One word of the year

Last year, I selected one little word for the year. It was the word intent. I surprised myself that I thought about that word often and was reminded of it several times throughout the year. I love the word intent and long to remain intentional in my actions this new year, but it's a new year, and I wanted to add a new word for me to focus on this year. 

It was only fitting that the perfect word came to me as I was sitting in church this past week. 

photo credit Josh Byers

My one little word that I want to focus on in this new year is shine. 

On Christmas Eve, my husband and I found some old VHS tapes of our older two kids when they were newborns. We set up the VCR {are you as surprised as I am that we still have one?} ordered pizza and laughed for hours as we watched old family movies. It's a bittersweet year. A year full of changes for our family and as much as I want to hit the brakes on time moving forward, I'm also so very excited for my oldest son as he gets acceptance letters from various colleges in the mail and starts to think about where he will spend the next four years.There was a video clip of our precocious toddler barely three years old singing DC Talk's song In the Light.  This is the chorus of the song:I wanna be in the Light
As You are in the Light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Oh, Lord be my Light and be my salvation
Cause all I want is to be in the Light
All I want is to be in the Light It was pretty much the sweetest thing ever. I toyed with the idea of uploading the clip, but I am guarding that sweet memory right now as my own and don't want to share it. For years I have prayed with my kids in the mornings before schools. Sometimes I get to pray with them, sometimes I pray for them. One of the resonating prayers for them is that they would be a light shining in the darkness at their schools. 

Shine

I've stepped out often into the spotlight of vulnerability in the past six years as I have written this blog, but there have also been times when I have hidden and maybe been more dull than I have wanted to be.  I want to shine!We live in a dark world, but God's word tells us to put on an armor of light {Romans 13:12}. I know that I don't always write about my faith but I hope that when I'm writing about even the most mundane things like glitter or craft projects, that my light can shine. We are called to be a light to the people around us, and I can only hope that in this new year I can shine. Do you have one little word for this new year? I would love to hear it.

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Best of Holy Craft 2015 a year in review

I can't believe how quickly this year came in and now it's nearly over! I've been doing this Holy Craft year in reviews since I started my blog back in 2010. It's hard to believe that I'm going on six years of blogging! That's a lot of projects a lot of random thoughts and a lot of garage sales!  In case you missed it, you can find the best of year in reviews here:20142013201220112010This is always one of my favorite posts all year because it's fun to look back at the projects that I worked on this year. Won't you take a look back on 2015 with me and see some of those projects?

I made my first video tutorial {it also happened to be my last!} and showed you how I created this heat transfer vinyl LOVE sweatshirt from a $1 garage sale sweatshirt. I still love wearing it today.

In case a new Silhouette machine made it under your tree, and you want to try your hand at heat transfer vinyl, you can follow my tutorial on how to cut {and use} heat transfer vinyl like a pro.

When I started writing Holy Craft, I was hoping to use my blog as an outlet for my long days as a stay at home mom of three littles. Now those littles aren't so little anymore, and this blog offered me a really amazing opportunity to travel with several journalists on a media relations trip to Zambia, Africa. After my first trip to Africa in August 2014, my heart burst for the people of that continent. I have been given the unique opportunity to share the stories of those people who I met and who have changed my life forever. You can find links to all of those posts from my most recent trip here.

I always knew I was a bit of a wanderlust, but parenthood has kept me from traveling excessively. Thankfully, my kids are getting older and they are much easier to travel with. I made this zippered travel bag with some great quotes on them for next to nothing.

I haven't strayed away from my love of upcycling and you can find project after project of worn or boring items I have taken from blah to awesome.  This painted bowl is one of my favorites from the year.

Apparently, my love for metallic runs deep and I also upcycled this $10 secretary desk with some silver paint. 

I also gave this Adirondack chair that I had had for years a little refresh with a new coat of paint and my favorite paint sprayer.

My daughter had a tie dye party with her friends and we refashioned the t-shirts six different ways. I had no idea it would be quite so popular on Pinterest, but you should see the shirts and how they were upcycled yourself.

