The most effective way to do it is to do it – Amelia Earhart

Chalk Couture Basics

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I’m a crafty girl at heart and I found a new passion in Chalk Couture! A few months ago I became an Chalk Couture Independent Designer.

What is Chalk Couture? It’s a really easy and fun way of adding images and words to chalkboards and other surfaces using silk screen transfers and Chalk Paste. The transfers come already cut and ready to use. They are reusable so you can reuse them an all sorts of projects.

You can see in this video how easy it is to use these products

Here’s the finished chalkboard

I will be adding more how-to videos and I’ll show you how to use Chalk Couture Ink to add images to fabrics as well as ceramic’s.

Have questions? Leave a comment below and I’ll answer them 😊

Hope you find this helpful!

Cindy

Painting Cabinets

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Are you thinking about painting cabinets in your home?

We have cabinets in our family room and for several years I’ve been planning to paint them. I finally found some time to work on them and finished them this week! Because I’ve had lots of time to think about it I’ve had several different ideas for these cabinets. I landed in painting them blue and adding hardware.

Annie Sloan has several blues and I changed my mind a few times on which blue to use. I hadn’t used Annie Sloan Old Violet before so I bought a sample size and tried it on a smaller piece. I was worried it might have a lavender feel to it and I didn’t want any purple undertones. Although it’s call Old Violet it doesn’t look purple. It’s actually a lovely medium blue that adds some color but isn’t overwhelming.

The cabinets in the family room are the same as the ones in our kitchen. They are oak and were stained a yellow/orange color. I painted my kitchen cabinets and was ready to get rid of the yellow/orange color in the family room as well.

Just your basic cabinets. Time for a change.

I still wanted the top to be a stained wood but I wanted a different stain color so I sanded them down.

I usually sand things outside but obviously I couldn’t do that. So there was a mess to clean up after I blew saw dust all over my family room. 🙄 I tired a couple of different stains and ended up using Minwax Early American. I used 2 coates of polyurethane to seal it and then started painting. Cabinets take some time to paint. This project took several days. There’s a lot of surface space and it also involves taking the doors off and the drawers out. If there had been hardware I would have removed that as well. I know not everyone paints the inside of the doors but I do and here’s why. When I open a cabinet I want it to feel finished. The insides of my cabinets are white so I didn’t paint them.

I didn’t paint the backs of the drawer fronts because they are attached to the drawer and you don’t easily see it like the inside of a cabinet door. If you are painting your cabinets you can decide how you want to handle this.

Next I had to decide on drawer pulls. I debated on adding gold or black drawer pulls. I decided on black because I generally go more traditional. I also felt the black was more lasting. I have gold accents in my home but I think black will be easier to work with as styles change. I’ll be adding the same drawer pulls to my kitchen cabinets. Adding these pulls was also time consuming. Anytime you have to add a couple of holes to furniture or cabinets there’s a lot of measuring and double checking. No one wants to patch a mistake.

A lot goes into changing cabinets but a little paint and elbow grease gives you a whole new look.

I painted these without distressing them. I sealed the  halk paint with Annie Sloan Clear Wax. I think the paint color and stain color compliment each other well and fit with the look of the room.

Painting cabinets will take you some time but you’ll save a lot of money compared to the price of replacing them. And you can customize them to get the look you want. It’s definitely worth the effort.

If you’re thinking about painting your cabinets I hope this is helpful. If you have any other questions I can answer, leave a comment below.

Thanks for taking a minute to read my blog. Take a minute to brows around for more tips on painting with chalk paint!

Cindy

Kitchen Reclaimed Wood Sign

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I like to change up the decorations in my home. My husband doesn’t fully understand why I would change out one decoration for another, but he usually just goes with it. 😉 The most recent area to get a make over is a wall in my kitchen around the french doors that go to our back yard. This was what was there before.

 

Styles change, and even though I still like the wall decorations that were up, I wanted to change things. I’ve always really liked those pictures so I kept them and hung them on a different wall. I may paint the frames, but still thinking about that.

