Love My DIY Home

Free Printables by Eliza Ellis

I found some really nicely desiged free printables on the Eliza Ellis blog and want to share them with you. Take a moment to visit her site. She has printables for: CALENDARS & DIARY PLANNERS TO DO LISTS NOTES CONTACTS GOALS RECIPES MENU PLANS KITCHEN LISTS KIDS CHORES HOME LISTS FINANCES BACK TO SCHOOL KNITTING & CROCHET SEWING I’m all for using what others have created if it fits our needs. Save time by benefiting from the efforts of others. Happy New Year and thanks for visiting. Permission to reprint granted by Eliza Ellis 11.18.14.

Do You DWO or DIY?

Do You DWO or DIY? We are now through the Christmas season and it’s time to think about perspective and balance with the new year just around the corner. I heard complaining – a LOT of complaining about the “cost” of Christmas and how it has become a boring/stressful/unremarkable/frustrating time of year. This set me to thinking. Why do some people dread this holiday season? They forget (or don’t care) about the reason for the season. They wait until the last minute to buy gifts and end up spending too much money. They take no delight in the music or decorations, seeing them as commercial and garish – reminders of the stress of the Christmas season. They see their family and friends as sponges, trying to suck the life out of them – they are hard to buy for or appear unthankful and selfish. Their gift giving becomes an expected … Read more

Mother-in-law Apartment Reveal

Today was graduation day for my mom. She stepped through the gates of heaven at 12:23 this morning. God is good. Can I say that again? God is good. His grace is sufficient. I thought it fitting that on this day, on this my DIY blog, that I share with you the before and after pictures of her apartment. This one is for you mom… We bought our quad level home two years ago after nearly 2 years of searching for a home in the country with a yard for our grandkids and a MIL apartment for my mom. It was in rough shape, but we knew we could make it ours (and hers). Here are the before pictures. What do you think of that black flowery wallpaper? B.L.E.C.K. The carpet had been…uh…let’s just say, the animals graced the carpet with their presence. When we first walked into the house, … Read more

No Christmas Home Tour Here

This Christmas season is different for our family this year. We are a family in crisis. There will be no chestnuts roasting on our open fire this year. Normally I would be writing a post about our Christmas Home Tour complete with staged pictures of my home in the middle of Christmas celebration. (Last year’s Christmas Home Tour) It’s what we do as DIY bloggers. We decorate and then share it. I had it all planned. I did manage to get my tree up and most of our gifts wrapped. Then crisis walked through our front door and wouldn’t leave. (The Ultimate DIY – Saying Goodbye to Your Mom) There will be no last minute holly jolly Christmas shopping running around town in the midst of all the hustle bustle that I love so much. I did manage to hang a little Christmas tree ornament my DH brought … Read more

Dresser Turned TV Stand

It is a new day. I woke at 4:45 this morning and couldn’t turn my brain off. As always my mom pops in my mind and since the stress of her dire condition is ever present, I couldn’t get back to sleep. At least it wasn’t like yesterday. I woke at 2am and didn’t go back to sleep until 6:30 and then it was only for 45 minutes. I had to go to work that morning and by the time I got to the hospital at 2:15 that afternoon, I was dragging. Fortunately they have a nice family lounge and I took a few zzz’s listening to music while Jillian and Taylor continued their vigil. Thank the Lord for power naps and music apps. So, I am delivering my Dresser Turned TV Stand I told you about. It seems so nostalgic to me to tell you about this project. Making … Read more

The Ultimate DIY – Saying Goodbye to Your Mom

While I sit here in the hospital with my mom, I thought I’d share a really great project with you that my daughter, April, did recently – a dresser turned tv stand. But then I decided to just have a chat with you. To encourage you. To let you know what’s up and that it’s all good. I’ll do the Dresser Turned TV Stand another time. At the moment of this writing, I’m doing the ultimate DIY sitting alone in a hospital room I’m tending to my mom who had a major stroke Saturday morning. Let me take a moment here and encourage you. I’ve been through losing a father (30 years ago when I was 26) and now am dealing with a part of life no one wants to – watching a mother decline and trying to figure out how to make her as comfortable as possible, manage all … Read more

Gift Bag Tutorial {To Work With My Hands}

DIY Gift Bags at To Work With My Hands

Occasionally I like to share resources that I think would be useful to my readers. Today is one of those days… My friend, Karen, over at To Work With My Hands has a tutorial today on DIY gift bags …made out of TRASH! You should hop right on over there and check it out. …and while you’re there, leave Karen a comment, letting her know you stopped by. Blessings!

Holly Jolly Christmas Word Art {Love My DIY Home}

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas Word Art – FREE Download

Decorating with FREE Christmas Word Art Don’t you just love Christmas? All the sneaking around secretive gift buying just gets me into my happy zone! Yet the gift wrapping, tree decorating, and figgy pudding making is so much fun for me that I tend to run myself ragged. Ya know, good activities, like we have during the Christmas season can be stressful too! Do you stress over Christmas Decorating? Let’s keep it simple this year. Let’s enjoy the time with family and friends and just marvel over why we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior. This truly is the best time of the year. Let’s be content, at peace, and not stressed. We have worked hard all year. We deserve a Holly Jolly Christmas! Please enjoy my FREE printable Christmas Word Art. The different download options are listed below. Just click which one suits you best! Holly Jolly … Read more

Thanksgiving Kid’s Table

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! Did you lavishly decorate or keep it simple? We focused on the kid’s table this year. Since the kids tend to get a bit impatient with us when we are getting the food on the table, I gave them something to do… The kid’s Thanksgiving printables are from here at Busy Bee Kid’s Printables. Their appetizers (apples, peanuts, pretzels, carrots, string cheese and gummies) and the placemats kept them happy AND busy. Our three year old grandson, Myles, had a hard time waiting to dig in. The adults? We ate on paper plates and drank from pop cans. I didn’t decorate the table other than a single lantern in the middle of the table with a lit candle. Funny how the food tasted just as good as last year when I went all out on the fall tablescape. This was last year’s (the … Read more

Free Word Art!

Happy Sunday! Things have been crazy around here. My mom had open heart surgery a month ago – oh boy, I’m not going to give you all the details, but suffice it to say it’s been tough. Can you see the stress in my face on the day of surgery? We bought a truck – a life long want of my DH. Yep. It won’t start. Oh, and I got sick the day my mom came home a week ago, just on the heels of my 63 hour work week. (I’m not going to show you a picture of me blowing my nose.) And I’m behind on my blog, our holster business, church work, and house work. I’ve only been to church once in a month. (totally unheard of) Family stress. Health stress. Vehicle stress. House stress. Business stress. I’m not going to give you the line, “When life gives … Read more