QUICK FIVE: PALLET WOOD SIGNS

For a more sophisticated home, signs may not be the right décor, but for all the rest of us, they are just as adorable as ever.  Check out these cute signs that are perfect for Valentines Day decorations!

1.  Renae Schmidt from Kansas crafted this sign and offers it in her Etsy store, My Craft Shed.

2.  Carrie Owens with Southern Cute Designs has this sign for sale on Etsy as well.  She makes her creations in North Carolina.

3.  Artist is unknown for this "together" sign, but Dawn Johnson pinned it on Pinterest.

4.  Shannon Putman posted this sign on Pinterest.

5.  This sign came from The Coop Design Co. on Etsy by Brianna Holley.

So that's it for Today's "Quick Five!"  I love the fact that an old piece of wood that was otherwise destined for the trash can become something so special for our homes.

2018 IN REVIEW

As always, I like to review the year and then start planning for the new year.  And, as always, my plans never go as planned.  I can say, though, that if I don't reach for something, I rarely move forward. I've progressed each year in my slow, methodical style, working through each life milestone as they come.  So....let's review.

• First, we backed out of the purchase of the land and house on the Blue River.  The appraisal came back way under the asking price - by about $80,000!  We just couldn't stand over paying for it and thought we would be kicking ourselves for a long time over a stupid mistake!  So....we are here in one of our rent houses (sold our home in the country in 2017).
• We took over ownership of 40 acres of land that was gifted to us by my father-in-law!  Wow!  We're so excited to have a new "country" place!
• In May our son, Jaycen, graduated from high school. He and his girlfriend have our seventh grand baby, Kamber!  We're up to 22 in our family!
• Another year almost under my belt watching my Mom.  In February, I will have completed three years! She continues to decline, but we are doing everything we can to slow things down and keep her comfortable. I'm so blessed to have her here with me.
• My beautiful daughter, Brooke, got married on October 20!  We welcome with open hearts  the wonderful man she married, Chris Hall!

• Now....on to business.  I had a great run at posting on Facebook and making sales from our auction buys!  More than doubled our money and averaged around $500 extra (in my pocket!) a month! That's $500 profit.   I had a couple of relapses, but I doubled my posting goal of 30 items per week to 60 items per week!  Yay! Coalgate, OK, has the best auction site!
• I posted on Etsy more than ever before, but did not reach my goal of one item per day.  I made a few things, but mostly posted antiques.  
• My goal of refurbishing one piece of furniture per month fell short by 10 items!  lol  But the two that I completed sold for a nice profit!  Yay! 
• Posting on other (bigger) online Facebook sale sites was a NO GO....
• We have started repairs on our building on Main Street!  Whoohoo!  That's all due to Mr. Amazing Riley!  First and foremost, he stopped the roof leak!  We have a kitchen, because it used to be a restaurant, so he's already started clearing it out and getting ready for repairs.
• Quit my job?  YES!  Since we sold the country home, we paid everything off!  Now we just have minimal bills.  It's such a freeing experience.  
• I did pretty ok on my blogging, Facebook and Pinterest posts.  

It was a great year!  My improvements on the business side will begin to pay off some day.  I'm a slow and steady kind of person, so we'll see what next year brings!

Quitting My Job Wasn't So Bad!

I noticed some buzz around my post on quitting work and thought I'd let you know how it's going for me - year one!

Well....we sold our home in January and paid off all our debts, so nothing to pay here except utilities, insurance, and food - the basics.  We were fortunate enough to buy real estate about 15 years ago, so we have a rental income.  We are currently forced to live in one of our rentals, but we rent the other one, so we are not big real estate moguls!  haha  My husband works part-time and I sell things from home.  My Mom also contributes to the household.  We have both started businesses of our own.  He has honey bees and sells a little honey and I, well, I sell things from home.

Is not working making it difficult for us to live?  Not at all!  Even though my husband works, we use none of that for our bills.  We only use our rental income from our one rent house to pay the bills.  It's not much, but remember, our "money move" was paying off every debt we owed.  Definitely, debt can keep you as a prisoner!  My husband keeps what he makes from work and I keep what I make selling things online.  

I would have to say I'm extremely blessed and I could sit back and enjoy the support from my husband.  But that's not me.  I like having my own money and love to create things to sell online.  Buying things at live auctions and selling them online gives me a thrill.  I don't really know why...maybe we would need a psychologist to uncover the reasons why.  At any rate, my life is so much better now than it was when I was in the rat race!  My hubby relies on a relaxed part-time job where he has plenty of time to think and do what he wants during certain slow times.  Quitting my job was different at first and hard to adjust to the idea of it, but I'm good now.  

