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Archives for July 2015

Freedom Friday – On Forgiving Others

July 31, 2015 by Patti 21 Comments

“You will never be more like Jesus than when you forgive.” (Pastor Ken Dyck – Freedom Session International)
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“I will never forgive her for what she did to me!”

“I’ll forgive him but I’m never going to forget how much he hurt me . . . and I’ll never let him forget it either!”

“She destroyed my life!  How can you ask me to forgive her?”

We’ve all heard statements like these before, maybe even uttered them ourselves, but the truth of the matter is that God commands us to forgive others.  It isn’t an option.  In fact, it is a prerequisite to receiving His forgiveness ourselves.

Forgiveness is required by God and it is His design to bring us into freedom! Click To Tweet

Matt. 6:14-15 If you forgive people when they sin against you, then your Father will forgive you when you sin against Him and when you sin against your neighbor.  But if you do not forgive your neighbor’s sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (The Voice)

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 Welcome to FREEDOM FRIDAY – A devotional, emotional, spiritual and sometimes hysterical series that I will be sharing on occasional Fridays, in addition to my regular Old Things New posts. Why?  Because though once bound in chains Christ has set me free –  FREE to live, to love, to dance, to sing, to be who God created me to be!

How do you write a short post about forgiveness?  It is so complicated when there are levels of wounding in our lives.  It is much easier to forgive my husband for forgetting to pick up my bar of Ghirardelli Sea Salt Soiree at the grocery store than it is to forgive someone who caused great emotional damage in my life. 

This post is longer than usual and I won’t apologize for that because I really want you to get this!   I see too many Christ followers living in bondage to unforgiveness and my deep desire is to see all set free to live life to the fullest!  This message of hope and healing is pulled from the best of what I’ve learned through Freedom Session, my own studies on forgiveness, and from sitting under great Pastors! 

So grab a beverage, get comfy, and let’s get started.

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In the blog post entitled When You’re Not Enough, I talked about some of the steps I’ve taken to overcoming feelings of great inadequacy in my own life. One of the most dramatic breakthroughs I’ve had was my experience of self-forgiveness, which I shared in Forgiving Yourself.  Today I want to talk about Forgiving Others.

Forgiveness is really the KEY to freedom.  That’s why it is so important  that we forgive those who’ve harmed us and that’s why God commands us to do so.  When we refuse to forgive, we allow our enemy the devil to have a foothold in our lives (Foothold: a secure position from which further progress may be made). When we choose to forgive, Satan’s power is broken and we open the door for God to work fully in our lives.

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So let’s talk about keys.  We all know that a key is used to open locks.  Living our lives with unforgiveness toward others causes us to be imprisoned behind a locked door.  A prison filled with bitterness, anger, and resentment.

Believe me, I’m speaking from personal experience here.  When I lived in my own prison of unforgiveness, each time a hurtful memory arose I’d rehash it, reliving the pain.  The pain became anger which I felt quite justified in having.  Sometimes I’d even bring my husband into the rehashing of the memory and get him to agree with me about how horribly I’d been treated.  My poor hubby heard over and over about those who had wounded me, and since some of the same people had wounded him too, we gave some serious time to reliving our tales of woe.  Yuck!  To be honest, it felt good for awhile, with the release of pent up emotion, but the feelings resurfaced again and again until I chose forgiveness.

Here’s the TRUTH:

Every time we choose to dwell in unforgiveness another LOCK is placed on the jail cell of our own making.
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Now you may question why I would call unforgiveness a jail of your own making when the actions of another person are what caused the pain you feel.  While it’s true that the pain was caused by someone else, continuing to live in the pain through unforgiveness is a choice. You hold the key of forgiveness in your hand and you make the choice to use or not to use that key.

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When we live in a prison of unforgiveness we live with the ongoing personal effects of being hurt.  Those hurts may cause us to feel like we aren’t enough or that we are unworthy.  We may feel great rage at others, or even at ourselves for allowing ourselves to be hurt by another. I may feel that nothing good ever comes to me and that God cares about what happens to other people but He must not care about me.

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 It is a miserable and toxic environment that keeps our emotions in turmoil, often leading to mental disease, physical ailments, even death.  In order to survive the pain we may try to mask it through drugs and alcohol, cutting, pornography, or more acceptable behaviors such as perfectionism, achievement, workaholism, or being a super worker at church!

Our methods of coping with pain may indeed seem like positive actions but they are still only a mask for the pain.
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The sad thing is, the person who hurt you may not even know that they hurt you, may not remember that they hurt you, or they may not remember YOU at all!  But here you are, living with the consequences of their sin.  My husband, master of witty phrases, says that, “Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”

On the other hand:

Forgiveness breaks the chains that have bound us to the ones who have hurt us!
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So how do we forgive? Pastor Ken Dyck, writer and founder of Freedom Session International states that, “True forgiveness is always motivated by compassion.” Matthew 18:21-35 tells the story of the unmerciful servant who was forgiven by his master but refused to forgive one who owed him a debt.  Verse 35 sums up the story by saying that forgiveness must come from the very depths of our hearts! alaska 049

How do we feel compassion for those who’ve hurt us?  That kind of compassion can only come from God and from having come to a place of realizing how much my own sin cost Father God and His son Jesus.  Hopefully you’ve come to a place of agreeing with God that you are a sinner and you’ve accepted Him as your Savior, but have you ever experienced deep sorrow over the pain your actions caused Him?  I’m not saying you need to go back into an attitude of shame and condemnation (I talked about how wrong that is in my last FF post).  What I’m saying here is that coming to a heartfelt understanding of how great His mercy was to save you will help you to have a heart for forgiving others.