If you know me you know I LOVE Decor Steals! If you haven’t heard of decorsteals.com go check them out. They sell loads of cute farmhouse style home decor. I purchased a huge fork and spoon and a mug holder from them and they went up in place of the plate hanger and pictures. But I needed something to go above the door so I started brainstorming ideas.

I recently started selling Chalk Couture and wanted to use one of their transfers to make a sign. I’ll fill you in on how to use Chalk Couture in another post but they sell silk screen transfers and chalk paste. The one I purchased to use for the sign I wanted to make is the “Its so good to be home” transfer. I’ll show you that in a moment but I needed to decide what kind of a sign to make first.

I decided on a reclaimed wood sign. I saw a tutorial on YouTube and followed it. You can see that here

I went to Home Depot to find wood. I wanted to compare prices and see what was cut in 1 x 4. I needed the sign to be about 12 inches tall so 3 boards in that size would be perfect. I found raw wood that I would need to stain and paint and some that was rougher and already stained. It was more expensive, but was going to require less work on my part, so I went with the already stained wood.

Home Depot will cut the wood for you so I measured my area before heading over there and asked them to cut that for me. I cut 3 pieces 54 inches long and then they measured those pieces side by side to get the length of the smaller pieces for me. Even though the boards were marked as 1 x 4 they were actually about 3 1/2 inches wide so I’m glad I had them measure for me to get the smaller pieces cut just right. Once I got them home I laid the longer pieces out side by side and upside down. I measured the transfer I would be using to see how much area I would need for the words I would be putting on the sign. And then made sure the small wood  pieces that would be holding the larger pieces in place were spaced right. I set the smaller pieces under the longer pieces and carefully measured to make sure they were all even and the same length apart on each end.

 

I used the power drill to make pilot holes before screwing the boards together. As you can see from the pictures I put the screws in from the back side so you can’t see them from the front. This was easy and the wood was ready to be painted.

I used Annie Sloan Old White and I only applied 1 coat. I thinned it out with a little water so it didn’t go on thick. I sanded it with a power sander and then it was time for the words.

 

After I used the silk screen transfer to put the words on I wet distressed the whole thing to show more of the grey stain. I used Rustoleum Clear Topcoat to seal the paint and the Chalk Couture Chalkology Paste. It was ready to be hung on the wall. I had my husband help me with this and we used long screws to screw it right into the wall.

 

I’m really happy with the way it all came together!

I don’t often build things but it was fun to make this easy, simple sign. Maybe I’ll try building something else. 😉 Also watch for a post on how to use the Chalk Couture products! I’ll post one in a few days and link it here to you can see how I did that.

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think of my sign or if you have any questions. Hope you found this helpful!

Thanks for taking a few minutes to read my post.

Cindy

Decluttering the KonMari Way – Clothing

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Last month I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

 

And as it turns out I’m a HOARDER! Not like the people on the show Hoarders (love that show) but I have been hoarding things I don’t need for years!!

I asked for some idea’s on organizing last month on Instagram and I got some good suggestions. Don’t try to do it all in one day, was some good advice cuz several hours of organizing will drive a person a little nutty. I’d never heard of The Flylady before but she’s got some great stuff for organizing and cleaning. A few people suggested I read Marie Kondo’s book so I bought it and read it. It’s a quick read, I read it in 24 hours. It’s simple and to the point and I suggest reading it all the way through before you start de-cluttering your home.

De-cluttering has been something that’s needed to happen in our home for a while. For many of us there are all sorts of reasons our homes get cluttered. For me it’s that I hate to organize, clean and de-clutter. 😂Am I the only one?  And busy life always gives me a reason to put those aside for a while. I’ve been fairly good at hiding most of my clutter in closets and drawers but it’s always a reminder that my home isn’t as clean and organized at I would like. And let’s be honest, if your home is cluttered it makes everyday day life more difficult. I am the queen of “I know it’s here somewhere – let me go find it”! Ugh!! I HATE those moments. As the mom in the home it’s almost always on me to be the one to find whatever’s missing in the never ending clutter pit.

Lets get back to my hoard shall we. I’m not actually a hoarder. Really. I’m not. But as much as I think I’m good at getting rid of stuff (compared to an actual hoarder) I still have way more stuff than I should or need. And of all the things I learned from this book, it was that.

