{Goodbye, Lily}

Hey, y'all.  I haven't posted in over a week, and there's a good reason for that.  I've been really sad because my husband and I had to have our beloved dog Lily put down Friday night.  My blog is normally about crafting and revamping furniture, so if you don't want to read this, it's okay.  I just really need to write this...  

My husband and I have been absolutely heartbroken for days now.  If you've followed my blog for a while, you know that we haven't been able to have children.  (You can read all about that {HERE} and {HERE}.)  Because of that, Lily was our baby.  She was such a blessing to us.  We babied her, and she acted like a child from all the love and affection we gave her. 

About three months ago, she was diagnosed with nasal cancer.  We were devastated.  When the vet told my husband that Lily could have only days to weeks to live, he refused to give up without a fight.  Chemo and radiation aren't all that helpful for most dogs, so my husband researched any way possible that we could give Lily a fighting chance.  He found a blog that talked about treating dogs with cancer holistically.  My husband started cooking Lily two meals a day, and he ordered many, many herbs and supplements to give her.  I really admire the way he was so dedicated to our little baby.  

This and a whole lot of prayer seemed to be working well until two weeks ago when Lily started bleeding from her nose.  (This is how we first realized something was wrong with her, but she had only had a few very brief bleeds since being on her new diet.)  

Last Monday, my sister and mom and dad came over to my house to celebrate my birthday.  Lily was SO EXCITED to see them because she just genuinely loved people--especially "her" people.  She played and loved on everyone, but then all of a sudden, she had a seizure.  That night, my husband and I stayed up all night with her.  She had another seizure during the night.  After that, we had brief periods where we thought she might rebound, but we finally realized Friday that she was progressively getting worse.  She was acting nothing like herself, and the vet assured my husband that it was only going to get worse, and it was time to let her go.  That decision was so tough.  A vet tech came over so that Lily could be put down at home.  I rubbed her back as she slowly slipped from this life into the next.

I just can't believe that she's gone.  We had her for 6 1/2 years.  There's a great story that goes along with how we got her, and my husband really said it best in a post on his Facebook page.  It's the "Story of Lily":

Some people who've never had a pet who was much more than a just a pet might not even understand how someone could be devastated over the loss of an animal, but Lily was special. She filled a void that Bethany and I've had because we haven't been blessed with kids yet. She was a gift from God, and I told Him when He healed her, I'd give Him the glory. Well, it didn't happen so today I'm going to give Him the glory for putting Lily in our lives...

Bethany and I were married a little over 8 years ago. I always told her that I wanted a golden when we got married, and she surprised me with one right after my birthday in 2005. We drove to a nearby town, picked her out, brought her home, and named her Rosie. She was a great dog. A year and a half went by, and one day she escaped my back yard and was hit by a car. We came home to find notes from my neighbor taped to my door that chronicled the day's events. My neighbor wound up helping another neighbor load Rosie up and take her to the vet after rescuing her from beside the road. The next day I would go to the vet's office to see her one last time and give the ok for her to be put out of her misery. I was devastated. Rosie was MY dog, and she was gone. I cried for weeks everyday. I told everyone I'd never have another dog, but I prayed secretly that if I ever had another, she would be just like Rosie. 

     Approximately 6 weeks later, on Christmas Eve night, I would go back on what I said. I was at my in-laws' house. They saw how broken I was over Rosie, and they said you need another pup. I told them repeatedly that I wasn't ready, but after much urging, I looked in the local paper they gave me for an ad for golden retriever puppies they said was in that week's edition. It wasn't there because they had given me a two week old edition. I told them this and was just going to toss it aside when I flipped to the back page and there was an ad for golden puppies in a town about 25 miles away. I reluctantly called the number and spoke to a guy who said, "I'm sorry, but they are all promised out." I told him I really wasn't ready anyway because I had just lost one a couple months ago. He then asked me for my phone number, and said, "Let me talk to my wife...I'll call you back." I didn't think much of it, and said, "Ok." He calls back and said, "I spoke to my wife, and we have two females...one person backed out today. Come on over and pick one out." I asked him was he sure he wanted me to come over right then because it was Christmas Eve night. He said, "I am usually very particular about who I sell my dogs to, but I have a good feeling about you." He asked me who I got my first golden from and when, and I told him. He said, "You're not going to believe this, but your Rosie is my dog's sister." Obviously, at that point, I had no choice. We drove 30 mins, spent time with this guy, his wife, their two small children, and all of his goldens on Christmas Eve for over an hour. This one puppy never got distracted and kept coming back to me when all of the others had better things to do, and I brought her home. I named her Lily, and yes, she was Rosie's niece. She was actually born on November 14, which was the same day Rosie died. I tell people this story all the time and they get chills and tear up, and this story means much more to me now than it ever has. 