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Things to think about regarding forgiveness:

  • We must come into agreement with God that UNforgiveness is WRONG.
  • Understand that forgiveness is required even if the person who harmed you is not sorry.
  • Know that forgiveness is a choice – because you won’t feel like doing it.
  • Understand that forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting. God has the ability to forget but we don’t.  Pastor Ken Dyck states that, “Sadness, not bitterness, is the appropriate emotion to recall, in my memory, of the painful things that have happened to me.”
  • Complete forgiveness includes releasing our “judgments” against others. Ex. “I’ve forgiven Sally but she will always be a liar.”  This is in effect holding Sally captive by our judgment about who she is rather than seeing her as God does.
  • Stop having negative expectations of others or expecting them to do wrong.
  • Forgive even if the person who wronged you hasn’t asked for forgiveness.  Christ’s example to those who crucified him was to say, “Father forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.”
  • Don’t carry expectations that the person you’ve forgiven will come to you and make things right.
  • Stop the “instant replay” of the incident, or the sin against you. Pastor Roy Geesey of Outreach Church says, “You can spend your whole life dwelling on what’s been done to you or choose to dwell on the ONE thing that was done for you.”.  So take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ – II Cor. 10:5, and choose to dwell on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, excellent or praiseworthy – Phil. 4:8
  • Determine in your heart that Christ in you is stronger than your memory.
  • Ask God to give you His view of the people who harmed you, to see them the way He sees them. It is likely that their sin against you is a result of their own brokenness.
  • Ask God to work in your heart, releasing the pain you’ve held onto and letting Him fill you with more of Him.  “The deeper you’ve been wounded the more freedom you will experience when you begin to forgive.” (Pastor Ken Dyck)
  • It takes time, but His love will replace bitterness and pain and His Spirit will change your way of thinking.  As the memories and the feelings arise again to haunt you, remember that it is the enemies goal to keep you and me in a prison of unforgiveness.   By choosing forgiveness we choose freedom!
  • “Yeah . . . but . . .”  Yeah but nothing!  We need to stop trying to justify our perceived right to be offended.  Jesus didn’t give us that right. It only keeps us in a place of fear, bitterness and pain and from living in the the fullness of God!
  • As we walk in intimacy with Jesus, taking on Christ’s nature, forgiveness becomes easier, especially in light of all He has done for you and ME!

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*PRAYER OF FORGIVENESS: 

Lord, I forgive…_____________(name the person)

for…______________________(describe the offense)

which made me feel…______________(verbalize painful feelings)

  • name and describe everything the person did to you that hurt you.  Tell God how much it hurt and what you were longing for…
  • Pray the exact same prayer for each offense you feel that person committed against you.

Then, continue with a prayer such as…

But now, I choose to forgive_______________and release him/her into Your care/accountability.  I choose to bear the consequences of their sin against me without bitterness, knowing that You already paid for it on the cross.

Please forgive me for how I’ve sought to protect my heart from being hurt again.  I acknowledge that You alone are the protector of my heart & I choose to trust You.

Fill this area in my life with Your Holy Spirit and heal this wound.

Thank You for freeing me from the poison of bitterness.

I relinquish my perceived right to seek revenge or blame this person for any dysfunction or present pain in life as I take responsibility for my own life choices.  They owe me nothing!  I ask You to heal my damaged emotions from this memory.

I now ask You to bless this person and to pour Your love into my heart for this person & I commit myself to follow You in any steps of reconciliation You ask me to take.

Note:  Stay with each person until all the offenses have been dealt with.  Stay with that person until you’ve released all your anger and bitterness.  You may need to forgive one person for many events.

Offer a prayer of praise to God for the freedom you will experience and practice forgiveness as a lifestyle to maintain your freedom.

*Taken from Freedom Session – 6 Steps from Darkness to Light, p.148, © 2013 Freedom Session Resources, Vancouver Canada.   Used by permission.   All rights reserved.

Question: Was God’s name on your list of those to forgive?
  Hmmm . . . maybe that’s another post, for another day.

FINAL NOTE: I haven’t discussed those who may still be “dangerous” to you or those who are toxic in your life.  That is a whole different topic.  Joyce Meyer shares in her testimony how she forgave her father for repeated sexual abuse that happened while she was a child. She even invited him into her home to live when he became ill.  THAT is amazing, and THAT is what ultimate forgiveness looks like! It takes much growth in forgiveness to do something like that, but what an amazing testimony she has to share of the power of God to heal and set us free when we choose to forgive.

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Dear readers, if you are living in unforgiveness, please consider how you’re harming yourselves! As I write these Freedom Friday posts I always ask God to pour His heart into the words I say.  He is faithful and He always does.  So if you’re questioning whether or not God cares about you, you can believe that these words, written from my heart, are also from God’s heart to yours.

Blessings,

My SignatureAll photos were taken in Alaska by the incredibly talented Mr. Old Things New.

