where's fall?

this happy guy came home with me
he and his twin brother that is
my mind is on fall
we've had some cool temps but i'm ready for more
i love this time of year
can't wait

oh the wheels

so i was cleaning out the garage this weekend

it was in desperate need of a good sweep and decluttering

i came across a pile of old wood that was stashed under Art's work bench

jackpot baby!

this was the beginning of my brainstorming

because my mind went to this pin

or this

there would be plenty of leftover wood to do this

or this

Art would be a busy honey if only we could slow down.

this keeps us busy

:)

it's fall inside

I had fun getting the inside ready for Fall as well.

The mantle.

My cute owl is on his perch now.

Foyer decor.
We did some trimming of our Japanese maple this weekend.
So I brought in some of the branches which are a bright burgundy, perfect Fall colors for my entryway.
I also added some burlap that I instantly loved on the table.  {Thank you Jonica for that}
I'm wondering why I never had it there to begin with.
Love the look.

The "S" pumpkin was fun to make.
Got the idea off of pinterest here.
They used buttons but my girls actually found this adhesive S in a bin at Michaels and it was a "that's too easy, duh!" moment.
Thanks girlies!!
I like how it turned out.

I'm still working on the dining room.
I have a honey do project for Art that I'm excited about that will do double duty and easily change with each season.
More to come...

it's fall outside

Got our Fall decor out and had some fun this weekend getting it all set out.

Our friendly scarecrow is out again, this year with a new shirt provided by Art.

This guy helped appease Grace and her need for something scary this Halloween.

I had three extra jack-o-lantern buckets from my teaching days so they became a project.

This is what Art and I came up with.

He glued and mounted them on the board.

Filled them with Christmas lights.

We purchased the hat and presto! 

Three headed pumpkin witch.

Or something like that.

It's a Sanderson original.

I think her name should be Hazel.

This summer we had a tree cut down that was dying and endangering our swimming pool.

I found a neat idea on pinterest, on what to do with the big chunks of wood.

Art worked with it, taking off the outer bark, sanded it down and sealed it for a neat side table we've used in the backyard.

I love how it turned out.

He brought it around for me to use on the front porch this time.  

The whole front porch.
Ready to greet trick-or-treaters come Halloween.

Thanks to my crafty hubby, we are decked out to scare {somewhat} :).

out with fall flag

in with the Cardinals.

This was Art's doing.

I guess I will allow it :).

GO CARDS!!

fall and love

I texted Art this picture today with this message...

"Thank you handsome for the flowers you bought me ;)"

I know I'm a stinker.

This isn't to say the boy can't be romantic, because he can.

Just thought I would be a stinker.

And help him out a little. :)

They were purchased at Trader Joes on my bi-weekly trip.

They called my name as I entered the store.

Really the did.

These called my name as well.

The orange ones are for the girls to paint faces onto.  

We saw some already decorated pumpkin pals at a local grocery store the other day.

Of course they wanted one but they were priced ridiculously.

Plus this way they can create their own and have fun in the process.

The white with orange was just unique to me and only 99 cents.

I thought I would use it somewhere in my Fall decorations.

Our mums are in bloom, so pretty right now.
Everything is screaming Fall.
I'm itching to get the decorations out.
If only we had the time.

Maybe Sunday?

march foyer

The February decor is put away, we had a great Valentines day.  Time for a change and I found my latest subway art on pinterest, here.  

I liked the print "We might be the luckiest people alive." It fit perfectly and isn't busy like some other March art I've seen.  I kept the same garland, added two different pictures of the girls, Art and I as well as a new candle and the gold plate which makes me think of St. Patricks Day.  The mantle is next...

valentine foyer

I brought my Valentine decor into the foyer of the house.  

• I found a subway print on pinterest that worked with the red and blue I have in my decor.  
• The garland is there year round, except for Christmas.  
• The candle is blue and smells of rain which I like, it's not overbearing.  
• This the home of the Angel of Welcoming Spirit, love her.
• The picture of my 2 baby's in the heart frame I've had for years.  I think they were 2 and 5?

Simple and cost me nothing except maybe ink to print :).

 

purge and how I decorate my mantle {winter}

Over the Christmas break I did some MAJOR purging around our house.  I went from room to room tossing, giving to good will or re-purposing things.  From our closet alone I filled up 9 trash bags full of clothes.  IT FELT AHHH-MAZING!

