Happy Saturday everyone!
I’m guest posting this morning over at Atelier Caroline and hope you’ll swing by!
As I sit here writing this after watching the Super Bowl with Mr. Thrive and the Dirty Half Dozen, THRIVE has reached another milestone: 600+ followers. This means more to me than I could possibly tell you … so I’ll just keep it simple and hope that it’s enough:
Thank You.
The winners for the gift sets from Atelier Caroline are:
Congratulations Kimberly, Rebecca and Joshua/Cameron! Please email me your shipping information and I’ll get your prizes in the mail. If prizes aren’t claimed in 48 hours, I’ll draw new winners.
This week is going to be a blast! I’ve got some fun projects to share with all of you, including a new {big} favorite knock-off to share and the first update on the No-Money Remodel Challenge.
See you soon!
Happy Friday everyone!
Once again thanks are in order to all of you who’ve stopped by, commented and shared your ideas on Thriving! One week ago today this little blog rolled past the 400 followers mark … then the 500 followers Monday morning … and is just under 600 followers right now.
You totally, completely rock.
So to say thank you, I’m excited to announce a giveaway from one of my favorite bloggers, Caroline from Artfully @ Atelier Caroline.
I “met” Caroline a year ago on my family blog and have been privileged to get to know her this year. Not only is she one of the most genuine and fiercely supportive people I know, but she has mad crafting skills that I envy.
Like this princess tent. To. Die. For.
Or these gorgeous pillows that I need in my house.
Herringbone pillow tutorial here.
Honeycomb pillow tutorial here.
The Thrive part of me loves how a simple piece of fabric can be transformed. The epitome of Rock What Ya Got.
I hope you’ll check out Atelier Caroline for all of her great projects!
And for today’s giveaway, Caroline has kicked in THREE sets of her adorable flowers and pincushions to help three lucky ladies craft in style.
Thank you Caroline!
Want to win a set?
You can enter up to (5) times. Please leave a comment for each entry method:
1. Follow Choose To Thrive (or leave me a comment saying you already do.)
2. LIKE Choose To Thrive on Facebook (or tell me you do).
3. LIKE Artfully Caroline on Facebook.
4. Follow Caroline’s blog Atelier Caroline.
5. Leave me a comment telling me which set you’d love to have from Caroline.
Giveaway closes Sunday night at 8 pm MST. Winners will be picked with Random.org and announced Monday morning.
Have a great weekend and thank you all again!
I’m Nike (that’s Neeka) from Choose To Thrive.
I’m thrilled to be sharing my
Simple Valentine’s Photo Art tutorial!
Valentine’s Day at our house has been a
family event ever since kiddo #5 arrived via an emergency c-section
during what would have been our Valentine’s dinner.
family event ever since kiddo #5 arrived via an emergency c-section
during what would have been our Valentine’s dinner.
So when I decided to make a photo
display to celebrate this holiday, I not only thought about using
pictures of me and my husband, but also to all of the people I love: … my children … in-laws … extended family.
display to celebrate this holiday, I not only thought about using
pictures of me and my husband, but also to all of the people I love: … my children … in-laws … extended family.
And this project could be simpler ….
I began by inserting family pictures into a Word document and scaling them to the size I needed.
I then converted the image to black and white.
To add names, select Insert >Text Box>Simple Text Box. Make sure you select the No Fill and No Outline options so that your text will blend seamlessly over top of your pictures.
Select the font, color and size of your text and drag into position on your picture.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
(To fill my large 22″ x 28″ frame, I used 58 1.5″ x 2.5″ pictures)
I printed out several sheets of pictures on cardstock and trimmed around each photo.
For the display base, I removed the
Declaration of Independence that was in the frame to start, hid it
carefully from Ben Gates (ha!) and cut a piece of cardboard the same
size…
Declaration of Independence that was in the frame to start, hid it
carefully from Ben Gates (ha!) and cut a piece of cardboard the same
size…
… covered it with muslin and taped the raw edges to the back.
I arranged the pictures in a heart, attaching each one to the cardboard base with a photo tab.
