Because You’re Worth It…

by Heather on May 15, 2013

Do you ever wish you could put yourself in a time capsule and multiply it somehow? That’s how I’m feeling lately! I’ve got so much to blog about and share (my new classes, honey bee adventures, sneak peaks of the Homebound Summer Magazine, random musings) that my fingers, brain, and pencils can not quite keep up!

(I hauled my painting junk off to my mom ‘n dad’s to re-do this chair for the next Magazine.. so inspiring to project here!)

Whenever I’m getting ready to publish another magazine it is especially intense…. how do the kiddos always seem to sense when you’re really trying to pump something out? Good thing for them though, for the gentle (and not so gentle) reminders to chill and focus on what really matters. It looks like I’ll be pulling some late nights and early mornings this week.

But what I have discovered (especially as a Mom), overwhelm can be very intense at times. Why not be intentional about WHAT is overwhelming you? When I am overwhelmed with things I LOVE I can handle it. When I am overwhelmed with things which are BLAH my hair starts standing on end and I become another person of whom I’m not so fond of.

I’m not trying to say that we should bow out of all obligations. But what I am saying is to recognize what makes you happy and gives you energy. What do you do that after you feel MORE energized (not less). And then figure out how to do more of that each day. (even 10 minutes can make a big difference.) OK, I will be 100% honest here. I do not feel energy from housework. So even though it is essential for me to keep on top of it, it will never be in my DNA to perfect it. Instead I have my sisters help me out when possible. I also set the timer when working around the house and then ‘reward’ myself by doing something really fun after. (Like writing this blog post, or taking a walk with the kiddos, or checking on my new bee hive)

It sounds so cliche, but doing what you love can absolutely change your life. It can chase away those scarcity and inadequate feelings. Instead you will find abundance and gratitude. Not just in tomorrow or the next thing, but rather in today and in this moment.

ok, go have fun now. You are so worth it!!!

xoHeather

limited space available to sponsor the next issue of Homebound! Please email me for more info! I would love to help you get your message out to moi farmhouse loven’ readers! (heather@postroadvintage.com)

 

 

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Post Road Paint Party!

by Heather on May 14, 2013

Well howdy-do my paint splattered friends! Ok, maybe you’re not all that splattered, but I am about to invite you to be!

I am hosting a painting class party here on Post Road (Lake Linden, MI) on Saturday August 24th 2013. This will be an all-day, out door, painting good time! I will share with you my favorite painting techniques. You will learn different styles and how to achieve them. I will help you to discover your own favorite look and painting patinas.

Are you ready to be inspired? Are you ready to learn? Are you ready to get your hands dirty? Are you ready for camaraderie and sun on your back? We will be painting in my yard (unless weather chases us to the garage.) We will be enjoying lunch in my garden. (Unless the weather chases us indoors.)

I can not wait to personally welcome you into my home, yard, and garden. I can not wait to meet you, learn with you, inspire you, and create with you.

The class is $85 and is first come-first serve. (Limited space available.) I will have a PRV style coat rack ready for you to paint! (Yes, we will be custom making these… you let me know the dimensions when you sign up so it fits seamlessly into your home). You will be welcome to use all of my paints and stains. (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, Homemade Chalk Paint, etc….) I will show you how to create and paint signs on salvaged lumber. (You will have access to my juicy ‘scrap’ pile!) You will also have plenty of time to paint your own furniture pieces from home. (Or start looking at yard sales for pieces you want to re-do!)

(the style of coat rack you will be painting… you tell me dimensions!)

Lunch will be romantic in my garden. And by romantic, I mostly mean delicious! Surrounded by aromatic flowers, veggies, and probably a few weeds! (not the illegal kind.)

oooh, it can’t come soon enough! Hope to see you there!

reserve your seat here

xoHeather

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Up for a Challenge?

by Heather on May 9, 2013

I’ve felt stuck in a rut with my home for a while. Not for a lack of ideas for decorating and renovating, but rather for not making the time to clear the clutter (and the subsequent cobwebs in the head.)

