A Couch Potato, A Piano Bench and A Plan

I have become a couch potato.

Every day, I come home from work, cook supper and then sit on the couch until bedtime. My weekends aren’t much different.

Yes. I live an exciting life. 😉

From my perch on the couch, I have a view of this ugly, old piano bench.

It has certainly seen better days!

Last Saturday, I’d had enough of my laziness. So, I decided I’d give this unfortunate piece of furniture a makeover –

– with MEN’S NECKTIES!

If you followed my daily SMILES in 2017, you know that I love men’s neckties. I collect them for such occasions as this.

It’s a little weird, I know. But there’s something about taking all these different ties – some wide, some thin, some elegant, some down-right ugly, some pristine, some worn – and putting them all together to make something new, fun and beautiful.

I think it reminds me of what God does for us. He takes our brokenness, our ugly qualities, our talents and our uniqueness and molds us into a beautiful reflection of His glory, a new creation with new purpose – if we let Him. (But that’s a blog post for another day!)

Back to my poor neglected piano bench. I was actually excited about this project because I hadn’t used my ties for anything in quite a while. So, here we go.

Step 1: Gather supplies – a staple gun, a screwdriver, scissors, material and a pile of ties.

Step 2: Remove seat of bench from legs and remove old covering (or what was left of the old covering.

Step 3: Cover seat with material. Cut enough material to wrap around the seat and staple underneath. Trim any excess material. By the way, the color of the material really doesn’t matter. This is just a base layer. The ties will cover it. My husband saw the material I was using and asked, “You’re going to use that?!?” Apparently, he did not like it!

Step 4: Lay out your ties and arrange them in whatever order suits you. Be sure to alternate the direction of the ties with one tie having the fat end at the top, the next tie having fat end at the bottom and so forth. Once arranged, flip ties over so the fronts are facing down.

Step 5: Place the seat of the bench upside down on the ties. Staple each tie to the underside. Be sure to pull the ties tight but not so tight that you cannot weave the top layer of ties through. Once stapled, cut off the excess.

Step 6: Flip the bench over and begin weaving additional ties, or excess cut off from the ties you already used, through the first layer of ties on the bench seat. After the weaving is complete, flip the seat, staple the ties to the underside and cut off the excess.  Be sure to pull the ties taut.

Step 7: Now for the corners. Rather than staple the ties on the corners to the underneath, I cut enough of the excess to leave a tail that could be tucked underneath the other ties. It was a painstaking task but worth the effort.

Step 8: Screw the seat back to the legs.

Voila! A beautiful creation from a hodgepodge of men’s neckties and the perfect reminder of what God can do with our lives!

I may be tired and my back may be telling me that I’m not as young as I used to be but the view from my comfy seat on the couch sure has improved! 😉 😉

And it absolutely makes me SMILE!

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Reason to SMILE #366: KICKING A HABIT

I’ve heard that it only takes 7 days to form a habit – good or bad. I’m not sure if that’s true.

Since everyone is different, I tend to believe it may take months for some people to form a habit while it may only take days for others.

Then there’s kicking a habit.

Forming habits is so much easier than kicking them!

To get rid of those nasty habits we form, it takes

TIME,

determination,

WILL POWER,

fortitude,

COURAGE,

accountability

and

MORAL & EMOTIONAL SUPPORT.

Geesh!

Why do we begin those nasty habits in the first place?!?

Whatever the reason, I think at some point, we all find ourselves faced with the challenge of kicking one habit or another.

My old college friend, David, is working on kicking his smoking habit. In fact, he just announced his 2-week non-smoking streak to the world (well, Facebook world, I suppose). His excitement over his triumph and my excitement for him was the inspiration for this SMILE.

I also have another friend (Really, I do! 😉 ) who is struggling to beat an alcohol addiction.

Even I am working on squashing my soda habit. Today is day #12 of my soda abstinence! Yay me!