I have been know to link to the following Inspirational Parties:

Mondays Making Your Home Sing Mondays The Beauty in His Grip What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings A Proverbs 31 Wife Darling Downs Diaries The Art of Homemaking Project Inspired
Tuesdays MeCoffeeAndJesus Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky Teaching What is Good Time Warp Wife Solo Deo Gloria Sisterhood More of Him Testimony Tuesday Cheerleaders of Faith Tell His Story Titus2Tuesday

Wednesdays A Wise Woman Builds Her Home Wednesday Prayer Girls Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays A Little R & R Whole Hearted Home So Much at Home Mom’s Morning Coffee Women with Intention Coffee for Your Heart Capture Your Journey
Thursdays Serving Joyfully/Thriving Thursdays The Deliberate Mom/Shine Blog Hop I Choose Joy  Live Free Thursday Thought Provoking Thursday Imparting Grace
Fridays A Look at the Book Christian Mommy Blogger Fellowship Fridays Blessing Counters Missional Women Faith Filled Fridays Faith & Fellowship Bloghop Grace & Truth Linkup Grace&TruthSharingRedemption’sStories Dance With Jesus The Weekend Brew
Saturdays Still Saturday The Weekend Brew Saturday Soiree Recommendation Saturday Make My Saturday Sweet
Sundays Spiritual Sundays Sunday Stillness

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Filed Under: Freedom, Freedom Friday, Freedom Session, God's Grace, Prayer Tagged With: Forgiveness, Freedom, Freedom Friday, Freedom Session, God's grace, Prayer

Spiffin’ up the Screened Porch the Easy Way!

July 29, 2015 by Patti 24 Comments

I’m not a writer today.  Nope!  Since I’m working an a huge list of “to-do’s” in anticipation of our vacation next week (YAY!)  I will be showing and going today!  This is a much past due post.  I took the pictures in May, at the tail end of “the blowing of the pollen”, after a full day of cleaning the screened porch and it’s furnishings.

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With yellow pollen covering everything I cleaned my screened porch the easy way, by taking everything out to the deck and hosing out the inside . . .

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. . .then doing the same with the furniture outside.  I did scrub things down first with some soapy water.

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The hose is one of Sasha’s favorite things so she was right there to help!  You’ll notice that Cozy is conspicuously absent throughout this post.

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Last Fall, when we first moved in, I showed you pictures of my screened porch with a list of things I’d like to do.  I haven’t done everything on my list but I have freshened things up a bit.

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We ordered neutral colored replacement cushions for the sitting area so that we could change our accent colors at will. 

By the way, did I tell you that this entire set of patio furniture was negotiated into the purchase of our home?  People don’t think about doing that but we also negotiated for the couches in our bonus room and den, as well as the bed in one of our guest rooms. 

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We added a faux sea grass rug from Lowes to add to the beach feeling and to pull the sitting area together.

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We added some bright pillows to the quieter colored pillows we already had.

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Most of the accessories came from our old home, “the lake house”, back in Washington State.

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We found this old farmhouse table after we moved here and it’s perfect for a serving station.  I added the skirt around it to hide my supplies while not in use.

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 No neutral cushions for the dining table!

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Turquoise and orange-to-red tones are the color choice for our screened porch,

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. . . influenced by this picture that my 97-year-old mother-in-law painted when she was sixteen. Sweet yes?

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Here’s a quick sweep around the room from left to right.

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Now on to a few closeups to show you more detail.

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This is a rocker from my childhood that my husband re-caned for me.  There is a tutorial in the making but he isn’t as motivated at blogging as I am 🙁

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And the only rules we have for settin’ on the back porch . . . RELAX.

No matter what’s happening all around us, when we take time to relax in Him, we always find something to be thankful for.

Blessings,

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I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:
 UnderTheTableAndDreaming, TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive,
 NiftyThriftyThings,
SilverPenniesSundays, SundaysAtHome
Monday:
 IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor,  ModVintageLife,  TheDedicatedHouse, HuckleberryLove, CarrieThisHome, Dwellings, AnExtraordinaryDay,
InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch,
Tuesday:
HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, Elizabeth&Co, CoastalCharm, CozyLittleHouse,  NaptimeCreations, CedarHillFarmhouse, KatheWithAnE,NotJustAHousewife, 
VMG206, TuesdaysAtOurHome,
TwirlAndTakeABow, TheWinthropChronicles, 7Alive,  Maison de Pax, VintageInspirationParty
Dream.Create.Inspire.Link
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, IvyAndElephants, TheStyleSisters, 
SomedayCrafts,  TheCityFarmhouse,
TheBlissfulBee, Posed Perfection, Inspiration2
Thursday:
NoMinimalistHere, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife, FromMyFrontPorchToYours, ADelightsomeLife, AKAWeekendRetreat,
KatherinesCorner, PrettyPreppyParty, YourTurnToShine
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, MissMustardSeed, ThirtyHandmadeDays, CommonGround, TheShabbyNest, JenniferRizzo, TheCharmOfHome, RootedInThyme,  TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday,
 DIYVintageChic,  ShabbyliciousFriday, TheCreativeCollection,
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, It’sOverflowing, BeDifferentActNormal,
OneMoreTimeEvents,  SaturdaySparks,
TheInspirationGallery
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Filed Under: Coastal Style, Home decorating, My Home, Screened porch, Summer, The Beach Tagged With: Coastal Style, Home Decorating, My Home, Screened Porch, Summer, The Beach

Tips for Creating Rustic French Signage

July 22, 2015 by Patti 17 Comments

Do you ever have times of feeling SUPER motivated . . . with great bursts of energy to tackle projects you’ve been carrying around in your head?  Times of enough forward incentive to conquer two, or three, or six undertakings at the same time?

