garage playtime

This is a test post from my iPad through a new blog app I'm trying out....learning new apps or programs isn't exactly my gifting but I CAN do it!



I can hear the cold front blowing in now and chills surge under my skin

I'm not getting much accomplished tonight.

sitting in my garage reading the Word while everyone in the house sleeps.  Why don't I sleep?  good question!

Thrifting Process and valuable TIPS

even though this is a dress it proves my point: you can get
amazing things at thrift stores if you just take the time

I'm here to encourage all those Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel and (sadly) Rooms to Go kind of vanilla bix box store addicted people I know(you know who you are) to venture into imaginative resourcefulness....i.e. creativity.  Today we’ll start a new round of posts that are sure to be as random and inspirational as I am in life (and blogging:)  

I'll introduce you to my world of picking, thrifting, treasure hunting & garage sale-ing (hmmm, my husband will have to tell me how to say that).  Where I find items, each for its own reason & purpose then I'll make an attempt to

Packed full of adventure :: PAINT, sweets, music & money

Ever notice life, in all its excitement, flying by you faster than you can grab the camera?  Sometimes at the end of the day I get excited to share with you some of my adventures....only to remember I didn't have the foresight to capture them on film.  Stories, at least in my book of life, are much more colorful when told with pictures....I mean, HELLO...just read my writing & you'll agree.

So my goal and promise to you is that I will not only have my camera in my purse at all times (already have that one down), I'll actually pull it out....then USE it!  Imagine what this story could sound, er...I mean look like after a couple weeks or months of faithful practice.

Picture time: I've been really enjoying Instagram but my phone is a bit...uh....well utilized, we'll say....so the pictures it takes are....uh.....less than perfect.   since my camera didn't see past the lining in my purse this week...this is the best my sweet sturdy phone could do:)

these awesome flowers growing right outside my front door....thanks Pam!

my friends at Sherwin Williams & Lowe's have been making my projects great!

mini carrot cakes--you can have 10 and no one would even notice...YUMMMM

live music enhances ANY moment...thanks Alistair!!!!

afternoon playtime with his "pennies"

funky 3D art by Nate Jensen that caught my eye at Discount  Electronics
not only was Lance Armstrong on the wall, there was Sandra Bullock, George W. Bush,
Willie Nelson & some other folks....all pretty funny!

So the concise recap of my adventures from the past few days....ever mindful of decorating life each step of the way:

• T finished swim lessons--now loves the water:)
• thrifting (lots)
• sanding
• painting (3 days worth actually... of nasty oil based paint which resides sporadically on my body, in my hair, on the driveway, in both cars, on coffee mugs and bits on my purse:)
• sealing
• designing
• tearing apart
• rebuilding
• repurposing
• recovering
• baking---yes, ME baking cupcakes from scratch.....simultaneously painting...one, yes, only ONE batch burned in the nutty process
• live music poolside
• goodbye to a friend...moved to NYC (NYC best be good to Vivian)

we even did a few videos I'd love to share....but until my video editing friend can join this process I'll have to keep my  Live Decorated snail pace & you'll have to just live with it.  Wanna know the truth?  I talk a LOT!!!  Which in turn means loads of editing so my videos aren't 15 minutes or more.  

Video's coming soon:

• Exterior staging (2 months ago)
• Garage Door funnies (2 months ago)
• Bless Your Man--building my shelves for the laundry room (which I finished about a month ago) 
• and random little bits of our goofy lives as they happen...and how YOU can Live Decorated.

                                           Tip for the day:

Don't stress about what you DIDN'T accomplish today!  Focus on the highlights of the day & tell God what you're thankful for.

Today my list of "didn't make it there yet" run a full sheet of paper in length....and if you're like me you'll stay up all night trying to catch up so tomorrow starts off right.  

STOP!  

Praise God for who He is!  

Thank Him for what He's done!  

Cast ALL your cares on Him!  

Drink a glass of water...

                                                                  ::::::::::::::::  then GO TO BED!!!!!

healed & prosperous! You???

Healed!  I am healed!  So I felt totally terrible all morning & honestly slept on & off until 2pm.  When I woke up at 2 after eating I noticed my prayers were answered!  I was totally healed.  I’m not even messin’ around when I say I felt terrible.  Some kinda funk had gotten into my chest & was affecting Marc & the boys as well.  We all seem to feel fantastic & it goes to show the God we serve is a good God who still heals, saves, delivers & sets people free!  WOOHOOO!!!

When Marc & T went down for their well deserved nap Koen & I were left to ourselves.  I took a video of him crawling all around, ignoring me & eating food off the floor.  When Ko finally joined the other boys for his nap it was party time for me.  I felt fantastic!  This video I shot of Koen embarrassed me to the point of cleaning my floors on my hands & knees.  That lasted for about the time it took to finish the playroom floors (and that was just cleaning around the rug).  The real action started when Swiffer entered the scene.  I was a busy bee cleaning all the floors ...oh, not any of the bedrooms actually...so what took me so long?  I also cleaned the kitchen & spray painted a frame for the Psalm 32 art.  I said I wasn’t going to work in the garage today & I meant it.  I worked on the front porch. 

I also kinda finished ... ok almost finished ... the Louis Shanks chair.  Which, by the way, I don’t think I’m gonna sell.  I think that’ll be added to our staging inventory.  Gotta start somewhere, right?  Marc ran a video of me on YouTube which I’m going to try to attach to my blog.  He wasn’t supposed to get my face & I forgot to address the camera a lot & explain what I was doing.  But ya know something... this isn’t my regular thing. Sometimes I just need to figure something out & work it through.  That’s where all this talk about helping the normal housewife do things to save her money.  Hence this blog entry. 

Sprayed the butterflies again on the unnamed butterfly art I have yet to reveal.

I think I have the plan for the top piece of the side table.  The one where I used the drawer as a jewelry caddy.  Anyway, I’m between 2 ideas... gluing old foreign stamps on the entire surface then painting over with a scripture or something OR I could paint it, do a painting on top of that paint then seal it really well & make another table out of it with funky legs.  I wonder what will happen with that one!  Any suggestions?  Crickets.

Anyway...God just continues to show himself more & more each day.  Through my new friend Cat He told me I was going to have each hostess draw & give their gift away themselves.  Each hostess will also get 30 seconds to talk about what they do, who they are & whatever they want to share in that time... could be words of encouragement, a story, something interesting about them or what they make or do.  It’ll be perfect.  God has His hand on every aspect of this party.

Praise God I’m healed & prosperous!...how about you?!?!

Love...

Trish