What To Do If You Don't Have a Cricut

If you love subway art,

but you don't have a cricut,

and all your sticky letters are too small or have permanent adhesive,

and you don't find out that there really is a place in your town that makes engineer prints until weeks later,

and you tend to be impatient and make a lot of mistakes,

(all photos belong to dwellinginthehouse.  Thanks so much!)

make your subway sign on a chalkboard.

You're welcome.

Happy Friday!

(Won't be around here much next week; summer is slipping away, and I'm focusing on my family!)

Be blessed,

Ginger

Linking up at 5 Days 5 Ways, At the Picket Fence, and Stuff and Nonsense

Currently

The house at 7:34 am...

Loving

...having my man back home from Belize, where he passed out Bibles ,and shared the gospel, and killed tarantulas.

...the James Bible study; God is shifting my thinking, convicting me, making me uncomfortable about a lot of my habits and thought-life--and I pray I never forget how it feels.

...fresh vegetables for supper, some of which Big Red grew in his amazing, I'm-a-rock-star raised beds.

...coffee with half-and-half.

Planning 

...meals for our last-minute beach trip and for the freezer as we go back to school in a few weeks

...coordinated, purposeful classroom decor; I'll enjoy it more, even if the middle-schoolers never notice.

Hoping

...for a more organized and positive school year.  Praying lots about this!

...for a 50mm lens for my camera (maybe someday!)

Listening

...to the washing machine and the air conditioner and thanking the Lord for electricity

Experimenting

...with drying apples in the oven

...with a cookbook from the library (orange-rosemary biscuits on the menu tonight)

How's your day?

Ginger

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Have I mentioned that I love Pinterest?

Big Red doesn't "get" Pinterest, but he does love that the bookmarks tab no longer has 8,000 saved items.

So far, Pinterest has served more to motivate me than to make me discontent, so I'm thankful for that!

Here's a few of our copycat ideas for the summer:

(Original on the left, our version on the right)

Bookmark

Message Board; Big Red's Father's Day gift

Garden Markers

Picture frame turned Menu Board; the frame had been gathering dust under my bed for years--love this one!

Button Snowmen Tags--Christmas in July!

 We have a few more in progress, and several more that will probably be weekend projects after school starts in just a few weeks!

Eek!

That would  be why my "school" pinboard is gigantic.

Thank you, creative geniuses!  Those of us with no original ideas appreciate you so much.

Be blessed (and happy pinning),

Ginger

Scripture and a Snapshot: For those who love Him

     It's taken me two months, but I've memorized James 1.

     Sometimes it sounds like it's in the GMMV--Ginger's Mixed-Up Memory Version--an  amalgamation of different versions of the Bible I've studied over the years.

     I stumbled over James 1:12 when I was learning it.

    My teacher-perfectionist brain wanted to say something like, "...he will receive the crown of life God has promised to those who

ace the test!

pass with flying colors!

meet or exceed the standard!"

But it doesn't say any of those things.

It says,"When he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life God has promised to those who love Him."

To those who love Him.

Several times this week, as my husband has been standing his test, I've lain in bed at night with tears saying yes to His will, even if it scared me a little. A lot.

A friend told me that I was allowed to pray "wife prayers" this week, the ones that rarely get further than,"Keep him safe."  

As we count down the hours today until Big Red's plane lands, I want to have stood the test so that I can share in what Christ has done through him this week.

copyright@2012dwellinginthehouse.blogspot

Be blessed,

Ginger

Linking up at Scripture and a Snapshot

Impulsive Kitchen Mini-Makeover

So...what do you do when your hubs in on the verge of a great challenge, your kids are away at camp, and you have about a million things on your to-do list?
You decide to "quickly" paint your base kitchen cabinets.
'Cause, you know, it's only the bottom cabinets, and that really isn't a lot, and it'll only take you a day or so, right?
Well.
Not.
However, not-what-I-expected still turned out beautifully.
I love, love, love white cabinets, and lightening and brightening is always our first goal in any home redo.  We're the people that paint all our trim white and put in extra windows, and never hang curtains.
Reality check.
I love to cook.
My teens love to cook.
We are messy.
Hmm....
Cooks+mess+white=gross cabinets
All.the.time.
After a few years of Spic-and-Span and magic eraser scrub-downs, I spotted the aforementioned inspiration photo:

 

Dreamy, but what if the red made my house too dark?
Too...red?
So I let myself get distracted and chose a shade of green from the same family as the wall color.
Slightly deeper, with a glaze on top--sure to be gorgeous.
We painted a small spot on one door, declared our choice brilliant, and went to Lowe's.
Lesson #1 in cabinet painting: use the WHOLE sample jar.
"Slightly deeper" turned out to be "much, much brighter", and that was so not lovely.
(A good blogger would have documented all this, but remember, this was an impulsive project.)
It was Big Red who convinced me after one cabinet section to switch to, well, red.
Lesson #2: Color looks different in Lowe's than it does at home.  Pray hard.