To finish this project, the phrase “The
greatest gift to LOVE and be loved in return” was cut from black and
red vinyl on my Silhouette machine and applied to the glass.
greatest gift to LOVE and be loved in return” was cut from black and
red vinyl on my Silhouette machine and applied to the glass.
(I used the fonts JSL Ancient and Blackadder ITC which are free to download.)
A quick wipe down for finger prints and that’s it:
Easy, fast, done!
I love having this new reminder of how blessed I am to be loved by my amazing family.
And now if you’ll please excuse me, I have a birthday party to plan for a very special Valentine’s baby.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
THE CHALLENGE:
I’m so excited and a little freaked out to announce this year’s Thrive challenge:
I’m remodeling my house this year with a budget of:
$0.00!
That’s right. I’m going to see just how far I can make NADA, ZIP and ZILCH stretch in 2011.
My six month self-imposed Thrive challenge to craft without spending anything ended in December, but I feel stronger than ever that I need to continue–and even expand–my challenge. For me, this is my biggest step so far towards proving that creativity and progress don’t have to be casualties of situations like ours.
So I’ve committed to see how much of my lovely 1979 split-level house can be remodeled by trading, bartering, scavenging, “Free” on Craigslist-ing, Freecycling and repurposing like a mad woman. And all of those newly remodeled spaces are going to need fun, free decor to spruce them up, too, so the crafting will continue.
Each month I’ll showcase both the progress I’ve been able to make and tips on scoring free materials like paint and tile.
THE REASON:
GROUND RULES:
The rules are the same as the craft challenge which means staples are the only allowed purchases: glue, nails, caulk, tape. Everything else—paint, trim, flooring, furniture, decor, etc.—can only be acquired for free.
No spending. No shopping. No problem.
Wish me fun –this is going to be an adventure!
And feel free to join the fun. I’d love to see what you’re working on, too. You can post them on the Thrive FB page, Flicrk pool, or email me at choosetothriveblog (at) gmail (dot) com.
There are tons of looking back posts all over Blogland right now as everyone prepares to welcome in a new year. That seems kind of silly for me to do given that I started blogging in mid-October and then took most of December off. Should I really post a “Best Of” list to cover my whole six weeks of projects?
Probably not.
(Although your hands-down favorite project for this year for the craft/barn stars from a cake pan.)
But part of my experiment with Rocking What Ya Got and Choosing To Thrive carried over in big ways with my family this year, and I think that’s worth writing about, even if it involves my son wearing a skirt at Walmart.
I posted here about my six loud, energetic and amazing kiddos that I loving refer to as The Dirty Half Dozen. We have disastrous luck trying to get family pictures, especially for Christmas, so I’ve embraced the fact that our family will just be different … and different can rock.
Like the photo from our 2010 Shutterfly Christmas cards in the isles of Walmart:
Merry Christmas From Produce.
I bet no one else’s cards looked anything like this. This was just The Dirty Half Dozen … just our family embracing that this is “us” and this is where we are.
And taking these pictures and sending them out was empowering.
There was no stress and worry … no frantic trying to keep-up or one-up the Jones … no crippling attempt at the appearance of perfection.
It was just us.
And seeing my silly, happy, goofy kids inspired me to do something else a little crazy and make it into a book for family … to put an exclamation point on how much I love what I have in my life, despite how hard everything is right now … to remind myself that bills and struggling and trying to recover financially doesn’t have to rob me of amazing memories with my husband and kids.
And so to everyone out there who is Choosing To Thrive … who Rocked What That Got to make this holiday season magical, here’s one more log to add to that fire.
May I present
The 12-Days of Christmas: Dirty Half Dozen Style
from the isles of Walmart no less.
