dismiss it, or listen to it. Was it the voice of God? Or another voice? How do you know?In The Turning by Davis Bunn, five people from different place in the world come together when they sense a divine command. Once they “randomly” meet up, they realize they have a job to do. At the same time, one individual begins a media campaign to brainwash American young people […]
Guest Room Makeover with White Pickle Glazed Furniture
When we moved out of our room and turned our son’s former room into a master bedroom, we gained a guest room. I turned our old tiny bedroom into a guest room. When we lived in it, we could barely walk around the queen-sized bed with our two dressers in the room. Now, with a smaller bed I was able to create a pleasing and inviting arrangement. The metal bed was a freebie a neighbor was tossing out. I had before and after photos of this dresser. But I seem to have misplaced them. Or deleted them. Oops. I […]