FREE PAINT AT ACE TODAY

Just a quick note to let you know you can get a free quart of Clark+Kensington flat paint at Ace Hardware today!  Woot!  Woot!  I buzzed over and got mine.

Here is a past post I wrote on the paint if you want to see my thoughts.  Click here.

Matching Pictures - How Necessary?

Last week, I posted some pictures of our Master Bedroom.  To see that post, click here.  On one wall there are 2 matching pictures that flank the two sides of the sofa.

Actually, the pictures do not match at all!  This one is a very old piece of tapestry that belonged to Edward's grandmother.  He like it so much that he had it framed back when he was still a bachelor. (Which he was until 27 years of age when he married me.)  

The other, however, is a piece of fabric I picked up at the fabric store.  It doesn't match at all, but it still has a tapestry feel to it, and I like to be eclectic by matching things that really don't match.  I found the square gold frame at Hobby Lobby a few years ago and purchased it on the hope that it would match the other frame in size.  It's not exact, but close enough to work!!!

Here is how the tapestry looks on the wall,

and here is the fabric.

When you look at the wall as a whole - they look like they belong together!  Keep this in mind when you have something special to hang, but need other things to hang with it.  A little thinking outside the box will give you lots more to choose from.

Thanks for stopping by the tub!

Ellie

Circle Cropping for Projects

Today I have a tutorial to share with you for cropping a perfect circle to use in your crafts, decorating, jewelry, labels, jar lids, scrapbooking - whatever you need a perfect circle for.  You can actually do ovals, squares, and other shapes once you get the hang of it, but I'm demonstrating with a circle since I find I often need one.  The great part is you only need your computer and printer, and you do not have to purchase anything special.  In fact, the online photo editor I use to do this -while they do offer a subscription to get other special effects - everything to do this application is FREE.  The photo editor I'm using is called PicMonkey, but there are others like Ribbet that you could also use.

So, go to PicMonkey.com and click on the Edit a Photo link.

Pull up the picture you want to crop from your computer, the cloud or wherever you have pictures stored, 

and select the Crop button.

Now, on the pull-down menu, select Square.

A highlighted square will appear.

Position the square highlighted box over your 

picture, centering the area you want for your circle,

then adjust the size to the smallest square possible 

that still includes the area you wish to include.  

Click Apply.

Next, click on the Frames link on the left of your screen,

and select Rounded Corners,  

check the box that says Transparent Corners,

then slide the Corner Value Slide all the way to the right.  

(See the aqua arrow)

Finally, Save your rounded picture back to your 

computer giving it a new name.

 Handsome boys if ever I've seen!

When you are ready to print the picture, go to Microsoft Word, click on the Insert button, and select the Picture icon.  Your picture will then show up on your page.  Notice on the right a place for dimensions (see aqua arrow).  Change what is there to fit the size of circle you are needing.

For my locket I received as a gift, I chose .90 and it created a perfect fit.  Just measure the space you want to put a circle in and input that dimension in fractions of an inch.  If you need a 3 / 4 " circle - use . 75.

I hope you have a lot of fun with this!

Happy cropping, and thanks for stopping by the Tub!

Ellie

1929 Master Bedroom Reveal

Tonight is another picture post.  

This is our Master Bedroom in our 1929 Prairie Home.  

I hope you enjoy our little "Escape From The World".

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by the tub!

Ellie

Handstitched Tablecloth

I have a friend who is my other half, especially when we go yard saleing.  I can't even begin to tell you how much fun we have - it truly is the highlight of my week.  One of the things that makes it so fun is that we are alike in some of our tastes, but also quite different.  We've been together long enough that I know exactly the things she will go for - whether she needs them or not - and she knows the same about me.

This is us at Kohls pretending......

Oh, no amount of explaining would help you understand.......

Without hesitation, she would tell you that I snatch up crocheted doilies and other handmade items without fail.  It's true.  I don't need them at all, but I almost cannot help myself.  You see, I've been a stitcher, seamstress, crafter my entire life, and when I see a handmade item that I know took some person hours to create - I just appreciate it so much I have to buy it.  It really isn't that I NEED to OWN it - I truly just want to appreciate its beauty.  Most of the time they are priced at .10 or .25 cents, and that hurts my heart.  I know - so silly!!!