Enjoy …
Counting down from twelve
The Dirty Half Dozen gave me …
…12 Drummers Drumming …
… 11 Recorders Pipers Piping …
… 10 Lords-A-Leaping …
… 9 … uh … Ladies Dancing …
… 8 Maids Milking It…
… 7 Swans of Swimming in Housewares…
… 6 Geese-A-Playing– Laying …
… F-I-V-E (Sorta) G-O-L-D R-I-N-G-S …
… 4 Texting Calling Birds …
… 3 French’s Hens …
… 2 Turtle Doves …
… And a kid-bitten PEAR BY A TREE!
2011?
Bring it on.
Well it’s official.
I’m finally running up the white flag of surrender on Christmas projects, neighbor gifts, last minute presents and blog posts. Christmas is just three days away and, well … it is what it is.
For the last two weeks I’ve stepped away from Blogland to try bring back some balance in my life and actually enjoy the holiday instead of being driven to produce for it. I love to craft, to blog, to create … but I noticed that the most important things were getting shoved further and further to the back of the priority list to finish projects that seemed much more important several weeks ago when the calendars and the lists were made.
But as part of this whole Choosing To Thrive experiment, I’m learning that knowing when to step back and except “it is what it is” is just as important as “getting it done.” That’s been especially true in the last twenty-four hours where I went stupid and started thinking those dangerous wait-a-minute… it’s-not-enough-so-I’ll-just-stay-up-for-three-days-straight-and-hurry-and-finish-fifty-more-projects-gifts-posts thoughts that can make us mothers crazy and stressed out during the holidays. Thankfully my madness was short-lived and I snapped out of it tonight after dinner.
So a few of those projects that I really wanted to share with you can wait until next year … and some of those amazing, free, Thrive-worthy neighbor/teacher/whatever gifts will still be there next December … and a couple of the hand-made stocking stuffers that I wanted to finish for my kids will still be fun to bring out for New Year’s or Valentines Day.
Pencils down … time’s up … please pass your tests forward.
I hope that each of you enjoy these last few days until Christmas and the magic of that morning. I look forward to kicking off 2011 with some awesome get organized, get fit, get decorating projects taken from your suggestions perfect for rocking what you got.
Until then, I’ve got a steaming mug of hot cocoa, my favorite quilt, a fabulous Hubby, six of my favorite pajama-decked kiddos up way past their bedtime and a White Christmas DVD calling my name.
Merry Christmas.
~ Nike (and kiddo #5)
To the followers of this blog, and everyone who’s dropped by from link parties and features out there in Blog Land: Thank You. I decided to get serious about this blog—this idea—of Choosing To Thrive two weeks ago today. And honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. Would these projects go over well? Or would everyone out there in Blog Land tell me to step away from the glue gun and head straight for the trash recycling bin. But the response and support have been incredible. Four amazing blogs have featured Thrive projects this week. And in fourteen days, there have been over 2,000 of you who have stopped by, commented and strengthened my belief that the abundant life isn’t purchased, it’s created. Your comments have been wonderful, encouraging, funny and appreciated. You’ve given me ideas for new projects, new segments and new features that I’m so excited to share in the coming weeks and months. So thank you. Thanks for being part of this.
It’s almost been a year since DH was laid off with no warning and no severance. Our family has spent the last year in survival mode, living off our food storage and cutting out the few simple perks we enjoyed. I really hoped – and believed – that by this one year anniversary, everything would be back to normal and our family could start living again.
Apparently not.
In the last few months, our family has moved from unemployed to underemployed, leaving us still short 50% of our previous income and with most of the challenges we’ve had all year. For whatever reason, the Lord still has lessons for our family to learn from this experience and so we stay.
And while I can’t change much of our situation, I can change my attitude and outlook.
I can choose…
to have a happy, full life for me and my family right now instead waiting for normal return.
I can choose …
to give thanks for what I have and and trust that the Lord has blessed me the the talent and strength to rock what I got.
I can choose…
to face this next year or two or ten and see this unwelcomed change in our family’s fortunes as our greatest adventure yet.
I Choose To Thrive.
I created to this blog to remind myself just how blessed I really am, that necessity really is the mother of invention and that not being able to run to the store and buy something new and full price may just be the best thing to ever happened.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll share your ideas on how you choose to thrive as well.