The True Meaning of Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner--how could we not know?  Wal-mart already has its Christmas tree up...Of course, Hobby Lobby has had Christmas decor out since August...Holiday commercials are already playing on TV.  Its hard to not be reminded that the holidays are near~

My resolution for this Christmas season is to remember above all else---the REAL reason we celebrate.  The gift of our Savior and what his birth meant for the whole world.  Salvation.  Redemption.  Eternal Life.  Life is created by and for Him...and the best news we could ever hear is that he has created us with purpose: Bringing glory to His name!  Living our life in complete surrender because of how much he loves us... He is the reason we celebrate Christmas.

The last couple of years I started creating Christmas ornaments that communicate the true meaning of the season.  This year I decided to make an ornament of Baby Jesus in the manger...here is the finished product!  I am very pleased with the way it turned out--and how it keeps the theme of the ornaments I made in the previous years. 

The Nativity is the very first ornament I made--Christmas 2009.

Here is the one I made in 2010...the 3 Wise Men.

I'm excited about the tradition of making these ornaments every year...I'm hoping to create an ornament that tells part of the story each Christmas.

I would love for all of my followers to own one of each of these ornaments!  If you are interested in purchasing one, please go to my Etsy and I will be glad to send one to you just in time decorating for Christmas!

Happy early Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday to my dad--the most amazing Father in the world!

Wooden Collage Art for the Hegi Family

Several months ago, some really good friends of me and Buster's, Morgan and Drew, commissioned me to create a piece of art for their wall in their dining room.  Of course I am always up for a challenge!  Drew and Morgan were so amazing to let me run with some ideas and be creative.  The only things they were really interested in were colors to match their color scheme in their house and they wanted it to be abstract.  Before I came up with the idea, Morgan also showed me some other examples of art created from wood and it really helped inspire me.

SO I spent a day at the Old House Depot gathering supplies and picking out pieces of wood along with old hardware I thought would fit together.  One of the workers asked what I was looking for and when I told him I was creating a piece of art from old wood, he looked at me funny.  I don't think he believed I knew what I was doing.  So in response to his confused expression, I said, "I will know it when I see it!"

I was so excited with the pieces I found so when I got home I played around with arranging the pieces and here is what I came up with:

Then I got approval from Morgan and Drew on the arrangement.  Next step--paint the pieces!  They have a lot of bright colors in their house...reds, oranges, greens, blues.  I really loved the blue piece of wood towards the bottom left side so I decided to leave it as it was.  Since their wall is light blue I thought it would help bring all the other colors together.

Here is the finished piece!  I incorporated colors that would contrast well with the blue piece of wood which is the center of interest.  The blue vines were painted on last to help bring unity and at the same time provide something organic in the midst of geometric shapes.  I put it on my wall to take pictures and didn't want to take it down!  

Here are a few pictures of what the piece looks like on Morgan and Drew's wall.  Notice how the blue wall and white table help make the colors stand out!  Morgan, nice choice of table decor too--the flowers and place-mats go perfect with all the bright colors!

I can't go without giving MAJOR props to someone who helped me tremendously in putting all of this together---Thanks to my AMAZING husband who helped do all of the "construction" and who also helped "install" the piece to the wall.  I couldn't have done it without you!

Thanks Morgan and Drew--for letting me have this awesome opportunity!  I had so much fun!

So glad fall is here...

Michelle Leach Art is featured in MS Magazine!

I am SO pleased to announce...

...that Mississippi Magazine decided to feature my shop in an article called:

The article (just came out--in the Nov/Dec issue!) is about several artists in Mississippi who are Etsy shop owners.  I am so honored to have a section in the article and hope that this will get my name out there a little more!

Alyse, a good friend of mine who is in Buster and my small group at church also has a section for her Etsy shop! Check it out!

 Holidays are just around the corner---I would love to create some personalized gifts for your loved ones!  Check out my work on my Etsy shop for some creative ideas~

Love,

DIY! Refinished Night Stand

I've been looking for a night stand for our guest room for a LONG time...I've looked everywhere for a piece I could possible repaint and distress...flea markets, consignment shops, Craigslist.  And finally a couple of weekends ago I went to the Flowood flea market with my sister-in-law, Mary Allison.  I knew she had an eye for finding unique pieces so I felt confident we would find something.  And sure enough we did!

 I'm guessing this night-stand used to be in a little girl's room since its pink...but the flat paint made it easy to paint right on over!  I decided to go with a bright orange:

After I painted the entire piece orange, I came back and sanded and distressed it.  Finally, I put a put a coat of wood-stain and finished it off with a coat of polyurathane!   It took a while to dry because it was so humid outside.  But it was worth the wait!

For those of you out there that would like more of a step-by-step tutorial on how to distress furniture (in more detail!) you should check out Brittany's (aka Pretty Handy Girl's) Blog.  She does a great job photographing/writing step-by-step instructions!  Thanks Brittany (btw--found you on Pinterest!)

That's it for now!  Happy Sunday!

I am linking up to: 

Newbie Party at Debbiedoos Blogging and Blabbing

Amaze Me Monday at Dittle Dattle
Take a Look Tuesday at Sugarbee Crafts
Freshman Friday at Home Savy A-Z