Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Beauty is from Within

 


   Hey y'all!
   Who's excited for spring? I know I am!
   I'm so excited for the beautiful scenery that will out of the blue pop out and surprise me with their beautiful colors. It's a wonderful way to display God's idea of true beauty.
   Beauty itself is a precious thing. Not outward beauty, but beauty from within. The kind of beauty that is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. (Galatians 5: 22-23)
    That is another one of my favorite Bible verses, for it helps me remember what my true self should be, and I try every day to have that character. A heart that is overflowing with the Fruit of the Spirit.
    A few days ago, I was talking with a few friends of mine about beauty. I had showed them a picture of myself with an amazing DERAIL sign by an old abandoned train track. They had commented that I looked very pretty. But, after a while, it started to tumble into how much more beautiful I was then them. For a long time, and even still, I stumble with vanity, and I keep telling myself that that is not what is important. I keep telling myself to be humble. And I told myself that right there with that conversation. I began to tell the girls that they are just as beautiful and not one of us is for prettier then the other. I told them that they are beautiful in God's eyes, if you have a good heart.
     I remember my Mom telling me a long time ago about true beauty. That even if you weren't as beautiful on the outside to the world if you had a Fruits of the Spirit kind of heart, that is true beauty in God's eyes. But if vanity and selfishness gets in the way, then there is no beauty, and you have an ugly heart. Like the Step Sisters from Cinderella.
     I told them that, and dearly hope that they will accept themselves for who they are, and not what they should be.
     Beauty is a hard thing to accomplish, and even I don't have it all together. I can be very vain at times, and it makes me stumble. I can't be the prettiest girl out there. But I can be a beautiful girl with a God-like heart. That's what truly matters, and what makes you beautiful on the outside too. Having the best clothes, the best hair, the perfect skin or smile doesn't make you beautiful. Having a loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful and self controlled makes you beautiful.
      What's ironic is is that I hardly listen to my own advice. I need to work on my heart as well. We can work on it together.
       Let us have a spring like heart, to have one day, where we suddenly pop out of the selfishness, vain ground, and blossom into Fruits of the Spirit.
        Happy Spring!

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

SteamShoppeTreasures: NEW ETSY SHOP!!!

  Hey y'all! Happy Spring!
  It's coming up so quickly, and it's FREEZING here!
  And what a perfect day to take pictures of my new three item in my new Etsy shop...SteamShoppeTreasures.
   It's a Steampunk themed shop, and I will be selling handmade items, and altered items into a whole new Steampunk makeover. I will be adding more as I go along, so I hope y'all enjoy, and if anyone has any item ideas for me to create, please comment down below in the comment box!


    (Photographer Victoria Johnson)

   https://www.etsy.com/shop/SteamShoppeTreasures


   Here is a sneak peek pf my three items.

   Steampunk Crystal Flower Earrings



   Steampunk Silver Heart Earrings

                                           




     I hope y'all enjoy!

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Steampunk Altered Altoids Box DIY

   Morning' y'all! It's such a nice pretty day today here in North West Arkansas.
   I thought that it would be fun to do a Do It Yourself project today.


    So, this used to be an Altoid mint box, and Steampunk Altoid boxes are a big thing, so I decided to make one, and a tutorial to go along with it.
    You'll need:
Altoid mint box (or any box about the same size)
Embellishments
Gears
White acrylic paint
Any acrylic paint of your choice (I used a tan brown, a mixture of red and the brown, and green acrylic paint)
Black acrylic paint (I actually used a black nail polish designer pen)
Hot glue gun, E6000 glue or superglue
Hair blow dryer or a tool to dry the paint
Decorative paper
Paint brush

    So, I started off deciding where I wanted to put my little angle charm that I had (don't really know where i actually got it), and I decided to put it in the middle.


      Then, I placed the rest of my embellishments, and the gears wherever I wanted that suited my taste.


     When that was finished, I coated it with two layers of white paint. The white paint helps later on to bring out the brown color or the color of your choice.


     Use the blow dryer or heating tool to dry the paint, or let it sit until it's dry. Once that is done, coat the whole box, front and back, with your chosen color, until it is covered to your taste. I still had a few white spots peeking out, but, I thought it actually looked cool and Steampunk.


     Dry that with your tool. Next, comes the fun part. I used a mixture of a red and the brown together to get a rusted color, and dabbed it in random places, then used a green to add a discolored look to it, like metal does when it gets wet. I also used a black, nail polish designer pen to detail it a little. You could use black paint instead. I just couldn't find black paint anywhere, so I improvised instead.


     Use your tool to dry it, and add any more rusted color to the rest of the box. Next, I hot glued some decorative paper to the inside, just to make it look cool, and cover up the Altoids symbol on the inside. I also used my finger to smear some of the rusted paint color around the edges of the inside.


     And there you go! An altered Steampunk Altoids box!
     I hope y'all enjoyed the tutorial, and Happy Spring!