Liz, My Sweet Lizzy

On June 13, 2016 By ArlynnIn Uncategorized2 Comments

One week ago today, my sweet lady friend Liz from Victoria messaged me to break some horrible and devastating news. You know how when you hear horrible news, you will never ever forget where you were standing, what you were doing, and how you felt and reacted? Well, that was me last Monday–As I excitedly opened my Facebook message from Liz, you see, I am *always* so excited to hear from her; I love to chat with her, to commiserate with her about all things…Liz is one of those friends who gives of herself much more than I could ever give back and who I have come to love so very much. Anyway, what her short message said to me that day stopped my world…literally…I couldn’t move, I broke out in immediate tears, and I was stunned when I read the words…”I have ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)”. WHAT?!! NO, it can’t be!! Yes, I knew that she had been to doctor after doctor and through test after test trying to find out what was causing the symptoms that she had been having as of late, but, never in a million years did ALS cross anyone’s mind, certainly not hers and certainly not mine–And then…

NO, I am not going to make this post about this debilitating and yes, eventually fatal diagnosis; I’m not going to give it the time of day that it doesn’t deserve…I hate it with and to my very deepest and most earnest thought and will not lament further on what it will put my sweet Liz through before it is finished with her. ***Instead***, I want to tell you about Lizzy and to celebrate our friendship, while she can still read what I tell you about her, because you see, I want you to see and I want you to know that she *is* a fighter, she *is* a trooper, she *is* brave, she *is* smart, she *is* beautiful (inside and out), and she **is** my FRIEND!!

Liz and I met via Facebook many years ago via the relatively small Newfoundland Dog community. We share a love for this most majestic breed of dog and have both been lucky enough to have been loved by 4 of these amazing creatures. Sadly, one of Liz’ Newfs passed away almost a year ago–oh what a sad day that was, I know Liz misses her beautiful Fleur each and every day. We still enjoy the 3 that remain, my two (Sophie and Samson), and her Jack, we share pictures, we laugh, cry, and completely enjoy our pups. But, our friendship grew much deeper than it being just through our dogs when Liz reached out to me via FB message a week after my hubby had his open heart surgery 5 years ago. I hadn’t been on Facebook for over a week (which is not like me because I’m always putting something up on my Wall). She was so sweet when she queried about our wellbeing saying that she was quite worried that something awful had happened…Well, she was so right (she is a very intuitive lady), something pretty awful had happened and I proceeded to tell her all about our scary and pretty harrowing past week, all the while writing through tears because I was so touched that she cared enough to reach out to us. ❤

Our friendship grew and grew after that, YES, you can become dear friends with someone through Facebook without ever meeting them in person. Of course one of our major goals was to meet one another in person, and when she moved from here on the East coast, to over there on the West Coast, I told her that it would probably be more likely that we would now get the opportunity to meet because my hubby and I routinely try to go to Alaska and we always disembark in Vancouver. Last summer (2015), Liz and I finally got the opportunity to meet in person…the hubby and I took a whale watching tour over to Victoria from Vancouver after we disembarked our cruise ship that had been cruising in Alaska for a week. I was SO excited to HUG Liz’ neck, I cannot express to you just how much. Here is our very first meeting in person…

What an amazing feeling it was to HUG this woman’s neck!!! And we hugged for a good LONG time…I’m sure we made a spectacle of ourselves, but, we could have cared less what others were thinking, we were seeing one another in person and all was right in our world!!! ❤ We had an amazing couple of hours with Liz and her hubby…you see Liz is a chef and she cooked us the most AMAZING meal!! (Liz is also a cookbook writer and an amazing blogger…among SO many other things) We sat on her deck and chatted and I was able to look out over the gorgeous cove where she had taken her “Daily Deck View” and her “Cruise Ship” (which I love) pictures that she posted on Facebook…It was quite surreal for me to actually be sitting there with Liz. We laughed and we cried, and we laughed though those tears as we told stories and compared notes, and just enjoyed being right there sitting next to one another. Also, unbeknownst to me, the day we were there just happened to be the one month anniversary of Fleur’s passing–And Liz was so gracious and said that our visit was special because it would give her something good to remember when she took a moment to reflect on Fleur’s passing anniversary. How generous was that of her to us?! Also, and ***bonus*** her hubby and my hubby hit it right off!! Goodness gracious, I think those two men might have actually talked more than she and I did. 😉 That warmed both of our hearts to see them connect so quickly and nicely.

