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What is an easy YES for you??

January 23, 2023 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Over the weekend, we were headed out on a little family walk.

Taking family walks is one of my favorite things to do together.

It’s a time to unplug, enjoy nature, get a little exercise, and connect. As we were headed out, I turned around and saw Caleb had a camera. He wanted to take pictures of this winter walk. I smiled to myself and only said, “very fun!”

What are things that are an easy yes for you? When you think through a situation or a plan and there is an obvious alteration to it, what is an easy yes?

In my situation, getting off technology, a screen, and devices is part of my heart for these walks. Yet, Caleb had a camera and I allowed it.

One of my family values

As we walked and I thought through why I allowed the camera, it hit me. An easy yes for me is creativity. I will always welcome the creative process.

For example, we can be pulling out of the driveway, running late for something and Reagan asks to run back inside for markers and a notebook….and I stop the car and allow it.

I can have just vacuumed the house and be ok with Reagan pulling out cardboard boxes, hot glue and making all kinds of little shavings on the floor in her creative project.

Jeremiah might ask for chalk markers to use on his chalkboard wall, instead of the messiness of regular chalk, and I add it to my shopping list.

I can have a sewing project out and someone wants to paint and I clear off my whole desk or table to get them started.

Caleb may want to take a camera on a walk to make this reel and in the process give me all these pictures that I have turned into this post, and I am so proud.

The creative process is something I value and always say yes to.

What is an easy yes for you?

Has something come to mind that is an easy yes for you? Here are a few ideas of things that it could be…

  • heart level talks: will you stay up later, if your kids are wanting to talk?
  • healthy food: will you say yes to a snack at any time in the day if it is something healthy?
  • sports: will you sign your kid up for a travel sport and be ok driving and giving weekend time, if it’s keeps your kid doing a sport he/she loves?

When we normally think of family values, honesty, perseverance, responsibility, character, and kindness might be some that you automatically think about. I think there are also others that you might not realize is also a value. If you start thinking about it, and process through how other families treat that same thing, you can begin to see it as a value.

These pictures help me see the world like Caleb does. What caught his eye, the angle he captured it, and even the placement of his subject is interesting to me.

I will always encourage the creative process. It’s a value to me. What is a value to you?

It’s important to know your values

Life is going so quickly, and I think it’s important to know your values so you can treat and honor it as one. Just because it’s important to you, doesn’t mean it is to everyone. So, to get you thinking more about what you may value, think through these questions:

  1. What makes you really happy?
  2. When are you most proud?
  3. What do you spend free time doing?

Maybe you already know what you value and what is an easy yes for you. If you do, I hope this is just an encouragement that it’s good to be YOU, even if you prioritize something others may not treat with the same weight.

If you don’t know what a unique value that you care about may be, I hope it gets you thinking.

Honoring your family values is a form of creating a connection that matters.

**If the idea of forming a deeper connection with those that matter most to you, sounds like something you would be interested in, I’d love to invite you to join my Create More Connection digital course. I will be back to tell more about it soon, but you can enroll today right here!

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DIY Outdoor Table

June 7, 2015 By Erica Deuel 4 Comments

DIY_outdoor_tableWe have been eating outside more than inside most days thanks to my amazing husband.

When the snow melted, we started playing outside for hours a day. It was hard to finish our homeschool year with the days becoming so outstanding. We did finish our school year though this past Friday, and we are thrilled summer is here!

Once we started playing outside so much, we started dreaming of an outdoor table. We searched and scoured the internet on what would be the best deal and table for us. After comparing the price tag of buying a table verse making our own, we knew we had to get out our tools and Ryobi Compound Miter Saw and build our own. We could save so much money.

We found the this table on Remodelaholic created by the geniuses at Kruse’s Workshop to be the perfect table for us.

Matt started the process and did an amazing job.

garage_work_shop

garage_messy_work_shopThe poor guy worked in what was our garage that had turned into a left over moving boxes storage unit and work shop mess.

making_a_table

making_a_patio_table

putting_legs_on_a_tableI jumped in when I could, but Matt did this table pretty much by himself at night after work or on the weekends. I’m so thankful for this man of mine.

Once the table was built, we had to try it out. We bought some chairs from Ikea to put down the sides, and I love how they work with the table. They are thin, so we get three down the side and they don’t distract from the beauty of the table either.

patio_tableAfter one coat of wood conditioner, one coat of stain, and three coats of indoor/outdoor spar urethane, the table was complete! We were thrilled to start using it!

staining_a_table

DIY_patio_wood_tableI can’t count how many meals we’ve eaten on this table already. I will often work on something at it as well, while the kids play in the yard. It’s perfect.

You can see the full table here, while Reagan dances in the rain.

outdoor_patio_tableWe are so thankful for our new house and how we have been making it home. As soon as I get some of the rooms clean enough, I will take some pictures for a new home tour!

With our move and school year behind us, I hope to pick blogging back up regularly. I miss you all! Thanks for journeying with us.