Lily was OUR dog. Bethany saw how grieved I was over Rosie, and decided she would become more involved with Lily. Things were much different. Lily NEVER slept outside. She slept with us in the bed until she was just too big to. (Well, Bethany left for a getaway one weekend a couple years ago, and I invited Lily back up on the bed. She gladly accepted. Don't tell Bethany.) 

We bought a new chair a couple years ago. Lily claimed it, and we were happy to let her. This was Lily's house. She has a toy box full of "babies." She knew most by name. I'd say, "Take piggy to mommy, Lil." She would gently pick piggy from her box or the floor and take her to see Bethany. We treated her like she was our child because she was. She woke us up every morning by "chirping" and beating her tail against the bed, and she wouldn't go to bed at night until I prompted her, "Com'on, Lil, time for bed." Yes, this has shattered our world. Lily was special. My neighbor, who was especially fond of her, told us how terribly she cried for us when we left her for a while. One of the most difficult things for me was having to go tell him the news of her nasal cancer (three months ago) until I had to go tell him of her passing yesterday. He had been giving her grain free treats because I gave him some because he liked to give her snacks, and I was treating Lily with a holistic diet. He was happy to try to help, and he was devastated when I delivered the news Friday. He said, "I've been around and had a lot of dogs in my life, and I've never seen a sweeter, more compassionate dog than Lily. She loved people." That's the kind of dog she was. My in-laws were here for support when we said goodbye Friday. They loved her like we did, and cried when she was gone...like we did. I'd give anything to see her one more time, and I'm so sorry this happened to her. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to change it. But I'm not sorry we got her. I'd still choose her if I had to do it all over again because, well... it was meant to be.

Both my husband and I are sad, and, to be honest, our house feels a little empty.  There are so many little things that Lily did that brought us joy, and we're definitely missing each and every one of them.  I know the hurt will heal, and more than likely we will get another dog one day because we're just dog people.  But one thing is for sure, there will never be another Lily.

{Simple Silver Bracelet}

Hey, y'all!  Recently at Through the Eyes of the Mrs., I shared the easiest bracelet tutorial you will ever see.  (Well, there might be an easier bracelet tutorial somewhere, but I doubt it...)  Today I want to share it with y'all.

You only need a few supplies to make this bracelet.

You will need a piece of chain the size of your wrist, a clasp, a jump ring and a silver tube bead.  Are you beginning to see what I mean by easy?

Thread the chain through the tube bead and attach the clasp to one end and the jump ring to the other. That's it.  Seriously.

Besides tying a string to your wrist, bracelet making can't get much easier than this!

I think this bracelet would look great paired with other bracelets, but it also looks great by itself.  If you like this tutorial, check out my Silver & Suede Bracelet tutorial.  It's pretty easy too.  ;)

{My Karing Card for April}

Hey, y'all!  I was part of the Karing Card Club in March.  (I blogged about it {HERE}.)  It was fun, so I decided to sign up again in April.  When you sign up for the club, you're paired with another person.  You send each other a card--handmade or store bought--that goes along with the month's theme.

I had to have surgery at the end of April, so I wasn't my usual super-crafty self when creating my card.  Also, I was on pain meds and a little groggy, so I didn't even remember to take pictures of the card until it was already sealed in the envelope.  To top it all off, I sent the card a little late.  Yeah, not my proudest blogger moment.  But the focal point of my card was this image--a photograph I took at my Aunt's house at Easter.

The theme for April was "Happiness," so I edited the picture with PicMonkey and added the phrase to it.  I put the picture on a blue background and added some washi tape and a flourish scrapbook embellishment.  It wasn't the best card I have ever made, but considering the circumstances around my making it, I don't think I did too terribly bad.  I sent the card to my Kare Club partner, Nikki from Flairy Tales.  (She has the cutest party blog, and she has lots of cool free printables!)  In return, she sent me the most gorgeous card ever, along with a banner!

She was so thoughtful in making the card because she used my blog colors and even added my blog logo to the banner.

The note she wrote inside was so very sweet!  She read on my blog that glitter makes me happy, so she added little glitter dots on the inside of the card.

I am seriously in love with this card and banner!  I can't thank Nikki enough for taking the time to make something so perfect for me!  If you want to participate in next month's Karing Card Club, you can sign up {HERE} by May 17th.  May's theme is friendship.  Everyone could use a new friend, right?  :)

{The Wreath That's Technically Not a Wreath}

Hey, y'all!  Last week I got tired of having a snowflake wreath on my front door.  I mean, it's springtime now...even thought it hasn't felt like it the past few days.  So, anyway, I saw {THIS} door hanging at Second Chance to Dream, and I knew that I just had to make my own version of it.

I started with a frame from Michaels and a wooden letter that I ended up using as a template.

I painted the wreath with Martha Stewart's Pink Flamingo.

That color just sounds perfect for warmer weather, doesn't it?  Then I used my wooden letter as a template to make a cardboard letter.