That’s what sunshine does for me.

When it’s dreary and drizzly outside my window I seem to lack ambition but with the long sunny days of summer here in SC I’m on a roll!

La Creperie Tips

As promised in my post Adding the French Country Look to Your Kitchen, I’m back to share:

My Favorite Tips for Creating Rustic French Signage
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  Some of what I’ll be sharing I learned while taking the Farragoz Painting Course seen on my sidebar (if you haven’t it checked out yet you should).  It has been a great course for learning things about painting that I’d never learned anywhere else, as well as teaching me to make my own paints from natural products.

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For this project I’m using some items I had on hand from previous projects (items the course teaches one to make from scratch), Americana Decor’s Chalky Finish paint in black and white Liquitex Gesso.

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On a pre-cut board from Michael’s I began by painting on a few layers of Gesso and then layers of black paint, drying between each coat with a hair dryer.

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Can you see all the cool cracking caused by my hair dryer?  Next I took a cheap candle and smushed it on the surface, wherever I wanted the black paint to show through my top coat.  Note the big chunks of wax left behind.

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I painted over everything with Behr’s knockoff of the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) color Country Grey.  This color and all the remaining paint colors used in this tutorial were mixed with my Homemade Chalk Paint Recipe #3. One coat covers well but I used two for an even more layered look.

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Lettering was next and this picture on Facebook was my inspiration.

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I eyeballed the picture and drew it by hand on a piece of paper about the size I thought would work for my sign.  You could use a stencil but I rather like the not-so-perfect, hand lettered look.

After a bit of drawing, erasing and drawing again I was finally happy with my penciled lettering and transferred it onto my board.  Tracing with graphite paper is one way of doing this or, if you are too lazy to go looking for the graphite paper up in your craft closet, a simple Typography Transfer tutorial can be found HERE.

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After transferring my letters I lightly distressed the board, mostly around the edges, and used a knife point to “pick up” the paint that was over the wax, revealing the chalky black beneath.

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This extreme close-up shows an example of the kind of depth you can achieve with layers of paint and wax.

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The next step was to dry brush around the outer edges of my board . . .

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 . . . using Behr’s ASCP knock-off of French Linen.

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Painting the lettering was done with a tiny brush and a steady hand . . .

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. . . using Behr’s knock-off version of ASCP Greek Blue.

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The shadowing was not done in an ASCP color but is a Behr sample that I bought to try on a BIG future project (one of the things I’m working on this week).

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This is a picture taken during the shadowing process.  I had to keep reminding myself that my shadows needed to fall to the right and below my letters.  No worries about perfection though because any goof is an easy fix with more paint. Wink, wink!

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After lettering I used my tiny brush to freehand some embellishments on my board.  Not worrying too much about keeping things uniform or perfect makes it super simple for anyone to do!

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Finally I waxed my board to protect it.  I added dark wax first . . .

La Creperie 020. . . then a little soft wax to “erase” some of the areas I didn’t want to be quite so dark.

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I used dark wax only on the sides, allowed all the wax to dry for an hour or so, then buffed the entire sign to a nice sheen.

That’s pretty much it . . . MY favorite tips for creating Rustic French Signage.  Below are several shots of La Creperie Bleue on display in my French Country decorated kitchen.

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 La Creperie 016Cute “vintage” signs are sold everywhere right now and I have one that you may have seen in my last post.  I like it a lot but I’d much rather have something that is original and not mass produced.  Maybe you’ll try your hand at creating some rustic signage of your own.  If you do I’d love to see pictures or answer any questions you might have along the way.

If being crafty isn’t your thing but you’d love to check out some beautiful rustic French signage to purchase, I think you’ll be delighted by what you see at my friend Janice’s online shop, French Velvet Horses. 

Janice’s heart goes into everything she creates and that is the mark of a TRUE artist!

And now, since we’re lovin’ on all things French lately, a little language lesson:

French-Greetings-A Blessings to you my friends and *bonne nuit!

*Bonne nuit – That’s good night before going to bed, which I’m not, because I’m on to another project while the motivation is strong!

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For more French inspiration be sure to visit my French Country Style board on Pinterest.