I’ll be doing a few posts about the KonMari method (yup it’s a method) but today’s post will focus on clothing. I do want to tell you a few other things about the book so you can understand a little more about the method she uses. Her philosophy on cleaning and organizing is not like anything I’ve ever heard or read about. She’s been learning about, and practicing organizing since she was a young child. She’s come to the conclusion that you should only keep things that “spark joy”. And she has a very specific way of doing that. And some interesting ways of discovering what brings you joy. The reason I suggest you read her book cover to cover is so you can understand how to do this.

I’ve de-cluttered and organized my home lots of times before, but after reading her book I found it much easier to discard so much more than I usually do. She gives you permission to throw things out or donate things you’ve felt guilty getting rid of in the past. She goes into depth on how it will make your life easier to only keep the things that spark joy, even if you find that something you discarded you may have used. There is a trade off to possibly getting rid of something that later may’ve been useful and living each day in a home that is organized with only items that bring joy.

Marie has a specific order of where to start in your home. Clothing is first. She tells you to pull everything of the same category out and into a big pile. I know that sounds a bit crazy, but the idea is to see what you have. So I started with tops.

She wants you to hold each thing in your hand and ask yourself “does this spark joy?”. If it doesn’t, you thank it for its usefulness and discard it. No I did not thank each thing personally for being useful, but I did decide to go in with a feeling of gratitude for all of the things I discarded. Now you should know that only about 2 months ago I went through my closet and filled a bag for donation, but I was amazed at how much more I let go after reading her book, and seeing how much I had all laid out.

Those 2 laundry baskets are just my tops. (I haven’t tackled anyone else in my homes clothing yet. It’s coming!) Next I laid out all my pants, shorts and skirts.

I continued this until each category of clothing and accessories had been laid out and gone through. It does take a while but when you actually pick up each item and hold it, you can determine if it’s something you want or something you just keep holding onto. She does talk about keeping clothing and other items for sentimental reasons and I had some of those. The ones I’d been holding onto that made me smile I kept and the ones that didn’t, I said goodbye to. There were only a few items that I kept that I knew I wouldn’t wear again but that still sparked joy. In fact a few of them brought me to tears when I thought about giving them away. Those are keepers, and I believe there was only 4 pieces of clothing that fit that description.

One of my favorite things about this book was the idea of getting rid of things that I had been holding onto because I felt guilty about getting rid of them. Lots of those items included things I only wore a few times. I always felt that I needed to hang on to those because I hadn’t “gotten my money’s worth” out of it. That isn’t part of my consideration when deciding what to keep and what needs to go anymore. Here’s the pile of just my clothing items I donated, and other items from my closet I threw away.

Amazing! I mean I was really amazed at the amount of stuff I felt good about getting rid of. I actually can’t understand why I ever felt the need to hang onto anything that I don’t love. Or at least use on a regular basis. It felt so good to put this huge pile into my GMC and drop it off at the local donation center.

Ok so lets talk just a little bit about the organizing method of Marie Kondo. First I did not follow all of her rules for organizing. I think as you read this book you will find the things that work for you, which may be following it completely, and not using what doesn’t work. Although don’t tell her I told you to change any of her methods because you will see from her book she wouldn’t like that!

She has a whole folding method that didn’t work for me. I have some of my cloths in an armoire so folding everything and “filing” it away just didn’t work. I did try. It didn’t spark joy! 😉 She has some video’s on Youtube you can watch to see how to do it. I did use her method for my socks and underwear drawer. Here’s my socks.

 

See how they are all folded and filed away. If you are better at this than I am all of our drawers can look like this. It really does make it easier to see each pair all folded and filed, than rolling them into balls and throwing them in the drawer. I may try to get better at this and try again with my other items.

Here are some before and afters of my closet

I use to have all my shoes in two of those shoe racks that hang from the rod. I like this much better because I can see everything. Part of her philosophy is you should be able to see everything so you know what you have, and then things don’t get forgotten.

Here’s my armoire before and after’s

Gotta get the hubby to work on his stuff. 😉 I also spend an afternoon going through my jewelry. I didn’t take a before picture but I will show you the bags of stuff I donated.