Three different habits. Three (most likely more) different reasons the habits were formed. Three different people. Therefore, the process for ridding ourselves of these bad habits, addictions or emotional crutches will be just as different. But one thing is certain, we will each be faced with hurdles to jump, temptations to avoid and set backs to overcome.

So, how do we do it? How do we make it to the finish line? How do we successfully beat those nasty habits?

You have to find what works for you but whatever it is, don’t do it alone. Let someone be your rock, your accountability partner and your listening ear.

The words of Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 are true: “Two are better than one… If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.”

And remember to take it one DAY at a time –

No. More like one MOMENT at a time.

Each moment that you make the better choice, each temptation that you successfully thwart and each time you pick yourself up after a set back is cause to celebrate. These are the moments that should make you SMILE because these moments bring you one step closer to, as my friend David would say, kickin’ that habit to the curb!

 

A Year of Smiles – Day 187

Reason to SMILE #187: NECKTIES

I have a confession.  I love men’s neckties.  No, not men in neckties – the actual neckties! Weird, isn’t it?  I know.  Sigh!

I think it started with the TV show Blossom.  Do you remember that television show? The opening credits feature the main character bopping around in a skirt made from men’s neckties.  I thought it was awesome at the time!  I wanted a skirt exactly like it.  I settled for a vest, though.  I scrounged around in my dad’s old neckties, found a sewing pattern and helped my mom make a “Tie Vest” for me.  (Okay. All I really did was watch as she made the vest! But I did pick out the ties.  That was helping!)

From that moment, I have loved collecting old ties and repurposing them for all sorts of things.  I’ve made pillows, chair seat covers, a purse, angels to hang as ornaments and angels to stand on a shelf.  I’ve also decorated Christmas cards and picture frames and I have plans to make a Christmas tree skirt.  (Ah! plans.  Sigh! …again.)

I have boxes and boxes of old ties in my closet.  If you were to sift through the boxes and pull out any one of the ties, you might actually cringe at the color or pattern.  You might even question why I keep such awful accessories and suggest that I simply toss them. And I would respond in agreement that most of these neckties, once at the top of the fashion charts, are, in fact, quite hideous on their own.  But, when you gather a few of these old-fashioned neckties and join them together to create something with a brand new purpose, their strange patterns and out-dated color schemes become something surprisingly beautiful! Of course, it takes a little work to repurpose these ties, ripping open seams, pulling out the inner stuffing and cutting away the worn and tattered edges, but the end results are always pleasing.

We’re a lot like those old, out of style neckties, you know.  We become worn and ragged from life.  We acquire stains, wrinkles, bruises and scars.  Sometimes others look at us and shrink away because in their minds, we’re unsightly.  We don’t quite meet their standards.  They may choose to toss us aside thinking we are of no use to them.  We all have that tendency to throw others away, not giving them a chance (or a second chance) or not being forgiving and accepting.  What great potential and blessing we so easily discard!

Oh, but I am exceedingly glad that God sees us as more than just junk to be discarded. He doesn’t see our messy lives and seedy pasts. He doesn’t care that we have ugly scars or faded dreams. God takes a look at us and sees all that we can become, all that He created us to be. Then He picks us up, shakes off the dust, scrubs and washes clean the sin-created stains, rids us of the unnecessary clutter and baggage and molds us into something beautiful. But He doesn’t stop there.  He takes the beauty He is creating in each one of us and He places us all together, a hodgepodge of talents, skills, and unique characteristics, to form a family working, living and existing together to bring glory and honor to Him. How cool is that!

But I must warn you. God’s repurposing is not an easy process. It hurts at times. It calls for sacrifice, humility and complete openness. It calls for dying to self. But the plans that the Creator of the Universe has for us are so much better than we could ever imagine for ourselves. And I guarantee the end result will always bring a SMILE.

Isaiah 64:8 (NIV)

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Revelation 21:5 (NIV)

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”