{Sign Frame Tutorial}

Whats a girl to do with a wooden initial of her last name and a wooden frame with no glass?

Of course make an adorable sign!
Shall we do it?

Perfect.

You will need:

Wooden Letter

8x10 wooden frame without the glass (found mine for .99!)

Sheet of scrapbook paper

Acrylic paint

 

First I took the back of the frame and traced it onto the back of my sheet of scrapbook paper.

 

Next I painted both the frame and the letter the same color.

FYI: the paint color turned out a bit pinker then I expected, I still like it, but I suggest you test out your paint before you use it.

 

For attachment purposes I used Scotch double sided sticky tape and the good ole' glue stick.

I used the glue stick to attach the sheet of scrapbook paper and the back of the frame together.

 The tape was used to attach the letter to the paper backed frame. I covered the whole back of the letter and then pressed it to the back of the frame. It seems to hold really well.

You know me, I am a huge fan of double sided sticky tape!

 

 After the frame had dried I decided I wanted a little more definition of shabby chic.

I sanded the corners of the letter and the frame with a small piece of hand sand paper.

I sanded very lightly, it didn't take long at all for the raw wood to show through.

So be careful.

 

 And your final product will look somewhat like this!
Its adorable and I love it, but have yet to find the perfect place for it.

I may end up turning this into a wreathe by adding a ribbon or twine to the back.

Any other suggestions? 

Hope you enjoyed!

Show me what you got!

{Film Roll}

Finally the photos are all edited and I get to share with you my lovely trip to St.Louis, Missouri!

I like pictures, alot.

So bear with me here.

....

This was taken in The Butterfly House.

Literally, it is a green house filled to the brim with all kinds of butterflies. And this one here was kind enough to pose for me.

Real Toll House Cookies, made by yours truly.

"You got the ticket to those cookies, girl"-Uncle 

 

Missouri's National Cemetery and a Momma Deer and her sweet Bambies.

 

Lemp Family Brewery.

And may I say, I am in LOVE with old brick buildings.

 

Home Smoked Pastrami sammies with homemade potato salad.

One day, my uncle's little black book filled with his recipes will suddenly disappear long enough to copy and return.
You can count on it.

 

 My Uncle's place of business.

I got a tour. 

 

After my tour, I got frozen custard. Yum.

 

Meramac Caverns.

How can you tell if it is a stalactite or stalagmite?

Stalactites are "tight" to the ceiling.

and

Stalagmites may give you a case of the"might trip over 'em"

see what I did there?

By the way, these are stalactites. The water below is playing tricks on you.

Silly, water.

 

The sky above Missouri.

 

 Hey Boo Boo!

We found Yogi bear, at Jellystone Park.

Pretty snazzy huh?

Okay so, before I go on I must explain that this is the best BBQ joint ever.

And I really mean that.

I'm the type of person who likes BBQ.

But this place, makes me love BBQ.

Like, Ribs&SweetPotatoFries&BBQ

Sauce&Coleslaw.

In. That. Order. 

May I just point out that is a half a rack of ribs and two sides.

  Mission Accomplished.

 

Union Station.

A mix of history, a hotel, and a mall.

I know, I found it weird too.

This is where the trains would disembark once upon a time.

Now, it is a bright atrium.



 

 Oh these fish.

They were so trained for tourists to throw them food, hundreds hudled the edges of the board walk to wait for food.

It was disturbing how much fish can beg for food.

Mostly just weird.

 

Now this was my favorite part of Union Station.

This upper level was restored to the orginal state of the train station.

Upper class used to wait in this level for their trains to arrive.

It was awesome.

The coolest part of it all, My Aunt and Uncle never knew this part existed.

We all just happened upon it.

 

 Lovely, right?

 

 Well hey there, Archie!

 

This is Bud. He lives at U.S. Grant's Farm.

We made it a girls day.

My Aunt, my Aunt's Sweet friend, her two little ladies, and myself all piled in the car and visited General Grant's old home and farm.

It was so cool.

The farm houses all kinds of animals.

And on the property is the House where Grant met and lived with his wife.

Now this little romantic, just loves that fact.

But, back to Bud.

 

 Now, Bud is kind of a show off.

I say "kind of" very lightly.

He beat three kids from the audience in a blowing up balloons.

And my sweet friend was picked out and given Bud's Balloon.

Let me add here, that a giant balloon sounds really cool for the first 4 minutes of carting it around and then it whacks you and then whacks others and then whacks you again and then you have no where to put it and then others stare at you and then...should I go on?

No?

Good.

Bald Eagles that are grounded due to injuries.

They were rescued and taken to Grant's Farm.

It was really cool seeing them in person.

You don't realize how truly large these birds are until they are standing 5 feet away from you.

And their eyes are staring into your soul.