This is a great example of being able to see what you have when you discard the stuff that doesn’t bring you joy. I think jewelry has been the hardest for me to de-clutter because I always think I may want to wear it again. I never do, and it was making it hard for me to see what I did have. I found a pair of earrings I thought were lost because I couldn’t see them in all the cluttered jewelry mess.

Marie Kondo says in the book that it will probably take about 6 months to complete the de-cluttering and organizing. So as I go along and continue this journey I will add more posts and let you know how it’s going. I am currently in the middle of my office/paperwork/book de-cluttering. Seriously I can’t believe the stuff I’m finding there. (this may be why I feel like a hoarder 😉)

In the mean time grab a copy of her book and give it a try. You will find a link at the bottom of the post to purchase the book through Amazon.

Let me know if you have any questions about this or if you have tried the KonMari method of de-cluttering and organizing. I would love to hear from you. And if you want to see more posts like this sign for my emails so you don’t miss anything.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I hope you found this helpful.

Cindy

 

 

 

Updating Home Accents with Chalk Paint

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We have built in shelves in our family room and they’re in the process of getting a makeover. I’ve changed out a few pieces but I want to keep a few and give them an update. Chalk Paint can be used on most surfaces including plastic, glass, veneer, metal and of course wood. I have a small decorative  chest that’s been on our shelf for several years. This was the first piece to get a makeover.

I’m going with lighter color decorations and accent pieces so the dark brown wasn’t working anymore.

I used a mix of Annie Sloan Old White and Pure White. After painting the first coat the stain from the wood and faux leather started bleeding though so I sprayed it with shellac before putting on the second coat. Shellac or a polyurethane will stop stain from penetrating/bleeding through the porous chalk paint.

This chest is made of wood, faux leather and metal. The chalk paint adheres to all of it. I used sand paper to distress the chest, then sealed the paint with Annie Sloan Clear Wax.

Not a brand new piece but a brand new look for my shelf.

Several more pieces will be getting a makeover including the cupboards. Chalk paint is a great way to keep what you have but get a different look. The cost to paint a small piece is much less than buying a new one. And you can customize it to get the look you want.

Stay tuned to see the final results of my shelf makeover. Sign up for emails to see future blog posts.

Thanks for stopping by

Cindy

 

Easy Christmas Garland for your Staircase

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When we moved into this house one of my favorite area’s of the home was our entryway. I love a grand staircase in the entryway of a home. My staircase isn’t grand but I love it. If you’ve read my blog before you may remember reading my post Painting and staining our stair railing  from about a year ago. It was a big job but made a huge difference in the look of our entryway. I’ve decorated our staircase at Christmas time for the past few years but this year I decided to change it.

Everyone loves a staircase decorated with beautiful lighted garland. What I don’t love is the price of the beautiful lighted garland. So instead of buying the ready made decorated and lighted garland I set out to make my own.

I discovered these cute little battery operated copper wire fairy lights on Amazon and bought a few. They immediately went up in a several places in my home, and then I purchased more. They come in a 6 pack on Amazon for $10 and the batteries are included. For small lights they are nice and  bright. Here’s a link to the ones I used if you are interested in buying them. (If you don’t see the link below, click on post header to open this post)

 

I found some inexpensive artificial Christmas garland at Hobby Lobby for $9.99, but they sell all holiday items for 50% off so each strand was only $5. I used 3 1/2 of those for my staircase. I also bought burlap and small gold and white Christmas bulbs at Hobby Lobby. I already had jute cord and that was all I needed.

I had to cut the garland for the short railing. The artificial garland has wire loops on each end so they string together for longer area’s. It’s wire throughout so you can shape it how you want it to hang on the stair railing.  Then I used the jute cord to tie the garland on.

I tied big bows because I wanted this to have a bit of a farmhouse look to it, and the big floppy bow and long curly strands add to that look. Once that was on I used the burlap to make simple large bows. I used the 5.5 inch wide size for the bows and tied them to the posts.

I wound the lights into the garland and hid the small white battery pack on the inside of the garland so it couldn’t be seen, but was easily accessible . Lastly I hung small ornaments all along the garland.