NO MORE!!!

I’ve decided to start a fun YEAR LONG challenge, you in? I am picking one room each month to make over. I will post the before pictures here (yes, BEWARE!) and I will share the inspiration and ideas with you. I will be sharing many of the projects with you here and in the Homebound Magazine. What do you think? And we’ll end each month with a parade of homes. A link party, or if you aren’t online you can just send me a picture. This way if you choose to join in the challenge you get to take part too!

I may have actually found a way to get myself excited about the idea of cleaning out closets! :p

I’ve got a hankering to get rid of everything and start fresh! (If you are local keep your eyes out at ReTreat Design, I will be dropping off lots of goodies there in the coming months!)

I wouldn’t trade my life for anything, but there is a certain amount of chaos that comes with 5 kiddos, business, hobbies, marriage (and I could go on and on). I am sure it is that way in your life too! (I can’t believe how ‘swamped’ I thought I was with only one kid and no business, garden, farm, etc…) Overwhelm is an awesome thing when it’s things ya love. HOWEVER, I am really hardcore about having some down time / dream time and consequently my housework seems to be the first to slide.

(what you can’t see beyond the lens frame can’t hurt you! haha)

But first….. before we get started on the EXCITEMENT I want to be clear…. this is a ‘do what you can, with what you can’ challenge. Which means there is a very good potential that I may bomb out more often than not. I will be doing only what I have/make time and money for. This need not be an added stress, rather inspiration to tackle something fun!! I am all about fun motivation, so we’ll see if this works! :)

 

ya’ll ready?

Here is my bathroom. I love the bones of this room. But it is too cluttered. It needs new paint. Maybe wallpaper? I would love a new vanity that is long enough to double as a changing table. It needs a shower curtain. Trim. A door on the closet. Once I’m in dream mode how about salvaged tile flooring? Or an old claw foot tub?

c’mon and tell me….. what would you do with this space?

 

Thanks so much. Please let me know if you’re joining in the challenge!

(a tricky room to photograph… but it already looks a bit better after removing some of the junk. I think the next thing I will do is sweep the floor…) ;)

xoHeather


p.s. sale price good for only a bit longer on a Subscription to Homebound Magazine!

 

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Homebound Excitement!

by Heather on May 7, 2013

ah… Sunshine on my back, dirt in the nails, and manure stuck to my boots…… I am one happy gal right now! I feel like a mamma bear, coming out of hibernation. Though I’m not really hungry for anything other than SUNSHINE and FRESH AIR!

Yeppers, I’ve got sunshine on the brain as I’m working on the summer issue of Homebound right now… I can’t wait to share with you, as I’ve also been blessed with an awesome line up of contributors (again!!)

I am so excited to announce that the Homebound Magazine will now be published six times a year!! (Instead of quarterly). So if you are a subscriber already you just got a bonus two issues! For one week only the yearly subscription price will remain the same as it’s been for fours issues ($80). So if you’ve been thinking of subscribing and receiving some lovely farmhouse inspiration at your doorstep now is the time! In a couple of weeks the subscription price will be going up to reflect the additional two copies. (You will still be able to purchase the magazine individually and digitally.)

You can check it ou here.

Thanks so much!! I hope you have a great week!

xoHeather

p.s. can’t wait to create with a bunch of you HERE! If you’d like to join there are still seats available!!

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Charming Vintage Marketplace

by Heather on May 3, 2013

Hello dearlings!

I hope your week was filled up with all sorts of good things! (Mine was a solid mix, with the good really knocking down the marginal!) Today may be the high point of my week though…….. my heart is knocking inside my chest. And whenever I’ve got that feeling, I know I’m on the right path!!

Today I am so excited to announce that I will be teaching at the Vintage Charming Marketplace in Forest, Virginia! You can read more about the amazing market here (including lodging, etc..) which is hosted by my friend Sonia from Creating Vintage Charm and Stephanie Humphries’s shop, From Shabby to Chic.