And of course I got to meet and love on Jack—An amazingly calm, gorgeous, sweet, ‘gentle giant’. OH how I love that pup, I could not keep my hand off of him!!

We were so sad to leave, but, I promised that we’d be back again…And less than a year later, my hubby and I were lucky enough to be able to go on another cruise, to Hawaii this time, but, we’d be starting our cruise in Vancouver. When I told Liz that, and asked if maybe we could arrange a time to meet up with them, she generously said that they could take the Ferry from the Island over to Vancouver and meet us over there, spend the night in a hotel and then spend some more time with us the next morning. I was OVER the moon with excitement again!! So just this last April, Liz and I got the chance to see one another in person again. 🙂 The hug when setting eyes on one another was just as genuine and wonderful as that first hug we shared on the dock in Victoria…Here we are in Vancouver in April (2016):

All was right with our world again!!! We spent hours together that evening, we went to a lovely restaurant and we chatted and chatted and chatted some more. And all the while our hubbies were doing just as much chatting–Liz’s hubby is very special to me too btw…what a wonderful man he is…and you can tell that he and Liz are so much in love and are each others soulmates, it is lovely to watch them interact…sweet, sweet, sweet.

We also met up the next morning for breakfast and talked, laughed, and completely enjoyed each other’s company. I really felt like we got to spend some great quality time with them this time around, here I am with Liz and her hubby:

The love I feel for this lady is equal to how I feel about one of my precious family members–We truly have a lovely, very special friendship all grown and nurtured through the words we type to one another and through the pictures we share on Facebook.

Liz is the lady that encouraged me to start writing this Blog of mine…She gave me the confidence in myself to just go for it and try and share my crafts, decorating, diy projects, our home, our dogs, & most recently our travel experiences. It seems that Liz saw something in me that I had never seen in myself, she speaks about my ‘voice’ and how it can reach out and touch people…that I can put forth my personality, kindness, and such via the written word. I was skeptical at first, but, I trusted her, so I went for it…and it seems that y’all enjoy seeing and hearing about my projects, our home, our dogs, and our travels…Liz has created a monster, but, I’ve always been a talker, and now, I’ve figured out how to reign all of that chatter in and put it into a succinct and coherent format. I had to learn a new skill–meaning that I had to figure out how to set up my Blog site-and then I had to figure out how to start my very first post–I was scared and NOT confident that I’d be successful–but, I took a leap of faith because Lizzy had confidence in me! Liz was there rooting for me and encouraging me every step of the way, she was AMAZING!!! –And apparently, she was right…It seems that my Blog has taken off…surprising as that is to me, I am so grateful for every single encouraging word Liz! ❤

ALL of that said…

***To you Liz–My sweet, precious friend–YOU are so special to me, your light has and will continue to shine brightly–I’m going to continue to enjoy conversing with you about our pups, our hubbies, our likes and dislikes; I will enjoy your “Daily Deck View” and your “Cruise Ship” pictures. I will continue to chuckle at every picture you put up of Mike walking with those silly ducks, and I will drink in every picture that I see of Jack. I will read every single solitary word you write in your phenomenal Blog as well!! I’m hoping upon hope that we will be able to have SEVERAL more in person meetings and I will cherish each and every moment while typing and hugging you cyber’ly’ and hopefully hugging you in person (I HATE the miles that separate us!!). I wanted to write this now so that you can see my heart staunchly sitting right out there on my sleeve for you. My life is so much better because you are a part of it…I don’t want to stop writing this Blog post because I feel that my words will never be adequate enough to express just how much I love you and cherish you. But, please know that my words are genuine and true and they come from a heart that is overflowing with love for you. ❤ ***

Thank you all for listening to this lady’s ramblings. My Blog has become a sort of haven for me to express myself in many different ways…This may not have been an easy post for y’all to read, but, I just couldn’t go another day without putting all of the thoughts that have have been rummaging around in my brain for the last week to ‘paper’.