I did this on the stair railing going up stairs and along the railing across the upstairs hallway.

I used the burlap and gold and white ornaments so the decorations on the staircase would coordinate with the decorations on my Christmas tree.

In all I spend around $50 for the garland and decorations for my staircase. Not too bad!

It’s the first thing people see when they come to visit and I am really happy with it. It took a little time to get it up, but it was very easy and the price was right!

You could change up the burlap for ribbon and use a different color cord or ribbon to attach the artificial garland to the stair railing to get a different look.

If you found this helpful I would love to hear from you. I appreciate the feedback. Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog.

Happy Holiday’s!

Cindy

DIY Snow Globe

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Today I’m going to show you how I used a yogurt jar to make handmade snow globes. A few months back I spotted the Oui by Yoplait Yogurt at the store and decided to try it out. (It’s yummy by the way.) But I kinda bought it for the jar. 😉 They are so tiny and cute!! I saved several jars and decided to use them to make waterless snow globes. I took the label off, washed them and used Goof Off to clean them up.

I bought a few small wood slices, a little bit wider than the jar to use for the base, and some snowflakes at Hobby Lobby. I also bought a small package of Christmas buttons for crafting. I positioned the buttons where I wanted them and used a hot glue gun to glue them to the wood slices. I added just a little bit of the snow flakes to the inside of the jar and then put a ring of hot glue around the open edge of the jar and carefully set the wood slice on the jar. I turned it over once the glue was set and had myself a little waterless snow globe.

That was kind of my tester and I did the rest of them a little different. I really like the cute bottle brush trees so I ordered some of those on line. Then while out shopping I came upon some really cute wood trees and bought those.

I needed the bottle brush trees to be shorter so I took the gold base off the bottom and used wire cutters to cut the tree down. I trimmed the “branches” from the bottom so there was enough wire sticking out to place it back on the base. I then used a small amount of hot glue to secure it back into the same hole.

I made a few of these using both the bottle brush trees as well as the wood trees and glued them to the wood slice. Make sure it will fit into the jar you are using before you glue them down to the base. I again only used a small amount of snow to just cover the bottom of the globe. You want to be able to see the tree’s and not cover them.

After I glued it to the base I used a little Buffalo Plaid Ribbon that I also found at Hobby Lobby and glued that around the base of the jar.

I wanted some variety so I decided to change it up a little and turn the jar right side up and add some fabric to the top of the snow globe to give it an old fashion jelly jar look. I glued the tree’s to the bottom of the jar this time, added the snow and then used a round piece of fabric on the top. I pre-measured and cut the fabric so it would fit the way I wanted it to.

I once again put a ring of glue along the top ridge of the jar and set the fabric in place. Then I added more glue to keep the edges of the fabric down. To finish it off I used the Buffalo Plaid Ribbon around the top of the jar and tied it in a bow on the back.

This is a fun and easy Christmas craft you can do with your kids. These would make great teacher gifts or neighbor gifts as well. You can be creative and use different items to create the scene you want in your snow globe. It was quick, easy and inexpensive. The Yoplait jars worked great but baby food jars or larger canning jars would work as well.

I hope you found this helpful. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by to take a look. And if you are interested, please sign up for my emails to see more posts like this one.

Cindy

Removing Damaged Veneer

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During one of my Estate Sale shopping trips I found an old Victrola record cabinet that needed some fixing up. About a quarter of the veneer on the top of the cabinet was missing. A chunk of wood was also missing on one of the doors on the front.

For the door I had to take out the old screw and add a longer one so it would connect from the bottom of the hinge into the wood that wasn’t damaged. My first attempt didn’t work but I eventually was able to get a long enough screw into place so whe door would open and close with the hinge.

I used wood putty and sanded it so I could paint over it.

Back to the veneer top. I’ve used wood putty to fix veneer before but this area was too big to fix so it needed to come off. I tried just scraping it but quickly realized that wasn’t going to work. So I did a quick search on Pinterest and found a solution.