After agonizing in the paint section for a loonngg time, I took a deep breath, chose the one red that didn't seem to turn purple or orange under the light box thingie, and brought it home.
Success.

 

Told you to pray.
Lesson #3: The rainiest, stormiest week of the summer is not a good painting week.

Lesson#4: Even if the Lowe's guy tells you not to buy primer, you need primer.  I learned this four coats later.
Lesson#5: Stress=deliberately distressing four coats of paint.

Lesson#6: Messy cook happiness= deliberately distressed cabinets topped with mocha glaze.
("It'll look like melted chocolate ice cream poured over your cabinets," warned the Lowe's man. 
"Oh, goody," thought I,"it'll match the other drips.")
Kind of like buying flooring the color of your dirt, which is my best-ever decorating advice.

Notice that I didn't crop the counter mess out of this photo.  We really are messy cooks.

 The color doesn't suck the light out of the room and doesn't overwhelm my house with red.  It just fits.
Of course, this project makes me want to put a fresh coat (one coat)on the top cabinets, create some open shelving somewhere, etc.  So far I'm resisting the impulse.
What's your best impulsive project?
Be blessed today,

Ginger
 

Glory, glory to His Name

I have some other things on my heart to post, but then I woke up this morning singing this song, and somehow it just seemed to be the word for today.

"My Covering" by Watermark.

I died in Your death my Lord
Glory, glory to Your name

Buried in the grave with You
Glory, glory to Your name

And I arose with You my Lord
Glory, glory to Your name!

Your blood is my covering
My sheltering, where life comes from

Your blood is my innocence
My righteousness, where I begin

Once so far, I am brought near
Glory, glory to Your name

Raised and seated up with You
Glory, glory to Your name

And reconciled to God in You
Glory, glory to Your name!

Death has no victory
Sin has no hold on me
I'm covered in my Christ who is my life!

And I arose with You my Lord
Glory, glory to Your name
Glory, glory to Your name!

And Your blood is my covering
Oh Lord it's where I begin

Your life, Your love
Your blood falls over me

And Your blood is my covering
Your love it falls over me
And Your blood is my covering

Hello, Monday (Afternoon edition)

Hello, Monday afternoon!

My day started slow (too little sleep this weekend), so no early intelligent thought took place before 10:00 or so.

Hello, sunny mornings/rainy afternoons.  I like you, but your buddies heat and humidity can go away any time.

Hello, squash!

I need to increase my repertoire of recipes with you.

Hello, red cabinets!  

I'm so glad we added that mocha glaze, especially when I spilled a whole cup of coffee down the front of you this morning.

Hello, VBS week.  My girls are excited to be workers and are praying for specific things about you.

Hello, prayers for Big Red.

  

I'm not ready to say why here, but this godly man is stepping out in faith and walking in one of most challenging situations he's ever experienced.  

I love him.

How's your Monday afternoon?

Be blessed,

Ginger

Project: Great Big Stinkin' Mess

Hi, y'all.

Our small trip out of town for the 4th turned into a long bloggy break when we returned home to a very ill computer.  

She required extensive medical intervention.  

In the meantime, I've gotten myself into a great big project mess.

You know, the kind when you think, "This will just take a couple of days!  I'll whip this out, and it'll be easy!"

Yeah, that kind.

I'm painting my kitchen cabinets--just the bottom half, which is what lured me into believing this would be simple.

My camera card got left behind at the computer repair store, or I'd show you the effects of Hurricane Bright Idea on my kitchen.

Did I mention people are coming over tomorrow night???

The good news?

After our-ahem-second trip to Lowe's to choose a color--

I think I'm in love.

Here's the inspiration picture:

 

 Stay tuned for the finished product--though it will take a few days!

Be blessed,

Ginger

 

Hello, Monday!

Hello, Monday!

Hello, week after Ladies' Gathering!  You're always a time of resting and regrouping and talking to God about what happened.  

Hello, more heat.  Wish we were saying goodbye, but it looks like you're planning to wear out your welcome.

Hello,rain.  Don't be shy!  Show up with billions (and billions) of your raindrop buddies!  We need you.  (P.S. The thunder and lightening that came with you last night can stay home.  Really.)

Hello, Asheville!  Can't wait to see you (and mostly the family that lives there)this week.

Hello, 4th of July!  You've always been one of my favorite holidays, and this year, you inspire me to pray (hard and without ceasing)for my country.

Hello, last mile of my walk.  I like you.  There's coffee at the end of you.

Be blessed,

Ginger 
Linking up here.