JOURNALING FROM THE HEART......ESPECIALLY WHEN BEING ATTACKED BY THE ENEMY

When I come onto my blog sometimes I just sit here holding my hands on the keys wandering how to start.  I ponder and think, I don't want to start another one with "Well, this happened" or "So this was next," you get my drift.  But sometimes I think where do I begin? Where do I start?
But then there are those other times when I'm just doing something simple like standing in the shower and it comes to me and I can't wait to rush to get done with my nightly chores so I can get something down.

I love bible journaling it has been such a enjoyment for me to use art or pictures to help me retain scripture.  Its really really hard for me to remember verses and where they are located in the bible and the artwork helps me to retain it, I have talked about that in a previous post.  There are ones that touch my heart so deeply or mean a lot and I want them to be added to my "armor" of scripture that I'm learning so I will have them in my heart when the enemy attacks.

Today, I'm writing about Isaiah 1:18, though our sins make us scarlet, you makes us white as snow!
This is an amazing thing for me.  To know that no matter how far I have strayed or things I've done, God sent Jesus his only son to pay the ultimate sacrifice for me.... crabby, frustrated, complaining about this and that, me!

I've learned at the ripe ol age of 38 that time waits for no one.  Things, people, come and go.  Seasons of life change and you must change with it.  You don't have a choice.  People especially don't stay the same, friends, family all the above, we can't help it.  We have situations and circumstances in our lives that make us change.
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Two of the biggest lessons I have learned!! That I will take with me always. 

 Did you know that its easier to be mad at someone than to forgive them?
 Did you also know that its easier to be mean to someone than treat them with kindness when they have hurt or wronged you?


These two things I have experience from both sides.  I have been on the giving and the receiving end of both of these 2 lessons.  But fact is, its really hard to love a mean person, and its hard to forgive when you don't feel like you are in the wrong.

 I was listening to a pastor once that said we as a human tend to tell other people when we are comforting them that, "Hey you have the right to feel this way!"  Or you have the right to feel angry!  Because as humans we want to decide what is right and what is wrong in a situation.

 Something I have also learned is that it is possible for 2 people to see a "right" in the way they are thinking about something and for them to disagree on a subject.   All in all is that, "Is there anyone on this Earth, that you can think of, that had more of a reason to Exert his right, than Jesus?" Did he sin? NO   Did he do anything wrong to deserve what he got?  NO

He out of anyone, that had the right, to Exert his RIGHTS! But he Didn't, did he?  He went to the cross for us all.  I have had to tell myself this over, over, and over again.  When I get angry with anything, the kids, my husband,  or my family, I have to say, I don't have the right to stay angry, mad or frustrated because we are all sinners trying to do our best.

So I say all this to say, forgive often, love often, don't hold grudges, try your best to live as peaceful and humbly as you can.  This is very hard, cause the Enemy wants us squirming and stranded.  But I can promise you, holding on to anger, bitterness, malice, its way heavier than humbly handing it over to God and saying this is to big for me.  Please take this God, because I can't carry this heavy load of frustration anymore.  Thank you God for not exerting your right and carrying all our sins to the cross, so we could fly away like a bird and be washed white as snow!

XOXOXO

DISTRESSED SHIPLAP LOOKING WALL

You know what I really love about Pinterest?  Well besides that fact that your brain can go into this place where you dream you have all this really awesome stuff!

Its the fact that everything is good, no seriously each and every person can have their on taste and you are not judged. You have your own boards and your own styles and its ok to like what "you" want to like.  I have had this really neat thing to happen to me in the last 6 to 8mths.  I have found myself.  Like when I say found myself, I mean that I have never really had a specific taste.  My mom is a great homemaker, my mother-in-law has good taste too.  Lots of people in my family do also.  But it always seems like I have just been lost in the middle.  I would like things that one would do and mix it with something else that I would see at one of the other houses.  I never really said, "Oh this is the style I like and I"m going with it!"  Part of it is because I haven't really focused on it because I have been tending to 4 growing children for 13 years and the focus has for sure been 100 percent on them and not on the mama.