I took an old towel and got it wet and laid it over the veneer I wanted to remove. Be careful not to get any veneer you don’t want to remove wet. You don’t want any warping on veneer you want to keep. I would scrape off the parts that would come off easily and then lay the towel back down and spray it with a water bottle to let it soak into the veneer. I had to do this a few times. The towel needs to be pretty wet, not dripping wet but almost. I would let it sit for about an hour to let it get into and under the veneer. The glue holding the veneer down will soften up making it easier to scrape off. You can see from the picture I just used a putty knife.

This method worked really well for me, and then I just needed to sand it down for a smooth finish and paint it!

I painted this one Annie Sloan Napoleonic Blue. I finished it with clear wax and added Annie Sloan Bright Silver Gilding Wax to some of the edges. I replaced the old pulls with small glass door pulls to finish the look I wanted.

The record player had been removed from the inside so it makes a great storage cabinet.

I love taking taking an old piece of furniture and fixing it up so it’s beautiful and ready to be used again.

Hope you find this helpful. And thanks for stopping by. If you want to see more transformations and helpful hints take a minute to sign up for my emails.

Cindy

My Miracle Morning Transformation

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About 2 years ago I started this blog. I was starting to paint furniture and work on some projects around my home. I often read other blogs to find ideas and how to’s and thought I would like to start my own blog and share what I’d learned. As I was brainstorming a name for my blog (this is harder than you might think) I was struggling to come up with just the right one. I knew I would blog about some of the projects I would be working on but I also thought I might want to blog about more than just pieces I painted or fixed up, or rooms I was transforming. I knew at that time I wanted to do some self improving as well. So the name The Cindy Project was born. Well to be honest I’m not the only one to come up with this clearly unique name. 😉 Apparently there are a few Cindy’s out there who project. But I own the .com sooo…..😊

Anyhoo I chose this name because I am the project. I am the one learning new things and working to improve who I am. At least that’s the goal! And a few months ago I found my way to a book called The Miracle Morning. You may have read my post back in August about Motivation. I was looking for somewhere to start and get motivated and I felt I’d found it. Since then a lot’s happened. I would like to share some of it with you.

 

If you haven’t heard of The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod (I hadn’t until a few months ago) it’s a motivational book on transforming your life before 8am. Ya so not really a morning person.

Like at all.

I just watched a Seinfeld episode where he jokes about night time guy sabotaging morning guy (gal in my case). But that “joke” is something I completely relate to. My nighttime gal really likes to hang out way past her welcome. Morning gal doesn’t like nighttime gal. So my mornings have never been a huge success and I didn’t really like that about myself. It was time for a change.

So I started reading. And this is some of what I learned.

Mornings don’t have to be the dreaded time of the day. They really have been for me in the past. I would hit snooze more than once and drag myself out of bed while I told myself I was going to do everything I could to get myself back in bed as soon as possible. Morning naps were happening more often than I would like to admit. (don’t judge – I’m a Taurus and we like our naps – even in the morning) Now, with a little direction and determination, I’m learning that mornings are the time of the day to plan, get motivated, learn and go. It’s a weird thing to wake up in the morning excited to start my routine but most mornings that’s how I wake up. Ok so I realize this isn’t exactly ground breaking or even a new concept, but for me it’s brought about some real changes as well as some accomplishments. And morning naps are a thing of the past (unless I’m on vacation and then all bets are off).

I’m also finding that the planner I’ve always had a hard time using, is becoming very useful. Am I the only one who keeps buying a cute planner and cute planner accessories but doesn’t really use that cute planner? Weeks would go by and I would pick up my dusty planner to plan out my week and a couple of weeks later it was collecting dust again. Now my mornings start with planner in hand and I actually use it to plan my days and weeks. No more dust!

Along with my planner, my day also starts with my Miracle Morning Journal. I opted not to buy the official Miracle Morning Journal because I wanted to make my own. You know, so it would be kinda cute! 😍 But whether you use the official journal or your own, it helps to have a place to keep yourself accountable. I like to check things off. It makes me feel accomplished and helps me see my progress! So everyday I check off my Miracle Morning Life S.A.V.E.R.S.

What are Life SAVERS you ask? It’s the steps you take in the morning to get your day off in the right direction.

