I’m not on Pinterest but sometimes I’ll browse through the site when I’m looking for something in particular.  Over Thanksgiving my sister-in-law, Charity, told me about some tutorials she saw on there about making your own canvas prints.   I found this tutorial on there and was really intrigued.  I’d never used Modge Podge before but I thought I’d read somewhere about it leaving bubbles when it dried.  So, I wasn’t sure how this would actually turn out but I decided to give it a try.

I didn’t do any kind of step by step pictures because I wasn’t planning on blogging about it but I was so thrilled with how it turned out!  I had an 11×14 picture printed out at a local store and bought an 11×14 canvas at Michael’s.   The print, even though it was 11×14, was just a tad bit larger than the canvas, so I had to trim it to fit.  Next, I painted the edges of the canvas two coats of a really dark grey (almost black). Once the paint was dry, I spread a thin coat of Modge Podge onto the canvas with a wide foam brush and glued the picture onto it, carefully smoothing it out.  I let it dry and then I brushed two thin coats of Modge Podge on top of the print, letting it dry well in between coats. I also painted two coats of Modge Podge on the edges that I had painted dark gray.

Here’s how it turned out: (Sorry for the dark pictures! I snapped them on a whim right before I wrapped it up as a gift.)

This project was so incredibly easy and didn’t take hardly any time to do.  I didn’t have any trouble with the Modge Podge having any bubbles in it. (Maybe I imagined reading something about that???) The Modge Podge actually gives it a nice, subtle texture that makes it look more like a real canvas than just a picture glued onto something.  The 11×14 canvas came as a two-pack at Michael’s so I have another one left that I’m going to use to make a canvas for myself and I can’t wait!

I did not get finally get into the shower today at 4:30PM.  I had not spent the entire day in my pajamas and upon getting out of the shower, I most certainly did not put on another pair of pajamas.  Not Me!  I’m always showered and dressed before breakfast and never spend the entire day in my pjs.

I did not look at myself in the mirror this week and think, “What’s up with my eyes?  They look different.  Am I really that tired?”  I did not realize later it was because I had on makeup but had forgotten to put on mascara.  Of course, there’s no way I did this twice this week.  And one of those times was not Sunday after I had gotten home from church.  Not me!  I’m never rushed when getting ready and forget to put on part of my makeup!

I did not put the wrong name on a Christmas gift that was for a family in our church.  I did not cause people to scratch their heads and send out an email trying to figure out who this mystery gift went to.  Not me!  I’m never stressed at Christmastime and stay up way too late wrapping presents when I should be sleeping.

I did not get a really great deal on this cleaner at the grocery store last week.

I did not  place the spray cleaner into my cart with paying attention to the scent.

I didn’t almost gag the first time I used the cleaner because it smells like this:

There’s no way I kept on using the spray even though it stunk to high heavens just because it was a new bottle and a good deal and I hated to waste it.  And the whole time I’m using the spray I don’t have this strange idea that somehow I might just be spraying chicken juice all over my counters because it smells just like the nasty liquid that was left in my crockpot the time I cooked the whole chicken.  After a few days, Brian did not ask me, “What’s that smell?  I’ve been smelling it everywhere and it smells like an animal.”  I did not have to apologetically explain my whole story of getting a good deal and not wanting to be wasteful.

And the saddest part of this whole tale is not this:

I would never in a million years have bought FOUR OF THEM because it was such a fabulous deal!!!  I’m now not torn between throwing them away or using them up regardless of the thyme-chicken juice-animal smell that it leaves behind.  Not me!  I’m never my own worst enemy!

On the menu…

On the  kitchen counter…

On the kitchen desk…

On my nightstand…

On the front lawn…

On Lillie Kate’s dry erase board…

On the downstairs coffee table…

On the downstairs mantel… (???)

On my shower floor…

On my mind…

The Lord reminded me today of this verse in Psalm 103:

“Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits…”(v.2)

Benefits…

You know I never really thought about it in that way but being a child of God definitely comes with a lot of amazing benefits.

You are loved and known by one…

“who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases, (v.3)

who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion, (v.4)

who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (v.5)

The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed. (v.6)

He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel: (v.7)

The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love. (v.8)

He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever; (v.9)

He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities. (v.10)

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (v.11-12)

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust. (v.13-14)

…from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.(v.17-18)

I hope your year is full of the knowledge and experience of His blessed benefits.  Happy New Year!

I don’t even know how I’m going to make it through writing this but I’m going to try.

On Christmas Day 1999, our first Christmas as newlyweds, Brian gave me a little 1 pound black furball who I named Gracie.

And on Christmas Day 2011 my sweet Gracie died.  Exactly 12 years to the day that I got her.

She had suffered from congestive heart failure for the last year and a half and while I knew this day would eventually come, it doesn’t make it any easier.  I’m heartbroken.  She was my first “baby”.  Brian and I had her for 6 years before we had children and I doted on her like she was a child.  When she was 3 years old we moved to Louisville and I can’t tell you how much comfort she brought me during that time.  When I would come home to a strange new house in a strange new city, it made it so much easier because she was there.

She could be quite the little barker and thought she was about 5 times as big as she was but she was just the sweetest little thing. She loved going for walks, eating scrambled eggs, burying bones outside, going for rides in the car, and she loved my mom as much as she loved me.

I won’t go into all the details of her death but I just have to say that God was so gracious to me during all of this and even in this time of hurting, I have felt so loved on by Him.  Over the last several months as her health had gotten worse, I had often prayed about this very situation I now find myself in.  One day while driving to the vet to pick up some of her medicine I prayed that I wouldn’t have to put her to sleep because I found the thought of doing so just agonizing.  And I didn’t have to.  I prayed that she wouldn’t suffer.  And she didn’t.  I prayed she wouldn’t be alone when it happened.  And she wasn’t.  I said I wanted to bury her in my dad’s backyard along the fence that she used to love to run up and down as a puppy and bark at the neighbors’ dogs.  And that’s now where she rests.  He truly granted every single request I had concerning her and I’m completely overwhelmed by His love in doing so.

It was really hard to come back home to Louisville today without her.  I bawled as I picked up her food and water bowls.  I cried when I found a treat she had left lying on the floor.  It broke my heart to see all of her toys and her leash.  Our house just isn’t the same without her.

I know it will get easier as the days and weeks go by but she’ll always have such a special place in my heart.  She was such a faithful little companion and I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to love on her these last 12 years.  Goodbye, my sweet Gracie.  We miss you dearly.