BE THE GOOD

When I saw this sign on Pinterest, I immediately wanted it for my home.  With all of the awful things that we see on the news or read in our Facebook feeds, I wanted this simple, yet powerful, message to remind my family each day that there is still good in the world and it starts with them.

In our circle, we are blessed to have friends and family members with all different backgrounds and stories.  They have various religious beliefs, races, ethnic heritages, relationship statuses and sexual orientations.  Right now my daughters are just 3 years old and 9 months old so they are too young to recognize that these differences even exist.  Right now all my girls know is that these people care about us and we care about them.

I am not sure when it will happen but one day my girls will learn that differences do exist.  When that day comes, I want them to already know that different can still be good.  I want them to remember that one person's actions doesn't reflect the way all others think or act.  I want them to remember all the awesome people they have met and continue to BELIEVE THERE IS GOOD IN THE WORLD.  I want this to be instilled in their mind so when the day comes when they hear people saying ugly things about others, that my girls remember to BE THE GOOD. 

This message is such an important one to teach our kids as they grow up in a very different world.  I don't want all of the negativity in the world to drown out the positive.  Luckily for me, the pilot also got excited about having this message on display in our home.  He even did most of the work!

DIRECTIONS
We followed most of the instructions from the Blooming Homestead blog which is where I first saw this quote.  The pilot cut and slightly sanded wood from a pallet.  Then he stained it with leftover stain that he had from another project.  While I didn't download the file that you can access from the blog, I did use her dimensions for the stencils found here.  Instead of using cardstock, I used vinyl rolls in my Silhouette Portrait.  I realize that this was more expensive than cardstock but I wanted to make sure I did it well.

Since I used the more expensive vinyl, I wanted to save some money and not use the roll of transfer paper that I typically use with my Silhouette vinyls.  Instead I used Glad Press'n Seal plastic wrap.

 Together we carefully pulled off the Press'n Seal and laid down the vinyl on the wood.

I then used a vinyl scrapper to smooth out any air pockets.  You can also use a credit card to do the job.

Originally we thought to spray paint it but after discussing it, we wanted the sign to have more character.  One coat of hand painting would provide that look.  I used a flat paint brush and outlined each letter first to provide a nicer edge and then filled it in.

Before the paint could dry completely, I slowly removed the vinyl.  There were some paint that bled past the edges but I just used one of my Silhouette hooks to scratch away the paint.  Overall it turned out great!

Here it is at the top of our stairway, just outside all of our bedrooms. A perfect place for this important reminder.  Along with the cute little reminder of why I want to believe there is good in the world :)

DIY Vintage Steamer Trunk

The pilot was promoted to captain, hooray!  This means that his training period has given him longer spurts of time at home... alone... while I am at work.  This resulted in a very bored husband.  Since I am a pro at spending time by myself I shared my secret remedy to boredom: create something!  (Ok, so it is probably not a secret since I have a blog on the world wide web devoted to creating things but somehow it was magical when I shared this idea with him.)

We bounced around a few Pintrest inspired projects: dollhouses for our nieces, bed headboard, upcycling extra tables, entryway shelf, etc.  Then he looked around and saw all of my sewing stuff laying around and realized we had an immediate need for more storage.   He settled on a vintage looking steamer trunk.

To be honest, once he had the idea in his head the pilot started the project and did not stop until it was finished.  Even though he didn't bother to write down the steps he did, I am very proud to say that he did remember to take a few photos along the way...

Luckily he had access to use his dad's man cave / garage / workshop.

40% coupon to JoAnn Fabrics hook-up for the feux leather :)

Only had to stain the two sides because he used spray adhesive for the leather and then stapled it to the other two sides.

These would be used to cover the staples and finish the edges.

Close-up of the brass hardware he bought online.

Regular men's belts from JCP.  Great idea, right?!

And now the (very beautiful) finished product...

He's hooked and now wants to make more.  The awesome thing about these is that each one will be unique with a different size, different wood stains, different hardware, different leather and details, etc.  Can't wait to share with you his other creations!  He asked if this project was "Grounded Wife worthy?"  Absolutely dear :)