I jumped on the adult coloring page bandwagon {or came out of the closet...whatever}, and put together a little round up of free printable coloring pages you can use. Go ahead and bust out those markers!

It's never too early to start thinking about teacher appreciation. This pencil vase was so easy to make but it looked like a million bucks!

I wrote this as a sponsored post, and I really can't tell you enough that while I love the opportunity to make money for the long long hours that I put into writing this blog, I really do only accept posts for things that I love. This chicken burrito bowl recipe is a family favorite that has made it into our dinner rotation.

I participated in a few craft challenges this year. One of my favorites was this one from Wayfair where I took boring cutting boards and made them into something that would wow in the kitchen.

I live by the beach, but not by the kind of beaches that have shells. They are mostly lined with driftwood. So I created a few projects with driftwood this year. This succulent planter is probably my favorite.

I didn't do as many sewing projects as I have done in the past, but the one that I did sew took the cake! I love this infinity scarf with snaps and wear mine quite often. You can find the full tutorial here. Make one and we can be twinsies.

I made this fall grass wreath that was inspired by the African Juju hat trend. If I make it back to Africa, that's one of the things that's top on my list to find. In the meantime, I love my wreath.

I also offered quite a few free printables this year. This thankful chain printable is probably my favorite one. 

Followed closely behind by these free K cup printables.

I also brought on a fun contributor this year. Her name is Kate and she has provided us with some great recipes like this green bean bacon side dish.

I also got to talk about things that were near and dear to my heart and share a little bit about consumerism versus compassion and what that looks like. It pretty much made my month when Patricia Heaton retweeted my post on this. I super love The Middle!

And of course, I finished off the year sharing six days of handmade ornaments. You can find links to all six tutorials here. 

I know there is so much more to share, and I hope you have read along with me through this year. If you are new here, welcome. I'm happy to have you. 

I started a newsletter this year so that you can subscribe and get all the new content delivered right to your inbox.  You can find me on instagram, twitter, Facebook and Pinterest too.  I'm looking forward to this new year and new projects as well as new transitions as we prepare to launch our oldest son off to college. Bear with me, it's going to be a tough one!

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Holy Craft year in review

I can hardly believe that 2014 is over. It was probably the best year of my life!Mostly because I got to take an amazing trip to Africa,a country that I have longed to go to for as long as I can remember,and an experience I can hardly put out of my mind for even a second.

I will never forget the smiles on the children's faces and how unbelievably happy I was to be experiencing just a snip it of life with these amazing loving people.

I don't know if I could have ever dreamed that I would have the experience of going on safari in the Masai Mara

or to have the opportunity to meet Masai Warriors.

I soaked up every bit of that experience.

Part of my heart will forever remain in Africa.

Besides travel to Africa, I also went to Maui. Twice.I also traveled to Whistler, Canada for a family ski trip and to Chicago for a few days with my husband on business.I told you it was a good year!There has been more to my year than just travel and vacations.I thought I would recap my favorite posts or projects month by month.January started off with a few DIY projects.The first one being this felt woven pillow for my son's room.In February I shared one of my favorite lunch recipes, Taboule wheat grass salad.I still reference this easy pajama pant tutorial from March.I made some DIY sharpie mugs in April.In May I completed a six week room makeover design challenge and redid my son's room into a vintage airplane themed room complete with moving propeller.In June I completed a Harvey's seat belt purse knock off.In July I shared why we call it a trip and not a vacation when we travel with our kids.In August I completed a vintage mirror and frame gallery wall in my daughter's room.In September I freed you of the guilt to buy school pictures of your kids.October had me crafting for Halloween.  My favorite craft from October were these dollar store crows.November had me starting my Christmas crafting.One of my favorites from this year were these bleached bottle brush trees.And finally, in December I loved making these clay ornaments with my kids.This month marks my 5th year blogging here at Holy Craft.It's pretty amazing that I have been sharing my life in this format for so long.As I put a bow on 2014, I can't wait to see what projects, crafts and life 2015 will bring.I'm thankful for each and every one of you who share, pin, and like my projects.I truly hope you can find inspiration here.Thanks for being on this ride with me!

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