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:
 UnderTheTableAndDreaming, TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive,
 NiftyThriftyThings,
SilverPenniesSundays, SundaysAtHome
Monday:
 IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor,  ModVintageLife,  TheDedicatedHouse, HuckleberryLove, CarrieThisHome, Dwellings, AnExtraordinaryDay,
InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch,
Tuesday:
HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, Elizabeth&Co, CoastalCharm, CozyLittleHouse,  NaptimeCreations, CedarHillFarmhouse, KatheWithAnE,NotJustAHousewife, 
VMG206, TuesdaysAtOurHome,
TwirlAndTakeABow, TheWinthropChronicles, 7Alive,  Maison de Pax, VintageInspirationParty
Dream.Create.Inspire.Link
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, IvyAndElephants, TheStyleSisters, 
SomedayCrafts,  TheCityFarmhouse,
TheBlissfulBee, Posed Perfection, Inspiration2
Thursday:
NoMinimalistHere, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, AllThingsWithPurpose, MyRepurposedLife, FromMyFrontPorchToYours, ADelightsomeLife, AKAWeekendRetreat,
KatherinesCorner, PrettyPreppyParty, YourTurnToShine
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, MissMustardSeed, ThirtyHandmadeDays, CommonGround, TheShabbyNest, JenniferRizzo, TheCharmOfHome, RootedInThyme,  TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday,
 DIYVintageChic,  ShabbyliciousFriday, TheCreativeCollection,
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, It’sOverflowing, BeDifferentActNormal,
OneMoreTimeEvents,  SaturdaySparks,
TheInspirationGallery
La Creperie Tips
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Filed Under: ASCP, chalk paint, Craft Ideas, DIY, Farragoz, French Country, Home decorating, Homemade chalk paint recipe, Painting Technique, Tutorial Tagged With: ASCP, Chalk Paint, Crafts, DIY, Farragoz, French Country, Home Decorating, Homemade chalk paint, Painting Technique, Tutorial

French Grain Sacks & a New Doggie Bed

July 17, 2015 by Patti 25 Comments

My experience has been that good often comes out of bad.  This post began with a melted dog bed . . . 

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This is my favorite bed for our dogs.  We bought it in a specialty shop and it wasn’t cheap, but then we are pushovers when it comes to our dogs.  This bed has a zipper closure so the cover can be taken off to launder, a MUST as far as I’m concerned . . . but it’s also a must for the cushion itself to be able to be cleaned . . .

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. . . because old doggie smell is doggone unpleasant!

Anyhoo, this particular dog bed cover wasn’t waterproof and the dog bed insert wasn’t washable or dry cleanable.  I tried washing it as carefully as I could anyway and the thin cheesecloth-like cover holding the stuffing inside disintegrated into Swiss cheesecloth!

Right about that time Pillow Cubes contacted me (after seeing my Pottery Barn knockoff Jingle Pillow) and offered to send me a dog bed insert if I would write a review of their product.  Since my dogs were still trying to lie on their empty dog bed cover on the hardwood floor . . . 🙁 I KNOW . . . I was happy to try out their product! 

 I’ll be telling you more about their pillow inserts later but for now, let’s get on with my French Grain Sack Dog Bed tutorial,  because really who couldn’t use another cute cover for their dog bed?  Like I said . . . pushovers.

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Disclaimer:  I am not a seamstress or a pattern maker, so please don’t expect expert sewing instructions here.  The main thing I want to show you in this post is how to create the French Grain Sack look on fabric.  You can use this application to make a tablecloth, curtains, a pillow, or a dog bed.  If you do want to make a dog bed cover and you’ve had some sewing experience you’ll probably do just fine with my feeble instructions.  If not, you can still use the French grain sack design but you might want to find a “real” pattern.

  My dog bed insert from Pillow Cubes measures 30″x 40″ from seam to seam.  I decided to make a box shaped dog bed, like my other one, so I cut two 31-1/4″ x 41-1/4″ rectangles (this allows for a 5/8″ seam allowance on each side). My fabric was a pre-laundered painter’s drop cloth  (a bonus, as this makes it naturally resistant to leakage).

Next, with my large sheet of drop cloth I was able to cut one strip long enough to go around three sides of the bed (110-1/4″ long by 7-1/4″ wide).  The shorter side (a 31-1/4″ x 7-1/4″ strip) will have the tie closures.

Note: If your fabric isn’t large enough to cut a strip this long you can piece together the sides of your bed.  I’d recommend doing it at each of the four corners for a nicer look.  Remember to allow for a 5/8″ seam at each corner.

For the three ties, I cut six long strips, approximately 18″ long by 1-3/4″wide.  The length of your ties is really a personal preference and based on whether you want to tie bows or (k)not(s)!   I used vintage ticking material that came from my mother-in-law’s old sewing supplies.  SO glad I hung on to it!

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Here is a picture of all my fabric pieces cut and ready to begin.

 French Grain Sack Dog Bed 006

Before sewing I painted deep blue stripes on the top of the dog bed cover to give the bed the look of a vintage French Grain Sack. I used a multi-surface acrylic paint that was labeled as a permanent paint.

French Grain Sack Dog Bed 005

I began by laying down painter’s tape and sealing the edges well so the paint wouldn’t bleed under the tape.  This really doesn’t seem to be an issue with drop cloth fabric though.

French Grain Sack Dog Bed 007

Using an inexpensive sponge brush, I dipped it in the paint, dabbed it on a paper towel to remove the excess and worked it into the fabric in a daubing motion.  I kept working in it until the paint was pretty dark, but a more washed out look can also look nice if that’s your preference.

French Grain Sack Dog Bed 011

After the center stripe was dry I added more tape for the side stripes and painted those as well.  One reason for taping, painting, and taping some more was so I wouldn’t get confused as to where I was supposed to paint and mess things up!  Wisdom comes with experience . . . and age!

