A Sneak Peek Into Our Home!

A little peek inside some changes around our home ... some of my favourite spots!

My second-hand hutch I brought for a steal, and now it homes my natural health ingredients and is the perfect display for my collection of jugs, and other tid-bits!

I recently brought this table second-hand for only $30! My husband helped to replace the top with fresh new pieces of Cyprus for only $3! It now holds all of our 'nature treasures' ...

... beautiful natural objects we've found through the years.

I love bringing nature into the home for my children to explore (& me too!)

I'll be posting more sneak peeks into our home soon! 

See you all then!

A Weekend at Home

I love those weekends that you have where you've got very little on by way of events to leave home for. A weekend with no time constraints, no agendas or to-do lists; just to be and enjoy (rare, I know). This weekend was one of those for myself and my family. 

I spent a leisurely Saturday morning in town birthday present shopping for my youngest daughter (didn't have to be done, but I thought, why not!) and enjoying some fantastic op-shopping. We played board games, sketched together, mowed the grass, cleaned windows, scrubbed old bottles that we dug out like buried treasure from out in one of our paddocks, printed out beautiful inspirational illustrations for a little journal book that I made (another post on that one), cleaned and shined op-shop finds, re-positioned furniture to make way for a beautiful cabinet that belonged to my Great Grand-parents, and just had a lovely time being together and being home.

It was a few weeks ago that we dug out the above mentioned bottles, and I've only just had the time to really try and get them scrubbed and as clean as possible. It took around 6 hours (in two separate time frames) to actually finish this ... felt like mission impossible at times! They went from looking like this ...

To this ...

To finally (and I mean finally) this ...

I think it adds a nice bit of old-fashioned charm to the kitchen. They still aren't spotlessly clean, but if soaking them for one week, putting them through the dishwasher, then filling them with rice (for abrasion), vinegar and bi-carb and attacking them with wire bottle brushes in hot soapy water can't get all of it off ... then who knows what will? I think I'll just be happy with them like this! 

This year I intend to sketch a lot more than I have in the previous couple of years. It's one of my personal goals in my new bullet journal. I find it very relaxing to sit after doing chores or preparing dinner or whatever it may be, to sit and create with pencil in hand. 

This gorgeous fox is a copy from another artist, it is not my original work (only for personal use). I really enjoyed creating the different texture in this piece with the fur of the fox and the grain in the wood. 

This is my original piece that I sketched from a photograph that I took of our lovely little rag doll kitten 'Aslan' ... I just can't resist him and had to capture him in a drawing as well.

Another copied sketch (personal use only) that I just loved. It's actually from a piece titled 'Little House on the Prairie' and I really like how it speaks of such simple, beautiful, wholesome times. 

I hope to be able to carve out more snippets of time here and there to sketch more lovely images, I'd like to have my journal full of them by the end of the year.

My great grandparents were such an amazing Godly influence in my life. I have many fond memories of them and I believe that their character and example is what has helped me form my own in some ways. They're very special to me and so having this piece of furniture (even with the timber veneer strips chipping off) in my home is very important to me (I hope to replace the veneer soon).

While at the op-shop I purchased a beautiful set of four 'Peter Pan' series plates in perfect condition for only $4.00 each, and a gorgeous cat and bunny rabbit one for the same price, along with a lovely butterfly one for only $2.00. I couldn't believe it. I also found a lovely little deer ornament that was only 50c ... it's pretty cute!

Here's my beautiful display cabinet that belonged to my Great-Grandparents ...

Well, I think that's about it. I'm going to tuck myself snuggly into bed giving thanks to my God who I love for all the blessings He gives. 

Life's never perfect, but it's still beautiful.

Good night friends xo

But Hope ...

This time of year fills my heart with hope. The sweet atmosphere that lingers in the home, candles lit and dancing their glow around the walls. Beautiful decorations chosen and hung with love and care to adorn the tree, making their own stunning statement. The spicy aroma of gingerbread men cooking in the oven. Turkish delight being simmered with rose-scented air filling the kitchen. Lights that twinkle and shine out making the whole scene magical. Children with eyes full of wonder and excitement at the entire jolly ordeal. 

But, hope.

Hope of salvation, hope of an eternity to come that truly will be magical. 

Hope that all that is wrong and evil and desperate in the world could possibly pause, and in it's place be poured out peace, love, joy and thankfulness. 

Generosity, giving. 

The hope that all is not lost.

The display my 13 year old son made for his bedroom.

The display my eleven year old daughter made for her bedroom.

All hope is found in that little tiny innocent baby that rested on the hay; fully God-child.

In Him, and only Him, comes all the hope that we'll ever need, 

now, and all through the year.

Merry Christmas, may your hearts be full of hope in Christ.

