It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Our Christmas decorations have been up for a week now, so I thought it should be time for a little tour....

If you were to visit our home, this is what you would see hanging on the door. Then, moving around the two front rooms, you'll see....

...this tree and snowman garland,

our kid-friendly nativity set I made for a M.O.P.S. craft,

a snowman nativity set, a snowman countdown and some scrabble tiles that say, "O Come let us adore Him,"

Winnie-the-Pooh window clings sent to us in a fun package from Q's parents,

the nativity set my mom gave me 13 years ago that began my collection of nativities (see how many you can count from this post!),

the nativity advent calendar that we are enjoying already,

a new way to hang up our Christmas cards using some wide candy cane ribbon,

(a close up view of my first card; it came from Alyzza:)

a nativity picture made completely from fabric (I love handmade touches around our home),

a few knick-knacks,

blocks that spell out, "Merry Christmas,"

an interactive nativity set and a Precious Moments one that plays music,

Noel blocks, mini trees and a Willow tree angel,

three wise men with Mary and baby Jesus,

an angel collection on top of one of our book cases (two of the angels are handmade gifts from friends),

our Christmas book basket (we're enjoying reading from this collection already!),

a light-up snowflake (another gift from Q's parents),

snuggly snowmen that the girls can play with,

and finally, a snowman village on top of the other book case. The picture of our tree didn't come out right, but another one was shown in my last post with Alyzza decorating it.:)

Did you count how many nativities I have? I just love having that as my theme at Christmas time. After all, Jesus is the reason for the season! 

Easy fall decor

I'm back....and not as late as the last time. :) Life in general is just plain busy, but I'm encouraged in many ways. I mentioned a couple of months back that I've been organizing things around the house. Even though I am not done, I'm feeling a huge sense of accomplishment lately. I can actually find things and can work quicker and easier with projects. We are seeing the Lord work mightily in our family. Alyzza is doing well post-adoption and we're seeing praises in regards to Little S' situation. Thanks so much for your prayers. We will continue to keep you updated in the best way possible.

One of the things I have been enjoying this fall is starting back up at M.O.P.S. again. Little S is in a new class and since she's older, she always looks forward to going with me. In fact, when we're out and about doing other things she'll ask if we're going to M.O.P.S. She loves it that much! This year, I joined the steering committee as the crafts coordinator. This past summer, I worked at gathering ideas from my stash of books and magazines as well as off of the internet. I came up six crafts that I'll be sharing with you after we do them. We did the first craft recently, and that is shown in the second photo. I'll explain more on that below. But, this first picture shows something I did with Little S last month. I call it "Fall in a Jar."

We went for a walk and I encouraged her to find things that she'd like to put in a jar. She found leaves, twigs, rocks and crab apples. She talked about what she found with Dad. It's great to incorporate God's creation in the conversation as well. This jar made a great centerpiece until she accidentally dropped it on the floor and the jar broke into many pieces! (Yikes!)

Here's our beautiful fall wreath we made at M.O.P.S. It was a hit with everyone! It was probably the most time-consuming prep work I've done for any craft (for 60-70 ladies), but it was well worth it. Alyzza helped me with counting strips of fabric, but the cutting had to be done by me. Thankfully, the rotary cutter came in handy. The other ones should be easier to pull together and I've had offers from some of the ladies to ask them for help if I need it. Here is the link for this wreath, which really can be used for any season using the right colors. From the instructions it does not say how many strips you need, but someone asked about that in the comments section. You need roughly 100 strips or so to make a full wreath. Use a variety of prints and solids to make it look the best. I used denim and corduroy to add some texture to it as well.

How's your fall season going so far? Have fun adding these ideas to your fall decor this year. 

A's Fairy Birthday Party: the decorations

This past Sunday, A turned five years old. We gave her a fun birthday party with some of her closest friends.

We bought a few flower-themed party supplies at the Dollar Tree. They fit the Tinkerbell party A wanted perfectly. Here are some of the things we did to decorate for her special day:

Using fabric paint, I wrote, "Happy Birthday, __________" on the banner. It hung on the front door.

Near the table, four flower/butterfly garlands hung from the ceiling. Three balloons, including one with a picture of Tinkerbell on it, floated behind the table.

We placed a yellow tablecloth and a tissue flower garland on the table. I placed decorative tissue paper and Tinkerbell placemats on the center of the table where the drinks and cake were going to be set. The plates and napkins matched the decorations, too. I also put a picture stand that held three pictures of A.