So, how about you?  What money moves are you going to make to get you in the position to quit your job?  I know its not as easy as it sounds and there are many reasons why you can't just quit.  Believe me, I've been in that place where it seemed impossible. I remember reminding my kids as they were growing up that life is not fair, you just have to get things swingin' your way! Jim and I have definitely gotten things going our way.

If you've read my first blog, I was whining about not having enough time.  Well, I got it now.  It's hard to get moving sometimes and there are always challenges to overcome, but I'm working on it every day.  I feel like I'm on my "second act" like some retired folks! I'm 52 and living the life I want to live. 

NEW DAY! 2019

Ahhhh, I love the idea of starting over.  Time to forgive myself for not reaching all my goals and think about what I want for the year ahead.  I'm such a planner.  The down side to that is I can plan too much and don’t get much done!  Uhhggg!

Oh well... here we go anyway!

• Post 60 items to the local online auction each week.  Last year, we made a profit of around $500 per month and it's easy. This year, I'm hoping for $800 per month.  It can be done!
• Refurbish and post one piece of furniture each month.  I have some ideas....  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!  Brooke is promising to come work with me at least once a month. 
• Post 4 new items per month to the Etsy store.  I'm hoping to list each item in multiples to plump up the store for better sales.  Four items per month can translate to one per week.  
• Open a Shopify store once the Etsy store is plumped up.  Yep, I think I'm gonna make the move to my very own (editable) online store.  I'll also keep the Etsy store.  Yay, more fees for me!  LOL
• Repair the building we own in town.  Still working on having a warehouse for all our good stuff!  Jim is working his bee hives for delicious honey and we will need a storage place for that and all my crafts and antiques.
• Find some automation tools for increased sales.  I'm learning more and more about this kind of marketing.  Looking forward to learning more and implementing some things some time this year.

Well what do you think?  I think it's doable.  I really want to find a way this year to make my life easy as I explore my creative abilities.  I would love more time creating and less time on background things.  Hiring someone to help may be on the horizon as well.

Quick Five: Adornaments!

Oh, I love Christmas!  My favorite memories are of decorating the tree.  Now, I'm obsessed with ornaments.  And, of course, making them from objects found in everyday life!  Check these out.

1.  Ali from Southern California was a guest blogger at mythirdtruelove.blogspot.com and she posted some ideas on reusing children's book illustrations!  So cute!

  2.  Yellowblissroad.com featured Alice W. with a tutorial on these cute arrow ornaments.  So cleaver!

3.  I've been obsessed looking at these cute dioramas this year!  This one was found at Findinghomefarms.com.

4.  Featured in Country Living Magazine, Barbara from 21rosemarylane.com, shows us how cute popsicle sticks can look as snow skis!  These are simple and smart!

5.  I love what Amanda from Relovedrubbish.blogspot.com did with sheet music!  Here's just one of projects!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and now ready for a very special Christmas!  

Different!

Who says you have to pay a fortune for a wedding! Check out this bouquet Brooke made for her special day! It’s an upcycled book, “365 Ways to Say I Love You.”  If you zoom in, you can see some funny illustrations from the book! If you’re planning your wedding day, use your imagination... and cut those costs!

Wedding Bells!

Can’t believe it, but my baby girl is all grown up and now married! She and her handsome man were married on top of a hill in southeast  Oklahoma overlooking Atoka Lake. It was simple and beautiful! 

This May, they both graduate from OSU so they’ll be well on their way! So proud of them both!

Christmas Times a Comin’

Ho, ho, ho!

Are you ready for Christmas? 

I’m procrastinating on all holidays this year, but watching all the Hallmark movies I can to get into the mood!

This season I’ve been totally obsessed with Brooke  Riley’s Facebook page, Re-Fabbed. She’s great and has wonderful free-style videos showing how she creates her home and surroundings on a low budget! That’s her tree top for this year...totally awesome tree! I had no idea you could do that to a tree!  You’ve got to check her out! Follow her links to her blog and store too!

So.... what are you doing this year? 

Family Gathering

Summer time is in full force and Mr. Amazing and I are looking for ways to get the kids to come back home so we can catch up with them!  Our youngest of our seven children is 18, but he was raised 150 miles away (long story).  The next two are 21 & 22, so they've been away at college for a few years.  The oldest one is 32 and all the rest are in between! I'm missing them so much!  Even the grandkids are growing up!

