Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind The Blogger

Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog.

November 8 

Mindi My Love 2 Create.

Good Saturday Everyone.  This week I am excited to introduce you to a sweet blogger that caught my attention because of her DIY tutorials and her love of giving new life and purpose to treasured items.  She shares my liking to re love things into my home and give them a new purpose.  Her tutorials are awesome.

So sit back and read about this mom of 5 yep!! 5 and how  fit and fun and creative she is.  Enjoy.

Mindi from My Love 2 Create

Hello!  This is Mindi and I blog over at MyLove2Create.  I was so honored and thrilled that Kris asked me to participate in her Saturday Spotlight!

I don't share a lot of personal stuff on my blog (probably because I barely have enough time to write my tutorials) so I am excited to give you a peek into my life!

Old Drawers into Porch Planters

I am new to the world of blogging, I started just over two years ago and keep it pretty low key. Meaning, I post usually once a week... unless I don't. :)

I am very thrifty and love repurposing things, so a lot of my DIY projects are made with things I get for free, or really cheap.  It makes me happy to give things new life and make them useful again.  Like my old drawers into porch planters, I made them with free drawers and wood.

Engagement photo, and wedding photo.

But, I am getting ahead of myself, let's back track a bit.  This is me and my husband, in 1998.  Don't we look so young!  Holy. cow.

Dana and I graduating from Collage.  Our little guy was a trooper, but I think he was ready to sleep...poor thing!

My husband (Dana) and I met at Brigham Young University, where I graduated with a degree in Pedagogy (Physical Education) and two dance minors (Ballroom and Folk Dance).

Family photo taken in 2009, Arizona.

With my husband's new job we moved to AZ and lived there for 9 years.  In which time we had our last 5 kids.  I kept pretty busy being a mom, as you can guess, and it is the most wonderful job in the world!

I had a small dance studio and taught for several years, and really loved it.  In order to keep "sane" and have my "me" time I would train for and run a marathon after each baby.  It was my best option for getting back in shape and feeling good.  This photo was taken two months after my youngest little guy was born.

Me and two of my sisters at the St. George Marathon finish line.

Speaking of marathons I just ran my 10th one in October and had a great race!  My one sister (middle) and I have qualified for Boston 8 times and have never had chance to run it...so maybe next year it will actually happen!  Fingers crossed!

In 2010 my husband was transferred to Colorado, which is where he grew up.  We love it here, and have enjoyed being closer to some of our family.

It turned an end table into a desk

After moving here I eventually became aware of the blogging world, and finally decided to try my hand at creating.  It has always been a desire of mine, and when I finally got the nerve to tell my husband, he bought me a miter saw for my birthday, just three years ago.  I guess you could say, "and the rest was history".  I have been building/creating like crazy ever since!

DIY Tray stand made for an old toolbox

I am a self-taught/blogger taught DIY-er and it is so STINKIN' FUN!  It truly brings me joy to create, hence the name of my blog, MyLove2Create.  I started my blog, to hopefully share and inspire others to create.  It is sort of my way to "pay it forward" which is why I like to do tutorials when possible.

Cupcake Tower

As far as blogging goes I am kind of at a point where I feel like I could do a lot more, but I am not sure I am ready.  I love it, and have so much fun with it, but my family will always be first, so for now I share what I can, and continue to learn a grow with each project.  The good thing is, I am always doing projects, so it makes sharing easier.

Curtain Tie Backs Repurposed into Towel Hooks

This summer my husband and I did several triathons together which was fun, and we love to spend time with our kids and go hiking and enjoy the outdoors.   We also love to watch movies, play games, and eat homemade caramel popcorn as a family.  YUM! 

In March we had to put down our beloved dog Buck and near the end of the summer we got a new puppy, Sunny.  She has been taking a LOT of my time, it is like having another baby in the house.  Who's idea was this? :)  Over all this little cutie is stealing our hearts and helping us learn patience and lots of other good things.

Master Closet Makeover

With life being busy I do the best I can to keep up with projects, you know when I am not drowning in laundry, school papers, and kid messes.   Wait...I am ALWAYS drowning in those things!  Ah well.  My favorite project to date, is my Master Closet Makeover.  And believe me, after doing this I want every closet in my house re-done.  It has been sooo nice.  

Closet/Laundry Room Makeover

A close second would be my sister's closet/laundry room makeover.  This was a super fun and tiring experience.  I love how a room can be transformed and made super useful, efficient, and beautiful...with a little hard work.  :)

Going Crawdad Fishing, Arizona 2009

So my plan?  To eventually transform every room in my house, thrifty/DIY style.  It may take me forever...but it should be a fun journey!  Would you like to come along?

Pumpkin Patch, Boulder CO 2014

What better way is there to enjoy a journey than with family and friends!?!  