So anyways, I feel like after taking much time and looking though my boards and also watching the show "Fixer Upper" I have finally found a style and taste that I love! So one room at a time I have been changing it to make it match how I would like it look.  The only downer to this process is that I'm not rich like they are on the show so I have to do it with hammy down stuff or look on pinterest to try and find a cheaper way of doing things. A couple of weeks back I had a blog entry on my distressed wall with old boards that my dad had from a box that come off the farm.  Today the wall that I'm writing about I didn't have any old boards so I went  to Lowes hardware and had them to cut me some boards out of some white plywood.  It was around 35.00 for a 4X8 sheet.  I had to have 2 boards. This was my only expense in this project because I was gonna use all the other stuff I had from previous projects to complete it.  

I wish I had taken a picture of all the boards I had gotten at Lowes.  The 4X8 sheet made a lot of boards because I told the guy that run the saw at Lowes that I wanted them cut 4" wide.  The first 3 cuts where free then the rest of the cuts are .25 each. It wasn't very much and the boards are straight and even.  My wall was just a little under 4 feet wide so I only had to cut off a couple inches off each board.

Tools I used:

circular saw

nail gun with air compressor

Vaseline

small Dremel tool (round sander on the end)

grey stain

white flat paint
level

First board, use a stud finder to make sure you have the nails with the nail gun in the right place. Once I found them I drew straight lines up the wall so I would know where they are every time. 

Next Use a Level to make sure your boards are level before laying the rest of the boards.  I only had to do this once. 

I checked both ends, and the middle.

Of course I always have helpers when I'm working.  

This is to show how I used a jig saw and cut out the squares for the electric sockets. 

This was the hard part for me because I'm not a carpenter by any stretch.  It was getting around the steps. I cut out a small square with the circular saw, then used a Dremel tool with a round sander on the end to make it smooth.  This took me awhile because I had never done it before. 

Another thing I didn't figure for was the fancy crown molding at the top. Oh my Word, Can you say pain in the neck!!!! It took for ever using that small sanding tool to make it all go together.  But I was very proud of how it finished.  ***Key Point I didn't think about that at the top when I started my project.  So make sure you look at your wall before you start something like this to make sure you can maneuver around what ever you have on that wall.

Once I finished the wall, I did the same method I did here. (that tells about the stain, Vaseline method for the distressed look to come through. Once you do that, you paint over with flat white paint.  I used 2 coats. 

You lightly sand in the areas you want the distressed look to appear. 

So this is the finished project! I had a old lantern that I took the oil part out of a used a battery light to put on the inside.  I purchased the large metal K at "of course" Hobby Lobby.

This is a up close because the long picture you really loose how pretty the distressed part is.  Its hard to tell from the bottom pictures.

This is with little light on in the lantern.

This is with the light on.

NEW CHICKEN FEEDERS

We have been looking for the last several months at chicken feeders.  All kinds, plastic, metal, barrels, square containers.  My brother and I both like having chickens for our kids to tend to, play with and take care of.  So he and I had been sharing pictures back and forth of all kinds of feeders that we had run into that would be the most practical for our coops.  We finally ran across one that I really really liked.  So today my husband and I went to Lowes and bought some of the largest PVC pipe that you could find put it together and used bendable wire strips to mount it to the side of the coop.  We also used caps for the tops to keep the food dry.
We are gonna build a small shed to come off the side of the coop so they can stand and eat and drink without being in the weather and it will also keep the food in the end of the pipe dry.

DISTRESSED COFFEE TABLE

Happy Weekend Everyone!

So I have finally caught up on a lot of projects that I've been doing around the house so I'm planing to make a couple of post here in the next few days to show what all we have been working on.  