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Create an Outdoor Patio Space You Love

October 7, 2014 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

kids_playing_in_backyardThis is the best time of year to be outside in my book. I literally find myself wanting to take a picture every day of the clouds. You know I love fall, so I won’t gush too much. Something key to enjoying the outdoors is having a comfortable space to watch the kids, relax, sit, and just be.

We have been trying to sell our house for about two months now. The other week, before an open house, I literally had an idea to do a makeover under our deck. It was one of those ideas that once it came, I had a hard time wondering why I hadn’t thought of it before. I vaguely remember searching pinterest pictures for under the deck patio makeovers when we bought our house, but then life happened. That makeover never happened till now, and it needed it. Here was the before.

under_deck_before_picturePretty plain right? Not a mess, but definitely not inviting. We have had amazing feedback on our house. If there is a complaint it is the size of the backyard. I am hoping this little makeover helps it sell.

Since the idea came to me late in the day, I had about 24 hours to fix it up. I’m telling you, I used a lot of spraypaint, and did it in about 8 hours off and on.

rustoleum_satin_lagoonI had an old bench and chair sitting in my basement gifted from a friend who knew I could do something with them. I used a beautiful color of Rustoleum spray paint and went to town on them. It took less than two cans of paint with a few light layers drying complete between each coat.

spray_painted_benchPlease forgive me for not wearing a mask, we were outside and it was quick light coats, but you should wear a mask. Let’s not even mention that I’m doing this in my PJ’s… thanks!

I ran a couple of errands to get some supplies. My goal was to brighten up the space and make it feel warm for less. I started with two outdoor rugs from Five and Below. I went for the pink and love it. I placed them next to each other to create one larger rug and it worked great.

Next, we made a coffee table. I got cement blocks at Home Depot. It was my work out for day to load those in the van and then unload them and carry them around to the back yard. Matt helped make me make a simple top. He picked some different width boards we had lying around and braced them together with two boards screwed in below. Next, he he did a light/quick spray paint over the boards using a different color on each board. Then he did a light coat of stain over it and quickly wiped it off. I love how the stain muted the colors a little bit and blended them together.

DIY_outdoor_coffee_table

easy_DIY_coffee_table

outdoor_coffee_table

outdoor_tableI had a log that I had taken from my parents’ wood pile sitting in the garage. My initial idea was to create a little wood log end table with it, like the one I did for Reagan’s nightstand, but it worked great for this makeover project. Matt was excited to see it leave the garage as well. Win, win! I brushed two coats of polyurethane on it, used a table top from Home Depot (that I spray-painted lime green) and laid it on top. It was a simple and cheap end table!

outdoor_side_tableI bought a few plain boring planters, primed them, and then spray painted the bottom half hot pink. I intended to go back and paint the tops black, but I forgot about that until seeing these pictures. 🙂 Opps!

colorful_outdoor_flower_pot

colorful_flower_potMums do a lot to make a space feel happy and friendly. I love the color they add as well! Next, I bought a few hanging plants on clearance at Wal-mart for $2.50 each. Matt rigged up an old yellow chain, and we hung them up from our deck. If you are wanting some fun white lights for outdoors, run to Wal-mart. I bought four boxes for $5.00 each. They are fun, white lights that can be used indoors or outdoors. I want to go back and get more. They are in the Christmas section. I’m not being paid to say this at all. What a great deal though, right!? My last set of white lights I bought for Reagan’s room were easily $12-$15. I got sidetracked 🙂 back to my makeover.

hanging_plantsI found this cute kitchen rug at Wal-Mart as well. You might remember I bought a few when I made my carpet bag. This one I decided to use outside. I sprayed a couple of coats of Rustoleum’s waterproof spray on it (letting it dry completely between each coat).

colorful rugI’ve made a lot of wreath’s, but this cute one for $3.00 at Target got me. It was cheap, cute, and I don’t care if it gets rained on and ruined. It didn’t take me any time.

fall_wreathWe are loving our new area. It is so bright and cheerful. It’s a much better seat to enjoy looking out at the woods and watching my kids play.

playing_in_backyard

sitting

woods_backyardOf course this makeover got me thinking bigger. I’d love to put a big wall art to hang above the bench and some metal sheets to cover the under deck to make it waterproof. Hopefully though someone else will fall in love with this house (including this area) and I will be blessed to not have to keep creating at this house.

under_deck_makeoverWe were pretty sad that no one at the open house fell in love with this space and gave us an offer. I know God has a plan, and we are trying to persevere until we know it. What is the craziest thing you have ever done to sell a house? Did you ever makeover a space quickly too!?

DIY_outdoor_spaceI hope I can keep these flowers alive until the house sells. Otherwise everything else created here, can go with us to Indiana. I did this in a about 8 hours with four kids in tow. You can do so much more than you think, if you just go for it.

Would you have gone bold and bright with the colors too!? I walk outside and the colors just make me smile. When a space does that to you, I think it’s a good sign you accomplished what you set out to do.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you have a great day and get to use you imagination this week!

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Disclosure: There is an amazon affiliate link in this post. I was not paid anything buy Walmart or Rustoluem for this post. I truly just want to spell out where I got everything, so you can make a space you love for less too!

