My Day Old Child

My mom read me this poem in the hospital the day after my baby girl was born.

It was so perfect, and hasn't left my mind since.  So, I wanted to type it up and share it with all of you!

I'm so grateful to have this little gift from heaven in my life.

Stenciled Wall - plus DIY Stencil HOW-TO

I did this stenciled wall in my home a while ago, and have intended to post it for sometime now. 
Yesterday, I was trying to dive into my insane reader and get caught up on what's been happening for the last month and saw this post about the 2012 DIY trends. 
... and what do you know... stenciled/patterned walls!

I know there are dozens of ways to stencil in your home, but this is the way I did it, and hopefully you will find it helpful.

MAKE YOUR OWN STENCIL

I knew I wanted to try stenciling, and I found the perfect spot for it in my house.  Then I started my search for just the right pattern.  Only, I didn't find it.  The ones that I found that were close to it were somewhere in the $40-$60 range. 
Why pay $40, when you can pay free?!

So, I just pulled out some trusty freezer paper.  You could use any paper that is thin enough to see through when you hold it up to a light or window.

Cut the amount you need.  I knew I wanted mine to be a fairly large design, so I cut the full width of the paper (18 inches, I believe) by 18 inches.  If you want a design that is more rectangular, just cut it more rectangular.

Start by sketching out on a piece of scratch paper the design you want.  I used the back of an envelope (doesn't have to be anything fancy.)

Fold your freezer paper in half, then in half again. 

Open it up and you will have four sections. 

On the rough side of the freezer paper, draw just one quarter of your design in one of the quarters of the paper.  This is such a great way to make your pattern because instead of having to get the entire thing right and worrying about the symmetry, you only have to get one quarter of it just right.

I recommend you use pencil for your first quarter drawing, so you can change it to get it just how you want it, then go over it with something darker.

Fold your paper in half, and tape the already drawn portion of your pattern toward the window. 

Now, trace (in something darker, like a marker) the pattern onto another quarter of the paper.

Remove it, fold it in half another way (always with your rough side out,) tape the already drawn portion toward the window and trace the entire half of the pattern.

Open it all the way up and see your stencil pattern!

Now cut it out using an exacto knife, or good scissors.

** be sure to leave it connected in some spots, so the center  doesn't just fall out -- whoops!  Lesson learned, as you can see by my painters tape holding the middle section in.  **

Here's where everyone will differ.  It's up to you how you like to stencil.  The ones you buy are so great because you can roll right over them, lift them, move them to the next spot and roll again.

I wanted mine to overlap to make the pattern link together, so the lifting and setting wasn't going to work for me unless I waited a long time in between each paint roll before doing my next pattern over the top.

So, I left my stencil just how it is, right on the freezer paper and just taped it up, traced over the entire wall, then finished by hand painting the entire thing with a pretty metallic acrylic.  (worth it-- to me at least)

Now that you have your pattern you can do anything you want really.  If you want to put it on a more firm paper, like a poster board or plastic file folder you could do that.  You can also buy a solid sheet of stencil plastic material, then you'd have the real deal, at a fraction of the cost.

If drawing/sketching isn't your thing, and you want a stencil larger than 8.5 x 11 you can just find an image you love on the Internet then crop it to a quarter of the size, or print it at a much larger scale so you just end up with a quarter of it, then use the same freezer paper tracing technique.

Either way, you won't have to settle for buying a pattern that you don't love just because it's convenient.  Making the stencil for my wall took me about 15 minutes, and that was while I was getting juice and snacks for my kids. 

Stenciling and painting the wall... not as quick! :)

It took me 2 1/2 hours to trace the stencil onto my wall, and about 6 hours to paint it all with three coats.  Enlist a friend or spouse to help you and that time would be cut down significantly.

I'm happy with how it turned out, and even more happy that I could do it for about $4 (the cost of two little bottles of paint.)

Sorry for the late night -- cell phone picture.  (we do the best we can, right?)



Now, I just need to get to work on finishing that wall.  Curtains, decor, etc.  I'll get there.  All things with time.

Lunch with Dad

I think I've picked up a few new readers here over the last few weeks!  Haha... that's an understatement.  Thank you for the support, you have no idea how much it means to me.

As many of you know I lost my dad back in April, and it has been a difficult struggle for me.  This blog is a place that I put things I wish I could be showing him, and also a place that I share things with YOU!

I also write letters to my dad once in a while here.  Not as often as I should, really.  It's been very healing for me to feel like I still get to talk to him about some of the things I wish I could be talking to him about.  I was just thinking this morning, maybe more people should try this.  It feels good to get it out of your head and onto paper... or virtual paper, if you will.  For me, it's my dad.  I can't call him up anymore, or grab a quick lunch and that's painful beyond expression.  For you it may be someone you've lost, or someone you think about often, would like to talk to, but just haven't taken the opportunity.  Try it.  If you want.  May bring peace to you like it has to me. 

There's just something about the written word, don't you think?

That being said...

Hi Daddy,
This letter is quite difficult for me to write this week.  I've been putting it off for some time now because, while the thoughts are there in my head, I'm having a hard time getting them out or in any type of actual order.
I found this picture of us the other day

I love it so dearly.
How can I not hold my sweet new baby girl, look down at her just that same way you looked at me, and long for you to be here.  It just doesn't seem fair.
This is where I seem to get stuck.  I'm trying to push the hurt from heart, and hold back the tears that seem to come so freely when I think of you.  It's just like Mom said the other day, it doesn't feel like any time has passed at all.  It hurts as much today as it did the day you passed.  I think I'm trying to be strong for her, but I feel the exact same way.  Life without you is hard.  Unbearable some days.  You just meant so much to so many.

If we were having lunch today, I hope I would have taken the chance to tell you just that.  Just how much you meant to me.  My heart tells me that you knew, but I would have told you, at least one more time.

The holidays were difficult this year.  No matter how much pre-preparing I did for Christmas, when the day finally arrived, it just wasn't the same without you here.  You can get a lot of things ready ahead of time, but there was no preparing for what it was going to feel like to have that special day without one of the most special people I know. 

I was, and am still afraid of the "new year."  It was sort of like I felt that if it changed to 2012 then all of this would really be real now.  That the more time that passes the more distant our time together was.  Will my memories grow faint?  Will I be able to hold on to all of the precious moments?  The future can be frightening.  I guess it's the unknown that is worrisome.  You always thought of it as an adventure though.  I wish I was more like you in that regard.  Maybe I can be, someday. 

For now I'll just keep moving forward, one day at a time, one moment and one memory at a time.  Trying to do what you encouraged me to do, just slow down and take it all in.

I love you dad.  Thank you for giving me a life full of love and happiness and a friend I could always count on.

Love you forever,
Amy