Until next time…Y’all take good care. ❤

Arlynn ❤

My Weight Loss Struggles

On February 7, 2016February 8, 2016 By ArlynnIn Uncategorized40 Comments

I’ve thought long and hard about sharing more about myself on my “crafting” Blog, more to the point I’ve tossed around specifically sharing my struggle with weight loss. I’m not too sure many will be interested, but, I’ve decided that if my sharing and ramblings might help just one person in their journey through life, then it will be worth sharing my story.

Creating this Blog site back in September of 2015 was one of the most challenging things that I’ve done in quite a long time; I’ve never thought of myself as a “writer” so to speak. But, my friend Liz and my family encouraged me to at least give it a try because they felt as if I had something to offer folks out there in this great big world of ours. I have found that it seems that my Blog is doing rather well and I’m touched and honored that it has caught on. 🙂 When I started writing my entries, I *thought* that I would always just stick to the subjects of our home, my crafting, diy projects, my decorating, our vacations, and that I’d occasionally write a post about our sweet pups. But, as I continue to meet new people and to build more friendships through this Blog, I’d like to give y’all more a glimpse into what makes me, well, me. As we go through life, our experiences, whether they be good or bad, happy or sad, exciting or boring, challenging or easy shape and mold us into the people we become.

As a child, I never had a very high self esteem, in fact, I never thought that I was worth much even as a shy, gawky, teenager (painfully shy).

Here I am as that gawky teenager with my precious german shepherd Nikki; I had grown taller here, so I had thinned down a bit, but I was heavy as a child for a time as well. Mostly right before puberty, I honestly did grow out of it and didn’t struggle too awful much until after I was married…

My shyness dissipated a bit after I was given the alto solo in my high school’s Spring concert in my Senior year (I do not have a picture of that time). As nervous as I was, I managed to get through that solo without passing out…lol. I always had very good friends in high school, being in chorus helped me immensely. I grew up in a very small town and I literally went to school with the same group of kids from kindergarten through high school. A lot of us have reconnected on Facebook in the last several years…nice, very, very nice. Here is my Senior portrait:

I got my first job while I was still in high school and was forced (literally) to interact with strangers (that I NEVER meet now-a-days…haha) while working at a steakhouse. I started to gain some self-worth when I realized that I enjoyed talking and interacting with others and it seemed that for the first time in my life, I was actually someone who had a little something to offer. The rest as they say is history, from then on, I became, I’ve been told, someone who is an upbeat, positive, generous, and an all-around sweet person. I try very, very hard each and every day not to be an angry, ugly person…folks like that just suck the very energy out of me and I don’t want to be like that…ever..

Through it all, I struggled with my weight, it had always been a bone of contention in my life. I have waged battle on and off through the years. Thankfully, my hubby of over 30 years has loved me through thick (fat), thin, and everything in between, he is an awesome man who loves me for me, not for what I weigh. ❤ I was 20 years old when we got married…one of the very happiest days of my life.

So regarding my weight loss struggles, let me begin by saying that I’ve only tried one fad diet in my past and it was one that required me to take a copious amount of vitamins and drink protein shakes. I was somewhat successful in my endeavors with that diet (I will not tell you what it was, no need). Short synopsis of that time of my life back in 1987, I had already given birth to our first daughter and she was 3 years old—just a precious little soul too! ❤ Here are some pictures of my beautiful oldest daughter:

I had started this diet and actually lost around 40 pounds and then I found out I was pregnant with our second child, so, of course, I immediately went off of the diet (stopped taking the vitamins and drinking the protein shakes) and made an appointment with my OBGYN. All was well with my blood work and I was as healthy as could be. Fast forward a bit to when I was around 5 months pregnant, one day when I had my daughter out swinging on the swing set, I noticed that I had a blurry hole (for lack of a better word) in my visual field. Quite alarmed, I headed to my eye doctor, stumped, he sent me to a retinal specialist who determined after a visual field test that I had enlarged blind spots in both eyes and that my optic nerve was quite swollen which sent up red flags, set off alarms, and caused he and his staff to huddle all around me handing me orange juice and crackers (remember I was pregnant and had been in that office for hours). That doctor called my OBGYN doctor, they consulted and thought it best to send me to a neurosurgeon because they were both convinced that I had a brain tumor and that IF it was operable I was going to need to have immediate surgery to remove it! WHAT? “I might not live to have my child” was spoken softly to me; I was scared to pieces. Well, after a visit to the neurosurgeon, a CT scan (non-contrasting) of my brain, and a spinal tap, it was determined that I didn’t (thank the good Lord) have a brain tumor but instead I had something called “Pseudo Tumor Cerebri” (fake brain tumor) and in my case, it was caused from an overdose of vitamin A (a non-water-soluble vitamin) in combination with my pre-natal vitamins. To say that I was much relieved was an understatement and little did I know that a diagnosis of Pseudo Tumor Cerebri could have been a pretty devastating thing, but, for some reason (I look UP to Him) I was never affected the way some are affected and the way that some who suffer with what can be quite a debilitating affliction. The *only* thing that I was left with was that I can never take Vitamin A in concentrated form again…I’ve got my lifetime supply. Now, I can eat foods that contain Vitamin A, I just can’t take concentrating vitamins; I take a daily multi-vitamin called “Stress Tabs”, every vitamin included in that multi-vitamin is water soluble so I have no issue at all and have had NO lingering effects AT ALL from the Pseudo Tumor Cerebri since the day I was diagnosed…NONE. ANYway, our daughter was born as healthy as could be 4 months later…she weighed 10lbs. and is a blessing to this day; she just turned 28 years old. Here are some pictures of that beautiful blessing:

The reason I told you that entire story was that after going through that very stressful situation, I promised myself that I would never try another fad diet again and with that, I have actually been successful at losing weight through the years by simply changing my eating habits and adding exercise to the mix (walking in my case). I will admit that even with my tried and true weight loss tactics, I’ve still ridden on the proverbial roller coaster through the years. I will admit that I am a “stress eater”…NOT making ANY excuses here, but, in very stressful situations (my hubby’s open-heart surgery, my mom’s fight and subsequent passing from Alzheimer’s disease, to name two) I have tended to fall off of the eating healthily wagon. It is a frustrating attribute of mine that I am not proud or excited to admit to, but, I stopped beating myself up about it long ago. Nuff said… Here is a picture of me with my precious Mom before she became ill:

My latest battle with weight loss began about a year and a half ago several months after we moved into our new home–because of course I had eaten my way through the very stressful process of building this new house. So as in the past, I changed my eating habits and poof I started to lose weight. I was somewhat successful and my weight was coming off slowly–whoops, wait a minute, let’s throw menopause into the mix…UGH. Stupid menopause, I am not going to lament forever about what a miserable process we women must endure with “the change”, but honestly, it has been pretty yucky and it has not made losing this weight any easier. I refuse to take replacement hormones (I just hate taking prescription medications if I can at all avoid it), so I’ve powered through while taking some natural supplements to help control the hot flashes and other annoying symptoms. I’m coming out the ‘other’ side of things now and I feel as if I’m finally just about finished as my symptoms have subsided greatly. ANYway, back to this diet…I have lost around 55 pounds in that year and a half. I struggled through the Holidays without gaining too much weight–about 5 pounds…and now that it is February and we have an Hawaiian cruise coming up, I’ve been able to get that 5 pounds off and will hopefully lose a bit more. I know I will never be a skinny-minny, and I don’t really want to be, I just want to be comfortable in my own skin. Also, I will admit that I like to try to look fashionable and put together. NOT that a plus sized girl cannot look fashionable and put together, I am just tired of being a plus sized girl. Also, I FEEL so much better when I’m at a healthy weight…not to mention my knees feel better too.

Here are a few pictures of me at my heaviest:

And here are a few comparison shots of me going through the weight loss process:

This is how I looked last week (February 2016)…New hair cut, new outfit, and still ‘dieting’. 🙂

I am FAR from thin, in fact, I probably could lose another 40 pounds and still not be thin (NO kidding…I do not lie to myself here).