This tablecloth is nothing but an old, rust-stained thing until you get to looking at it carefully.  I think I paid $1 for it, but just look at it up close.  It is quite old, and can you see how it was pieced?!  The entire cloth is hand stitched.  Isn't that beautiful?  Someone worked on this for a long time. 

"Dear sweet kindred spirit from another time, please know that your work is admired and appreciated.  I will never know you, but it is an honor to display your work in my home!"

What are you sappy for?  For me it is the handmade items.  My friend so enjoys little miniature things.  Ahhh, the treasures of yard sales goddesses.

Thanks for stopping by the tub!

Ellie

Happy Valentines Day!

 

 

 

 

Mercury Glass and Colors

This is a mini post, but the idea is fun nonetheless.  As I was decorating for Valentines Day, I wondered if some tissue paper with hearts printed on it would appear through my mercury glass vases.  Turns out it looks pretty neat.

 Some mercury glass pieces are coated much thicker than others, but if you have one - or should make one - wouldn't it be fun to rub bigger patches of the silver off?  I think this will be so fun to change with the holidays.  I also can't wait to try some turquoise tissue.

 

You can't see it as well in this picture, but in person it shows.  I think the hearts peeking through are fun, fun, fun!

Thanks for stopping by,

Ellie

Ella Dawn

Hi Lavendears,

Last Friday was Wear Red for CHD (Congenital Heart Defect) Awareness Day.  If you follow my facebook page, I shared about it and asked if you would wear red.  I DID!!!

I wore red to raise awareness of the frequency and devastation of this horrible defect.  I also wore red to support a very special family who lives with CHD every day.

This is John and Amy, and their precious little angel, Ella Dawn.  I met John and Amy when Edward and I were leaders in the Young Adult Sunday School Class at our church, and they started attending.  At the time it was only the two of them, and they were a little on the quiet side.

I was super delighted when Amy came to one of the slumber parties I sometimes hosted for the ladies of the class.  Something about that party really strengthened the bond between the girls, including Amy, and some deep friendships came about.  I'm so glad, because the journey that lie ahead for John and Amy would be very, very difficult, and they needed those friendships.

After a while, Amy became pregnant, and we were all so very excited for them.  Unfortunately, Amy was essentially allergic to the pregnancy and had to be hospitalized for weeks because her morning sickness was severe and couldn't be controlled.  She couldn't keep anything down and was extremely sick.

On the heels of her sickness, John and Amy then learned that their baby in womb had a severe heart defect, and the Drs. believed she only had about a 20% chance of making it.  It was heartbreaking.  There were no words.  We all knew the only thing we could do for them was to pray.  So we did.  We prayed over them as a group, and we have kept them in our prayers for almost 3 years.  I don't know if you believe God answers prayers, but we all do.  Ella Dawn has defied all the odds and is a joyful, full of life, little girl.  She will also turn 3 years old later this year!

I'm writing this post because I want to share this family's amazing story with you.  To read their entire journey, and all the amazing things about Ella, and many answered prayers, check out their blog;

Ella's Journey

I also want to write to remind all of us that families who have sick children (or grown-ups) live with the illness every day - not just on the awareness days.  Ella is still a sick little girl, but she has done so miraculously well that we almost forget sometimes.  It's different, though, for her parents.  Here is a post Amy wrote around Christmas that touched my heart and gave me a glimpse of the reality of their lives.  I really want to share it with you.

Real life.

I find it hard to write here these days, just so many things go through my head, so many things I want the world to know about my miracle girl, about life as a heart family, about our heart friends. I struggle to find the words to show how it feels, how things are going, and so I usually don't write at all. But I don't want to just not write when I feel inadequate to accurately depict the feelings because despite the fact that this blog has generated a rather large following, I started it as a sick scared pregnant momma 3 years ago as a place to keep track of this road, the good and the bad, the medical updates and the feelings. It's not just for the readers, it's for me and it's for Ella.