 

S. – Silence

A. – Affirmations

V. – Visualization

E. – Excercise

R. – Reading

S. – Scribing

Here’s a picture of my Miracle Morning Journal. You can see how I set mine up.

When you read the book it gives a detailed description of how to use each of these steps to get you ready for the day. I tweaked a few of them to work a little better for me. For example I’ve chosen to make my morning Reading my scripture study time. I’ve always wanted to make daily scripture study a habit but too often I’ve fallen short. Now I start every day with scriptures as well as reading other books or something on line I’m wanting to learn more about. It’s amazing how much easier it is to reach my goal of daily scripture study when I’ve set time aside for it each day, and made it part of a routine.

Something else I added to Visualization is a Vision Board. A Vision Board is a place you add pictures or words of goals you are working towards. Having pictures and words to look at have helped me keep my priorities in order as well as motivating me to work towards those goals. I’ll do another post on Vision Boards soon, so watch for that. It’s been a really good motivator and I think everyone can benefit from creating one.

Why am I doing all of this and why am I telling you about it? I believe life is a journey of learning and growth. I believe we are here to experience life to the fullest and it is our responsibility to find ways to improve ourselves and our talents. I’m sure you’ve felt that desire to do something more, something new or something meaningful. I’d felt that way for quite some time and I think that’s what put me on the path to finding not just this book, but other people in my life who can teach me to reach my goals and learn new skills.

There’s a quote in the book that’s always been one of my favorites. It’s by Marianne Williamson

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” 

I love this! We often have a tendency to belittle our talents or our own worth. But if we are honest with ourselves then we know that is not why we are here or what life is about. We’re meant to find our full potential and live that life. I use my daily Affirmations to remind myself that I can reach the goals I set for myself. I remind myself I can do hard things. For the last several months I’ve said them to myself every single day, and I see in myself a positive change. I still have a lot to work on, but I am now on a path that will get me where I want to be.

If you are looking to make some changes in your life I can honestly say The Miracle Morning is a good start. But whatever you do, making a few changes, starting some new positive habits or learning some new skills will bring positive change to your life.  If you don’t like where you are, change up what you are doing. Nothing will change if you don’t make a change. Another quote from the book that rang true to me is a quote by Neale Donald Walsh

Life Begins at the end of your comfort zone.

Boy this was a hard one for me to learn. But for the past few years this has been how I’m trying to live my life. I don’t have to tell you how easy it is to stay in your comfort zone. But you’ve probably learned most of what there is to learn in your comfort zone. There is so much more outside of that. So much more you can accomplish if you allow yourself to feel uncomfortable. I can tell you I would not be writing a blog if I hadn’t taken that step to the outside. I may not be the best writer but I do have a few things I can share and in sharing I continue to learn as well.

I hope you found this helpful. I will continue to write posts and share some of the things I’m learning as well as some of the positive changes that are happening for me. I would really love to hear from you. Please share your experiences, thoughts or questions in the comments. I’m on the search for more great books or resources to help me on my journey and I would love some suggestions on what works for you. As I said in my previous post on motivation, if you are reading this you are one of my accountability people. And if you like this post and would like to hear more, please sign up for my emails.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post

Cindy

Chalk Painted Gourds

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You know those little plastic cheap gourds you buy in a bag for the fall holidays. I decided to paint mine. I saw a few posts on Pinterest and decided to try it. One of the things I learned is you need to shellac the pumpkins and gourds before you paint them.

You can see that I started painting a few of them, but I was getting a lot of bleed through. So a few coats of shellac was required to stop that.

I picked 3 colors to paint these gourds. Old White, Old Violet and some left over custom color I still had from a previous project.

Another fun idea to change up those plastic pumpkins is to use Fabric Tape.

I painted these ones white so the orange wouldn’t show through. But you don’t have to paint them if you like the orange showing through a little bit. The posibilities are endless with fabric tape.

I gave the painted gourds a coat of clear wax that gives them a silky, matte finish.

If you want to give those cheap plastic gourds a make over to match your home decor this is an easy project. There is a little time commitment but well worth the effort.

Happy fall holidays to everyone!

Cindy