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DIY Outdoor Checker Board

June 14, 2013 By Erica Deuel 6 Comments

patio checker board

Have you been spending a lot of time outside lately? Whenever it’s not raining, we have been playing outside or walking down to the pool. One thing that we are definitely enjoying is our back deck. We didn’t have a patio or a deck at our old house, so this deck is like the coolest thing to us. My favorite times are when we use it are in the morning lounging after breakfast with our coffee or at night after dinner. The kids will actually bring out bean bags to sit with us. It’s fun family time with the woods to stare into.

We were given this hand me down old furniture to put out there till we could get some. You know it’s not my favorite, but it’s something and so we are thankful we have it! The one thing that really has been bothering me was the table. It was rocky because of a bent leg. I have been afraid cups would spill or my active toddler would climb on it and somehow fall off and get hurt. It had to go.

bad outdoor patio furniture

On one of our many trips to Home Depot, I saw their 16″ Pewter Stepping Stones. They were $3 and I knew I could do something with them. I stood there staring and it hit me. I would make an outdoor end table with one stepping stone. I think this idea came quickly because of my great love for my Log End Table. I was excited and inspired to turn it into something practical yet fun. I landed on making a checkerboard on top. Here is how you do it!

Materials:

  • 16″ Stepping Stone
  • Kills Paint Primer
  • Outdoor Spray Paint
  • Paintbrush
  • 1.5″ Painter’s Tape
  • Bottle Caps
  • Tree Log

The first thing I did was figure out how many squares are on a normal checker board. Google told me the norm is eight rows by eight columns. I decided the easiest way to measure and try to get those boxes even was to create rows and columns based on the width of my Painter’s Tape. I used the Painter’s Tape
to create my own ruler. Eight little pieces of tape all lines up side by side would equal the width of my checker board. Note: I ended up taping all those little pieces in a row on another long piece of tape, so i could quickly move my make shift ruler around without having to pick up each little piece at a time.

DIY Ruler with Painters tape

I used the ruler to figure out the length of the bottom of my checkerboard and I just eye balled it to go in the center of the stepping stone. I then pulled up my ruler and rotated it to get the side get the length for that side of the checker board, being careful to start the length at the top of the tape on the bottom. Use this method to get the following two sides for your checker board.

making a checker board

Once you have the outline of the checkerboard, tape off the remaining outside of the stepping stone to make it easier on you while painting. Then paint the Kills primer into the center of the stepping stone.

painting a checker board

Use your tape then to start measuring for your checker boxes. I started lining up long strips of tape side by side. I used tape as a placeholder to mark the spot, but as soon as I could I pulled it up and rotated it to the next place (see below). Once Your board is taped one direction, rotate your stepping stone and do the same thing going perpendicular to the tape you just placed.

stripes on a chcker board

homemade checker boardOnce you have your tape down, press over each strip to make sure it is tight. Then use an outdoor spray paint to cover in the squares. I thought about doing a fun color, but ended up doing the basic black. Once that dries, peal up the tape and lay it back down to COVER the black you just painted. You need to do this to create the checker effect. Right now you have 16 black boxes surrounded by the white. By moving the tape grid onto the already painted black you will open up the areas that still need black paint. I’m sorry I forgot to take a pic of this step. Just know that when you peel your tape the first time and wonder, “Oh no, what did I do wrong?” (like I did) you haven’t done anything wrong. You just need to paint one more round of black boxes.

making checker boxesOnce you have painted your second set of black boxes and they dry, your checker board is done! Peal up the side tape and place your board on your tree log-or any other creative item you might want to use as a base! I think even a cinder block might be pretty cool. You can also use whatever you want as the game pieces. I spray painted bottle caps as our game pieces. Note: If you use a stepping stone or something else heavy make sure your base is completely level and very sturdy to avoid it falling off when little ones bump it or lean on it.

checkers

DIY Checker game piecesIf you use bottle caps, spray the insides as well. I will show you further down as to why. I still need to go back and spay paint the insides of mine. We are currently storing our pieces in an old tin cane wrapped with jute rope and some fake flowers stuck in on top to make it look like a center piece.

storing checker pieces

yard checker boardWe are having so much fun already with this little table. I taught my six-year-old how to play the other day, and he might be obsessed now. Sitting outside and enjoying some time and laughs together is one of the highlights of my days.

playing games with your kids

learning how to play checkersEven my little girl is having fun playing her own version of checkers which is pretty cool to watch. She takes the checker pieces out and lines each one up in its own square. That is one to one correspondence and pretty cool to see her thinking and playing an age appropriate version.

one to one corespondenceThe reason I told you to spray the inside of your bottle caps is so you can tell which king is yours. We played that once you were “kinged” you turned your checker over. Well, by the end of our game, we could barely tell which king belonged to us.

queen me in checkersThis project cost literally $3.25 plus tax, since I already had all the other materials on hand.  Such a cheap decor to spruce up your outdoor living and help you enjoy the pretty days this summer. Here is a quick recap if you want to pin or bookmark how to make this outdoor checker board.

how to make an outdoor checkerboard

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and celebrate your dad’s amazingly well this week for Father’s Day!

back yard deck

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