More flower garlands were hung between the two rooms and by the big chair (which we used as the "birthday chair" where A opened her presents). The paper lantern was one of four that we hung inside and outside. They were so cute! The big bunch of star balloons was a freebie that Q found on craigslist. A family had just celebrated their son's highschool graduation and wanted to give these away to someone who could use them. It was a great idea.:)

Here's a close up of the decorations above the birthday chair.

These flower window clings were placed on all four windows. A had a great time helping me put these up.

And there you have it--the decorations we used for A's party. It didn't cost a lot of money, and they ended up being way cuter (and cheaper) than what I could have made myself. But--I did make a few things for the party anyway, but you'll have to wait to see what those things are.

Stay tuned as we share more ideas and pictures of A's fabulous fairy party.:)

Baby clothes valance

Here's a cute and creative idea that I've been meaning to post for a while. I forgot about it until I was looking through my pictures and realized I hadn't shared it yet. A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law, Abigail, and daughter, Annalina, were in Colorado house hunting. We drove about an hour to meet them. We enjoyed looking at the homes and giving feedback as well.

One of the homes had the cutest valance in their laundry room. Abigail pointed it out to me, and I took a picture of it. The owner used baby clothes and put them through a curtain rod. What a neat way to remember your favorites and the little ones who wore them. This would also work with toddler clothes, too.

I love it--how about you?:)

A decorative dry-erase board

When I saw this idea from January's issue of Real Simple magazine, I knew it would be a neat thing to do in my kitchen. This dry-erase board is perfect for writing my to-do lists for food I have to make and prep.

It's currently sitting on one of the counters, but it would be great to put it on the wall somewhere. To make one yourself, all you have to do is find a frame and decorative paper or fabric to put inside of it. Make sure that the paper or fabric is light in color so that your writing shows up. Use a dry-erase marker to write your list, and when you're done with something, it's easy to erase it. You can also change your background to go with the season, or make it match the room you have in it. The possibilities are endless!

Here are some other ways to use this board-- write your shopping lists, reminders, project ideas, quotes, doodles, notes to members of your family or guests--can you think of anymore?

After having just one of these in use, I've been thinking about putting more around the house. It's going to be fun doing this--and for those who see my special notes.:)

The Hugging Mistletoe

Another decorative item I enjoy putting up during this season is mistletoe. I don't do it every year, and had not planned on doing it this year until I saw it at the grocery store. I just had to have it, if you know what I mean!

When I taught kindergarten, the mistletoe would be one of the decorations I'd put up along with a little Christmas tree, home made stockings for each student, and paper chains that my class worked on together.

I explained to them the meaning behind the mistletoe and how mommies and daddies could kiss each other if they stood under it at the same time. I told them that there would be no kissing in the classroom, so I came up with the idea that if two of them were to walk under it at the same time, then they could give each other a hug. Some times when the kids would come back to the classroom after recess, I would see two of them realize that they had just walked under the mistletoe, then stop to give each other a hug. It was too cute!

Just thought you'd enjoy one of my favorite memories of Christmas....happy decorating (and don't forget the mistletoe this year!:)

The Christmas season is here at last!

I just love this time of year. It's a busy season for everyone, but in it lies one of the best holidays we could ever celebrate--Christmas. It's tradition for us to put up Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving, so ours have been up for about a week already. Thankfully, our new camera arrived yesterday in the mail, so I've been taking pictures today of things I want to share with all of you in the days ahead.

First up--some of our favorite decorations (some old and some new, too!)....

My "angel corner" is comprised of items that were all given to me. Two of the angels were made by dear friends. The framed picture says, "And the angels sang, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (taken from Luke 2:13-14).

And for my love of snowmen, I've got a couple of spots with these fun characters.

And for the new...

We now have a tall tree in our living room! It was time to say good-bye to our three-foot Charlie Brown tree and welcome this new one to our home. We got it after Christmas last year at an awesome price. What I love about it is that it came pre-lit so we didn't have to fuss with lights. We also had enough room to put up all of our fun ornaments from years gone by. My father-in-law buys me a Lenox ornament each year and I realized that we have six of them already. Four of them are gingerbread men which is the theme I chose after Q and I were married. Before long, those ornaments will be all over this tree.

These stockings are not new, but the place for them is. The hook is just around the corner from the tree. These are our "kid" stockings that we enjoy putting up. I would just like for them to be closer to the tree, but with the book shelf behind it, I'm not sure what to do. Do any of you have an idea for a better spot?

Well, that's it for now...there are a couple of more things in those rooms that I'd like to share with you, but that will be for another time. Hope your place is looking like Christmas!:)

Decorative pumpkins

From the dozen or so pumpkins we harvested from our garden, Q gave me two of them for decorating. I've been decorating the front rooms with fall and Thanksgiving decorations, and these two pumpkins added so much to them.

