At Table

The inspiration for making this sign came from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together in the section titled The Fellowship of the Table.
Bonhoeffer states the following:

"...Christians, in their wholehearted joy in the good gifts of this physical life, acknowledge their Lord as the true giver of all good gifts; and beyond this, as the true Gift; the true Bread of life itself; and finally, as the One who is calling them to the banquet of the Kingdom of God. So in a singlur way, the daily table fellowship binds the Christians to their Lord and one another."
"Our life is not only travail and labor, it is also refreshment and joy in the goodness of God. We labor, but God nourishes and sustains us. And this is reason for celebrating."

With our family beginning we've thought a lot about what traditions and values we want to instill. The desire to meet around the table for meals and to be reminded, as a family, of God's sustenance and to be refreshed in the goodness of God was my motivation for this project. I wanted to have a written reminder of the importance of that time.

First I designed my text using Silhouette Studio and very carefully cut "at table" out on white vinyl.
Then I stuck transfer paper on top, flipped it over, and peeled the excess vinyl off.

When cutting vinyl you almost always get these pesky guys that won't come up easy, so I use a sewing pin to lift the corner and get rid of all those.

So here's the vinyl, sticky side up, backwards and ready to be stuck somewhere!

I grabbed my already painted piece of wood, lined that vinyl goodness up as well as I could, and got enough courage to start smoothing it down.

My secret weapon is this scraper thingie. It really helps to get the vinyl to stick to the new surface and to smooth out any bubbles.

So, I was so happy with how well the vinyl lettering turned out, but I wanted this sign to look weathered. First I tried sanding, but it was sissy in comparison to what I had in mind. So I grabbed this thingie(notice I'm at a loss for proper words today) and starting scraping the edges with it...muuuch better!

I got a little carried away and really gave this piece a beating. If you take a closer look, you'll see where my hand slipped and I ripped through a small section of the "B". Woops! But hey it added to the fake wear and tear.

I was almost finished, but not quite! The letters were way too bright white for me, so I got out my Distress Ink and tested it on scrap vinyl first.

After applying the ink and usig a rag to rub it in a tad bit I was finished, and I love the outcome!

I think my sign will be happy in its new home in our dining room! Yes, that is a messy kitchen.

"Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart" (Ecc. 9:7); "I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful" (8:15); but, of course, "apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? (2:25)

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Attempt at Quilting Phase 3

I'm taking this quilting thing verrrrrry slow. I think I'm still apprehensive about royaly messing the whole thing up!
This past weekend I finished cutting all the fabric. One thing I've learned in this process...

You really don't need that much fabric!

Especially if you're using 8 different fabrics and you're making a small quilt. I definitely bought more than I needed! 

Anyways, after cutting I very hesitantly moved onto the next step: placing the squares in their pattern.

This part was so much fun! I laid the fabric down on the floor, alternating colors and patterns, but keeping in mind that it didn't need to be perfect.

I just continued lying fabric squares down in a pattern until I achieved my desired quilt size, keeping in mind that the squares will be smaller once sewn.

After I convinced myself that if I kept on going this quilt would end up being a lot more work, I moved onto the next step...

Part of me thought I should start pinning the fabric together...then I got some sense and realized that no pinning is necessary.

So, I numbered each row like this:

Then, being careful to keep the squares in order, I piled each row up, moving left to right.

In the end I ended up with 10 piles of neatly stacked fabric.

Now when I gain enough courage and time, all I have to do is grab a pile and begin sewing the squares together, top to bottom, left to right! I'm feeling more confident already! Except that now we know we're having a boy and I think if I hadn't been so convinced we were having a girl I would've picked manlier colors!

Foxes, Stags, Bears & Birds..Oh, & Burlap.

Now that we know we're having a boy(yahooo!)in August,  I didn't waste another second thinking back and forth between chandelier vs. burlap pendant light.

If this nursery had a theme it'd be....well, the best way I know how to put it is, think less forest friends and more woodland creatures. I'm not much for the traditional nursery garb.

I want this room to spur imagination, not just our son's, but anyone who spends time there. Steven and I are big on epic movies, ones that take you on a huge journey, like The Lord of the Rings. In a sense, this was part of my inspiration for this room also.

My thoughts were beginning to get pretty scattered, so I thought it was time for an idea board for the (hopefully sooner rather than later) upcoming nursery.

To begin, here's the perfect font for the nursery. It's called Zierinitialen2 from Dafont.com. Don't know yet how I'll be using the font...possibly a short quote from Fantastic Mr. Fox?





1. Some type of cast iron animal hooks, preferably including a stag and bird. I love Anthropologie, but still searching for cheaper options...gotta love etsy!

2. A burlap pendant light to hang from ceiling(I'm hoping I can pull this off DIY).

3. A bird mobile. Awesome DIY tutorials for this one at Spool Sewing.

4. Chalkboard banner garland seen here.

5. Did I mention I love foxes and my husband does too? We're (or at least I'm) convinced our son will too. Woodland animal print, preferably of foxes. Love this created by Anna See.

6. Completely bad-a Hobbit poster(I've only been able to find this online on European sites...it's become a must have)!

7. Dark wood crib to match the furniture we already own.

8. Walls will be painted a shade of gray...not too dark, not too light.

9. More woodland creatures on pillows & other accessories. Love this pillow.

10. My quilt! Still debating about whether or not these colors really count as gender neutral.

11. Even more woodland animals, this time, preferably bears. Again by Anna See, I could buy probably 12++ items in her etsy shop. New favorite!

12. DIY fabric book sling...looks so easy! Check out Domestic Adventure for more ideas and tutorials on this project.

13. Letters covered in burlap to spell baby's name. Got this wonderfully rustic idea from The Virginia House.

14. The jute rug from our dining room(which needs to be moved, because our dogs love it too much).

15. The best fox stuffed animal ever from Bla Bla Kids!

I'm also thinking bright colors popping in and out in random places, especially shades of orange and yellow against the gray.

So many things to love and so many things to start learning how to make! Steven's going to want to hang out in our son's room more than ours!

Thanks for letting me get all excited and allowing me to thought vomit all these ideas out on you! Have a fantastic weekend!

Jamie's WANTED Laundry Sign

If the weather for you has been anything like it is here, I hope you've been able to take advantage of the greening grass and sunshine!
Thawing out from winter has given me more motivation to begin new projects!
 Jamie Montgomery let me share this easy DIY project for adding a flair of character to your laundry room.
 

Before



After

If you're lucky enough you could use an old sign like Jamie did and simply remove the old hooks, give it a new coat, stencil, cut out, or hand-draw WANTED and distress! Then attach clothespins and you're done! If you don't have anything on hand, just run to your closest hardware store, pick out a thin piece of lumber(they'll cut it for you!) and some wire and you've still got a pretty stress-free DIY project!

It's the perfect little addition to make a laundry room more exciting to visit...plus it comes in handy for collecting all those pesky runaway socks!

Jamie has given me so many ideas for making my laundry room a space I'd actually want to spend time in. She chose bright colored paint for the walls because let's be honest, laundry rooms with no windows need some color! An old rustic window and three glass jars filled with florals in contrasting colors add more pop, but keep the space serene.
Notice the fabric behind the washer and dryer? It's a perfectly cheap way to cover up all that utility mess and laundry product storage!
What a great way to start spring!

If you haven't already, make sure to check out Jamie's Craft Nook here!