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The handmade home ebook is here!!!!!

November 5, 2012

Hi There! Won’t you take a minute and like Button Bird Designs on face book? Right over there to the right?! Why thank you! Also sign up to receive these posts by email so you don’t miss out on any trash to treasure projects, easy do it yourself tutorials, or all the fun we are having up in here!!! xoxoxoxo Angela

I am so so so super excited to shared this ebook with you. The Handmade Home is one of my favorite blogs and Ashley is one of my favorite people. So when she mentioned she had a ebook coming out I could not wait!!!!!!! I knew it was going to be fabulous. Have you seen her home!?!? It is beautiful, creative, and one of a kind, just like this ebook. I am a purchaser of many ebooks, and this one is by far is my favorite. My words can not do it justice.

Have you ever struggled with your home? Struggled to make it feel more genuine… more like you? Have you ever felt inhibited from what you really wanted by ‘the rules’? What about your own fears? Have you ever been frustrated by the overpriced, overused selections in big box stores? Jamin and Ashley Mills of The Handmade Home have been there. They had a desire to explore options beyond the limited and expected. Handmade Walls is a simple, inspiring, and realistically approachable springboard for making your home your own. Everything you see in this book was created with the hope that you’ll learn to shake off those fears and love your sanctuary as you create it. Just for you.

-Handmade Walls: 22 Inspiring Ideas on Bringing Your Walls to Life

Yes Ashley I have lived in fear. Scared to go outside the box when decorating my home. Scared of the price tags that accompany the beautiful items I want to use to decorate my home. Scared to try a project because what if i fail, what if I mess up, what if it doesn’t turn out right? You are so right Ashley. Try that one project that you have been wanting to try. It gives you the courage and the satisfaction to try another and then another. Before you know it you have a home that is unique and a complete reflection of you.

Handmade Walls contains 22 projects, 250 pages full of inspiration, creations, and plans for making it happen in your own homes. It’s full of the most beautiful, amazing photographs. You know how you walk in Anthropologie and you gasp because you love it all and just don’t know where to look first. That’s how I feel about this book. I want to pull it out of my computer screen and hold it in my lap and then make it into a coffee table book. It’s a realistic, user-friendly fun approach on creating beautiful handmade pieces for your spaces. It’s available for $9.95 in a simple easy-to-use PDF format with an accessible and affordable approach for all. Just click, download, and read. It’s that simple, and if you have any questions, they’ll be there to help you. I especially love the easy step by step instructions. Also extremely helpful is the tag at the beginning of each project that at a glance tells you the difficulty, time, and price of the project. Makes me want to start creating right now.

In the process of creating pieces for your home, a transformation occurs. In both you, and your lovely abode. You leave a personal impression…a mark if you will, on each project. With each piece, you lose a little fear. And gain a little bravery. Each creation is an extension of you. With every piece you create, you make your home yours. If your home is literally a piece of you… uniquely yours, how can you not help but love it?

-Handmade Walls: 22 Inspiring Ideas on Bringing Your Walls to Life

Just a warning. Before you purchase this ebook make sure you have some free time in your future. You are going to want to create! To purchase this ebook just click on the Handmade Walls button to your right!!!! Happy reading and happy creating!

What’s holding you back from having the home you’ve always dreamed about?

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A conference, a bike, some books, and a big sale.

September 25, 2012

It’s Tuesday. I got back from The Becoming Conference late Saturday night. I am just now starting to feel human again.

I did it!!! I still can’t believe I got up on that stage and spoke. I am so proud of myself, doing something so outside of my box. I was scared, shaking scared, vomit scared, couldn’t sleep scared. But I did it. I spoke three different times Saturday and each time I somehow made it through my talk without fainting on stage. I actually formed words that may have made sense! As soon as I started speaking the peace came. It’s a feeling that I just can’t put into words but as soon as I started speaking the fear just went away and I was filled with complete and total peace. I think all those prayers that I said and that dear friends said for me could be the reason. God was definitely with me, there is no other way that I could have made it though that experience without his strength and guidance. Amazing, truly amazing.

Now that I am home and this HUGE thing is behind me I feel light and free like a butterfly. Sounds cheesy but totally true. After church on Sunday the family and I went out and bought a bike with my hard earned Becoming money. I have been wanting a bike for sometime. I bought one recently from a thrift store but we couldn’t find the right size tires to fix it. So I have been eyeing this bad boy.

Wal-mart 149.00

Yes that is a bell. I have been ringing it at everyone I come across. I made the garbage man smile and have managed to embarrass my kids a good bit.

Lilly and I went on a picnic last night. We loaded the basket with our books and fastened our dinner and a blanket to the back. I wish I took a picture of us lounging on the quilt eating dinner after our bike ride, but I left my phone behind on purpose. We are planning on riding our bikes with the kids tonight to Jason’s Deli. I just feel so happy and blessed.

I love Fall. Fall makes me want to slow down and enjoy life. Fall makes me want to cook chili in the crock pot, burn my fall scented candles, snuggle under a blanket reading a book, drinking hot tea, spending time with my family. I get this way every year. The thing about fall, it makes me want to simplify my life. It doesn’t help that I have been reading these three books…

I want to get rid of everything I own and move to a barn overlooking the mountains. I want to trade in my mini van for a big ole black truck. I probably won’t move and I won’t get that black truck anytime soon, but I am getting rid of most of my stuff. I can’t explain it but I feel cluttered in my head and I can’t create or relax when I feel cluttered.