Ahh. St. Charles, Missouri.

Officially my favorite little town.

Cobblestone main street.

Rows of old brick buildings.

Missouri's first state capitol.

If you haven't noticed yet, I really really really like antique anything.

Just take a gander of these photos, you may just agree with me here.

 

 Beautiful.

 

Not only does St. Charles rock because of its history.

It also rocks for having the best St. Louis style pizza joint.

mmmmmmmmmmm.

Friends, really you need to try a St. Louis style pie at least once in your life.

They have a cheese that is magical.

But preferably at Mr. Frankie Tocco's.

Seriously.

 

And if you thought St.Charles couldn't get any better, think again.

Let me introduce you to Picasso's Coffee House.

Have I said "yum" enough in this blog post yet?

Alright, maybe just once more.

Yum.

By the way, any place who has burlap curtains is okay in my book!

 

My Aunt and Uncle aren't huge football fans, but they were kind enough to let me watch my NYG's play pre-season. 

They rock.

 

The big ole' Mississippi River. 

 

Killing two birds with one stone.

Crossed state lines into Illinois.

This is my "money shot"

I so lucked out on catching the sign in time for the shutter to snap.

yay!

 

 The sky above Illinois.

While we are on the subject, the English language bugs me.

Case in point: the spelling of Illinois.

Just saying.

 

I learned that on the road from Missouri to Illinois, there is nothing more than fields and fields and fields of corn.

 

While in the Land of Abe, we visited President Lincoln's Tomb.

Awe provoking, really.

If you ever are close enough to visit, I must say you have to go.

 

 Stained Glass Window that looks into where Abe rests.

 

Well ain't that a coincidence!

Hello Lincolns!

Stopped by the Presidential Library.

I can not say enough about the museum.

If you have respect for him now, go through the museum in his presidential library.

You will have even more respect then you could of ever expected to have.

 

If that isn't enough, you can see the house that Abe and his family had in Illinois before the moved into a much bigger one in Washington D.C.

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that they actually lived here.

Their sons ran up and down the streets.

Mrs. Lincoln hosted parties here.

President Lincoln waved to his neighbors as he took his walks. 

 

The Lincoln's street.

 

The night before I left to head back home, my Aunt and Uncle's church hosted a Meredith Andrews concert with a live feed from the Harvest Crusade.

Before I knew about the concert I had no idea who this woman was.

Although, She is well known in the Midwest apparently.

She has a wonderful voice and an even more wonderful heart for the Lord.

It blessed my heart.

How tiny she was though!

Meredith was wearing 6 inch heels and was still shorter than most women!

See?

 

And then it was time for me to get on a plane and head home.

Who knew two weeks could fly by so fast?

....

This trip was a sweet blessing. I will always be thankful for this special opportunity my Aunt and Uncle were able to provide for me.

For those of you who made it to the end, You are such troopers!

Thanks for reading!

One last thing, can some one please explain this fashion trend taking the Midwest by storm?

These are my pajamas.

But women in the Midwest find this attire perfect for anything from running at 6 in the morning (which is fine) to eating BBQ on date at one in the afternoon (which is not okay.)

Ladies, your hair is not meant to be pulled up in a messy ponytail continuously, you have plenty of nice clothing options, and a little time primping never hurt anyone.

Okay rant over.



{Bare Feet}

Can I share a blessing with you today?

I feel like lately on here it has alittle dreary.

A couple mornings ago, there was a full house, I was sharing my room with my sister for the night, and it was loud with voices excited for a new day.

So this made my morning routine difficult.

Usually, I would sit in bed with my laptop, journal, and bible.

And spend these few moments with God.

Before ever starting my day.

But with all the commotion, I really couldn't do that.

Although, I yearned for those moments with my Saviour.

Let me tell you friends, I need that time with Him each morning.

If I don't, I can feel my whole being change.

I am not as positive.

I am not as loving.

I use less of kind words.

I feel incomplete.

So knowing that about myself, I grabbed my laptop, bible, and journal, plus a cup of coffee.

I headed through the kitchen, passing through the voices and stepped outside.

I usually walk bare foot most of the time while at home, so it was natural for me to be bare foot while outside.

As for this particular morning it hit me, as my bare feet stepped out onto the morning dew and then crossed into rough sand that stuck because of the fresh dew on my feet, I realized I can have bare feet before the Lord.

He knows everything. I can be raw before Him.

In the stillness of the morning with my bare feet I thanked God for giving me this blessing to be real with Him.

In a world of fake, we have a King who will take us real.

With bruised and broken feet

or

Clean and polished feet.

All we have to do is come, with bare feet.

Exposing it all.

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

2 Corinthians 12:9 

{Adjusting}

Adjust: Verb

(used with object)

to change (something) so that it fits, corresponds, or conforms; adapt; accommodate.

