Hand Turned Pens / Creations Class

Joshua recently did a Creations Class for the boys. He helped them all make a wooden pen. 

Dad put together a lesson for them on how the men of the Bible wrote things down and how it is important to write down the Word of God.

The boys listening to their lesson.

Joshua did a great job of showing everyone how they were made!

Getting ready to turn their pens.

Brother Ricardo brought another lathe along to help the process go a little faster.

All the boys did a great job!! Good job on the class, Joshua!! 

Checking more items off my "To Do List!"

I found this really cute sign on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.

I took four old pallet boards and hooked them together with slats on the back. Next I stained them, picked out a font, used carbon paper to transfer them and then painted the words on with a light cream colored paint.

It turned out to be the perfect wall decor for our dining area. Joshua also stained the tray on the table the same shade.

Bless the food before us,
the family beside us,
and the love between us.



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Lots of shoes come with a big family. Since we don't really have a mud room, all our work shoes get placed outside in crates. Well, they are supposed to stay in crates, but that doesn't really happen. We got tired of seeing our back porch like this, so we decided to do something about it. 

Shoe shelves!! Just what we needed! Joshua jumped in and helped me and we got it built in about an hour.

It's amazing how much a small improvision can make such a difference!

It not only saves space it also looks so much more neat and tidy!

              Before...... &....... After               

Wall Mural

Someone asked how we put the Bible verse on our wall, so I thought I would make a quick post about it.

There are so many amazing Bible verses that would be awesome to have on your wall, so it took us a bit to decide on one. Since our room is pretty long we finally settled on Philippians 4:8. I picked a font and after capitalizing all the important words, printed it out.  We laid it out to give us kind of an idea to how long it was going to be. 

Using the ceiling as my guide line I took carbon paper and began tracing each letter onto the wall.

Joanna and Kaitlyn came along after me and filled them in.

Joanna and Kaitlyn painted most of the letters. After I had finished tracing I came along after them painting around each letter with tan, covering up smudges and mistakes. We started after lunch one day and didn't finish till nearly dark. It took a lot longer then I had anticipated. After 7 hours we finally finished!  (Notice the exact place of the letters they are painting.)

We time-lapsed most of it.  

I ended up going back and adding a curlicue to the beginning.  

I love the extra touch it gave the living room!! :)

Recent Projects

Joanna wanted to try and make a bed out of pallet wood. She found a plan online, so Joshua, Joanna and I decided to give it try.

We have a nice big room in the end of our garage and Joshua has turned it into his wood working shop.

Joshua brought some pallets in from the barn and sawed them apart.

After measuring, sawing, and planning it was ready to be nailed together.

Got the head board done! :)

Joanna was really happy with the way it was turning out! :)

After we got the foot board done we brought it inside to screw it together.

And here is the finished project!! We had a lot of fun putting it together and turned out really nice. 

In all it only cost about $30 for the extra lumber and screws.


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Joanna and I also took some time to paint stripes on her one wall. 

After measuring and taping we painted them.

We never tried anything like this before, so it was exciting when it turned out ok. 

I really like the affect it gave to her room.

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I really enjoy building stuff and the stack of pallets out back gives me so many ideas! The other day I decided to build a little house that I could feed the cats in so the dogs couldn't get to it. It took me about 45 minutes and it's far from perfect, but it works great! 

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Joshua has been making some cool things for the house. 

He made this little box to sit on Mom's table.

He made a really cool little band saw box.

He also made a gun rack for the boys room.

These pictures were taken off the ipod, so they aren't real clear.

Kaitlyn requested Joshua to make this for her. It turned out really cute!! Joshua has an amazing talent when it comes to wood. He loves making things!! 

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I finally got the curtains done for the living room. 

I thought about doing drapes, but I didn't want to take away from our view. I just made valances and I am really happy with the way they turned out.

Joanna and I have also repainted our bathroom and the hallway. Yesterday, I repainted the guest room. Slowly but surely everything is getting done. :)