Family

Ep50 Held In His Hand – God’s Provision and Protection

(opens in new tab) This week’s podcast isn’t about painting furniture or building a business. It’s about one ordinary day that suddenly wasn’t so ordinary anymore. What started as a weekend at the campground turned into a long drive home with a vehicle that simply refused to cooperate. More than once, we wondered if we’d make it home at all.  Friends prayed. Family checked in. Mechanics did what they could. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, I found myself watching God quietly work through the people and circumstances around us. He didn’t instantly remove the problem. He walked us through it. Looking back, I can see so many small moments that could have gone differently. The timing. The people who answered the phone. The place where the vehicle finally stopped. Even arriving home exactly when we needed to. When we’re living through difficult circumstances, it would be … Read more

[VIDEO] Get PRO Results (Part 7) – How-to Minimize Brush Strokes When Priming

[VIDEO] Get PRO Results Furniture Painting Tips for Beginners >> Part 7 << The video below is the seventh in a mini series sharing some PRO tips about furniture painting. Below are the direct links to the videos on Youtube ICYMI. Video #1: 14 Furniture Painting Tips Video #2: 7 Furniture Painting Tips Video #3: 3 Methods for Painting Furniture Without Tape Video #4: How to Paint Crisp Lines w/ Tape Video #5: How to Close Paint Lids Properly Video #6: How to Strain Oil-based Primer   Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel while you’re there. Link to my video on Youtube if video doesn’t play: https://youtu.be/YYSmh1vlNLE The Method explained in the video: 7 Tips for getting your primer on without brush strokes NOTE: This is what I do – by all means, find out what works best for you!  WANT TIPS? Do you do contract work? Protect … Read more

[VIDEO] Get PRO Results (Part 6) – How to Strain Oil-based Primer

[VIDEO] Get PRO Results Furniture Painting Tips for Beginners >> Part 6 << The video below is the sixth in a mini series sharing some PRO tips about furniture painting. Below are the direct links to the videos on Youtube ICYMI. Video #1: 14 Furniture Painting Tips Video #2: 7 Furniture Painting Tips Video #3: 3 Methods for Painting Furniture Without Tape Video #4: How to Paint Crisp Lines w/ Tape Video #5: How to Close Paint Lids Properly Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel while you’re there. Link to my video on Youtube if video doesn’t play: https://youtu.be/CqMMRa0uhmE The Method explained in the video: Straining oil-based primer + tips NOTE: This is what I do – by all means, find out what works best for you!  WANT TIPS? Do you do contact work? As in, a customer asks you to paint THEIR piece. When you subscribe to … Read more

[VIDEO] Get PRO Results (Part 5) – Closing Paint Can Lids Properly

[VIDEO] Get PRO Results Furniture Painting Tips for Beginners >> Part 5 << The video below is the fifth in a mini series sharing some PRO tips about furniture painting. Below are the direct links to the videos on Youtube ICYMI. Video #1: 14 Furniture Painting Tips Video #2: 7 Furniture Painting Tips Video #3: 3 Methods for Painting Furniture Without Tape Video #4: How to Paint Crisp Lines w/ Tape Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel while you’re there. Link to my video on Youtube if video doesn’t play: https://youtu.be/CqMMRa0uhmE The Method explained in the video: Don’t just pound away with your hammer to close the lids on metal paint cans – it will let in air and who knows what else, because the hammer will bend the lid. There is a better way. NOTE: This is what I do – by all means, find out what … Read more

[VIDEO] A Kitty Climbing Wall

You might want to call me a “crazy cat lady,” and you probably wouldn’t be too far off. I love my Mia. She’s a great companion. I work from home and she keeps me company. I was very lonely before we got her 3 years ago. With hubby working till 5pm every day, I spent my days working as well, but missing having someone to talk to…or just be around. I usually had the TV on just to hear voices and feel less alone. But then my DD suggested I get a cat. I’ve always had a cat, but when we moved to Wisconsin, I decided not to get one because I had a couple of kids who were allergic, which one of them was this DD that suggested I get one – she felt my pain. The one son who is allergic doesn’t visit often, and for the other, … Read more