Trying to put into words just how much Ella is loved is beyond imposable. The constant fear that hangs over my heart when I look at her is at times crippling. To love a child that is "terminally ill" to know that I'm "supposed" to out live her is just a horribly helpless feeling that never goes away. Learning to live with it is the only hope, the only way to live... Whenever I share the fear of not knowing how long we will have her, I am almost always faced with the response of "nobody is promised tomorrow, no one knows how long they will live, I could die in a car wreck tomorrow" It's not said with intent to hurt me and it is a true statement. But it is in NO way the same thing. As the CT school shooting is fresh on my heart as well as many others I realized that even though I am truly heartbroken for these families, I had a very different reaction then everyone else. Facebook and T.V. interviews were flooded with things like "I am holding my kids a little tighter today", and "not taking my kids for granted today". I realize it's a reality check for everyone, but it didn't change anything about the way I treated, or valued, or even thought about Ella. Why? Because everyday is like this for me. No, not everyday do I hear of 20 children dying, but everyday I see well over 100 fighting for life in the hospital fighting a heart defect. I see death weekly, sometimes multiple in a week. I am slapped in the face over and over and over with the ugly truth that this life is fragile. That unlike all these people that send their children off to school with chances of something going wrong so slim, everyday several times a day I look at my child and think is today the day? Is something going to go wrong? Heart failure, a stroke...etc.? It happens so fast. Will her heart just stop today? I struggle to write this, I hope my heart is clear on this, I am in NO way trying to downplay the suffering of the CT shooting, I am heartbroken along with the rest of America, I'm only saying that when you live with death at the forefront of everyday it changes everything. It changes you. I see an out of breath little girl with blue lips and blue fingers, I give her daily medications twice a day. I have two stethoscopes, I have a pulse oximeter, I have oxygen tanks and blood pressure cuff, I have well over 10 doctors in my phone I talk to a doctor/medical supply company/insurance/pharmacy etc. nearly everyday. It is right in my face all day, everyday.

I have the incredible responsibility to take care of Ella, I have never been more proud of anything than I am of being her mom. She is a wonderful person. She is an angel on earth. Yes, she gets cranky and she isn't always perfect, but I will say with all honesty, I have never ever met a better child in my life. Sometimes I worry that people are tired of the constant bragging, the flood of pictures, and videos. I worry that people think I am exaggerating or only looking through "mom eyes" and like I think my child is perfect because she is mine. Then I realized that it's just not true! She really is that wonderful and who cares what people think about my bragging, I mean let's get real, people don't read this if they haven't fallen in love with her too! She gives me a million hugs a day and I give her about two million. She always says "excuse me, please, thanks mom, may I have____ please, she usually goes to bed great, she keeps her pantie's dry, she has an incredible memory, she is super smart, she is happy most all the time, she doesn't throw fits, she isn't loud, she is funny, she is expressive, she sings, she looooves scripture books without our pushing, she is obedient, she stays clean when she eats, she doesn't touch things we tell her not to, she loves to help and she is good at helping, she knows her boundaries in the house and follows them even when I'm in another room, she is creative, and she is my Sunshine in every way.

Living as a heart mom is hard. Sometimes it just down right sucks. I've realized that I have been in a survival mode just trying to make it through these first few years, until things get back to normal when in reality, this is my new normal. That's a big pill to swallow, it isn't going away or getting better. Ella is one of if not the "least complication" heart babies I have ever heard of, her heart defect is the MOST complicated combination of heart defects you can survive and yet she has not had hardly any complications, this is about as "easy" as our life could possibly be. I have had to learn to come to terms with the fact that we have no clue what her future holds. We have to learn a new life, I will never be the way I was before I had Ella. I will never feel comfortable in a crowd again, I will never feel comfortable at a holiday gathering, a concert, a grocery store, hugging anyone, around any children including my own nieces and nephews, I will never be ready to see Ella closer then 3 ft to someone that I don't know everything about. I will never think about the medical field the same again. How can you love and hate something so much at the same time? They saved her life! They torture her. They help her, they hurt her. She has nightmares after doctor visits. I have nightmares that we lose her. Talk about gut wrenching, that started shortly after her diagnosis and has continued. The smells of certain soaps, certain antibacterial foams, saline... all of it make my heart hurt. Memories flood over me... the first time I heard her cry and they rushed her away, the first time I got to go see her, the first time we thought we lost her, the first time we saw her open chest and saw her heart beating inside, the first tear she had, the first time I held her.... all of it comes flooding in, the good, the bad, the ugly. My heart is every bit as broken as hers.

