Recently I think I experienced a lesson in contentment, or else I was just being cheap. You can decide for yourself but as I was starting to write this blog post a light bulb went off inside my head. I am 99% sure my feelings were an example in the shift of my thinking as a result of the past year or so regarding money, stuff and gratitude.
Wondering what caused this stir of emotion?
This did.
About a week or so ago I happened to see a beautiful Spring door hanging that The Magic Brush posted on Facebook. I thought it was super cute, don’t you agree?
Adorable Spring door decor by Jennifer Allwood of The Magic Brush
You can get all the details on how the talented Jennifer Allwood created this bunny door decor online.
Seeing this adorable door decoration and then looking at my sad empty front door made me want to get something on there pronto. I was running some errands that day and decided to pick up something for the door while I was out. Jennifer’s supplies came from Hobby Lobby but we don’t have a Hobby Lobby anywhere close to where we live.
I wandered through Wally World and didn’t see anything suitable; I wanted it to have a kind of rustic, whimsical feel to it and they had nothing even close to that. I decided I would make something myself so when I was in the next store (thrift shop) I looked for pieces and parts to put together. After a quick search I had a few items in my cart including a wooden frame (that I would paint), some metal Easter shapes, some fake greens, and a sign that said something related to Spring. As I was putting these items in my cart I was having these odd emotions; I wasn’t exactly thrilled with what I was buying. The frame wasn’t quite right, the greenery wasn’t either for that matter.
When I looked at what I had in my cart I realized I would be spending about $15 on this stuff, and it wasn’t making my heart happy. It was just “stuff”. Sure, the pieces would have come together and created a cute door hanging. A little spray paint, florist wire and hot glue was all that was needed to whip up something that would look good on our front door. Why wasn’t I excited about this idea any more? When I entered the store I was energized about finding the pieces and making something to decorate the door. I was giddy, eager to hunt down these items.
No more. Why?
I kept that stuff in my cart while I plundered through the rest of the store looking for things to flip on eBay (finding nothing except a pair of shoes and a vitnage embroidery kit). When it was time to check out can you guess what I did? I put all the craft items back. All. Of. Them.
My desire to decorate my front door ended that day, and I was OK with that.
The rest of the story
Fast forward to last Saturday, about a week after the shopping trip. The weather was fabulous and Jim and I took a long walk around our woods and pond soaking in the beauty of Spring. As we walked we noticed that the pussy willows were popping out, there was fluffy green moss growing on the ground. We saw a big tree that had died and fallen with grapevine around it. It was so peaceful and nice, and we were grateful for this time together. Suddenly I felt the urge to decorate the door creep back into my heart. As I thought more about it I started envisioning a door hanging made of things we were seeing on our walk.
We returned to the house and my mind was thinking a mile a minute. Jim offered to cut some pussy willows for me, I knew I could fashion a wreath from the grapevine we saw (I have done this before with salvaged vines). There was this woven nest like thing that was laying around that would be perfect. I was so excited as I pulled the pieces together, gathered the moss and dug through Jim’s stash of salvaged items (some junk) to find a piece of tin and some rusty chicken wire. Perfect! The tin was actually a piece of duct work that I used tin snips on to clip this little rectangle! Once I had all the items onto the assembled wreath I knew I needed some sort of wording on the sign.
Hello Spring? Springtime Wishes? Hm……
Then it hit me. Be Happy.
I went inside to my trusty new Silhouette Cameo 3 machine and cut out the wording with adhesive vinyl. I stuck the wording on the tin, punched a couple holes in the corners and fastened it to the wreath with florist wire.
The wreath was done and I was smiling from ear to ear. I was thrilled with how it turned out and I felt so satisfied. I didn’t spend anything on this project, and it came together in less than one hour.
Conclusion and contentment
I started off this post thinking it would be a DIY idea for door decor. As I examined my emotions and the process of decorating the door I realized this was about much more to me. It was a lesson in contentment. Being happy with what we have and utilizing that gave me so much more joy then spending money on “stuff”. Have you ever felt this way?
Contentment is such a rare emotion to many of us and I think it may be because in the hustle bustle of everyday life we are always aiming for more. More time, more clothes, more toys, better cars, nicer furniture, etc. What if we stopped that cycle and focused on being satisfied and gratified by what we have? Being fulfilled with what we have in our lives, for me, is the way I want to live the rest of my days.
I’d be interested to hear if you have had these same feelings and how you acted on them. Please comment below.
Special thanks to The Magic Brush for the use of their photo in this post.