SO my battle continues, truly though, it is not really a battle, it is a lifestyle change, one that I know works for me, one that I engage in daily, and one that I will continue to wage each and every day. One thing that I know for sure is that the most important thing to hone is my thought process; I know from past experience that losing weight is definitely a mind over matter technique, one that I need to work hard to achieve at times, but one that I’ve wrangled and perfected.

**I must put this in here…I am not writing all of this to ask for any weight loss help or weight loss tools or any other such thing. I know what works for me and I know what foods I can eat that help me keep healthy while losing weight, so please don’t give me advice or suggestions. I’m okay as is…I honestly don’t need help…:) 🙂 **

I have found that cutting most carbohydrates out of my diet is the key. I eat breakfast every morning too, might only be yogurt but it is something. I eat small little items through the day, fruit, veges, etc…and I eat a nice balanced dinner. I tend to eat a lot of salads and a lot of chicken, it is a good thing that I love both things huh? 😉 I refuse to starve myself to lose weight. This is my formula for successful weight loss and I can continue to eat this way for the rest of my life. NOW, I need to haul my butt outside to do some walking, when I add that in, it really helps to speed the weight loss process along…and that helps me to feel even better. 🙂 I am now 54 years old and yes, I do struggle on some days to maintain a healthy lifestyle. BUT, now-a-days, my self esteem is pretty good…yes, I still can get down on myself, but most days, I’m a happy lady who is full of energy and ready to face whatever life has to offer.

ANYway, there we go, a little glimpse into ‘me’…I wear my heart on my sleeve (I’m told) and my purpose for writing this entry was to further introduce myself to you and also to show people out there who might struggle with their weight that they are not alone in the fight. ❤

Until next time, y’all take good care!

~Arlynn ❤

Quick & Easy Rag Lap Quilt: With Guest Blogger Billie

On January 24, 2016January 24, 2016 By ArlynnIn Country Decor Ideas, Uncategorized2 Comments

I admit it, I am not a quilter! I can do pretty much any other craft, and yes, I can sew and have sewn many things in the past, but, quilting, well, I’ve just never had the patience to sit and learn how to do it correctly. I envy those that have the talent, the expertise, and yes, the patience to create something that evokes such a warm, very special feeling. One of my dear friends *Billie* is a wonderful quilter, so when she asked me for some instructions as to how to make a burlap wreath, I was touched and humbled that she liked my stuff so much that she might like to make something like what I create. I was thrilled to give her a little extra help and I provided her with a shopping list and some basic instructions and pointed her to my Front Door Burlap Wreaths Blog post in hopes that it might help her put her wreath together. She was making it for her Mom for Christmas, and she ended up doing a fabulous job!!! Here is a picture of her finished wreath, this is the first burlap wreath that she has ever made and I think she nailed it perfectly!!

Billie has been kind enough lend her quilt making expertise to my little ole Blog here; she has sent me instructions and some accompanying pictures that might serve to help one of y’all out there to make a Rag Lap Quilt. First though, let me show you some of the other quilts that Billie has created over the years, she does gorgeous work! **AND don’t miss Billie’s little pup Penny who obviously loves her Mama’s work too…LOL…She is so stinkin’ cute in these pictures!! ❤

My gosh, aren’t those quilts just the prettiest things you’ve ever seen?!! I can’t choose a favorite…I honestly can’t! I know without a doubt that I could find a special place for each and every one of them in my home…what a TALENT!!!!! Wow, wow, WOW!!!

So, here are some instructions that Billie sent me and she has graciously given me permission to pass on to y’all as to how to make a Rag Lap Quilt. Before we get started, she wanted me to assure y’all that this project is a great project for beginners and advanced sewers, any imperfections in cutting and sewing are forgiven when all is said and done, beginners can enjoy sewing without having to worry about making mistakes and advanced sewers can sew without being perfectionists. Here is Billie’s friend Alexis who is only 11 years old sewing for the very first time ever making herself a fun, fast and easy rag quilt. It’s just a wonderful and adorable project for all levels!