Thanks so much for reading I hope to see you over at MyLove2Create soon!   And thanks for having me Kris!

Hugs,

Mindi

Thanks Mindi.  Could I just have a smidge of your energy!!!! Loved getting to know you better.  Your family is precious.

Now that you have gotten to know Mindi please hop over to Susan's blog Must Love Junk and meet another wonderful blogger

Linda from Linda's Life Journal.

Have a great week end.

Kris

:)

Chippy Salvage Candle Sticks

Happy Wednesday!  Hope your week is going good.

I wanted to show you how I used some old salvage pieces of wood for candle holders.

Just found some old table legs and chippy stair posts to make these candle holders.  Simple and easy they were already chippy and had the screws coming through the top to sink the candle on.

Just a very easy way to add some charm to candles.

My Living Room looks so lonely since I sold my slipcovered sectional.  I am hoping to get my new leather sectional soon.  In the meantime Terry still has his comfy recliner and I pulled my chair out from the corner. So it is all good.

Hope your week is starting off great.
Make sure to come back on Saturday for Spotlight.  Susan and I have two wonderful bloggers for you to get to know.
Kris
:)

Sneak Peaks and a New Do

Good Monday Morning Everyone.  Hope your Halloween Week End was good.

Our weather here in the Chicago burbs was pretty yucky so we did not get a whole lot of trick or treaters this year.  The few that braved the weather were really cute.  At least what I could see under the layers of coats!

I was at Home Goods.  You know getting my Home Goods Fix and I came across these sweet pillows.  I am doing some change ups in my Master Bedroom.  Nothing huge just some bedding change ups and I think these pillows will be perfect.

Aren't they sweet.  They are gray and a light ivory and embroidered with these sweet cute sayings.

So you get to see a little sneak at the new pillows that will be going onto the new bedding.  Hope to have that up for you soon.

Speaking of bargains.  I was strolling through the Stein Mart and came across these sweet red and white checked summer table cloths on the clearance for $3 each.  Yep! and I got another 20% off the clearance price so these were less than a couple of bucks each.  

Had to pull out the trustee 30+++ year old Kenmore this week end.  I am doing a simple Nordic Cottage Christmas theme this year.  I am adding the traditional Nordic red to my whites.  So the table cloths are being made into new Christmas Decor for this year.  I can sew a straight line so it is all good!!!!!

Have you started to think of your Christmas Decor yet.  I start mine early as I have my Girlfriend Charity Christmas Party the first Friday in December so I like to have all my decor done by then.

My daughter hosts Thanksgiving at her home so that allows me to decorate early for Christmas.

So stay tuned to see what these table cloths get made into for my Red and White Nordic Cottage Christmas Decor.

Ok now on to the new do.  I was trying to grow my hair out.  I usually have a short pixie and wanted to grow it out.  Well I tried I really did but in the end my hair is so thick and wavy and has a mind of it's own when it is long.  I was so frustrated with not having a style goin on!!!! So......

 I had my daughter chop some length off and did a long layer pixie cut for me.  I do not even blow dry my hair just air dry and a little hair spray.  My hair is so thick if I blow dry it will not piece out.  So it is now wash and wear hair lol!  Sorry about the selfie I really do not take good pictures.  So just look at the hair do and not the wrinkles and tired eyes !!!!

Have a great week.  Hope to have my change ups done this week in the bedroom.
Kris
:)

The Winner Is...........

Happy Sunday.  Hope your Halloween was fun.  Very cold and windy here in Chicago for the trick or treaters.

Thank you all that entered into the Creatively Christmas Book and Stencil Give Away.  I wish I had a copy of this to give each of you.

Had Terry pull the name out of a hat, well actually a white ironstone bowl and the winner is....

Karen from Karen's Up on The Hill 

Congrats Karen.  I know you will love this personally signed copy of Jennifer Rizzo's Creatively Christmas.  Just email me your address Karen and your lovely book and stencil will be on it's way.

If you did not win and want to have a copy you can go to Amazon to order your copy.  Jennifer is doing many different book signings in my area in the next month.  So if you live locally you can 

 go to a book signing for a special signed copy.

It is a beautiful book full of great inspiration, easy craft projects and beautiful homes decked out for Christmas.

Have a great Sunday.  I will be back tomorrow to show you a few romantic finds I found to add to my bedroom.

See you soon.

Kris

:)

Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger

Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 

November 1
Sandi from Wayside Treasures

Good Saturday to all of you.  This week in Spotlight I have a wonderful blogger Sandi from Wayside Treasures.    Sandi lives in my home state of Michigan and her love of whites and all things vintage and chippy drew me to get to know her better.  So sit back and enjoy getting to know Sandi.

