Choosing Dreams

Remember a few weeks back when I decided to choose dreams? I have been busy since making that happen. I have attended several open houses and vendor fairs around the area and I'm on cloud nine! It is so exciting to send something you created off to a new home! Some of you asked for pictures. This makes me nervous but thought I would share what I have been up to!

Of course I am making wreaths...

I have sold quite a few of these. I try to make each one different and with a personality all their own! I made this one yesterday and it is still looking for a home.

This was a labor of love.
The cutest little girl fell in love with it...that made my day!

I have also been making ornaments inspired by two of my favorite creative people...Nester and Micki. These are all unique and I'm having lots of fun with them. They have been well received around the area. My pictures aren't the greatest, but hopefully you enjoy them anyway.

This one went home with a lovely lady in Hot Springs.

These two also found a home in Hot Springs! The owner was excited to have one-of-a-kind ornaments!

This is the third Princess themed ornament that I have made so far. They have all been different. One went to a foster child. Another to a dear friend for her daughter. This one is still waiting to find a home!

I am having lots of fun. I begin decorating homes for Christmas this week! If you are in the central Arkansas area I would love to help you create stress free beauty in your home this Christmas! Now if I could just juggle all this AND post regularly on my blog I would be really living the dream!

I hope to get my Christmas door up tomorrow. My sister-in-law was admitted to the hospital tonight and we are probably going out there tomorrow to help out. Please add her to your prayer list.

Hope you are gearing up for a fabulous Thanksgiving! ~Southern Fried Gal

November Door Decor

I realized tonight while at a Tis the Season event at church that I hadn't posted my November Door Decor. You've seen the main and supporting characters before but never all together...ha! Of course I love the look but I say that about almost all my door posts - is that rude? Anyway, I thought it appropriate to post this look before I begin to blast you with lots of Christmas posts! Hope you have a great weekend!

~Southern Fried Gal

p.s. Don't forget you can click the picture to enlarge.

DIY Confessions...

They say confession is good for the soul. I hope that is true because I've got a few things to get off my chest when it comes to DIY around this household. I always have these "brainy" ideas for my home. I go out and meticulously plan and purchase the items needed for the idea. And then I get busy doing other projects and those collect dust in a corner somewhere. Maybe it is a case of AD(DIY)D...seriously! It is bad...

Take, for example, these lovely medallions that I started in my dining room. When we moved into our home we were younger and dumber and painted EVERY room in our home a flat, chalky builder's beige - BORING! Slowly but surely we have been updating rooms in our home. A year ago and then some (August 2008!) I saw this wall treatment in a hostess' home. I decided I could do it. The next day I went to Hobby Lobby to purchase the stencil and then to Lowe's to get some wall mud. I measured and planned and started putting these medallions on the wall. I was so excited at first. I got 9 finished in little of no time....

And then I got bored with the project. I let those 9 lonely medallions stay there for over a month. On my birthday in the latter part of September I decided to play around with colors. I painted one orange! Doesn't the treatment look cool with paint on it? I even found fabric to set everything off! This is how the wall in my dining room stayed up until September of this year. A whole year!!! It made a great conversation piece when folks came over - ha!

DH did not care for the medallions and I did not care for the orange paint he had requested. So this is how the wall looks today. I soaked the 9 medallions off the wall and painted it blue. I bought a beautiful fabric for window treatments that I have not yet completed...

My son got sick on our significantly outdated bedding and that was a good excuse to get rid of it for new bedding. I searched far and wide for bedding. I bought a skirt at one store. A duvet cover at another. Sheets at yet another. AND found the perfect fabric for accents! That was again over a year ago. DH and I have slept in our king sized bed with a queen sized comforter during that time - sick, huh? Last week I finally decided to drag the bedding out of the closet and get it all washed up and on the bed. It has been heaven sleeping in there - even if the walls and headboard don't match!!! Lots MORE DIY to do in there!!!

Oh and the fabric I bought for the dining room window treatments? Well it goes too perfectly with my bedding so I am swapping out the two...

Are you thinking I need meds at this point? Most people do when I start confessing - ha! But we can't forget about the tile for the upstairs bathroom. We didn't have the budget for real tile and that bathroom had the UGLIEST white tile ever. So THREE years ago we bought these peel and stick tiles...

We finally put them down today. Oh and we painted, too! We still need to put the room back together, get the toilet reseated, and such. Hope it doesn't take us another eternity to get that all completed!

So as you can see, my list of DIY projects is eternal. And I'm always getting distracted and off course. I hope this will bless some of you and would love to hear about your DIY intentions, mishaps, and redos! Others will probably feel the need to lift me up in prayer and that is good as well! The good Lord knows I need it!

I am linking up with Kimba for the DIY party. She has moved into a new bloggy home - be sure to update your links.

Happy DIYing!

~Southern Fried Gal

Dreams or Excuses?

A year or so ago I attended a training seminar and the facilitator closed with the following words of wisdom. He said you can have your dreams or you can have your excuses...but you have to choose one. You can't have both. Those words have lived with me. I have found myself making plenty of excuses lately. I'm sick. I'm tired. I'm afraid. I'm busy. And so forth and so on.

This week I have decided to trade all those excuses for dreams. For the past several years I have wanted to decorate doors for Christmas. This year I'm going for it. For the past several years I have wanted to make crafts and to sell to others. This weekend I'm going for it.

I'm as nervous as can be. I have several finishing touches to put on my products today for the fair that begins tomorrow. I so hope they are well received. Whatever the result I can hold my head high knowing I chose dreams and put the excuses to the side!

How about you? Are you making excuses or fulfilling your dreams? I pray it is the latter! Have a blessed weekend! ~Southern Fried Gal