French Grain Sack Dog Bed 012

After the paint was dry I removed the tape and VOILA!!!

French Grain Sack Dog Bed 006a

The last thing I did to make this look more like an authentic French Grain Sack was to sew a tight zig zag stitch on either side of the center stripe.  I think this really finishes it off well.

French Grain Sack Dog Bed 021

The next step was to make the ties.  Here are a few pictures of how I folded the raw edge of one end under (the other end you won’t have to worry about),

French Grain Sack Dog Bed 022

 folded both long edges in to meet,

French Grain Sack Dog Bed 026

then folded them together again and sewed them closed.

Dog bed 004

At this point, I added the ties to end of the pillow.  Rather than try to explain this process I thought you’d appreciate seamstress Margo Price’s great video tutorial for adding tie closures to pillows.  That can be found right HERE. 

Good instruction right?  I really couldn’t have figured this out without her!

Dog bed 006

After adding the ties I pinned the pillow sides to the pillow top and stitched the parts together (though it would seem logical to do so, I didn’t sew my corner seams together first because I wasn’t sure my measurements would be perfectly accurate).  Next I pinned the bottom of the pillow cover to the side strips and sewed those in place.

dog bed 001Finally, I sewed the corners closed.  I did end up having a little extra fabric which I simply trimmed away.  Your corners will look like this when turned right side out.

NOTE:  I double stitched all my seams for extra strength, sewing a 5/8″ seam first followed by another seam about 1/8″ away from the first.

French Dog Bed 001

You can see here how when everything is sewed together one flap slightly overlaps the other.

Dog bed 010Here is my new dog bed all stuffed and tied!  Can you see how great Margo’s instructions turned out?

Before I show you the finishing touches on my French Grain Sack Dog Bed let me tell you a little about the company Pillow Cubes.  The inserts made my Pillow Cubes are 100% American made, by hand with commercial sewing machines, and double stitched for strength.  Their pillow inserts come in various sizes with your choice of filling material, down feather, synthetic down, polyester, even Eco-friendly recycled fiber filler.

Dog bed 002

 As you can see from this picture the pillow inserts from Pillow Cubes are full,

Dog bed 003

and the quality is obvious!  I’ve purchased many pillow forms in my time and I can honestly tell you that these are superior to anything I’ve ever used.

This makes me quite happy to partner with Pillow Cubes in writing about their great products.  These pillow inserts are dry cleanable and with proper care will last a lifetime.

Dog bed 006a

 Back to my pillow cover and the finishing touches.  Because I have female dogs, and because crowns are a Frenchy kind of thing, I traced a crown on my pillow top using a white fabric pen.  I already had a pattern to use but The Graphics Fairy has free crown printables that could easily be traced onto cardboard, then onto your fabric.

Dog bed 020I used white acrylic, permanent paint to fill in the crown.

Dog bed 017

Dog bed 019

Dog bed 010a

I’m kind of excited about the cuteness factor of my new dog bed cover and I love the plump and cushy look of the Pillow Cubes insert.

Dog bed 003a

I really feel that this French Grain Sack Dog Bed fits well with the other touches I’ve added to my French Country Kitchen,

Dog bed 022but I think the dogs may be even happier than I am.

One last NOTE:  We live in the land of red clay here in South Carolina.  Even though drop cloth fabric resists leak-through I used Scotch Guard to protect against stains on the surface of the bed.  I’ve already seen some red clay paw marks on this bed but once they dried they simply disappeared!  To me, that makes a fabric protectant well worth using.

Dog bed Tute

I wonder, do you think I’m becoming an “Old Dog Lady”?  Do any of you have pets whom you love to spoil?  Ah well, love me, love my dog!

La Creperie 005

In my next post, I’ll be back with another tutorial for creating authentic looking Rustic French Signage.  I do hope you’ll join me.

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I hope you enjoyed this tutorial .  I’d love for you to Pin it or Tweet about it to your friends.

Thanks for visiting and blessings to you,

My Signature

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:
 UnderTheTableAndDreaming, TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive,
 NiftyThriftyThings,
SilverPenniesSundays, SundaysAtHome
Monday:
 IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor,  ModVintageLife,  TheDedicatedHouse,UncommonDesigns, HuckleberryLove, CarrieThisHome, Dwellings,AnExtraordinaryDay,
InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch,
Tuesday:
HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, Elizabeth&Co, CoastalCharm, CozyLittleHouse, NaptimeCreations, CedarHillFarmhouse, KatheWithAnE,NotJustAHousewife, 
VMG206, TuesdaysAtOurHome,
TwirlAndTakeABow, TheWinthropChronicles, 7Alive,  Maison de Pax,VintageInspirationParty
Dream.Create.Inspire.Link
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, IvyAndElephants, TheStyleSisters, 
SomedayCrafts,  TheCityFarmhouse,
TheBlissfulBee, Posed Perfection, Inspiration2
Thursday:
NoMinimalistHere, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson,AllThingsWithPurpose, MyRepurposedLife, FromMyFrontPorchToYours,ADelightsomeLife, AKAWeekendRetreat,
KatherinesCorner, PrettyPreppyParty
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, MissMustardSeed, ThirtyHandmadeDays, CommonGround,TheShabbyNest, JenniferRizzo, TheCharmOfHome, RootedInThyme, TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday,
 DIYVintageChic,  ShabbyliciousFriday,  Fabulous Friday, TheCreativeCollection,
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, It’sOverflowing, BeDifferentActNormal,
OneMoreTimeEvents,  SaturdaySparks,
TheInspirationGallery
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Filed Under: Crafts, DIY, Dog Love, Drop Cloth Projects, French Country, leftover fabric, Pottery Barn knockoff, uses for leftover fabric, Vintage Tagged With: Crafts, DIY, Dog Love, Drop cloth projects, French Country, Leftover Fabric