I feel so honored that Kris chose to include me in the blogger Spotlight this week and I want to give you all a warm Michigan welcome! I will try to tell you a little about my family and I as we go along. My name is Sandi and I make my blog home over at Wayside Treasures. I was born and raised in Ohio, but migrated north to Michigan when hubby and I got married. Not too far north though. We only live about 7 miles from where I grew up and where my parents still live, so we didn't go very far. I do love blogging, but I find that I don't have near as much time for it as I used to have. Life just seems to happen and flow along and before I know it, sometimes it is weeks between blog posts. Trying to work on that. :) Please do come on in, take off your jacket {it is chilly here in Michigan}  and sit awhile while we chat.  I thought we could start at the coffee bar in the corner of my kitchen. After all isn't it coffee that makes the world go round? Seriously, I am really not a coffee drinker, but I  do love a good latte or mocha once in awhile, but no plain coffee for me.  I am also a huge fan of Starbucks green tea with raspberry syrup frappuccino...to die for delicious!  Grab yourself a plate because I have some goodies to share with you! How about a fresh apple crisp right out of the oven? I do love the smell of apples baking in the fall. There is nothing like it..except maybe warm spiced apple cider! It  does taste yummy if I don't say so myself!!! Or would you rather have a lemon pound cake slice?  I think I will just let you have both since I am feeling generous today. :) We will sit here at our dining room table that is decorated for fall and just chat the day away if that is okay? I thought so. :) After we finish eating we can stroll outside where we find more fall decor. I found a plentiful supply of bittersweet right at the edge of our property this year and I am beyond thrilled! I am usually a "neutral color" gal , but when fall hits, I must have some  sprigs of bittersweet or it just doesn't seem right. My mom decorated with this when I was a youngster and I continue the tradition. We have misty mornings{ along with fog delays for school kiddos} quite frequently especially this time of year, but I love it. I have been married to my wonderful hubby named Hillis for over 37 years.  We have gotten   mail and phone calls addressed to or asking for PHYLLIS.  Isn't that a hoot? I can see why people would think it is that name though.   Together we have three children , their spouses and eight  grandchildren. Almost nine...any day now! { I am sure by the time you read this we will have had number nine in our arms} Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I think of my age. {55, but who's counting! lol}  It just doesn't seem possible! Where have the years gone? I still feel like I am 25 years old on the inside...we won't talk about the outside.ha! My youngest son and his family were the only children who lived close to us and they moved  away in June. I try to keep myself busy as I miss them so very much. One thing I have been doing  is creating the fabric pumpkins shown above. They have real dried stems and I am addicted! They are all the rage right now and I just love to make them. {I have some stocked in my Etsy store if you are interested} I have been fortunate to be a stay at home mom/wife my whole life. Oh, there were those few  stints right after we were married that I worked at a greenhouse and I also ran a store for a friend while she vacationed in Florida for a couple weeks, but that was a long time ago. Do you ever remember seeing huge clear balloons that sit on a table and are filled inside with teddy bears etc. for gift giving? Yep, I made those in her store. Fun memories! But  I will say that when my kiddos came along I just wanted to be a mom and take care of them and I was lucky to be able to do that. The above photo is a floor to ceiling chalk board in our home that hubby and I just finished  a few weeks ago. {This is my studio/computer room} We had removed an outside door several years ago and put up a piece of drywall where it used to be, but that is as far as we got. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but it hit me one day to make a chalkboard. So we did! I love it! This is my youngest son and his family along with yours truly and my hubby. They were home from North Dakota in October and we visited a corn maze that is about 3 miles from our home. We first  did this last year and I would love to make it a yearly tradition. It is so fun. I put together a collage of the girls while they were here and it is shown below. We filled every single moment with memories.  Our oldest son Jason and his wife Melissa have two sweeties named Keira and Kanaan. They are also expecting a third due October 20 so by the time you read this we will have grandchild number nine.  Jason works at Huntington University in Huntington, Indiana,  where he graduated from in 2003, as a computer tech guy. He is also the praise and worship leader at his church and does a fantastic job! This little blonde above is our granddaughter Keira. I was privileged to spend Grandparents Day with her at her school a few weeks ago in Indiana and it was a fun day! The stunning beauty above is our oldest granddaughter Allysha who is 15.  She is extra special to us because she lived with us until she was four years old and I took care of her while her mama worked. {Her mama is our only daughter and our oldest child. Amanda and her husband have four kiddos. Three boys and Allysha. Her hubby works as an engineer for GM }  It was sure hard when they moved about 3 hours away, but somehow we managed. {barely!} She  has sure grown into a tall and beautiful young lady. Do you see a running theme here? Everyone is moving away! What is up with that? I think they should all live within three miles of us...okay maybe five would do.  I snapped a few more photos in the house to share with you. The lantern above sits in front  of my living room window. Right now it is filled with pumpkins,leaves and pine-cones.  This is one corner of my living room. We had new carpet laid in September and I love it. It is berber and is so nice. New furniture is next on the list and I am so excited. We have had this furniture for many, many years and it is time to go. Underneath that throw is a country blue love-seat. ugh. I loved it way back when, but not now. A favorite corner in my dining room. I love to bring garden statuary into my home. We have a pine tree that gives us a LOT of pine-cones so I collect them every year and use them in my fall and winter decor. My studio is full and overflowing so I thought I would share just a small corner with you.  This also has a berber carpet and it works well. In a perfect world , I would have all hardwood floors, but it is really  not an option in our old house as cold as the winters get here. The living room and the studio must  have carpet under foot. Our home is small and over 100 years old. Along with that comes problems that one must deal with,  but we have lived here over 32 years and even with all the problems, I  can't imagine living anywhere else. We are situated on a dirt road about 3/4 mile off a main highway. When we moved  here in 1982 we were told they were going to pave the road. Yea...we are still waiting.  Not gong to happen. I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little better. Oh , wait. I forgot to tell you that instead of having a traditional wedding, hubby and I eloped 8 days before our planned wedding! I called the wedding off not sure of what I really wanted and decided I wanted him after all...so we eloped! Yea, it's a long story, but it worked! God is good!!! Blessings~ Thank you Sandi for sharing yourself and your family with us.  This was so fun to get to know you better.  I love seeing your love for your family come through with this feature.  So sweet.  I grew up in Michigan and know the state well.  Even though I have lived in Chicago area for over 35 years I still miss Michigan.  Thanks for sharing with all of us.  Now that you have gotten to know Sandi a little better head over to Susan's blog and meet another wonderful blogger Pat from Gypsy Heart and Soul. Happy Week End. Enjoy. Kris :)

