Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Before and Afters

My sweet little Mira is going through a unbelievably cute stage. I was working in the yard yesterday and I opened a bag of bark. I pulled out a handful to place next to the flowers and she yelled, " Oh, Mom, it's so BEAUTIFUL."  

At first I thought that she was talking about the flowers we had just planted, but no, she was talking about the mulch.  She is insanely passionate about things that always take me by surprise.  

When I was giving her lunch I warned her to be careful because her food was still hot. To which she replied, "No Mom, it's not hot...it's beautiful." 

I can't help but be inspired by her view of life. I can't help but hope that as she experiences the mulchy part of my mothering, she'll view it as something worthwhile.  I can't help but covet her optimism.  

Here are a few before and after shots.  Don't you just love seeing what things can become? Do you ever wonder what you can become?   I just love the thought that maybe, just maybe, in a few years I'll be able to be a little bit better. A little more patient, a little more tolerant, a little more compassionate and kind. 

Maybe I won't get upset when I see someone has left the milk out all morning, or get frustrated when my kids scream the whole time I'm at the store.  Eventually those things will stop happening, but in the process I hope that I will change as well.    I hope to be able to discover inner beauty, something that I wouldn't have guessed was even possible.    

"It's never too late to be what you might have been."
~George Elliot






"I want to be all that I am capable of becoming."




"There are powers inside of you which, if you could discover and use, would make of you everything you ever dreamed or imagined you could become."

~ Orison Swett Marsden




"The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be."
- Socrates




"Just because fate doesn't deal you the right cards, it doesn't mean you should give up. It just means you have to play the cards you get to their maximum potential."
~ Les Brown





"You have to live the life you were born to live."
~ The Sound of Music 





"It is far better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you are not."
~ Unknown





"I want to be all that I am capable of becoming."
~ Katherine Mansfield





"Sometimes we live our lives like puzzle pieces turned upside. Then along comes life, and it starts flipping them over, showing us and the world who we are."
~ Manifest





"Many of us are like Clark Kent, walking around but rarely showing anyone our red capes."
~ Manifest





"And that was it. Right there. Right there. That was the moment. I suddenly realized that unless something changed soon . . . And so I made a major decision . I decided to take control of my life."
~ Bridget Jones's Diary





"First, say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do."






"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."





"Who are we? We are children of God. Our potential is unlimited. Our inheritance is sacred. May we always honor that heritage — in every thought and deed." -Russell M. Nelson







“There is no man living who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can do.”
~Henry Ford





"Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!" ~Anne Frank




You are the only you there is, do a good job of it.
~Andy

33 comments:

  1. That was fun to see one great thing after another.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I thoroughly enjoyed your post this morning. The stories about your daughter, your qutoes, the projects and your inspiration. This was the first thing I read this morning and now I feel happy and inspired. THANK YOU!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That was great! Your before and afters are gorgeous, and your daughter is so sweet. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such fabulous ideas. One after another. They were all so BEAUTIFUL!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Andy, she gets it from you! You already have an eye to see things beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awe! Your daughter is so sweet - I love seeing the world through a child's eyes!!! And, of course, I love all your creations! Very talented lady!!!

    Kristi
    Punkin Seed Productions

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful, Andy -- words and work. I think I'm going to have to read this post every week. You rock.

    ReplyDelete
  8. There are so many wonderful redos here - but I think my favorite is the first one!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. My favorite is the piece with the diagonal shelves. So cute and functional! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. this makes me want to get busy on projects i have lying around!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Everything turned out so beautiful. Thanks for all the inspiration. Your work is amazing as always. Have a BEAUTIFUL day!

    ReplyDelete
  12. what a cute story about mira! :)
    I love all the before and afters! Such beautiful work!
    gail

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful post. I might be coming back to it over and over again for those quotes!

    ReplyDelete
  14. These are all so great! Makes me want to start sanding something right now!!

    ~Morgan

    Meet Virginia!
    Meet Virginia!
    Meet Virginia!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love them all! I'm flipping out over here going- did all of that creativity come out of one person? I especially love the nest/shoes table!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I was just thinking the same thing as Amy...did all of these fabulous projects come from one person? And there are so many of them...please tell me these weren't all done today??? That would totally make you super woman! I struggle to get one project done a day :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. So many great re-do's -thanks for sharing. Just wondering.... for the side table and coffee table, (pics #23, 24, 25, 26)what type of black paint did you use? I have a coffee table that could use some!
    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I really love everything about your blog! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  19. This is the first time for me to be at your sight! What a great day to show up! You are so talented! That is so true about what are we going to change to. Sometimes...ok a lot of times I wish my boys would stop screaming and running around in inappropriate places, or actually take a nap, or eat their supper. But instead I need to focus not on how they will change but how I need to change. Thank you for that. I am sure God will test me on this new lesson later on today. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. EVERYTHING is beautiful, love all of these, especially that coffee table and the shutter table :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thank you for sharing these before and afters! I enjoyed looking through them!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wonderful before and afters! You have a geat vision! I am your new follower.
    Londen

    ReplyDelete
  23. HEY! I'm so excited to be here at your blog. I've seen some of your projects before and I just love them! I found you again on Someday Crafts. I love your bench. SO CUTE! Thanks for being so inspiring! I will be following you along on your creative journey.

    Jennie @ Cinnaberry Suite

    ReplyDelete
  24. I luv quotes and you picked some good ones. Oh, ur makeovers are good too!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I love quotes and discovering the power of transformation through the creative process. This inspiring post truly touched my heart. Phenomenal makeovers! Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  26. That was beautiful! You are very talented!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh. My. Goodness. Inspiration has been taken to a whole new level. These are AH-MAZING, darling.
    The pegs on a window really struck me. How do you come up with these things?? :-D

    ReplyDelete
  28. Oh, goodness. What an inspiring post! I'm glad I clicked on that link--and I'm really glad to be here!

    ReplyDelete
  29. I love everything here! I hope there is a Part 2 with more fabulous makeovers coming soon! :)

    ReplyDelete
  30. I absolutely love the things you do. I have noticed you repainted many tables.. could you suggest a good way for doing that?

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thanks Jolica,

    For table surfaces I really like to use a black stain and polyurethane combined by Minwax. It works really well. Paint also will work just fine, but make sure you've sanded the piece really well so it is nice and smooth. After you've painted it you really need a top coat of polyurethane or varnish so that the paint won't scratch off.
    Let me know if you were looking for different info.

    Thanks and good luck!
    Andy

    ReplyDelete

It's such a pleasure to hear from you! Thank you for taking a moment to comment. If you have a question, please leave me your email address! Thanks a million!
~Andy