So the day after Christmas I got the itch (like I usually do) to get Christmas put away and concentrate on a New Year/New Look (Art calls me scrooge for this).  I found some inspiration here on pinterest.  I remembered what I had found while digging through things and I had the perfect mirror for my winter mantle to come together.  Here it is.

It's simple but I like it that way.

Pine cones in place of a candle.  

Most of this I already owned.  It was just a matter of placing things together that worked for me.  I did purchase the sprig of white from Michaels with a coupon.

The birds I found at the dollar store and painted blue.  I've had them about two years now.  They made me happy then and still do today.

More pine cones down below on the hearth.  These pine cones are all the way from Lake Tahoe in California from our time living in the Sacramento area.  I pull them out every Christmas and reminisce.  Good memories.

A throw and some pillows to snuggle by the fire with, which is a favorite of Sarah's in the winter.

I'm so glad I purged.

a new blog

I came upon this new blog from another blog I try to follow, emphasis on the TRY.  These days I do what I can but my viewing has decreased to only a select few.

Anyway, this is neat.  Have you ever been stuck on a paint color for a particular room?  I know I have.  This is a great blog that helps you visually make that decision or at least narrow it down in my case :).

Go here and enjoy!

saw this, love this...

Today is a down day with snow and ice here.  I'm catching up on my favorite blogs.  Here's an idea I saw and love.  I have so many of these frames, different finishes that I could do this.  I need a wall and time.  Hmmmm... 

a new space

I have the best husband in the world.

Truly I do.

He puts up with alot of things.

Including this....

Some may know this but Art made me a scrapbooking desk out of a door. We put this desk in the guest room downstairs.  Since taking on a teaching job this fall I have found myself spread out into three different rooms, unorganized and if you know me, this drives me bonkers.  I had this great idea to combine it all into one with one hitch.... to move it ALL upstairs to the girls front play room.  When I suggested this to Art his first reaction was, "We agreed when the desk went in to the room downstairs, there would be NO moving it!"  The reason this was said is because the desk was supported by the wall with BIG screws.  He put a ton of work into making it just right and now I was asking him to move it!?!  Like I said, I have the best hubby in the world.  A couple of weekends ago he took my dream and vision and made it real.  It came with a few headaches (there's a big hole in our drywall now from those big screws) but it is up.  I now have a functioning, organized, fun, girly (as Art says) office/scrapbooking room.  I love it!  And now I will share all of Art's hard work with you...

 I love the paint color

 Art made me this shelf a long time ago (back when we lived in Sacramento).  He made it look more pottery-barnish by adding some wainscoting to the back.  It's a whole new shelf!

 Wine rack turned pen holder.  I use it now more than before :).

 A shelf (that was in Art's office) got a new coat of paint and now displays our globe.

 This room is a craft room for my kids as well.  I used my Mom's old Coca-Cola crate to organize their things and have them at hand.  The girls love having this table.

 I put my girls artwork in black frames and had them stamp their hands, write out their names and age.  They were so excited to help paint the room.

 Painted my pie shelf red.  It pops against the paint.

 Finally a shelf for the girls scrapbooks.

 

 Chalk board for the girls and I.  Mine is on top to write out notes for school etc...  Although Grace put her mark on it in this picture.

 My inspiration for the colors in the room. 

 Getting organized for school, a box for every month.

The girls craft supplies are in the closet as well in the rolling cart. 

 I even took the inspiration to the walls by free handing the flower design.  This is the part that Art calls girly.

I enjoy having everything in one space, I feel organized and not stressed running from one room to the other.  So hopefully, as the sign says I have simplified my life.

pop!

I enjoy reading this blog.  Becky is creative in so many ways, I latched onto her through scrapbooking.  Recently she has been blogging about the wonderful use of spray paint (scroll through June & check these out) taking it and adding "pops" of color in her home and doing it inexpensively.  I loved the look she had achieved but was a little scared to try it on my own.  After some visualizing and convincing Art agreed to let me  follow suit and yesterday I sat some time aside to create my own "pops!"  I purchased one can of spray paint in a smokey blue.  The color came from a piece I have hanging in my dining room so I jumped in.  These pieces were dark, either brown or black making these dramatic changes to me.  Tell me what you think?  Did I pop?

{the paint i used from Lowes}