I want a simple beautiful life, a life without so much stuff. I am spending the next few weeks purging everything that I don’t absolutely loveeeeeeeeeeeeee. I have mentioned before how much I love clothes. My thrift store and yard sale shopping supports my habit without breaking the bank. However my closet is so jammed packed I can’t even see what I have. Do I really need three pairs of black boots? Nope, one pair should cover it. Do I need 15 sweaters? No it’s Charlotte for pete’s sake, I’m good with 3. I just cleared out 15 dresses that I won’t be wearing. Seriously do I need a dress for everyday of the month? No, maybe two or three to wear to church or to dinner with my man.

On the way to Becoming, Nester and I really got to talking about all the junk that we have collected. It’s good junk, but junk we just don’t need. So mark your calendars for November 17th. Nester and I will be having a BIG SALE in Huntersville, NC. I may sell all my stuff just so I can buy all of her stuff!hahahaha!

Some of the clothes I cleaned out of my closet today that will be heading to the Big Sale!

Just the beginning of freeing up some space in my house and some space in my head! I am so excited! Won’t you join us!?!?!

More details on the BIG SALE coming soon!!!

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One Story

August 23, 2012

I’m an introvert nerd.

I am admitting it to you right now. My daughter just said to me the other day, ”I want to be like you when I grow up. You never go anywhere, you are always home, and you don’t stay up late because you always want to read”. Hmmmm……. I guess it should make me feel good that she wants to be like me. She also said I am always home spending time with my family, so that made me feel a little better too! But I am a homebody. I love being home and I love going to bed as early as possible. I would have my pjs on and in bed reading every night at 7:00 if it wasn’t for my poor husband that actual does like to get out and be amongst the world.

I have a word document with all the books I have read, the date I finished the book, and my own little short summery of the book. I keep every book I read and if you ask to borrow one there is a form you have to fill out and a short routine procedure you will have to go though. I usually read what I find at yard sales or thrift stores, but sometimes I do treat myself and buy a brand new book at the bookstore. Buying a book at the bookstore makes me feel like a little kid in a candy store. This is usually how I reward myself if I have reached a goal, accomplished something hard, or if I just feel the need to spend some money!

My goal in January was to read two books a month. Yes if I read as much as I say I do this should be no problem and my list should be much longer. However I am a VERYYYYYYYYY slow reader. I have even looked into taking one of those courses that teaches you how to read faster (not really……. yes I have). I usually fall asleep three pages after I start, so finishing a book does take me some time. This is what I have read since the beginning of the year:

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Little Bee, Chris Cleave
Crank, Ellen Hopkins
Parched, Heather King
Fear not tomorrow God is Already there, Ruth Graham
Me talk Pretty one Day, David Sedaris
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
The Mocking Jay, Suzanne Collins
Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls
50 Shades of Grey, E. L. James (yes I went there)
Gift from the Sea, Anne Morrow Lindbergh
The Perks of Being a Wall Flower, Stephen Chbosky
Bossy Pants, Tiny Fey
Seven, Jen Hatmaker (one of my favorites)
The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman (Splurge at the bookstore and worth every penny)
The Reader, Bernhard Schlink
Soul Detox, Groeschel

I love when The Nester takes a photo of “what I am reading now” on Instagram. Here is my “what I am reading now” photo!!!

I am on the hunt for Gone Girl, Unbroken, The Kitchen House, The Book Thief, and Divergent. If you see any of these at a yard sale call me!!!

I’ve talked about my sister in love Beth before. I love her. She is also a I’d rather be at home reading kinda girl. I swear I am going to get t shirts made with that printed on the front. We are going to the beach together just the two of us in a couple of months. Watch out Charleston!!! The two of us together are going to be wild and crazy!! There won’t be a book untouched! In our PJ’s reading and asleep by 8:00 WOO HOO! Any who Beth gave me the BESTTTTTTT gift for Christmas last year. One Story.

(From the website): One Story is a non-profit literary magazine that features one great short story mailed to subscribers every three weeks. Our mission is to save the short story by publishing in a friendly format that allows readers to experience each story as a stand-alone work of art and a simple form of entertainment. One Story is designed to fit into your purse or pocket, and into your life.

For only $21.00 you can receive a little book in the mail every 3 weeks for a year. When I go to the mailbox and see the One story envelope I get all super excited! The stories are great and totally different every time. I am reading all sorts of great pieces that I may have never picked up.

What is your favorite book? What would you recommend I put on my book hunting list!??!! I would loveeeeeeeeee any suggestions!!!

Also the winner of the Mason Jar Painting is…………Dottie!

“Mason jars were part of my educational experience, My mother and my five aunts gathered to harvest and can or freeze the fresh produce from my grandparent’s farm. They made it into a party for themselves, and I found the laughter, the comraderie, the female gossip, and their fun irrisistible. I was constantly hanging around, snooping when necessary, outright joining in if permitted. I learned everything a girl could want to know and probably some things I shouldn’t have known at that age from that crew of wonderful women. So, in addition to the delicious contents of those old mason jars, I got myself some delicious womanly knowledge. I have a few of those old Ball jars in my kitchen and the sight always reminds me of those good times”.

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