Fab Fall Projects & Blog Hop 2015

A Fall Front Yard & Deck Project You Too Can Do!   NOTE: This post is from 2015. It is now 2022 and looking back, I am so thankful I decided to learn about landscaping and curb appeal. I hope this will encourage you to do the same.    We bought our house a few years ago and it was in a shambles. The yard looked like it was a backwoods farm that hadn’t been touched in years. Here are before pictures of our house just before we bought it. It was pretty sad looking.     The front was nondescript with overgrown greenery and stones full of dirt and dried up greenery. After a year of not addressing the stones in front, tons of weeds took root and made it look even shabbier.  I did manage to put up the heart my son, Andrew, bought for me years ago. … Read more

Typesetter’s Drawer Upcycle – Essential Oils Decorative Rack

We found this typesetter’s drawer for just a few dollars about 6 years ago and just never did anything with it…until last week. I have a challenge in my Blueprint member’s group that consists of 3 things: Clean up/organize your workshop. Make your workshop pretty. Do something special for yourself. I’m joining my members in the challenge and I’m: Cleaning up my office (workshop already done) Making my office pretty Cleaned up the typesetter’s drawer, stained and mounted it on the wall  of my master bedroom hallway.   Here is the “BEFORE” of the typesetter drawer: We decided to take it to the car wash and spray it down – normally you have to be very careful when getting water on old wood because it could warp. But I decided it was worth the risk since it looked like the back had already been exposed to moisture (rippled). Besides, I … Read more

Counter Top Cleaning Solutions

The 5 Types of Kitchen Countertops and Their Homemade Cleaning Solutions Aside from the living room, your kitchen is the most important part of your home. You probably spend most of your time cooking in it, preparing food on the kitchen island, and enjoying your food at the farmhouse table. Since food is prepared and cooked in the kitchen, it’s essential that you keep this space in your home clean and sanitized. People come and go in the kitchen and, because of this, there’s a great chance that it will become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. The most critical part of the kitchen for bacteria growth is your kitchen countertop. As such, you should know about the various natural cleaning solutions for different types of kitchen countertop materials. You can read on below for that purpose. Granite Countertops You should avoid using lemon, vinegar, acidic cleaners, and any … Read more

Homemade Apple Pie Filling and Applesauce

HOMEMADE APPLE PIE FILLING   This is an oldie but goodie – I’ve brought it back since fall is here and it’s time to do some canning…   Apples. Apples. AAAppples!!!! I mentioned in a recent post that I was spending hours cutting up apples a neighbor gave us for applesauce and apple pie filling to put in our freezer. Here’s a quick recap in case you are looking at two or three bags of apples and don’t know what to do with them. First I cut up a bunch into cubes with skins on and threw them into sandwich baggies for the freezer. Rather than using lemon juice to keep them from browning, I soaked them in salt water as I cut them up instead. I had read on Pinterest that someone had tried it and it worked so I tried it – besides, it was cheaper and easier. … Read more

DIY Tomato Cages and Gardening Tips {Love My DIY Home}

DIY Tomato Cages – Save the Maters!

It’s TOMATO GROWING TIME!   We made our own tomato cages …because those tomato cages you buy at Menards are so stinkin’ expensive! We started out with the skinny wire ones that were left in the garden by the previous owners. FAIL. Then we graduated on to the heavy duty ones – but only bought two – $8 each is crazy, don’t you think? In my uber-frugal mind that is a FAIL. When you have 50+ tomato plants there is no way you can justify $400 for cages. No way. We’d already put a grand into our new garden so there was no way we would put out another $400 for cages. If you want to hire mailbox posts, you can check it out here!  So we made our own…out of concrete reinforcing mesh. We cut up a big roll of the mesh and made about 35 of them.   … Read more

Love My DIY Home