So it's time to find the new us, the new way of life. To find what it looks like, the boundaries, the ways it's time to step out on faith, the new path. It will be normal for Ella, she won't ever know different. Yes, someday she will realize she is different, that she has a special heart, and I know it will hurt her, but it will be her normal. I know that she will hate it at times, I know that she will face fear. As her mom, I plan to do everything in my power to help prepare her for this big, nasty, cruel world. I want her to see the beauty in it, the kindness, the miracles. So, my life will never be the same, it will be forever changed, it's worth it. I'm just learning to know what that will look like, I'm okay with it. It's hard to accept, but once I have, I know that we will have a wonderful life the three of us and the many many people that love us and respect Ella's heart. Hopefully we will somehow come to embrace the changes, well I guess they aren't changes since we have been this way for the last 3 years, but somehow we have to switch from survival to living full lives this way. What that will look like is really a mystery to me at this point. I am heavily depending on our Father who has always been faithful in leading us. I am always outside my comfort zone and that is hard but good. Ella has life and so I want her to get to live it. That will look different then most, and I will be judged by the boundaries, but as long as we are together and following God's leading, we will survive, and we will live. And despite the ugly comments about her life being horrible, it's just not true. Who is to say different is all bad? We have all day everyday together, laughing, making memories, reading books, who wouldn't want that? If you still aren't convinced that she loves and enjoys life take a few hours and look at the hundreds of pictures of her huge contagious smile that she flashes all day and then tell me I'm making her life miserable and that she is not really living. She just may be loved more then any little girl ever by her mommy and daddy, she is adored by her Creator who saved her life despite the odds, and if having love, happiness, friends (even if from afar), and having hope for eternal life through Christ isn't happiness then we don't want the world's happiness.

God is so faithful, this road is hard, my heart is heavy and my pillows often tear stained, but to feel the love and joy that the Lord gives through Ella is worth every missed event, every tear cried, every weakness my body will face. God's blessings are abundant here and I am so very thankful for the 863 days Ella has already spent on this earth. May God see fit to bless us with many many many more.


We have much hope, because we know God can and does do great things.  We have seen it.  We have heard it.  And we continue to live it.  Would you follow this family and pray for them?  Would you leave them an encouraging word now and then?  (Some people leave hurtful comments, but thankfully they are few - although even 1 is too many.)  Would you also look around to see if there is someone in your life that is living through something difficult that life has dealt them?  You may just want to drop them a card, or offer to pick up some groceries, or give them gas money.  These things may seem small to us, but they really matter to them.  Of course, outside of praying, there isn't much we can do to "fix" what they are struggling with, but even the tiniest gestures mean so much.

Thanks for reading.  Please check out their blog.  I know will you fall as much in love with this family as we all are.

I Love You John and Amy, and I'm so proud of you.  How grateful we are for you and Ella.

God Bless,

Ellie

Christmas Ball Valentine Wreath (A Pinterest Fail)

Don't you just LOVE Pinterest?

Don't you just hate when your project doesn't turn out like the pictures?  I love this picture and this person's honesty.

HaHaHaHaHa! 
Doesn't this happen to all of us?

Well, at Christmas I tried to make this very beautiful Christmas ball wreath where you bend a coat hanger in a circle and slide ornaments onto it.  To see the original designer, go here:

Except, I used the plastic balls from the $ Tree, because I didn't want to mess with glass ornaments.  It was fun and fine until the balls started popping off their tops.  As I added more ornaments, balls would all of a sudden drop to the floor and roll every which way.  When I tried to chase them - still holding onto the wreath - more ornaments would pop off!  Grrr......  So I tried hot gluing the tops onto the ornaments, but the little ornament hangers were so flimsy they just broke off of the wire hanger.......again more rolling balls.  I finally got so sick of it, I just stuck it out in the garage.  I wanted to stomp this thing into a million pieces.  Forget It!

But time heals all wounds, and as I passed by it every time I came into the house - I knew I had to throw it away or finish the darn thing.  (I should have taken a picture - but it didn't cross my mind.)

 I just glued a corsage pin onto a little heart.  

This would work with Valentine cards, too, to create a pick.

This time I took a straw wreath form, broke the tops off the plastic bulbs with needle-nosed pliers, and hot-glued them in place.  In my opinion, it was much easier and I could make a larger wreath than by using a coat hanger.  I never could get the coat hanger to have a nice shape anyway.

So, here is my saved Christmas wreath.  I added some glitter hearts to fill in the gaps between the balls (see how to make the pick above) and ended up with a lovely Valentine wreath.  That works!

What Pinterest fails have you managed?  Could you save them, or was it easier to chalk it up to experience and throw it in the trash?  I'd love to hear your stories.

Thanks for stopping by the tub,

Ellie