I know from experience that if you use a heavy embellishment on a wreath on one side and don't balance it with something, your wreath will hang crooked.  I thought a cardboard letter might remedy this problem.

After I traced the letter, I cut it out.  Then I painted it with metallic gold paint.

And since everything is better with glitter, I mixed some extra fine glitter and Mod Podge.  I brushed a few coats of the mixture on the letter.

I brushed gold paint on three tiny clothespins because I wanted them to hold my pennant banner, which I made next.

I cut pennant shapes out of coordinating fabric and ribbon.  I hot glued a piece of trim on the top of the pennants to create my banner.  I added some rhinestones and ric-rac to my letter and hot glued all the embellishments on the wreath.

I used a Command Adhesive hook to attach the wreath to the door.

I love all the fun colors on the wreath, and, of course, I love the glitter and sparkle.

If my bright green door didn't show enough of my personality, now I have this wreath.  How do you show your personality on the outside of your house?

{DIY Photo Pendant}

Hey, y'all!  Mother's Day is just around the corner, and I have the BEST, super-easy-to-make gift idea for you!

Every mom loves pictures of her little ones, right?  And almost every mom likes jewelry, right?  Well, I have combined the two into a perfect Mother's Day gift!  I made this one for my awesome sister-in-law, and she LOVES it!  To start with, you need a blank photo pendant tray.

I purchased mine from Hobby Lobby, but they're sold many, many places.  And, of course, you need a photo to fit in the pendant.  I chose a cute one of my nieces because, let's face it, all that cuteness deserves to be on a necklace!  :)  I edited the pic in PicMonkey, and then I sized it to fit my pendant in Word.  It's really easy to do.

Open a Word document.  Click Insert, Photo, and then Picture from File.  Choose your picture.

Click on the pic and then click on the Format Picture tool bar.  You will see a space for height and width like in the screen shot above.  Input your measurements, and then just print.  I learned that printing on photo paper is best so that your picture is vibrant.  (I have been buying photo paper from my local Dollar Tree, so check there before buying expensive photo paper.)  Cut out your picture and make sure that it fits in your pendant tray.  If it doesn't, carefully trim it until it does.  Then coat with Mod Podge.

I coated the front and the back of the picture with Mod Podge to make sure the image didn't get messed up when I attached it to the pendant tray, which is the next step.

Coat the pendant tray with Mod Podge and adhere the picture to it.  Smooth it down carefully to make sure there aren't any bubbles.

After all the Mod Podge is dry, cover your photo with a layer of Mod Podge Dimensional Magic.  This is the step that makes your pendant look REALLY professional.  (I was just tempted to type "profesh" because I've been watching too much Rachel Zoe.)  I always start squirting my DM on a scrap sheet of paper because if there are bubbles, they usually come out first, and you don't want bubbles in your DM.    If you do happen to get a few bubbles, you can try to pop them with a straight pin.  It's hard to do, though.  Let the pendant dry UNDISTURBED for the required amount of time stated on the bottle.  Then all that's left is attaching a chain.

Since I pretty much already had the supplies on hand besides the pendant tray, I literally spent less than five dollars on this awesome gift!

Isn't that the wonderful thing about handmade gifts?  You can give beautiful, personalized gifts that you don't have to sell a kidney to afford.  

And, of course, I can think of other occasions to gift this besides Mother's Day.  How about a new mom gift or a mother of the bride gift or even a gift to memorialize a loved one who passed away?  No matter the occasion, whoever you give this to is sure to be your new best friend.  :)

{Cheerful Embellished Mini Tote}

Hey, y'all!   I have a cute, inexpensive project to share with you today that I recently shared on The Hair Bow Company's Blog.

To create one of these miniature cuties all you need is a mini tote bag and some embellishments.

I chose ribbon, ric-rac (not pictured), and a shabby rose from The Hair Bow Company to use for my embellishments.

The mini tote I used came in a pack of four from the craft store for $2.99.  (Depending on the craft store, you could get an online coupon, and they would be even cheaper!)  I started by cutting a piece of ribbon a little larger than my bag.

I then folded over the ends of the ribbon and hand stitched them.  (This could be a completely no-sew project if you use fabric glue, though.  I'm an impatient crafter, and I didn't have any at the moment.)

Then I cut a piece of ric-rac to layer on top of the ribbon.

I also selected a pretty shabby rose in a coordinating color.  I used fabric glue (Yeah, I bought some.) to glue the ric-rac to the middle of the ribbon and folded the ends under the ribbon.  Then I glued the ribbon to the bag.  The finishing touch was gluing the flower to the ribbon.

This is such an easy, inexpensive project. 

I think these would be great as party favors, gift bags, or even bridesmaids' gifts.  Or use the same steps for a large tote bag to create a purse or travel bag.  There are so many possibilities!  What would you use your mini tote for?