Ideas for Adding The French Country Look to Your Kitchen

July 14, 2015 by Patti 35 Comments

Blue and white porcelain pieces, white ironstone, mismatched silver and well patina’d copper, layers of cutting boards, weathered baskets, crisp greenery and fragrant lavender, slipcovered dining chairs, French ticking, burlap and old lace. 

These are the things that make me think of a French Country Kitchen.

As promised last week, I’m back to share some touches I’ve added to my kitchen to give it more personality and reflect my tastes.  I love a French Country kitchen but I don’t have the budget to do a complete kitchen makeover so I’ve added touches of French Country to an already great kitchen.

I’ll begin with some full shots before zooming in on the details.

My Kitchen 001

This is the view looking from the dining nook into the kitchen.

My Kitchen 065

Scanning from left to right, this is the wall behind the formal dining room where we have our coffee nook and kitchen storage.

My Kitchen 023

Looking down the length of the island to my cooking space with the Powder Room and Den behind.  The granite is very nice, though not the white like what I had in my old house.  I KNOW . . . and I continue to be thankful that I have such nice granite.

Kitchen with french touches 013

This is another view of my cooking area . . .

Kitchen with french touches 010

. . . and the kitchen sink where I see all variety of birds.  My favorite are the Red Cardinals which we didn’t have in the Pacific NW.

Kitchen with french touches 016

This is the view from the kitchen toward the dining nook.

My Kitchen 073

We have an antique dining table here which belonged to my husband’s grandparents and where three generations of children have done their homework. I know you can’t see it very well in this picture but it is a gem!

My Kitchen 075

Here you can see that directly across from the dining nook is my desk area on the right.

My Kitchen 078

This is the last shot you’ll see of my desk for awhile. It’s where I edit photos, write blog posts, pin ideas, and try real hard not to let it get out of control with paperwork! Since moving in, I still haven’t spent the time to organize this area or to make it as pretty as I want it to be. 

One. Step. At. A. Time.

Kitchen with french touches 007

Now for some close-ups of the details I’ve added to my kitchen space to make it a little bit country and a little bit French.

Thrifted Kitchen Chandy 015

One of the very first things we added to our home was this Thrift Store Chandy that we gave a good makeover with paint, new shades and magnetic crystals.

My Kitchen 069

The tabletop is sporting three runners right now.  The bottom runner has the look of a French grain sack, laid across that is a vintage crocheted lace runner, and atop that is a rustic burlap runner.

My Kitchen 071

I love the Scripture verse on it from Ecclesiastes 3:1.

Kitchen with french touches 008

The linen slipcovers are a recent addition, purchased from World Market.  They replace more formal covers that I’ve saved for when I might feel like being formal again.

Kitchen with french touches 002

I’m fortunate enough to have a full set of Villeroy & Boch Petite Fleur dishes that belonged to my mother.  Some day they’ll belong to my youngest daughter.  For now, she doesn’t have room so I’ll enjoy them while I can.

My Kitchen 080

In the dining/desk area I have various silver serving pieces that I’ve mostly collected at thrift stores . . .

My Kitchen 081

 . . . and some pieces from my collection of blue and white (some vintage, some new), as well as a few white ironstone pieces (real and faux).

My Kitchen 034

 Moving on to the pot rack, where I’ve displayed some pieces of antique copper that I’ve collected along the way.

My Kitchen 035

I just love the beautiful green patina on these pots.

Weathered Baskets 023

These are the baskets I shared about last week in creating a Vintage Look With Chalk Paint.

You can view the paint colors I used and a tutorial HERE.

My Kitchen 029

I like to keep something pretty to look at on my kitchen island.  Since it’s summer I couldn’t resist displaying this rustic pot filled with lavender, alongside a piece from my blue and white collection and a fun rusty iron birdbath.

Apron Hanger blue plate 002

In the background our aprons hang from a vintage blue willow plate (I’m lucky enough to have several of these plates from my husband’s family).  Also note the pretty blue Seahawks apron on the left.  Mr. OTN’s BBQ attire!

My Kitchen 003

Now for my stove area.  We have great plans to raise the vent and build a custom hood that will extend up to the ceiling.  We also want to add a tile backsplash all the way up the wall.  Mr. OTN and I are still wrestling over wall color.  He loves the bright and cheery look of yellow and I’m leaning toward a change.  No surprise that!  The kitchen is not at the top of our list of “to-do’s” right now though so, in the meantime, I’ve placed a French Bistro sign in front of my current stove backsplash . . . which is a mirror.  Yes, it is hard to clean a mirror every time you cook!  Not only that, but there are times that I really don’t want to look at myself while  cooking.  This morning would be a case in point.  At 11:47 a.m. and still in my pajamas . . . I’m afraid I’d scare myself!

