Dandelions and Daydreams

We have a short carnival this week, and some very enjoyable entries.  Hope you enjoy the March 17 Carnival of Christian Women

Devotionals

Lena Santos presents Patience posted at Manna from Heaven, saying, “a reminder of patiently waiting for the Lord.”

Yvette Nietzen presents Speak the right words posted at Fresh Wind Ministries, Int´l.

January Cat presents Easter Parade posted at What I Believe, saying, “There are many different kinds of Easter parades.”

God Moments

GP presents On a Wing and a Prayer posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn, saying, “A horse gallops with his lungs,
Perseveres with his heart,
And wins with his character.“
- Tesio”

Angela Williams Duea presents Ripples posted at angelawd, saying, “Each action we take produces ripples in the world - a small wave of action that touches one life after another. We will never fully know, this side of heaven, how far these ripples reach.”

Home

Jennifer in OR presents A Three Year Old and a Fish posted at Diary of 1, saying, “I’m learning to not bypass those teachable moments with my kids!”

Tea Party Girl presents Do You Feel Like a Bull in a China Shop? posted at Tea Party Girl.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of christian women using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of christian women, blog carnival.

Apartment dwellers live with the unique challenge of creating a personal style when you can’t do a major renovation. In addition to that, apartments are often just a place you are passing through on the way to home ownership. In every apartment I have lived I had to create a welcoming refuge with stark white walls, a minimal number of holes added to the wall, and a minuscule budget.

There are a few basic guidelines for creating a personal space in an apartment. Creating a home in someone else’s house begins with acceptance of the things that you have no control over, and then decorate around the things you can control. The goal of apartment decorating is to display your favorite things, add your favorite colors, and generally create a space that says “you.” The benefit of apartment decorating is that you can take all the stuff with you when you move to create a personal space in your next home too.

Accept the Things I cannot Change

The first step in creating a home in an apartment is to accept all the things that you cannot change. In my apartment, it’s white walls, dirty carpet, evidence of shoddy paint jobs inside, and peeling paint outside. There is nothing that I can do about it. I’ve done what I can (cleaned the carpet), and let the rest go because I can’t change it.

Change the Things I can.

Eliminate Clutter This is the where good home decoration begins. It’s probably the most difficult part, but remember the first step in creating a welcoming refuge is creating order. For decluttering help, check out FLYlady.net.

Incorporate Color. There are lots of places where you can incorporate color to counteract those white walls: Fresh flowers, slip covers, pillows, throw blankest, rugs, posters, art work, etc.

Full Spectrum Lighting. I recommend using full spectrum bulbs throughout your house, especially during the daylight-deprived winter. I saw full spectrum compact fluorescent lights (CFL ). Use floor lamps wherever possible. Floor lamps are easier on the eyes than overhead. Get a dimmer switch for your bedside lamp to help you wind down at the end of the day. Whenever possible, take advantage of natural light.

Window Coverings. This is another great place to add color to your house. I like having double layer curtains. The inner layer is sheer curtains to let the light through while maintaining privacy. The second layer is a coordinating color, but is solid fabric. The solid curtains can be closed at night to hold in heat in your house (in the winter) and to add to your privacy at night.

These are just a few ways to turn a house or an apartment into your home. Home is a condition of the heart, more than a condition of the home.

In my last post, I wrote about how I decided to create a stained “glass” window cling for the front door to my apartment. The pattern I created looked like this:

The first step involved Windex and papertowels to get rid of a winters worth of dirt and create a clean canvas.

 

Using a sharpie marker and a ruler, I drew the pattern on the window. These lines would become a grid for placing the leading strips.

 

 

I did the drawing on the same side that I pated because it was cold outside. If I were to do this project again, I would wait for warmer weather and draw on the outside of the window where the marker could be washed off later. As it is, I can still see the marker under the leading lines when I am outside looking in.

 

My sweet husband stepped in to help with getting the leading lines down straight. Having extra hands really helped the job go much faster.