I’ve had a blast working on the content!! Watch the video below to learn more-

you can reserve your spot in the class here! (The first 5 to sign up will be gifted the next issue of my Homebound Magazine!)

Yes, we will be creating that toolbox/organizer (no woodworking experience required). I will be sharing my favorite painting and designing techniques with you. We will also create a mood board / dream board from a vintage frame (everyone will get to make their own of each to take home with them!) We will be talking A LOT about our dreams, how to visualize them, believe them to be possible, and actualize them!!

Wow, yes….. I will be getting really vulnerable sharing with you my own dreams and processes. What has worked (and hasn’t) to follow my own heart with courage. Not because I’ve got everything figured out, but because I’ve found that life is so much better lived with a FULL HEART. With courage and our authentic selves lying out on the table. And that trying and failing is always 100x better than wondering ‘what if’.

 

Thank you so much for allowing me to share with you. It will never stop amazing moi.

xoHeather

(my first day of kindergarten)

 

 

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I Couldn’t NOT Write This…

by Heather on April 29, 2013

I can’t stop myself from writing right now. My fingers are flying on the keys. We just finished up another class…… the last one till Fall. Ok, it is supposed to be the last one till fall. But I miss it already. I miss my peeps already.

I am so humbled right now. Like REALLY?? Getting paid to have this much fun sort of blows my mind. Because the smile on their lovely faces is more then payment enough! (But it is so good to get paid….. it sure does help to fund the rest of the craziness…… pigs, bees, chickens, and oh yeah….. let’s not forget about those kids too!)

I really want to encourage you, that no matter WHAT it is you’d like to do, you can start small and RIGHT where you are. And sometimes it takes trying a million things to find out what you REALLY love! I am no longer beating myself up for doing that. Yup, I am notoriously great at starting a million things. Trying everything under the sun is the name of the game. (let’s not mention what actually gets completed, ok?) My heaping dining room table can testify to that. (And so can the gals taking my classes…….. painting, projects, kids, and can we get a heck yeah for chickens in the basement?!) ;p

It really isn’t about perfection. It’s not only about the results either. It’s about the learning, connecting, and trying new things. It’s about the journey. I hope my home is never complete. I hope my garden keeps growing. I hope I never know every painting technique out there, I hope I am never one of those ‘pro’ business people who can pass the reigns off to someone else. (And I am 100% sure I will always have improving to do in the wife-motherhood-friend arena!) Sometimes I think we can be in such a hurry to ‘get things done’. To accomplish the next thing, put out another fire, or even treat our hobbies like something that needs to be ‘checked off of the list’. Oh yeah, I am guilty of that. Because when my feet hit the floor in the morning, I admit that I like to take off running! But the smallest moments are when the real joy is made. And it is a culmination of the tiniest of a-ha’s that we realize exactly who we are.

Thank you for always inspiring me. And this will sound funny….. because I may not ‘know’ you. But I can picture you just the same. I can relate to you. And I really want to encourage you! A little seed of an idea can grow and change and evolve. An interest can become a hobby can become a passion can become a business can become a happy space. Or not. Sometimes we need to give ourselves to permission to grow and change and welcome into our hearts all of life’s small and large surprises (good, bad, and ugly!)

So I suppose what I’m trying to say is, thanks for being you. Seriously, we all need ya.

xoHeather

p.s. thanks to all who’ve signed up interested in classes! If you want to stay in-the-loop on what’s available locally, online, and even abroad (that means out of the UP of Michigan… not jet setting off to Paris anytime TOO soon!) you can sign up here.

 

 

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How to Make a Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

by Heather on April 27, 2013

Hello!! Winter has broken. Hallelujah!! This calls for a serious, hardcore celebration…..

How about by learning how to make a mason jar soap dispenser? Yes, I’ve decided to share this very basic video for how to make your own. Easy peasy. (I am also selling off the last of my soap dispenser pumps!! see details below!)

