Love One Another

With lots of red and talk of love this time of year, 

I'm reminded of a great verse from the book of John:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

With some burlap in hand I set out to create a banner for my mantle. 

I made a small triangular template out of cardstock and cut out enough burlap for each letter.

 With some red craft paint and foam letter stamps I stamped out LOVE ♥ ONE ♥ ANOTHER 

 I then attached the burlap triangles to red bias tape.

 I placed the burlap in between the layers of the bias tape and then sewed along the top.

 L O V E ♥ O N E ♥ A N O T H E R

The Liebster Blog Award

Yesterday I opened up my email and received this note:

Hey Chessa, I was given my first blog award today and I love your blog so much that I'm passing it on to you! 

Check it out here and pass it on: Home is Where my Heart is

Big Hug, Cath from 'Home is Where my Heart is' 

SO Sweet! I don't even know Cath. But her blog is so cute. 
And you bet I'm following her now! 

The word "Liebster" is German and means "dearest" or "beloved" but it can also mean "favourite".  The idea of the Liebster award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers.  So, in the spirit of good fun I am passing this award on to five other bloggers.  Please stop by and visit them.

The Rules are:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal your five picks for the award and let them know.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogshare-other bloggers.

5. Finally and the best rule of all..........have fun and spread the love!

It was tough for me to pick just 5. But here they are:

• My dear friend who just doesn't post enough of her amazing projects: The Stitch Market
• 6 days apart + 1 together= Seven Sisters in Christ: Seven Sisters
• I'm enjoying this blog for the craftiness and inspirational Bible Studies: Melanie Britt
• I love all the great DIY projects and sewing tutorials here: Less Than a Perfect Life of Bliss
• My sweet sister-in-law who always has great and inspirational things to say: Moments of Clarity

Personalized Door Mat

This project has been on my list of things to do and I finally got around to it!

A good way to Welcome in the New Year.

I started out with this rug from IKEA (it was less than $5.00!)

And then I made a little trip to my personal paint store (under the stairs in my basement).

 White I was down there I found some black satin finish paint.

 I cut out a large "M" and used masking tape to adhere to the rug as my stencil.

 Using a small brush I went around the edge to create a nice clean line around the inside of the stencil.

 Here's how it looked before I filled it in.

At this point I figured out something that I did not like... This "M" looks a lot like the "M" logo for the University of Michigan. The blood in this house is Illini orange and blue. We can not have this! 

So... I looked around the basement and found a nice circle and went to work to on another design.

 I used a sharpie and traced the outside of the dart board

 to make a border for a large circle in the center of the door mat.

 I proceeded to fill in the large with more of the black paint. 

And then back to my store to find another color for my next step.

 Again, I created a large stencil. This time just a nice scrolly "M"

 Filled in my my new paint color.

And here I have my new personalized door mat!

I love it! So far it's been out in the rain and the snow and it's still looking pretty good!