Anyway, to remedy this situation we're starting regular gatherings twice a year - the last Saturday in June and December.  We hope that eventually everyone will remember when it's happening each year so they can schedule it into their busy schedules.

This year, we want to celebrate the number 7.  Seven kids and seven grandkids!  We are "lucky 7" with the addition of our newly found 18 year old son and his daughter!  

It's our first summer gathering/get together, so it'll be new to all of us.  I'm hoping it will turn into a regular family reunion some day.  The family will only get bigger and grow farther apart as they get married, move around, get new jobs and have their own children.  I think a twice a year celebration isn't too much to ask for.

*Empty Nester*

ARE YOU LIVING?

It's so nice to have Spring outside!  

We're enjoying all the outdoor estate auctions and some camping on 40 acres Jim has.  The open fires and cooking outside is just so nice.  We're planning on living out on the property some day!  It's on a hill with a creek down below.  We want to plant some fruit trees and grow a garden up top; even if it has to be in raised garden beds.  Jim showed me how to get down the hill and where he plans on pushing some dirt around to create a pond.  It's already beautiful and I can't wait to enjoy it all the time!


Here's another look at my inspiration for my store.  Grandma Grace was a one-of-a kind! This picture explains perfectly her personality!  She was fun loving and always ready for an adventure!  She loved just about everything!  

In the process of tossing around branding ideas, I thought it would be nice to revisit this photo.  I'm trying to focus on creating a logo.  Horns would be nice...or maybe a washtub.  I'll have to go find the photo of her inside the tub taking a bath (in the yard!).  We have several of her fishing and even some in a bathing suit.  Lots to think about!  

If you have any ideas on what would look appropriate for a brand, let me know!  

In the meantime, enjoy the spring!  Here in Oklahoma, it's warm with the sunlight with a cool breeze.  Love it!  Here's our fire from our camping trip!  

QUICK FIVE: INDEPENDENCE DAY!

I was looking for some inspiration for Independence Day decorations for my Etsy shop and had a hard time finding new things on Pinterest until now.  I suppose we just got

over St. Patty's Day and Easter, so maybe that's why it took some time.  The older I get, though, the harder it is to find new or reworked things for today.  I've been watching an old decorating show today and realize how styles and trends have changed so much! The 90's weren't so fabulous after all! 

This first example, and great inspiration to start with, was posted by an unknown artist.  Smart use of the red, white and blue in this primitive piece!  I think I'll search the house for anything in these colors to make my own twist for the upcoming holiday!

When I look for inspiration, I love finding a great painting to draw ideas from.  I enjoy looking at this beautiful vertical flag (left).  Found on Pinterest, there was no indication of the artist of this painting, but the bends and curves of this well-used flag interests me.  The colors have different tones of red and blue worked in and there's only a glimpse of the full flag available.  I wish I could paint like this!

I found Dough and Splinters, a family operation, on Etsy.com and they produced this lovely set (right) of primitive fire crackers (no longer available)!  I actually painted some of these in the 1990's out of landscaping posts.  I'm kind of curious what the actual size of these are.  I love these because of the aging and texture infused in them.  Maybe it's time for me to go after the fire crackers again for my porch this year!  I've enjoyed working with landscape beams for these and the large "Uncle Sam" with his arms nailed to his side!  Uncle Sam is cool! Wait a minute, I just said in the opening paragraph that the 90's weren't so great!  Let me rephrase that....some of the 90's ideas were good...

Jen Hadfield with TatortotsandJello.com likes to decorate for the 4th of July.  Take a look at her wooden bunting!  She aged this decoration to perfection and it's a great compliment to the traditional flag.  Makes me think of "small-town" America!  Jen's website has some wonderful ideas, great tutorials and useful materials to print.  She covers a wide variety of subjects including cooking, crafts and décor.  Thank you, Jen, for your wonderful ideas and guides to help us!

And finally, to end this "Quick Five" edition, here's a wonderful use of an old window and flag.  I saw one like this in the Bunkhouse in Coalgate yesterday and thought it was adorable.  This particular window is linked to an Etsy site that is no longer available.  So let's talk about Elaine's, at the Bunk house, version.  She actually used burlap fabric and burlap ribbon to create her flag.  Elaine has several windows ready to decorate, but she's swamped right now with current furniture projects!  Her idea was to decorate one each month to show off what could be done with them. Talk about talent!  Hmmm, maybe we need to do a special post on her store to showcase her talent.

Well, I better get started on that scavenger hunt to find all things in red, white and blue.  I hope I find just the right things for a very special Fourth of July!