I'm trying to redo a lot in my house to go to the white, gray, farmhouse style.  I had somewhat the farmhouse style already, but was with more of the reds, greens and hickory style type furniture.  So I've been making slip covers, redoing furniture, and adding that ship lap look.  

This coffee table that I purchased was at a consignment shop in Greensboro for 66.00.  I wanted it to have that distressed look.  So I am using the same bucket of flat white paint, a can of black flat paint that you can get at Lowes for .99 and some boiled linseed that my husband already had in his shop....  

This is the table when I first purchased it.

It was a little somewhat scuffed up because it had been used. 

The first thing I did was sand it.  I used my husband hand sander and used a pretty rough grade sand paper because it needed to get the shinny coat on top off. 

This sand paper is really rough and it won't take near as long to sand it down and get that top coat off. 

 Next I painted the entire table white with the basic house flat paint. 

I was doing this late in the evening, I'm also redoing a rocker you can see in this picture but that post will come later.  Anyways, I let this table dry over night, but if you did it first thing in the am you could easily finish this project in a day.  

Next I re sanded again, to make the distressed look.  I sanded most of the white off the top but left the sides exactly how I wanted them to look 

These are much softer types of sand paper and was some my husband already had in his shop so if you had to purchase these it would probably add a little extra cost to the project, say around 5 to 7 dollars.  But I used this to do the sides so it would look distressed. 

I was gonna leave the top like this to continue on the project, and you can if you like it, but we really wanted to it show some character with dents and scratches so I went back sanded more of the white off and then took a chain and large hammer and we just laid it on the table and hit it hard to make dents all in the table. 

This is my sweet husband helping me with this part, it wasn't hard, but I think he just likes to hit stuff! LoL

Once the dents and bangs are made, you use the black flat paint to spray lightly over the dents.  

Next sand the black spots to where only the paint in the dent is left behind, unfortunately I don't have a picture of this because my husband grabbed the sander an did it before I could think to take the picture.  But this is the close up of some of the dents.

Ok, so once you have the black in a few places, your back to painting the white flat all over again.  After you do this you sand with the same softer paper on the places that you would like to make it look distressed!

I wanted to give the table a little protection but didn't want to use a strong polyurethane because I didn't want a shiny look to the table, so we used boiled linseed to go over it to protect it from water. 

I just used a old wash cloth and applied this all over the top of the table.  

I also made the little tray in the table but that's another post!

FARMHOUSE DECOR 20 BUCKS OR LESS!

Hello World....

I have gotten terrible about posting like I should.  I have like a million projects going on and I'm trying to get them done and make post.  Which would seem possible if I would do one project finish it and then post it.  But instead because my brain wants to do about a million projects at one time it takes FOREVER for me to complete something.  So this weekend I'm working on a coffee table remake, sanding down my moms original rocker that she rocked us in as kids, going to Ikea to get ideas, making slip covers for my chairs that don't match in my living room, ect, ect... the list goes on and on.  So I have managed to get a few of these things completed but yet to be able to do the write up with them.  

Today I finished my farmhouse wreath and was able to FINALLY complete my pallet wall in my bathroom.  I'm really tickled at how it turned out and I only spent around 20 bucks! Yay!

First I went to my famous go to Store Hobby Lobby!! I purchased a wreath that was more vine like and was already wound together. It was 19.99 and was 50 percent off, getting it for 10.  I also purchased the flowers that I like that was simple and kinda classy each were 4.99 also 50 percent off, so they were 2.50 each.  I bought 4 of these.  This is how they looked separate.

I had already started to add a couple of the flowers before I snapped the picture of the wreath. 

This is once I had them all fished in and was ready to hang... This is something so simple and easy to do, like 15 mins but gives the sweetest country look to any wall.

