Birthday Project

 

 

So yesterday was my birthday.  After last week, doing VBS every night, all I wanted for my birthday was a peaceful day at home with some free time to just do something for me.  I wanted to pick a project and work at it guilt free even though there are baskets of laundry waiting to be folded and clutter waiting to be cleaned up.  On my birthday and I can ignore it without remorse.  There are so many “unnecessary” projects I’d just love to do. But between not feeling well all summer and the normal crazy busyness things just aren’t getting crossed off the To Do list very quickly.

 

 

 

I picked to do a wall hanging that I plan to prop in a grouping on a little dresser type piece of furniture by our front door.  It has the famous quote by Jim Elliot, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”   I kept finding it ironic that even while I was working at making this wall hanging I was getting frustrated with my kids, and my attitude was not something I’m proud of!  I like this quote because it speaks of surrender (can a person be surrendered and frustrated at the same time?) which how I desire to live my life.  But more on that later...

I used 20"x30" foam board from Dollar Tree as a base.

My goal was to paint the quote on unbleached muslin.  I know my lettering skills aren't so great, so I cheated and printed the quote on plain white copy paper and centered it on the fabric.

Then I slowly went over it with a black sharpie so some of the ink bled through the paper and onto the fabric.  I made sure the top and bottom of the letters were well marked so they would be even. Then I went over it with a fine paintbrush and brown paint.

My mamma made me this awesome paintbrush holder that rolls up for storage years ago.  She is amazing - way before pintrest and Martha Stewart she was coming up with stuff like this.  I want to be like her! :)

 

 

 

I glued four 10"x20" layers of foam board together to make it about an inch thick.

Around the edge I used a sponge and serveral shades of brown paint to feather the edges and frame the quote.

I just hot glued the fabric to the back and painted the visible edges dark brown.

The finished product!

 

The simple profundity of Jim Elliot’s statement has struck a chord with me since my teens.  It’s so obvious that you almost want to say “duh”, but when you say that you’re really saying it about your own life.  We are fools every day, hanging onto things that we cannot keep and clutching at things that do not belong to us in the first place.  In each stage of life there are more tests and God says to me “Will you let go?  Will you give up?  Will you trust Me?”  In my life right now these words from Mr. Elliot keep coming back to me because I’m struggling with hanging on.  Hanging on to my “rights” to a healthy body and clear mind.  The Lyme Disease has changed my summer – not in extreme ways, but small ways that add up.  I do believe I’ll be well again, but only God knows the timing for that.  And for now I know I must give it all up to Him.  It is a small thing compared to what I gain!  This project is my banner to remind me of this Truth.



The final arrangement (for now!)  ;)






Commit your way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:5