Give A Little Get A Lot

Just want to remind all of you that if you have not entered into the Creative Christmas Give Away you can still do that here.

I will have Terry pick a winner on Saturday Night and then I will post the winner on Sunday.  Good luck everyone.  I wish I had a copy of this wonderful book for each of you.

Ok who says Target is not Fun!!!!
My granddaughter Abby in the costume department at Target.

I was trying to get her over to the pretty princess costumes but nope she liked the silly costumes.

Even Grandpa and my son in law Tim could not resist.  Hmmmm both firemen with flames coming out their heads!!!!
Happy Halloween!

My daughter Jen,  son in law Tim and Abby at Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm this past Sunday.  I love Fall and all the fun things to do.

Now on for the real reason for this post!

 It is always good to give and sometimes you are blessed with getting something in return.

I got a package in the mail a few days ago from the lovely Diana from Nana Diana.

Diana and I have become pretty good blogging friends.  We have been seeing each other on a regular basis on line for about a year now.  We have advanced our online relationship to talking about a meet up in real life.

With some gas money, Starbucks and a GPS we may just have this down to a real meet and greet in the near future!

I am excited to meet in person some day soon but also cautious as you know what they say about peeps you meet on the internet!!!!!!  So for now we just keep our love alive in the blogging world.

Not sure the Illinois and Wisconsin borders are ready for this meet and greet just yet.  Have you seen the story of Thelma and Louise we all know how that turned out!!!    

Ok all kidding aside I wanted to do a special post to Diana and say thank you.

I got a lovely package in the mail from her and it made my day.  Somedays the highlight of my day is the mail!  So this special package arriving made me smile.

Woo Hoo! Lots of these little sweet loves inside.  Diana was telling me she only liked Brach's candy corns and I had to laugh because I only like Brach's candy corns too.  Just to funny to hear someone else say that.  I usually have never meet a piece of candy I do not like but when it comes to candy corns I like the Brach's the best.

Not just one but three different yummy flavors.  My hips were doing the happy dance to have these sweet little joys come join them soon!

Around the bags of candy corns was this  little white pumpkin.  Oh my does Diana know me or what.  This is the perfect pretty pumpkin to add to my fall decor.

This pretty pumpkin looks so sweet on my table with the fabric pumpkins.

Thank you  Diana for my fun and yummy surprise.  I loved this wonderful surprise  package.  It was a sweet treat from a great person.  Diana is an angel.  She does so much for family, friends and all the bloggers that she knows too.  If you do not know Diana and her blog OMG then get over there.  You will love her sweet and fun filled post.  TheNanaDiana blog.

Thank you my friend.

 Please come back on Saturday as Susan from Must Love Junk and I will have two wonderful bloggers in the Spotlight.
Have a wonderful week end.
Kris
:)