For more detailed instructions check out the ebook or soap dispenser course.

I am selling off the very last bits of my soap dispensers! (in case you don’t feel like making your own.) These are all ‘lids only’ and at rock bottom prices!

Plastic pump with lid- $8

Foaming pump with lid- $8

Stainless pump with lid- $12

Also, thanks so much to all who purchased the chick feeders! They are sold out with the jar, but I scrounged up a few more of the base only of the feeder.

 

xoHeather

p.s. If you are interested in classes (local or otherwise) please sign up here! You will be the FIRST to know about some exciting opportunities which I can’t wait to share with you!

 

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Once and Again!!

by Heather on April 22, 2013

Today I am pinching myself that I am lucky enough to share this with you….

All of this color is making my heart sing! Especially since we got blasted with another storm. (blah) I am so looking forward to SPRING… Throwing the windows open and breathing in the fresh air……..

Melissa and Sherri are two of the girls in my class right now. I am SO inspired and doggone proud of them! They have built all this awesomeness (and more! This is only a peak!) and it will be for sale in the Once and Again shop in Houghton, Michigan this weekend!

Another reason I am LOVING these classes. Getting to know new people, creating with them, learning with them, and being INSPIRED by them!!! (Yes, for reals….. even though I am the teacher, sometimes I think it’s the other way around. I come away feeling so ready to tackle and create more and more!)

So if you are local, do yourself a favor and skip out to their sale! I LOVE all of the furniture that they have so lovingly created and painted by hand. (Beautiful benches, side table, and ottomans to name a few!) The little pieces will also freshen up your decor for spring (and if you live in the UP like moi…. you could really use that dash of Spring right about now!!)

Head on over this weekend for beautiful Spring Decor and handmade furnishings–

Located in Houghton, MI at the Sharon Centre.

901 W. Sharon Ave.

Friday April 26th from 10-5

Saturday April 27th from 10-4

 

Hope to see you there!

xoHeather

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Chirp-De-Lurp!

by Heather on April 20, 2013

It’s baby chick time! Seriously, have you ever seen such adorable chicken rumps? Yup, I am one proud (and biased) momma hen!

I am working on writing an article for the summer issue of Homebound Magazine (out June 2013) on these lovely feathered critters. I touched on them also in this blog post here. There is something so magical and mystical about growing and nurturing your own food. (Yes, even though these are layers they most likely will see the inside of a stew pot in a few years!) And I love them all the more for that.

I thought it would be fun to share some of the excitement and magic in our home when these darling peepers arrived yesterday….

I have a few mason jar chick feeders left over… you can find them in the shop HERE! ***UPDATE**** The feeders are sold out! You can find the BASE ONLY (to add to your own canning jar) here. I am going to be holding ‘flash sales’….. one item per week at a ‘got to go’ price! Yup you can find this in my shop… with a blue jar for $10 + shipping!

 

xoHeather

p.s. I swallowed a bit of my fear yesterday…….. ‘putting it out there’. I’d love to hear your ideas, should you have any!

 

 

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Putting it Out There

by Heather on April 19, 2013

Why hello lovely PRVers! Today I’m putting my heart on my sleeve. I am swallowing (gulp) my fear, and putting something EXCITING (and nerve wracking) out there.

ok, you know I am transitioning away from products (besides soap.. you can find that here). It has been an amazing time, with a big learning curve! The classes have been A BLAST! But because I’ve only done them from my home, I haven’t been able to open it up (pretty darn humbled, that the spots have been snatched up before I’ve put them out there!) So I am looking to take my show ON THE ROAD. um, I’m not looking to travel every week. I’m looking for a few family friendly locations (so the gang can come with). And yes, I will be starting with something local. (besides my home).

If you have any ideas for me I’d love, LOVE to hear about them!

It would be such a blast to meet more of you in person!

 

If you want to be the first to get the details on my exciting new venture please sign up below!!

 

 

 

xoHeather

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