My Kitchen 004

More blue and white and a touch of greenery at hand to clip and use in the great Southern dishes I’m learning to cook here in SC.

My Kitchen 006

This corner of my countertop holds a collection of breadboards and more old silver.  I sort of like the look of tarnished silver but I do polish it at least once a year.  OH how I miss having my oldest daughter at home to do that job.  She might tell you that this job is the reason why she moved clear across the country!

My Kitchen 009

I like the natural element of wood in my kitchen and think the grain in cutting boards is so pretty.  Did you notice my Washington State cutting board peeking out from under my watermark?

My Kitchen 008

I use a silver pitcher to keep my cooking utensils close at hand.

My Kitchen 017

What would a good French Country kitchen be without a couple of chalk boards?  This one was an old picture that I found at a garage sale and made into a chalk board.

My Kitchen 059

 This “coffee time” chalk board was something my husband brought home for me recently thinking it “looked like” me.  Suh-weet!

My Kitchen 020

More greenery.  I’ve placed boxwood topiaries on either side of the sink.

You can see my post on Decorating With Boxwood and my Source for buying preserved boxwood in bulk right HERE

My Kitchen 012

Finally, on the end of my counter a tray to hold some pretties, including silver serving pieces and miniature spoons that belonged to my mom, more blue and white, and a vintage lace doily . . .

My Kitchen 014

Ticking Dish Towels 001

. . . right next to a matching basket that holds my napkins.  I found these sweet blue and white dish towels (which make great napkins) online at Keebleoutletsstore.com. These commercial grade towels are on sale right now for $18.99 per dozen!

Kitchen with french touches 016

 So that’s my kitchen.  It was a great kitchen to begin with but now it feels like it really belongs to me and reflects my style. It’s pretty obvious that I’m drawn to the look of French Country  but anyone can give their kitchen a personal touch simply by adding items that you love.  Start pinning kitchen ideas on Pinterest or create a design board on Olioboard.  When you begin to see a pattern develop you’ll realize your own personal style.

I have a couple more touches I’ve began working on for my kitchen which I’ll be back to share with you next, along with the full tutorials.

Here’s a sneak peek at:

Dog bed 008

Cozy on her new French Grain Sack Dog Bed (it turned out SO cute) . . .

La Creperie 005

. . . and a tutorial I’ve been working on for creating your own Rustic French Signage.  I think the French Bistro sign (shown in this post) is kinda’ cute but I’ll teach you how to make a sign that looks vintage and not a mass produced knock-off.

I do hope you’ll come back and join me for the full reveals.

Until then, be blessed!

My Signature

NOTE:  I did not receive compensation for any of the items mentioned in this post.  They are simply products I use and wanted to share with you my DEAR readers!

French Country Kitchen

I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:
 UnderTheTableAndDreaming, TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive,
 NiftyThriftyThings,
SilverPenniesSundays, SundaysAtHome
Monday:
 IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor,  ModVintageLife,  TheDedicatedHouse, UncommonDesigns,  BoogieboardCottage, HuckleberryLove, CarrieThisHome, Dwellings, AnExtraordinaryDay,
InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch, RedheadCanDecorate
Tuesday:
HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, Elizabeth&Co, CoastalCharm, CozyLittleHouse,  NaptimeCreations, CedarHillFarmhouse, KatheWithAnE,NotJustAHousewife, 
VMG206, TuesdaysAtOurHome,
TwirlAndTakeABow, TheWinthropChronicles, 7Alive,  Maison de Pax, VintageInspirationParty
Dream.Create.Inspire.Link
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, IvyAndElephants,  DIYByDesign, TheStyleSisters, 
SomedayCrafts,  TheCityFarmhouse,
BeyondThePicketFence, TheBlissfulBee, Posed Perfection, Inspiration2
Thursday:
NoMinimalistHere, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, AllThingsWithPurpose, MyRepurposedLife, FromMyFrontPorchToYours, ADelightsomeLife, AKAWeekendRetreat,
KatherinesCorner, PrettyPreppyParty
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, MissMustardSeed, ThirtyHandmadeDays, CommonGround, TheShabbyNest, LizMarie, Redoux, JenniferRizzo, TheCharmOfHome, RootedInThyme,  TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday,
 DIYVintageChic,  ShabbyliciousFriday,  Fabulous Friday, TheCreativeCollection,
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, It’sOverflowing, BeDifferentActNormal,
OneMoreTimeEvents,  SaturdaySparks,
TheInspirationGallery
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Filed Under: French Country, French flea market, Home decorating, My Home, Southern Living Tagged With: Burlap, Chalk Boards, French Country, French Country Kitchen, Home Decorating, Kitchen Decor, Lace, My Home, southern living

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OldThingsNew

I am Perfectly Imperfect Patti, daughter of the King, wife to the amazing Mr. OTN, mom to two grown daughters, a great son-in-law, and companion to two spoiled dogs. At Old Things New I share DIY’s, budget friendly home transformations, as well as posts about how God transforms our souls. I myself have been made new and I love to share what I’ve learned through WRITING and SPEAKING. To view a short Vimeo of “Our Story” (Mr. OTN and I) please follow the link at the top of the page.

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