It's a tad late to wish a Happy New Year but I sure hope that it's kicked off good for everyone. Ours kicked off with being so THANKFUL for what God has done and is doing. As I told my family as we were reminiscing over 2024, "There is a lot of 2024 I DO NOT WANT A RE-DO but the Lord has surely taught me so very much. I am truly thankful for each breath, each day, family and close friends. We had our three youngest grands for New Years Eve. We had a great time and the girls enjoyed a little fishing, bonfire with their great-grandfather and roasting marshmallows. Their great-grandfather will be 90 years old next month. As most of you know I do a monthly focus board and this makes my 3rd or 4th year. I've lost count. Only fitting that New Beginnings would be my focus for January. This has been so good for me as it sits on my kitchen counter so I can see it daily. Wonderful way to focus and quote God's Word daily. I felt up to hosting a lunch and movie day with ...
My latest purchase was a wooden antique ironing board as I had been wanting one and a long time friend of mine just so happen to have an extra one that I could buy from her! And I say extra because she had 3! One went to her daughter, she kept one and I purchased the other one! HAPPY CAMPER! But with this grand piece dated between the 20-30's era came a billion-zillion pieces of padding that had been been nailed to this sweetie that I named Sister Girl. Her name came quickly as she about whipped me and everyone else in the family. At one point I said, "Sister Girl"...I have one nerve left today and you DONE AND GOT ON IT!
We cut with scissors, knives, ripped, tore and shredded and well this became a family project.
I even had the oldest grandgirl and my friend Janice's grandson hard at work trying to help me to expose the wood that I knew SISTER GIRL had somewhere....underneath all that billion-zillion pieces of padding.
They actually thought it was fun but I was about to use SISTER GIRL for firewood!
Raygen was getting down to the last 1000th piece of padding here. But bless her heart..she is a very determined young girl.
When we got down to the wood the original sticker was hanging on by a thread and when touched it basically fell apart.
Then Sister Girl was finally revealed and my first thought was "Well Ain't You About Ugly! However, I knew she could become something beautiful...she just needed a little TLC!
The next round of fun began with trying to get the billion-zillion NAILS out of Sister Girl. I wish I had one dollar for every nail that was pulled out. She was one tough gal.
Yes, I had my man, my grandson and my fatherinlove at work pulling nails! At one point my man said, "Cindy, is this ironing board WORTH ALL THIS WORK? Several hoursssssss of work went into this project but I knew it was going to be worth the time and effort. Any person that loves and admires (OLD STUFF) as my grands call it knows it isn't the value of things such as this but it's the true depth of it's beauty that is hidden. Wouldn't you just love to talk to the women that has ironed on this old ironing board?
The work was almost finished...or at least the hard part of it anyway. Sister Girl was beginning to shine through all those many years of padding and nails. NO...she wasn't a pretty site at first but I knew she was beautiful underneath all that padding, dust, dirt, and years of ironing...I just had to find her.
The sanding began. There seemed to be some rough spots along the way but nothing that a good sanding wouldn't take care.
She just needed a little shine added to her. What woman doesn't like to be pampered and loved on?
So I decided that Sister Girl needed a good dose of some polyurethane. I began to paint on one coat at a time.
She was coming to life slowly but surely.
It seemed that she just soaked up that first coat. She still didn't have that shine I knew that she could have so round two was next.
Awe....what began with a rough start was beginning to pay off by the 2nd coat. Sister Girl was beginning to look like she would make it at this point!
AND THEN.............ONE LAST COAT WENT ON HER AND THE TRANSFORMATION TOOK PLACE!
That antique, wore out, zillion-billion layers of padding, and 5000 nails of an ironing board was BEAUTIFUL!
She found her way back to LIFE!
You know, I just can't help but think about how God can take a sinner such as myself and do a remarkable transformation in my life. I am nothing more than a sinner saved by grace through faith in Christ. To think that when He looked at me with all my imperfections, my flaws, my wrongdoings, and my sinful nature that He said, "SHE IS WORTH IT" is more than anyone else would have ever done for me.
HE CHOSE ME and it wasn't anything that I had done to deserve Him I can assure you. It wasn't anything that I had worked for. It was just a simple act of accepting Him as my Lord and Savior that made me different. How I praise Him that looked beyond my beyond and HE SAW THE BEAUTY OF MY HEART!
The Word tells us in 1st Samuel 16:7 that
The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
I am so thankful that I was WORTH His TIME and His EFFORT!
Joining Beyond the Picket Fence at http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/
for her Vintage Inspiration party.
Hugs and blessings, Cindy
We cut with scissors, knives, ripped, tore and shredded and well this became a family project.
I even had the oldest grandgirl and my friend Janice's grandson hard at work trying to help me to expose the wood that I knew SISTER GIRL had somewhere....underneath all that billion-zillion pieces of padding.
Raygen was getting down to the last 1000th piece of padding here. But bless her heart..she is a very determined young girl.
When we got down to the wood the original sticker was hanging on by a thread and when touched it basically fell apart.
Then Sister Girl was finally revealed and my first thought was "Well Ain't You About Ugly! However, I knew she could become something beautiful...she just needed a little TLC!
The next round of fun began with trying to get the billion-zillion NAILS out of Sister Girl. I wish I had one dollar for every nail that was pulled out. She was one tough gal.
