Inspired You

A few days before my birthday this month, I received a package with my first birthday present- a book, called Inspired You. I was getting dinner together, but I flipped through a few pages and checked out the table of contents. I was immediately excited to sit down and read through the entire book. So as soon as the kids went to bed, I sat down on the couch and spent the rest of my Friday night reading this book!

Inspired You is written by Marian Parsons from Miss Mustard Seed, and is a book about finding your God-given creativity to create a beautiful home! The book is full of gorgeous photography, decorating inspiration and spiritual encouragement. I particularly love the subtitle: Letting God Breathe New Life into Your Heart and Home.

She shares tutorials, like how to make pleated curtains, build an ottoman and paint furniture. She gives lots of ideas and tips on shopping for decorations (think thrift stores and auctions), and helps you evaluate your perspective and attitude towards your home! It not only inspires you to create a more beautiful home, but gives lots of encouragement and confidence boosting along the way! You'll walk away from this book viewing your home in a different way, and you'll feel more motivated and capable to make some changes! As I read, I felt like I was flipping through a magazine because of all the beautiful pictures, yet it was easy reading like a blog. (You definitely can’t get the full experience of this book through the Kindle version!)

Since we've made our big move and have started to decorate our big house, it was encouraging to hear her articulate things I've already been thinking and feeling. I decided that when we moved, I wanted to take a different route with setting up and decorating our house. I wanted to be as frugal and homemade as possible- not just to save money, but mainly to create a home that reflects more of who we are as a family. We wanted a house with character and creativity. And if we put a little extra effort into everything that we add to our house, we will find more satisfaction with it and enjoy our home more! When I got this book, I was at a pretty discouraging point with decorating our house, but as soon as I was done with it, I was really inspired and had a lot of ideas, some of which I could do pretty inexpensively and quickly. (Did you read about my newly painted gray kitchen? yeah, that happened the next day!)

She debunks the idea of creating a perfect, impressive, or magazine-worthy home! That’s not the goal! She says the goal is:   

Home. 

Not a perfect home. Not a impress the neighbors home. 

Just home. A home that was made, not bought. 

A home whose walls and rooms tell the story of the family who lives there. 

 Create a home for your family's needs and decorate it to reflect who you are, and it will be the perfect home for you!

What I appreciated most was her emphasis in the end of the book on being content with the home God has placed you in!
If we find ourselves constantly wishing for and wanting more, perhaps we need to close the catalog and focus on all the things we have to be thankful for...
When our focus is on being thankful, earthly treasures start to lose their importance. 

I love that she shares some spiritual aspects of decorating, like recognizing our urge to decorate and create a beautiful home is because of our God-given creativity and characteristics of being a woman. Also, developing the skill of seeing potential in something old and worn out that we could give a second life to, and carrying that skill over to "hopeless" people in our lives, to see the potential that may still be there! And then to learn to be content and thankful in the midst of our journey toward a more beautiful home!

Inspired You has really helped push me along to the next step in making a beautiful home for our family, and came at a good time to motivate and inspire me, while speaking some truth to my heart as well!

Beautiful homes start with inspiration and a willingness to try.

made from scratch: discovering the pleasures of a handmade life {book review}

As many of you know, 2 months ago we moved our family from Michigan to Ohio. It's been an adjustment for all of us and we certainly do miss dear friends and family. But the move has not been without it's positives! Besides loving our new church family, and having some new friends, we are also looking forward to the Spring! You see, we now live in a big farmhouse built around 1873, that sits on about 5 acres of church property. There is lots of room for the kids to run around, we have a little bit of woods, a fire pit, and what we're most excited about- a garden! Read my husband's blog about our past and present garden advetures here.

Anyways, as we sit inside all winter, we've been reading up on gardening and getting excited for all the possibilities! We plan to have a bigger garden, and have been trying to think of more ways to be self-sustaining with the land that's around us! Tim also blogged about some great books on homesteading/gardening too.

One idea that we've been toying with is getting some chickens, for eggs and possibly meat as well. Now we love the idea, but we want to make sure that we know all it entails first so we can be truly committed. I've been pretty excited about the prospect, but also hesitant. You see, I am NOT an animal person. I never really have been. So although the idea of having livestock sounds exciting and practical, I'm having to face this reality about myself.

I told my brother and sister in law about our thoughts because they've raised chickens and built a coop before. They've sent us some great resources. My sweet SIL told me about this book that she read that really inspired her to get the chickens, and she promptly loaned it to me via Kindle.
Made From Scratch: discovering the pleasures of a Handmade Life by Jenna Woginrich.

Made From Scratch is an entertaining, informative and inspiring book about how to live more simply, frugally and self-reliant. Jenna, a web designer at a big company, shares the ups and down in her own personal journey raising chickens, setting up a bee hive, planting a garden, making her own clothes, and learning to play the fiddle all while living in a rental home! She shares her stories in a humorous and witty way, but you come away wanting to order some chicks, a beekeeping kit and a hand-crank radio! She makes the handmade life sound very satisfying and desirably simple!

I already do a lot of what she shared, like sew clothes for our family, grow a garden, make more food from scratch, and I'm developing a love for old things. But it made me want to do those things more, and it opened my eyes to so many new things I'd like to try.

I came away from the book, not only sold on the idea of raising some chicks this spring, but I also want to:
Plant a bigger garden
Make more of our clothes
Bake bread more regularly
Keep Bees
Churn Butter
Decorate my house with old things
Buy a hand crank radio and kitchen appliances
Raise Angora Rabbits to spin their hair into yarn!

Now I just need to find the time to do all that... Whew!

Made from Scratch is certainly not a thorough how-to book when it comes to all these different topics. But it gives you enough information to have a basic understanding of what each will entail, and she also provides lots of resources in the back of the book if you have any more interest in any of the topics. It's the push in the right direction you need to develop an interest in trying something new, and feeling like you can do it!

If you read this book, I guarantee you will laugh out loud (or at least, chuckle under your breath), you will have moments of sadness, you'll open your mouth in shock, and you'll be inspired to try something she talks about!

When you read it, share in comments below what you liked about the book and if you decided to try anything she shared!