Fabric requirements for this project include:

2/3 of a yard of 6 different coordinating cotton fabrics for front of quilt
or 4 yards of any fabric of your choosing 4 yards of coordinating fabrics for back of quilt
4 yards of flannel for inside of quilt
Rotary cutter
cutting mat
acrylic ruler
rag quilt snip scissors
and of course a sewing machine 😉

Cut all the fabric for the front and the back of the fabrics using your rotary cutter into 10 1/2 inch strips by WOF (width of fabric) and then sub cut these strips into 10 1/2 inch blocks. You will have 8 blocks for each coordinating fabric you chose for the front of this quilt and 48 blocks from the fabric for the back of your quilt. Cut your flannel fabric into 9 1/2 inch strips by WOF and then sub cut into 9 1/2 inch blocks. This project is one of those that you just can’t go wrong, the accuracy on cutting and sewing doesn’t show, which makes it that much more fun.

Take your flannel square and sandwich it between your fabric squares for the front and back of your quilt, you should have 48 of these…

Sew a diagonal line from each corner to create an X on each one of these sandwiches…

This project is great for chain piecing just keep feeding one sandwich after another into the machine (also a walking foot on your sewing machine during this project is nice you don’t have to have one, but it does make it easier to feed the fabric through the machine)

After finishing all 48 blocks lay out your blocks 6 across and 6 down this is where you can create a pattern with the different fabrics I did a diagonal line with matching blocks in mine.

Now you’re ready too begin sewing your blocks together with 2/3 inch seam, place one block on top of another with the fabric for the back of the quilt facing each other so that the seam allowance will face the top of your quilt; this is key because this is where the rag comes in on the rag quilt. You will sew 6 blocks together to complete a row.

Now that a row is finished you can take your rag scissors and clip towards your seams be CAREFUL not to cut your seam, you want your cuts to be about 1/2 inch – 1 inch apart, if you do this as you go it’s less tedious to do after your finished putting everything together.

Make 8 rows and then sew your rows together the same way you sewed your blocks, again with the fabric for the back of your quilt facing each other so that your seams are facing the front of your quilt and clipping as you go. You’re almost finished, you’re going to need to place a 2/3 inch seam all the way around the edges of your quilt this closes up the blocks on the top, bottom and sides of your quilt, clip those seams and now it’s time to wash and dry your beautiful creation so that all those clipped seams rag up and make your quilt absolutely adorable!

OH my gosh, that really is completely and totally adorable!!! I LOVE IT!!! Thank you so very much for showing us how to create this fast and easy rag lap quilt Billie!!!! You are a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!! I might even give something like this a try!! 🙂

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

~Arlynn ❤

The Backyard Patio

On October 16, 2015 By ArlynnIn Uncategorized3 Comments

Hi All,

We moved into our house on the Monday before Thanksgiving a couple of years ago, we only had a few weeks to get moved in and kinda settled before the masonry company started to construct our stamped concrete patio. I have to admit, it was a rather stressful project because it took them a couple of months to complete; the temperature had to be above 50 degrees for them to come and work–it was winter and well, you get the picture. Not to mention the fact that our backyard was nothing but…well mud and hay. In fact, the reason we went ahead and had the patio put down then was so that it would be done by Spring and we could then grow some pretty grass. 🙂

Here is the original design and all of the different colors and attributes that we chose. The finished product differs a bit:

We ended up choosing to have only one set of stairs coming off of the patio versus two as depicted in the rendering.

Preparing the space took upwards of a week:

I neglected to get pictures of them pouring the concrete because I was mesmerized by them running their little bobcat that carried the concrete in and out of our yard and how they spread it out and evened it all out…it was quite the process. Then the stamping began, they truly are artisans, all of our choices started to come to life.

We chose two different patterns, one for the main body of the patio and a different one for the walkways:

We chose a pretty daisy pattern for the borders; have I mentioned before that gerber daisies are my very favorite flower? 🙂

We chose to put a compass rose on the largest part of the patio:

The next thing they did was construct the knee wall and the light columns, this took every bit of a week to complete:

Then it was time to build a little deck and stairway; composite materials were used…

The next and one of the most tedious tasks was the staining process. We chose a neutral color for the main body of the patio and the walkways. The borders were stamped with the daisy pattern; the borders and the steps were stained a terra-cotta reddish color. They hand painted the compass rose:

We chose the same lights for the patio that the builder put on the front of our house and there are also lights under the lip of the knee wall and on the deck stairs. (I’m all about the lighting…I love the lighting!)