PEACE

With all the storms that were raging through our county and state, I decided to do some bible journaling to help calm the nerves.  There is so much going on around us right now.  Two dear friends have found out that their dads have cancer all over the body.  My heart has been heavy and weary for them.  Its so hard be that it's a actual physical storm raging around us like today with the high winds, or if its a internal mental or physical battle we are facing. We sometimes have a hard time realizing that we have a God that is bigger than all of it!  I have to remind myself this on a daily basis because I struggle with anxiety and depression.
Its hard to say it out loud even when you know there are thousands upon thousands of others that are out there struggling with it, you don't feel like you should become one of "those" people or be "weak." Especially if you are Christian!  But why do we Label ourselves like this?  This is something I have fought and fought for many many years.  Its not because I stay home and home school my children (most people would say that), because this is a problem I dealt with earlier on in my teens.  I would have horrible panic attacks, break out in hives like you have never seen. It was so bad one time I had to leave school and come home and take a baking soda bath to try and get the itching to stop.  For some reason this is how my body reacts to stress.  I have right many friends who deal with this exact thing.

I struggle horribly with the fact that I feel like I let God down because I have to take medication.  But then I remind myself, if I was diabetic would I feel like I let him down if I took insulin every day?  When a part of your body is sick you must take care of it.  Its very hard for my body to relax.  Like for instance I'm putting in this post at 12:39 am.  I worry non stop that I'm gonna get cancer and not be here to raise my beautiful family, I mean the list goes on and on.  But one thing I can do that helps calms the raging winds and storms is to sit down and read his word!  This is my absolute favorite verse in the whole bible.  I found it the day my mom found out she had breast cancer and of course I ran and got my bible because I was tore up inside and I needed something to help me stay focused that God does work All things for the Good!.
Isaiah 26:3 you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trust in you!
I hope and I pray if there is someone out there that is struggling with their emotions or anxiety that they don't feel like they have let anyone down because they have to get help or medication.  I have fought this battle for a long time and it doesn't mean God loves you less, or is disappointed, because actually the better I feel the closer I feel like I can draw to him.
XOXO
Hayley

EASY TO DO DISTRESSED PLANK WALL

At first I had no idea what to insert today for my post because I'm so far behind on putting stuff in that its unreal.  I have finished about 5 or 6 projects and taken pictures along the way but have been tired and haven't even known where to begin on which one I wanted to post.

So, I'm going with my Plank Wall Project.  For this project I can actually say and be very honest that it was pretty easy.  I am all about easy, as you can see from previous post.  I want to post projects that are easy so that others will be encouraged to feel like once I have taken a chance and flubbed through something that if I can make it so can anyone else!!

If you can use a tape measure, push a button, use a paint brush and bend over you are good to go!!! No, seriously that is all it takes.   Now I did have to borrow some tools from my husband and daddy to complete this project but if you have someone around that has a couple of tools, then you can do this.  Tools needed: a large round circular saw to make even cuts, a nail gun, paint brushes, tape measure, level,petroleum jelly. stain, white paint, and a pencil.  

This wall that I finished has a little special meaning behind it.  I had decided after looking through many pinterest boards that I could accomplish this project, told the hubs what I wanted to do, so I went to Lowes with him to pick out some other things for a "Fixer Upper" project we did(I will have those pictures in another post), picked out the other items but while I was there I checked out all kinds of plywood boards, all kinds and prices.  They range anywhere from 20$ for a 4 x 8 board up to 60$ a board depending on what kind of wood you want.  Well, I'm trying to keep my expense down, so I decided I wanted to wait and think over this thing and check with  my dad(the farmer) to see if we had anything laying around on the farm to use, because I love to reuse, recycle if you know what I mean.  So we left went bout our day and come home.  After coming in and staring at my wall I felt bummed because I wanted to do the project but didn't want to spend like any more than 50 cause I knew I wanted to be able to go to the almighty Hobby Lobby to get some desk decor later.

