Rainy Day DIY Necklace!

Hi friends!

 Today it's been raining, which isn't too common here in Southern California. So I took advantage of the indoor weather, and decided to make a necklace inspired by a gorgeous piece I saw on Pinterest!

My oh-so-cute FREE Fabric Rose Necklace

Ok, so here's how to make it!

First, you start by making some Fabric Roses. I use a glue gun, twirl strips of fabric around the bud, gluing a couple of times here and there.

I then placed the roses how I wanted them to lay on a piece of felt and traced around them. After tracing, I cut on the inside of my line, so the felt would be slightly smaller than the actual rose necklace.

 I hot glued them onto the felt, and added two pieces of ribbon to the felt.

I made two cute little bows, and hot glued them on the ribbon (note--I originally was going to tie them onto the ribbon, but I couldn't get them to "sit straight" so I decided to just hot glue them on!)

 And there you have it! A super cheap, super easy fabric rose necklace!

 Seriously, I made it with materials I already had on hand, so it was basically FREE!!! WOOOHOOO!!!

 Happy Friday!!!

Valentine Burlap Banner

Hellllooooo everyone! How is the New Year going for you? 

 We're doing great! I'm excited to see what this year holds for our family--new years are always so much fun!

 So today I want to share with you this cute, simple banner I made. 

 My mantle was looking so pitiful after I took down my Christmas decorations. So I threw some stuff together, and left it alone. But the more I looked at it, the more I kept thinking that it needed SOMETHING extra....

 Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I thought this would be PERFECT!

 I printed out letters I found over at the delightful Shanty 2 Chic blog, and found some burlap remnants.

I cut out my letter triangles, traced the triangle with a slight overlap onto the burlap and cut out burlap triangles.

Using some twine, clothespins and my letters, I put this sweet banner up and BAM! Just what my mantle needed.

I noticed after taking these pictures that the bottom of the triangles were separating from the burlap, so I fixed that with my little ole glue gun.

 Lovin' it!

It's a New Year-2013

I don't make new year's resolutions. Simply because, I KNOW I'll never keep them. Lose weight, stop drinking Diet Coke (who would even WANT to do this?!), 32498732985723 projects for the house--you know, THOSE ones. I just don't go down that road.

 We rang in the new year watching a redbox movie and listening to illegal fireworks going off around our neighborhood (FANTASTIC, I KNOW!). I really wasn't feeling the new year vibe. 

Probably because this has been the hardest year of my life.

 So as I laid in bed at 1am, trying to fall asleep, I decided to make a "commitment" for this new year. No resolution; no goal--a commitment. 

I am going to commit 2013 to PRAYING FOR OTHERS MORE. I was totally convicted by the fact that I pray so much for myself or my current circumstances. But I'm not faithfully praying for others. And I NEED TO. Prayer is SO powerful, and definitely meant to be used for others. So there it is! I'm excited for the challenge, and look forward to seeing what God is going to do around me in other's lives!

Like I said, 2012 was by far the hardest year filled with a horribly painful trial. God has been refining me, and shaping me through it--most of the time, I've been struggling against it. But over the last month or so, I've actually been THANKFUL for the refining. It is helping me to see that I so needed to be walking a totally different pace in my walk--the way I was walking just wasn't cutting it. One area I'm working on is just living DAY BY DAY.....any more than that overwhelms me. That's just how I am. 

Yesterday morning, I was reading 2 verses that really stuck out to me--

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No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philippians 3:13-14

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WOW! This totally hit home for me. It applies to many areas in my life, and circumstances that occurred in 2012. 

So this will be my verse for 2013. Oh Lord, help me live for you and allow this verse to penetrate me to the very depths of my soul! 

 Happy New Year, my friends! 

May the Lord bless you abundantly this year, and may this be the year you grow closer to Him more than EVER!