This is what it looked like before painting:

 

After the leading had been applied, I used the paint to fill in the space. With the “crystal Clear” I swireled the tip as I painted so that end the result would be bumpy. The wet paint was opaque white, but dried clear.

 

When all the blocks were fill in, it was just a waiting game. The paint takes 24 hours to dry and 7 days to cure completely. If you are going to use this in an area with high moisture and condensation (such as a bathroom) you would probably want to do the design on a separate sheet of plastic or glass, let the project dry and apply the protective sealer (also in the gallery glass line).

 

In this final picture, it is a cloudy day and the paint is a little foggy because of condensation. I will be applying the protective sealant after my next trip to the craft store. Either way, this project has afforded me the privacy that I need while still allowing the sunlight through to my living room sanctuary.

The window in my front door let in lots of glorious sunshine but also left me feeling like I was living in a fishbowl. Anyone driving by could peer into my living room. If my living room was ever going to be a private sanctuary, something had to change.

I’ve always loved houses with decorative leaded glass windows. Since we are renting, swapping out the window isn’t really an option. After three day sof pondering, I decided to design my own “stained glass” window cling.

My original idea was to create seasonal patters and change the design through the year. I browsed free stained glass pattern sites and picked out a daffodil pattern for spring. Okay, I admit the pattern may be a bit over the top, but I just love daffodils.

My trip to Michaels revealed a paint called Gallery Glass by Plaid. It is a translucent, water-based formula for creating your own unique vinyl window clings.

The seasonal window cling idea had to get rethought when I started checking prices. In the end, I got Gallery Crystal Clear 8 oz. and 24′ Redi-Lead Strips. The cost came to about $14 after tax.

I got home and went to work with graph paper and a ruler. This was the design inspiration:

Check back Monday for Pictures from the project.

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Aside from nurturing your family, a home should be a place to nurture and entertain others. When you invite someone into your home, you have the opportunity to nurture their spirit and share your life. The best way to develop lasting friendships is to open your heart and share your life.

When you open your home, in hopes of creating a welcoming refuge, your front door and entry create the first impression, and we all know,“You only get one chance to make a good first impression.”

As someone drives up to your house or walks to your front door, will they feel welcome and cared for? Does your front door bless all who enter?

When I was growing up, my mom would send me to clean my room. Whenever I didn’t know where to start, or got bogged down with the little stuff at the end, my mom would suggest that I walk in my bedroom and pretend that I was company seeing it for the first time.

After reading The Spirit of Loveliness (Review Here), I started thinking about first impressions. I walked outside and looked at our apartment with the eyes of a guest.

What an eye opening experience that was! The first thing I noticed was the mountain of winter stuff propped against the house (snow shovels, pots waiting for spring planting, etc.). One by one, these things had collected. The mountain grew so gradually that I never noticed. There was some wood scraps from a building project that didn’t get completely cleaned up after. When I got a little nit-picky, I noticed that the sidewalk and stairs need to be swept.

The thing that struck me the most came when I walked up to the front door. The top half of the front door is a window. We live in a basement apartment, so we need all the light we can get into our little cave space. Our door is south facing, and I have loved that window, but when I walked up looking through the eyes of a guest, I was struck with a feeling of invasion of privacy. Looking in that window, I was peering into a private sanctuary that I hadn’t yet been invited to see.

I had always been somewhat uncomfortable with having the window wide open for everyone to see in, but I had never been able to put my words to my feelings. I coveted the light from the door window, so I just ignored the discomfort as best I could.

I pondered this problem for three days before I figured out a solution that suited my need for light and beauty in the entrance to my home. I searched for window cling paint and created a “leaded glass” window cling for my front window. Now I have light, privacy, and a beautiful decorative window.

Watch for a front-door project post tomorrow.  In the mean time, go look at your front door through the eyes of a guest.  What can you do to welcome your family and friends into your home with open arms?

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photos: Amy March CC-By-SA, ButterflySha CC-By