When all was said and done, they did a lovely job on our patio! We utilize it all of the time in all Seasons. 🙂

We have hosted a few cookouts for our kids here and we’ve also hosted our Family Reunion and this patio has worked out beautifully for all events:

My hubby has now been able to grow himself a gorgeous lawn to go with the patio, so all is right with his world. 😉 All is right with my world as well, it is really nice to be able to have an outdoor space that provides comfy seating to be used for conversing, drinking hot cocoa, and helping people feel cozy and welcome. 🙂 Again, I have to stop and say how blessed we feel to have this lovely home…

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

~Arlynn

How To Make A Bow Tutorial (Video)

On October 7, 2015October 8, 2015 By ArlynnIn Uncategorized9 Comments

Hi All,

I’ve made y’all a little “How To Make A Bow” tutorial…I hope this helps any of you who might like to attempt to make one. In this video, I make two bows, the first one is with a one-sided, (meaning it has a back and a front) burlap ribbon and I made the second one out of a double-sided wired country plaid ribbon. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below. 🙂

~Arlynn ❤

Front Door Burlap Wreaths

On September 1, 2015October 15, 2015 By ArlynnIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Good Afternoon!

As is typical of me, I woke up one morning with the idea in my head that I wanted to make something. What I chose to do on that particular day was to make my aunt a burlap wreath for her front door. The only problem with that was that I had never tried to make a burlap wreath and I had no idea where to start. So, I took to google search (one of my best friends…lol) and I started reading and watching tutorials; this gave me the basic idea of how to, at the very least, *start* to make my wreath. I will admit that I spent a bit too much time searching “how-to” blogs and videos and not enough time trusting my own abilities to accomplish my goal on my own. So, I put my computer down, got in my car, and headed to my local go-to craft store Hobby Lobby. We also have a Michaels and an AC Moore here in our town, but I am usually successful at finding exactly what I need to bring a project to fruition at Hobby Lobby. So, anyway, I started walking through the store collecting my needed supplies. When all was said and done, I was successful at making my aunt a wreath and then I made my cousin one too; I gave them to them for Christmas last year. But, I wasn’t exactly satisfied with those two wreaths even though my aunt and cousin loved them and were so sweet with their compliments regarding just how much they loved them. Here are pictures of those two wreaths:

I decided I would try again (I am nothing if not determined to try and try again until I’m satisfied with the end result) and so I set myself to the task of making a burlap wreath for our front door, I wanted it to be quite large because our home sits pretty far back from the road and I wanted to be able to see the wreath on the front door from our cul-de-sac. So off to Hobby Lobby I went yet again and I began to gather my supplies. The first thing I picked up was a 24″ metal wreath form with the twist ties already attached. I then collected all of the other things that I thought I might need to make my wreath. I will try my best to put into bulleted form how I constructed not one but 2 burlap wreaths for my front door…yes, I said 2…lol…I made one for the inside of the door too. We found a wreath hanger that we could manipulate over the door that provided a hook on either side of the door. I was very happy with what I ended up with and I have made many other burlap wreaths since, so many that my hubby has made me a wreath hanging station in our basement. In another blog, I will post a bunch of pictures of the burlap wreaths that I’ve made, some for my own use, a few for gifts, and one or two for friends who sweetly asked me to create one for them.

The two specific wreaths featured in this blog are wreaths that hang on my front door at times of the year when we are not celebrating a Holiday or for times when I am not using a specific seasonal decor…in other words, these are my “everyday” wreaths. I switch out the outside front door wreath A LOT… 🙂 Here are pictures of the finished wreaths:

Here is how I put all online tutorials out of my head and created my own version of a burlap wreath:

*Supplies needed for a very large burlap wreath: 24″ wreath form with the twist ties or pipe cleaners already attached, or you can attach your own pipe cleaners at regular intervals around the form–not hard, 2 rolls of burlap–for these extra large wreaths, I used burlap “runner” rolls, a coordinating colored burlap or ribbon, any accents that you might like to add such as pip berries, silk or dry flowers, wooden words, wooden or metal ‘pictures’, wooden or metal initials, seasonal decor, and so on…Let your imagination run wild

