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Hello beautiful people. We all have moments in life when we lose someone we treasure.

In 2012, we lost my father-in-law, and I had a wreath custom made for him. It has been nine years and I finally decided to dismantle the wreath.

I wanted to keep something from the wreath to remember him by. I purposely requested a cross be incorporated nine years ago so I could keep it.

One of my readers, Mary Guillot, reached out to the paper to gift me two chairs to refinish and she also included a piece of wood. She felt the unique piece could be used somewhere. I found the perfect place for it.

I combined different pieces with their own special story to create one unique piece. Repurposing an item can be complicated or fairly simple. It depends on how you see things.

I played around with this and didn’t like the finished look until I stained the wood. I used an expresso stain for the natural wood and a gold spray paint for the cross. Each piece is considerably thick, so I attached them with wood glue and a clamp. I will finish up with a nail gun to secure it tightly.

I was able to use items I had at home to give this cross a fresh new look that will last another nine years in a space in our home. We are always reminded of my kind father-in-law when we see this cross.

The beauty in it all is that eventually it will hang in the home of one of my daughters someday.

Over the years I have made an effort to send items a family can keep in their time of loss instead of flowers. It isn’t always my go to, but when the opportunity arises, I try to gift a forever item.

Maybe this will give you a new outlook or maybe it is something you currently practice, either way this is an example of how we can recreate keepsakes.

Be bold in the way you love and care for others. OrangeYouBold…yes I am. Follow me on Facebook for ideas and fun unsolicited advice and on Instagram.

Special thanks go to Mary Guillot for her contribution to this project. You can always email me at orangeyoubold@gmail.com