To say I am completely adjusted is quite the exaggeration.

It has been a month, folks.

Whats been a month you ask? Read here.

Anyway, I have been avoiding this update because I would have to dig deep and share with you more of my raw human emotion. Which we all know, I have a lot of. (insert laughter)

...

I stared out this post with the definition of the word Adjust because I found it interesting that it is often used with the word object. As in to adjust to something, first you have to object to adjusting.

Go figure.

Well lets be honest, I like to object this.

It wasn't my choice and I don't like it.

I have a small notebook that I wrote down my thoughts day by day on how I was feeling in that minute.

Lets dive in shall we.

The first week of adjusting I was numb and confused.

up at 6:40. had a hard time getting through devotional.hard to concentrate.

wonder what he is doing?

trying not to bring him up in random conversations--failing miserably!

The next week and a half of adjusting I felt like I could take this all on. It wasn't bothering me too much. Although, thoughts of objecting still snuck in.

checked facebook,found posts of encouragement.

doing my best not to focus on him today.---what is he doing?

spent today in thought about missing what could of been then actually missing him. that was hard to swallow.

And then three weeks came around with the ever present official month looming overhead.

I was feeling more insecure with the whole thing.

A month meant it was really really really over.

A lot of objection happening here.

At this point I had stopped writing my thoughts down.

I was fine, remember?

Not.

As the third week rolled on, I was feeling a bit woe as me, but I was trying to ignore it.

So while mindlessly scrolling through facebook I see one of my friends had received a promise ring from her boyfriend.

I lost it.

Now before I go on, you must know I love my friend and I am very happy for her. I pray that this relationship will honor God and He will bless them greatly.

But my flesh took over for the minute and I broke down.

I thought--We were together longer! That should have been me! or the typical this isn't fair!

I know, I was real original.

While in the middle of my pitty party, the Lord prompted me to bring my tears into the bible.

So I went to Ecclesiastes 3.

For everything there is a season,

a time for every activity under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

Ecc. 3:1-4

These lines validated my heart ache.

The Lord says we can have a time to heal, a time to cry, a time to grieve, laugh, and dance.

Basically, a time to object and adjust.

Thank you Lord!

What a sweet blessing from Him.

Like I said, obviously I am not completely adjusted as of this moment.

But I am working on it.

I give it to the Lord each and every day because without Him, I am not sure how I would be adjusting.

He has a plan for me, and I have to choose to seek that.

Some days that may even mean I am giving it to Him every hour.

We may roll the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall.

Proverbs 16:33

...those who trust the Lord will be joyful

Proverbs 16:20

The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?

Proverbs 20:24

And then other days it means, I sit at His feet asking why and sharing with Him my sorrow.

O God, Listen to my cry!

Hear my prayer!

From the ends of the earth I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed.

Psalm 61:1-2

Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains.

Proverbs 14:13

So that's where my heart is, friends.

No more objecting.

I'm adjusting.

{Happy Birthday}

 

 

Blunders&Blessings is a year old!

Can you believe it?

I still remember the day I started this blog.

I was nervous.

Feeling a bit unworthy, as if there was nothing I could say on here that was purposeful.

It was created as an experiment.

It was something I wasn't sure I would be able to keep up with.

Never the less, I hit Create and suddenly my words were available for the world to see.

You can read my first post here.

But I wanted to highlight on this part of the post:

 

My Prayer.

I will be shown each of these Blunders & Blessings. And I will be proud in defeat and humble in victory. May my Lord show me his path.

Take this journey with me, I can't promise it will always be exciting or easy, but I can promise there will be joy, sorrow, tears, and love.

This last line hits me right in the heart.

"but I can promise there will be joy, sorrow, tears, and love."

Every word in this sentence has come true, in the most unexpected beautifully messy kind of ways.

And I am thankful.

This blog was created to share in these things, and I am humbled by my opportunity to share them with you.

Sometimes it is still difficult to express everything I am trying to say, but my goodness the Lord has blessed and humbled me by showing me other's reactions through the words He has given me.

Through this blog, He has shaped me.

In these last 365 days I have been able to look back on the words He has laid on my heart and the words others have spoken to me in connection with the posts here.

How grateful I am to know He has chosen to use me through this blog!

Me. The girl who feels some days as if she has nothing to offer through her words.

Yet, He gave me breath and fingers to type to share His word.

So here I am. Typing away for His glory, alone.

Not my own self-worth, but to share His name for who ever may come across this little blog I call home.

Heavenly Father, My prayer is still the same. I ask you to show me my Blunders&Blessings and continue to humble me as I share them for Your Glory. May I be proud in defeat and humble in victory, for I only desire Your will for my life.

Amen.

So Happy Birthday to Blunders&Blessings!

And a Very Merry Unbirthday to all of you!