Well, I decided to take all the decor I had in there down, putty up the holes and just basically prepare the room for changes.  Especially since I didn't know what I was gonna do about the boards. I decided what ever I did that I didn't want to keep the red, so I went ahead and painted the office with some old grey paint that I had from another project so I still haven't had to spend any money. 

So, after deep thought I decided I was gonna go to Lowes to purchase the boards.  Right as I'm getting my pocket book to leave my dad calls and says he and my son Jonah was bringing me something from the farm. I said well I'm headed to Lowes and he says well hang tight there before you leave cause I'm turning in.  He brings me this huge, I mean huge box from where he had bought a combine auger 3 years ago before my Grandfather(the other farmer) passed away.  This was so cool because my grandfather would be really proud to know that I was able to use the box.  

 This is them coming in to greet my other son Isaiah and they are wrestling cause that's what they do.

Then below is the large, like I said, large box that he had and wanted to know if I could use it? What???? Can I use it......???   Like God is So So good!, No purchasing wood now (that comes later on the next plank wall, LOL)

So now all I have to do is take the cotton picking thing apart.  So we do, we get a crow bar, and hammers and saw and start taking the box apart. (Now this was not Easy, it is much, much easier to go to Lowes buy the big board and have the cutter at the back of the store to cut it into planks that makes nice and even boards. But I didn't do this for this particular project but I do on one that I will post later if you don't have old wood laying around. 

Ok, so once I had the pieces apart and ready for the circular saw, I brought them in one at a time and placed them in the floor to use a tape measure on.  Once I cut my pieces with the saw, I begin nailing them all up with the nail gun.  Now, if you have a stud finder this would be a good time to use one.  I don't use one, I use the old knock on the wall trick and if it sounds hollow I keep going till I hear a stud. But a stud finder will work great if u don't know how to do this. 

So once I was able to use the nail gun and slam all those babies to the wall it looks a little something like this. 

 As you can see from the first picture, I fixed the first one to the wall but before I kept going I did take a level and hold it on top of the plank to make sure it was level.

You can actually leave the wood as it is, or you can stain it dark, but I chose to use stain and white paint because I wanted that farmhouse white style. The first thing I did once I got all the boards nailed was to use a little bit of wood filler on the wholes that were really large, I didn't want to cover up them all cause I wanted that old barn effect. 

First I applied some Classic Grey Stain left from my pallet wall project and decided I wanted to have the lines in the planks to show through to give it the distressed look.

Once you paint the stain with a old brush be prepared to have paper towel in the other hand to wipe it down cause it will run a bit.  

The next part is actually kinda funny.  After reading many blogs and DIY sites on how to do this most of them said you needed to use a Vaseline in the creases over the stain so once you paint the boards and sand them the stain will show through.  Believe me it is much easier to sand the places you want to have it show through if you use some kind of petroleum jelly substance.  I on the other hand couldn't find the Vaseline but with having 6 people in the house there had to something else that I could use without having to run to the store to get some.  So I used Preparation H.  Yes folks, that stuff works wonders and has many, many uses.....Who knew? But guess what it did the trick.  This is how I applied it. 

Once I had all the seams jellied up with the booty cream, I used a flat white paint for the wall.  Now you could probably use any old white paint even trim paint, but I already had a gallon of flat white paint left over from the house.  I painted the entire wall and let it dry for a hour.  

Once I felt like it was good and dry I went back and lightly sanded with a piece of old sand paper in the areas I wanted the grey stain to stick through.  

I really was please with how it was turning out!

I let all the work sit over night and cleaned it up the next day so I could add some of the decorations I had found and put together.  

My metal shelf, sign and metal basket came from Hobby Lobby.  The old frame with metal chicken wire was found in a old house we bought, I just cleaned it up and repaired the nail in it and stuck some magnets on it to hold notes or pictures.  Here is a extra picture:

Now I was able to do this entire project for  around 75.00 because the only expense I had was the decoration! So if you have this kinda stuff at your home you could do it for even less! Let me know what you think!