A Write Change

Writing is something that is very important to me. It has been for most of my life. However I can also skip from project to project, forgetting all about the one that I started, until months later when I find a few paragraphs scribbled on the first page of a new journal. This really frustrates me! 

My Mother has always said that 'a change is as good as a holiday', and so the other day, I went on a holiday! I wanted to change things up so that my writing would be something that was more of a priority, and in an obvious place so that it served as a visual reminder to do some writing, hopefully each day. Is writing something that is important to you too? 

Writing is important to me for many reasons; it's therapeutic, it's a way to de-clutter my thoughts, it's a way to write out prayers and the things I'm thankful for, and it's also a way that I try to leave a legacy for my children. 

This is the space beside my bed, before I went on a change holiday! ... 

And here it is after I changed things around ...

Now I have all that I need right beside my bed so that it's easily accessible to do some journaling before I go to bed, or as I wake up in the morning. It has been a much more productive set-up and I think it looks pretty cute too!

A couple of days after this change around, I also added a small CD player no longer needed in the lounge room. So now I am able to play music, listen to sermons on CD and other teaching Cd's as well. It has become a lovely little place to relax and I'm so thankful that my amazing husband isn't bothered by my late night journaling while he's sleeping (most times I do turn off the lamp and use my little reading light). I find that later at night, and earlier in the morning when the house is quieter, I am better able to think and process and the writing flows easier.

Now that this little area is set up fresh ... there shouldn't be any more excuses! 

Hopefully!

A Feature Wall On A Budget

Plain. Boring. Old. Ugly. These are the words that I would use to describe the wall in our main bedroom.  

See? ...

But, seeing as we're renting here, I couldn't go about changing the paint colour, as much as I would've liked to. I also wasn't wanting to spend a lot of money transforming this wall from ugly to beautiful. So, I headed out to visit my favourite shops in the world, op shops, to see what lovely bargains I could find among them!

I wanted the walls to have a personal feel. And so I decided to add some of my own artworks to the collage wall too. I only used canvas boards (the thin, flat ones) and two boxed canvases that I already had in my art cupboard and set to painting a couple of pieces. I scoured the house and found some paintings I did that were under our bed and have a 'history' in our relationship, so to speak. 

It is very possible to create a beautiful wall with very little cash spent at all. 

I absolutely love buying and making art for my home that hasn't broken the budget and adds the personal touches that tell the story of my family.

1. A favourite photograph of my man and I that I printed onto canvas paper and framed in a basic white frame. The frame doesn't even have glass in it! I like that though, as I can feel the texture of the canvas paper that way! 
2. A beautiful stitched piece that I found at Vinnie's, I only paid $5.00! I love the bright yellow happiness it adds to the room!
3. This cute little birds nest is, I think, the most expensive thing on this wall ... it is new, and was $7.00. Adding three-dimensional pieces was something that I really wanted to do, and the size of this nest is perfect.
4. My husbands initial. $5.00 chipboard letter, painted turquoise and stripped with black and white polka-dotted washi tape (I've got to put washi tape in there somewhere!)
5. Another piece that I drew using oil pastels and a light blue water colour wash for the background swirl. It's also in a glass-less frame & I like the reminder the verse gives us.
6. My husband loves sunsets and sunrises. So I painted this on a boxed canvas with acrylic paint to remind us that His mercies are new every morning.                                      
    
7. When we were dating, I painted this piece for my husband of the Twelve Apostles. I used oil paints on a flat canvas board. He loves the ocean, and he loves this painting too. I was actually going to get rid of it when the frame broke, but I'm so glad I didn't. It is something that we both love.
8. Another 3D little piece. A butterfly glass, lid thingy ... very technical name I know! It was only 20c at an op shop, so I don't really care about its name, it's just beautiful!
9. My initial. Chipboard letter painted cream and lined with a strip of yellow patterned washi tape and a thin strip of turquoise washi tape.
10. I really love trees. This is a simple little artwork that I painted, using acrylic paint and cotton buds! I already had the boxed canvas, so it cost nothing really!
11. A cute little country cottage that I painted on a tiny little canvas board with acrylic paints. I like that the lights are on inside the home, I imagine a family living in there all warm and snug.
12. Another 'tribute' to my husbands love of the ocean! This is a canvas that I painted at our children's school in an art lesson (before we began homeschooling). It is painted in acrylic and I just love it!
13. Last but not least ... a very cute little oil painting that I brought at an op-shop for $3.00. If you look closely you can see a lady sitting under the tree wearing a lovely dress. It is just peaceful and pretty, so I had to add it to the collage!

I love what Myquillyn Smith writes in her book 'The Nesting Place' ... "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" ... I think I tend to agree!

Have a lovely day!

(Linking up with Amaze Me Mondays)

Snaps of My Home

My home while I rest through the lens of my iPhone ...

But those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Hope you're having a beautiful week.