*Find a large surface with which to work and lay out all of your supplies

*Plug in your hot glue gun–I try not to use too much glue on these types of wreaths, but I do glue pipe cleaners to the backs of pictures and/or other accents (wooden initials, pictures, etc…) so that I can tie them onto the wreath frame. And when necessary, I do glue certain things into place if they just won’t stay by attaching them with the pipe cleaners

*Work your way around the wreath form starting on the outside ring gathering and catching burlap into each pipe cleaner and then moving to the inside ring and doing the same thing. I’ve seen some people online who measure the length of burlap that they put between each pipe cleaner, I do not do that, I just eyeball it and go for it. So once you have your outer and inner rows of burlap attached to the form, add your coordinating colored burlap or ribbon catching it into one of the outside pipe cleaners (by untwisting the pipe cleaner and adding it to the burlap that you already caught) and working to the next inside pipe cleaner, then back to the outside and so on all the way around the wreath.

*Take a moment to glue pipe cleaners to the back of anything you might want to attach to the wreath form as you see me doing in the picture below.

Instead of gluing, I just threaded a pipe cleaner through the metal clasp on the back of the picture

*Then start attaching anything else that you’d like to put on your wreath either via the pipe cleaners that you attached, or directly into some of the pipe cleaners (you’ll see what I mean in the pictures below–SO hard to explain). I chose slightly different things for each wreath, I chose to put our last name initial on both wreaths as well as a bow (that I made…I’ll need to do another blog about how to make a bow huh?) on both. Then I chose other specific items for each wreath consisting of pip berries, gerber daisies for the outdoor wreath to match our red door and the coordinating ribbon, other silk flowers and a wooden framed picture for the indoor wreath to match my room decor.

Here is a link for the Wreath Hanger that we used

So there you go, I was finally successful at making burlap wreaths that met with my own approval…haha. Give a burlap wreath a try! Nothing is perfect in the crafting world, that’s what makes it so much fun and unique to just you! 🙂

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

Hi Everyone!

On August 31, 2015 By ArlynnIn Uncategorized4 Comments

My name is Arlynn and I’m a housewife and crafter from Virginia. I moved here when I married my soulmate 33 years ago; for the 20 years prior to that I lived with my parents in Maryland. My hubby and I have two beautiful daughters who are now out on their own and thriving in this big world of ours. I’ve done many things in my life, but, most of them revolved around raising our girls and involving myself as a volunteer in their schools. Also, we have 2 Newfoundland dogs named Sophie and Samson and a Golden Retriever named Gracie all three of which I absolutely adore.

A bit about my background, I come from a very loving, God fearing family whose traditions run deep and love runs strong; they are all (aunts, uncles, cousins–I’m an only child) very special to me! Unfortunately, we are all scattered and live in different States, but when we are together we make the most of every moment (we just had a family reunion here at our home last May–a blog for later). Both of my parents were educators, and they raised me up to be a loving and honest woman. My family shaped and molded me into the woman I am today. Sadly, we lost my precious Mom a couple of years ago. My Dad is still going strong, he plays golf daily, travels extensively, and is as healthy as can be.

All of that said, I’ve been crafting for decades…literally…haha. I decided to start this blog because when I would post my newest crafting or diy project on my Facebook page, it seemed like folks were interested in what I was doing. A few friends and one of my daughters have encouraged me to try and start a blog because they feel that I have a lot to offer; I hope that they are right and that there is someone who might take one of my ideas and utilize it in their home. I have no formal education in interior design, but I love to create warm cozy spaces and I love to decorate my home in a welcoming manner. I make wreaths and centerpieces among other things and I utilize my very symmetrical nature to create spaces within my home that are pleasing to the eye. I love to craft and create! All of that said, I am completely new to blogging, so please be patient with me as I am learning as I go.

My hubby and I moved into our retirement home a couple of years ago and I’ve been diligently working on decorating our space. I change the decor as the Seasons change. I’ve included some pictures of just some of the things that I’ve created since we moved in.

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**