Yes, I had my man, my grandson and my fatherinlove at work pulling nails! At one point my man said, "Cindy, is this ironing board WORTH ALL THIS WORK? Several hoursssssss of work went into this project but I knew it was going to be worth the time and effort. Any person that loves and admires (OLD STUFF) as my grands call it knows it isn't the value of things such as this but it's the true depth of it's beauty that is hidden. Wouldn't you just love to talk to the women that has ironed on this old ironing board?
The work was almost finished...or at least the hard part of it anyway. Sister Girl was beginning to shine through all those many years of padding and nails. NO...she wasn't a pretty site at first but I knew she was beautiful underneath all that padding, dust, dirt, and years of ironing...I just had to find her.
The sanding began. There seemed to be some rough spots along the way but nothing that a good sanding wouldn't take care.
She was beginning to take life at this point. I could see the real wood now! I finally could see her real beauty begin to peek out.
She just needed a little shine added to her. What woman doesn't like to be pampered and loved on?
So I decided that Sister Girl needed a good dose of some polyurethane. I began to paint on one coat at a time.
She was coming to life slowly but surely.
It seemed that she just soaked up that first coat. She still didn't have that shine I knew that she could have so round two was next.
Awe....what began with a rough start was beginning to pay off by the 2nd coat. Sister Girl was beginning to look like she would make it at this point!
AND THEN.............ONE LAST COAT WENT ON HER AND THE TRANSFORMATION TOOK PLACE!
That antique, wore out, zillion-billion layers of padding, and 5000 nails of an ironing board was BEAUTIFUL!
She found her way back to LIFE!
You know, I just can't help but think about how God can take a sinner such as myself and do a remarkable transformation in my life. I am nothing more than a sinner saved by grace through faith in Christ. To think that when He looked at me with all my imperfections, my flaws, my wrongdoings, and my sinful nature that He said, "SHE IS WORTH IT" is more than anyone else would have ever done for me.
HE CHOSE ME and it wasn't anything that I had done to deserve Him I can assure you. It wasn't anything that I had worked for. It was just a simple act of accepting Him as my Lord and Savior that made me different. How I praise Him that looked beyond my beyond and HE SAW THE BEAUTY OF MY HEART!
The Word tells us in 1st Samuel 16:7 that
The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
I am so thankful that I was WORTH His TIME and His EFFORT!
Joining Beyond the Picket Fence at http://bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com/
for her Vintage Inspiration party.
Oh, what an awesome analogy of transformation of our hearts to belong to HIM! What a great storyteller you are. And, that ironing board....was so worth all the time and effort and sweat....and maybe some tears?!?!? ;-) It's gorgeous now. Just like you, my friend! Can't wait to see how you display it!
ReplyDeleteAwe...thanks Deb. I love the old Sister girl! LOL!
DeleteOh Cindy you have such a treasure in this vintage ironing board and you gave Sister Girl new life with all the effort you and your sweet family put into her. Yes it was so worth it! And your teaching heart teams that effort with a wonderful lesson of grace and salvation. Thank you for sharing and enjoy your new/old treasure. Sister Girl will be a beautiful addition to your home!
ReplyDeleteHugs and Blessings, CM
Thanks sweet lady for your comment. Sister girl winded up being pretty sweet!
DeleteLove that ironing board Cindy! Now are you going to iron???
ReplyDeleteConnie Royals
LOL Connie! Don't iron much at all but I won't be ironing on Sister Girl! She will be displayed in my Laundry room but Oh do I plan on using her with the grandgirls. Mind is thinking right now.....
DeleteBeautiful!!!! God has blessed you with so much insight and talent. Thank the Lord that He does see all of our faults and ugliness and He loves us anyway.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Wish I knew who I was thanking but I do thank you from my heart!
DeleteGORGEOUS!! You did such a great job on this project..and that was a PROJECT,lady!! You had a lot of nice help too but you were the visionary! LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Heather! She winded up being worth it!
DeleteHi Cindy! (Fun to see Raygen again!) You could see the gem under all that covering, just like God sees what we can be, not what we are. Wonderful perspective. And you knew just what would bring out the beauty of the wood too. The comparisons are endless!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your husband, yes! It's worth it! We are all covered in padding against so much in the world. It takes a long time to strip away all those defenses. It's worth it too :)
Great lesson. Great ironing board!
Ceil
Thanks Ceil.
DeleteGreat transformation, and even greater analogy!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you didn't give up on Sister Girl...just as I am glad He didn't give up on me. He pulls back the ugly in order to get to the heart of matters...Thank you so much for taking something so ordinary (using humor) to perfectly illustrate God's work in our lives. xo
ReplyDeleteThanks Dianna.
DeleteCindy,
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing transformation!! I LOVE the fact that you chose to stain it and not paint it!! Hence , returning it to it's original beauty!!
Hugs,
Deb
Thanks Deb. Yes, I decided to use the natural poly on her...just clear. Thought once about painting her white but changed my mind. So glad that I did.
DeleteJob well done.
ReplyDeleteI am anxious to see how this will fit in your decor . . .
Thank ya mam!
DeleteWow Cindy, she looks beautiful! Even the little label took my breath away. She will now live on for at least another hundred years or so - Well done to the whole family on this fabulous joint enterprise xx
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your project. I have a couple of these ironing boards from the grandmas. Thank you most of all for saying what God has said of us - that we are worth it. I needed to hear that tonight. Blessings for your week. :)
ReplyDeleteAwe...thanks for commenting and though I do not who is posting I prayed for your spirit this morning.
ReplyDelete