A Place Called Home

What does a home mean to me?

 

To me it means the warmth and comfort a place can give you.

It means having family surround you.

It means the love you share.

Maybe it means security and stability at times.

If you are anything like me, then you probably enjoy putting your own personal touches to your home.

My husband took me shopping this last weekend.  Just the two of us.  It was nice to spend time together looking at things that we both enjoy.  We dreamed and schemed as we walked through 3 different stores.  My husband shared ideas he had, and I have to say, he had some very good ones!

This weekend though we decided to go ahead and shed some more light in our living space.  The chandlier that was hanging in our dinning space looked like it had been there since the turn of the century.  It put off about just as much light as 5 or 6 candles did, which is not much.  We even joked about spary painting the metal at one time, but honestly....  you can't cover up ugly.

I really don't know if you would call it gold or copper. 

Whichever.... It finally came down last weekend! 

My husband worked hard on getting it and 2 gold pendant lights down over the island.

In it's place we put up some new fixtures.

The results....

are amazing!

It changed the look of the place so much.

Patrick and I both like simple designs.  We don't care for a lot of frill.

Maybe it looks a little modern, but Patrick calls it rustic.  I guess that works too.

At least now we have brillant light in our home.

Replacing light fixtures is such an easy way to change a look to a place.

I'm glad we did. 

I'm also thankful that my husband has the ability to do these things.  He even took out 4 dimmer switches in our house on Sunday and replaced those with a normal switch.  We did have to call his dad a few times to ask about the 3 way switches and he ended up coming over to fix one.  But all in all, I'm glad my husband is not afraid to do something he hasn't done before.  What a blessing he is!

So what's up next?

We are currently striping wall paper off our kitchen wall.

We will repaint later when the weather is a little nicer and warmer.

I also have an old table we are going to strip paint off of and restain and repaint.

I love "flipping" treasures!

Have you done any projects lately?

Uncoventional Wreath

Being creative is something I have enjoyed. 

As with each season of life, the creativity has changed.

As for this blog, it is going to change too.

I enjoyed crocheting, but I don't have time to do much of it anymore.

So I decided to concentrate on making my house a home. 

I want to document the personal touches my family is making to the home we bought last November. 

It is now time for a different approach to what I am doing.

Last summer or maybe it was spring...

I visited a flea market in search for unique and cheap frames.

I had this idea that I could spray paint and actually put a family picture in it or something nice,

but it just sat there after I painted it.

This is the finished and forgotten frame. 

I got it out today.

I saw an awesome idea on Pinterest where someone had a round frame

and put flowers on it making it into a lovely wreath. 

Why couldn't I do that?

Even if it is a square....

So today I took my gift card to Hobby Lobby and bought my half-priced flowers.

And created my own unconventional wreath on a budget.

New Beginnings

For the last few years I have been fortunate to stay at home with my children and watch a few kids here and there for extra income.  This last month or so I have not had any kids to watch so money has been tighter then normal.  These last few days I have been wondering what in the world do I need to do.  This has been the first time since I worked for my dad 20 plus years ago that I have not been making any money and I am fully dependent on my husband.  It's been a hard place for me to be.  I have never been a big spender.  I have never loved shopping so much that I just have to have new things all the time, but it is nice to be able to go purchase something here and there and not have to worry.

This last week I have been wondering what I should be doing.  I felt like I did not have a direction in which to go.  Sure I have my Etsy account and I like making things, but selling them on Etsy has been another quandry.  It's hard to get those sells when there are so many other great shops out there.

Recently we had a missions conference and I kept thinking, I wish I had a way to give more to missions outreach.  So I guess I am going to keep going with the Etsy account for awhile but just let God know that from any sells I make, I give him half of the sales to go toward our church's missions program.  The other half will hopefully be used for investing back into new and creative things to make.

If this doesn't work, then God has another purpose for me.  Until then...  Give God all the Glory!