I saw pumpkins at a craft store that looks like the monogrammed one on the left. Since I did not take a picture of it there, I did my best to replicate it.

The skin of this pumpkin was so soft, that when I wrote on it with pencil, some green coloring came out. I gave it a deeper green color by tracing it with a colored pencil.

To make this monogrammed pumpkin, all I did was use black acrylic paint. Before I began working on each pumpkin, I drew out some ideas first. It's good to do this, so that you're less likely to make a mistake on the real thing.:)

I enjoyed painting on my pumpkins this year and have already thought that it would be neat to come up with some other designs in future years.

Have you made anything for your fall decorating this year? I'd love to hear what you did!

Scrabble tile sentiments

I saw a neat decorating idea when Q and I were at an antique store recently. One of the booths was selling Scrabble letter tiles and holders. They wrote out a phrase with them and put it with a few other table decorations. With a sale going on, I didn't think they cost too much, but one phrase and holder alone would have cost me a few dollars.

Well, a few days ago, I saw a Scrabble game at my favorite thrift store in town and it was only 25 cents! To decorate with these letters was going to be a steal compared to the antique store price. I just love a good deal, don't you?

Here are a few of the ones I have put around the house...(oh, and I still have lots of letters left!)

A simple "I love you" sits in front of our wedding picture.

I have this one on the window ledge above my kitchen sink. I don't know how many times it's already reminded me to pray about something or someone--so it's been a great thing!

I've placed this one next to a couple of ceramic pumpkins and a fall candle. I just love it!

Keep your eye out on a great deal on a Scrabble game...or you can use the one you've got hidden away in your closet if you're not currently playing it. Hope this gives you a fun and simple decorating idea for your home.

The front room curtains

It's been a couple months in the making, but I finally got the front room curtains done recently. It seemed like every time I would begin working on them again, something would come up. The last thing we installed were the hold backs for the tall skinny windows.

Here's a picture of our living area. The same sized windows are on the opposite side of the big room, where we have our dining area.

I bought the fabric for $2/yard at Wal-mart. I sewed a lining on each panel using matching broadcloth that I bought at Joann's.

Because two of the windows have two panels each, we can easily pull them open during the day then pull them shut at night. The holdbacks pull back the other two window panels to the side, because there is only one panel on each of them.

Both the rods and holdbacks came from the Better Homes and Gardens collection from Wal-mart.

This is one of the windows with just one panel. Isn't the fabric just gorgeous? I'm so glad that I found it when I did. I even have some extra fabric to use for making matching pillows or a table runner. The possibilities are endless!

Happy sewing! :)

My vintage apron

Before Abigail and the kids came, she mentioned to me that she and her mom had gone through some things that belonged to her grandmother. They chose things to match my red kitchen.

I was so delighted when she gave me this vintage apron. Isn't it awesome?

It is in great shape and I love the detail on it. I was amazed at all the hand-stitching done, too!

I don't know for sure how old it is, but my mother-in-law's mom passed away in 1968...so that tells you that it is more than forty years old. It's such a treasure to me. It was so thoughtful of my MIL to give this to me. I love it!

I recently found this Bistro sign with hooks at Hobby Lobby. I paid just a little over a dollar for it because it was on clearance. It is the perfect place to hang this "new" vintage apron of mine.

Have you found or received a family treasure recently? Please share your stories...:)

Spring cleaning: our bathroom

Hurray! The entire house is now done...right before summer officially begins this coming week. It feels really good to be done. Next year, I will begin earlier, and I won't have as many projects (at least I don't think so!) because some of the work in each room had to do with decorating and getting things organized in our new place.

There are a few things I have added to a project list that should get done this summer. Sometimes lists just get longer, so we'll just see how well we do in the next few months. ;)

Here's what gone done in our bathroom:

1. The fabric shower curtain was washed.

2. The sink, tub, toilet and walls were cleaned thoroughly.

3. Parts of the ceiling were cleaned because I saw some orangy-yellow spots up there. (Does anyone know what causes that? It was easily cleaned off, but I'd hate to keep wiping them off every few months!)

4. The vanity and cupboards were cleaned and organized.

5. The clock and mirror were cleaned.

6. The floor was mopped.

Here's a project for this summer...see the space above the new heater that was installed? It's a terrible eye sore and I don't know what to do with it. I've thought about sticking in some fake flowers in there, but I'm not sure if it would look good. The pictures to the left can be moved (or removed because they're just $1 store finds and I'm okay to part with them) to make the new decoration above the heater work. What do you think? Can you help me out?:)

Let me know if you have any creative ideas for my bathroom problem. I'd love to hear them.