Whimsical Flower Garland

One of my favorite things to do is find an idea and some how recreate it to make it mine.

I'll often look at a pattern and think I like this part of it or that but not the whole thing. 

Taking pieces of an idea and implementing them into a new idea is a lot of fun for me!

I wish I had more time to do it, but I try and find things now that don't require a lot of time.

Try finding something you love and add it to new pattern.

Mixing up old patterns make it fresh and unique and people love it!

At least I do!

I decided to take two different flowers and alternate them using different colors.

The possibilities are endless as you can use one color, make different size flowers or like I did in this case, make a beautiful garland that can be used for girls/ladies of all ages!

How do you revive your craft projects?

Garlands and Ornaments

I had plenty of time to crochet over the holiday weekend.

With a five hour drive, you can't do much else!

Here are some of the projects I completed during that time.

Garlands to decorate walls, windows, fireplaces and your tree!

This garland is 53 inches long with (7) 4" snowflakes.

This beautiful red garland is over 8 ft long. 

Perfect for wrapping around your tree!

Christmas Ornaments to hang on the wall,

windows, cabinets, tree and much more!

Snowflake Garland

It's that time of year again!  It's exciting to think about all the time we get to spend with family and friends.

This week I get to spend time with my family for several days and I can't wait to see everyone!  Well.... almost everyone!

So what I have I been working on lately?  Of course!  Snowflakes!
I'm wanting to do do something different again and this year I am starting on getting more snowflake garlands out there to sell or maybe as a gift item.

Use the garland to decorate your tree, fireplace, windows, doors, cabinets and more!

This garland is approximately 4 ft long.

Each snowflake is 2 inches across.

Additional snowflakes can be added for additional cost.

The next set of snowflakes I am working on will be a little larger ones and dainter looking!  Can't wait until I am done!  See my Etsy shop for more listings available!  www.etsy.com/shop/amykempf

Finding Inspiration

Finding inspiration can be hard at times.  You get busy with your family and it seems like everything else stops.  I recently decided that I wanted to go back to finding the things I love and doing them when time allows.

I used to love going to antique stores and flea markets.  Find that one really cool find and making it over into something amazing.  Last weekend I really wanted to decorate my front porch area to make it more inviting.  So I took off to Hobby Lobby {my favorite store} and found lots of fun and cute things.  I left Hobby Lobby empty handed because it wasn't what I was looking for.  I wanted something quaint and different.

  Something inspiring. 

I decided to stop in at a flea market in town and browse quickly through it to see if there were any goodies there.  I found something that set my mind spinning!  I found a baby doll cradle that was so cute.  Even if the color wasn't what I was wanting I still had high hopes!  I checked it out to make sure it was sturdy enough and it was.  Now, I wonder what it's price would be??  I was almost too scared to look!

$9.99.

Can you believe it!?!  I couldn't.  I snatched that bad boy up and left happy!! 

The idea I had for this cradle is simple.  I wanted to use it as a flower planter for my front porch.

So instead of having a screaming red baby cradle, I stopped by Menards and grabbed 2 cans of Chestnut paint.  Perfect!

Added to my list were 3 gallon sized yellow mums with a little hint of red in them.

After spray painting my cradle a beautiful chestnut color, it sat a day or two to dry.

Next....

Accessorize it.

I really didn't have a big plan in mind.

I picked up some leaf branches at JoAnns and attached them to the side posts with floral wire.

Added a little raffia.

It didn't seem complete so I added a little rake "Welcome" sign to the left side and attached it with floral wire in 3 different place.

While I would like to add more props around my cute little planter, I am stopping for now until I find the next great steal. 

It's easy to get stuck in a rut of creating new things.  My encouragement is this.  Find what you LOVE.  Look around at Flea markets and ask yourself how you could re-do something into something really amazing.  Pick up a few accessories that go well with it and pull it together with things you might all ready have.  You'll be amazed at the end product!

It is the planter I didn't know I was looking for!

Happy creating!

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