Fall House Tour : Using What You Have

Do you sometimes feel like after Halloween is over everything just speeds towards Christmas?  The day after Halloween the stores are already converted over to showcase all of the new Christmas decor...which I'm not necessarily complaining about because I love everything Christmas, but I feel as though we are missing that time between.  Is it Christmas season? Is it fall?...I feel confused sometimes.  Around here we really don't move over to Christmas until after Thanksgiving - just seems right.  

So after a little hiatus from the blog I feel like it is as good of a time as any to come back and start again.  New beginnings are always a good thing.  Today I thought I'd share our current house status - which happens to be full of fall goodness.  Maybe you are needing some Thanksgiving inspiration or maybe some Fall ideas for next year or just need a break from the craziness of political season :) - whatever the case for joining me today, welcome and thank you!!

For fall I really love bringing the outdoors in and taking a cue from what is already available to me from our own yard.  I went out and snipped a few a lot of yard clippings to come up with a simple but very "fall" arrangement for out table.  I love it so much.  Also, white pumpkins are the best.  

You don't have spend money or be a florist to come up with a pretty arrangement for your house.  I love it when arrangements have a "loose" feeling about them anyway.  Try it out this week!  Have some fun gathering a little nature and making it into something beautiful for your home.  

Our sweet son also added some fall touches by drawing a fall mural for us on the Chalkboard door.  I love his artwork and I love that things don't have to be perfect to be enjoyed in your home.  I also kept trimming branches and things and added them all over the place in our house.  Little stems of leaves here and there.

Little pumpkins are also everywhere right now in our house and I let Silas find places for most.  I love the spots he chose.

This is an angle of our house I feel like has never really been shown on the blog.  One of the things that sold us on this house when we bought it was the fact that our living room and kitchen were all one open space.  For a smaller house, that is huge.  

I debated whether or not I wanted to use this wreath I made a couple of years ago in here for our fall decor because I was afraid it was too bold. I actually have really loved it and it brightens up this little spot for me. This is a super easy craft to make using leftover scarps and a fabric hoop.  I have a simple tutorial on how to make one, I use them for every season!

Also, I think people struggle with decorating shelves for some reason. Its always a good idea to start with odd numbers of things - it just always looks better.  Search around your house and try different things together.  It took me trying out a few variations until I landed on what I liked.  Here I used a christmas star tree topper that I maybe would have reserved just for christmas but I love it here.  I also reused a copper candle votive as a little vase for my clippings.  So trying using things you already have in a different way, it works!

I can never grow tired of chalkboards.  I will use them and enjoy them in every room for every occasion.

This is probably the coolest pumpkin I have ever seen, I wish I could keep it forever.

I love a little collection of items.  You don't have to go big all of the time when decorating.  Sometimes just gathering a few of your favorite things together works.

A little while ago I finally hung some things on the wall and it came together as a little gallery wall around our tv.  I have added things, taken things away and changed things out as seasons come and go.  I love this deer/antler print I recently found at Target for $8 - so much so I may never take it down. Oh, and here's my little tutorial on how to make a framed instagram collage.

When it comes to seasonal decorating I love using what I already have, repurposing items to work or adding in a little nature to bring it all together.  If you are looking for some more inspiration for decorating for thanksgiving on a budget you can check out my simple Thanksgiving Table Ideas, Ideas for Using What You Already Have, Making a Thankful Jar and DIY Boxwood Wreath.

Thanks for joining me today!  It feels good to be back!

Simple Pallet Board Shelf

Silas' room is becoming one of my favorites in the house.  We have been slowly adding so many elements that I love and its really starting to feel like a completed space.  His room has been transforming into a big boy room, which is fun and also a little sad at the same time.  But we are enjoying each season.

Pallets: you probably love them or can't stand them.  I'm on the love portion of that statement (of course).  I have been wanting to incorporate a pallet board in some form or another in our house for some time now and this little project ended up being the perfect fit.  I acquired this little pallet board somewhere, somehow and it made its way into Silas' room to act as a little quasi-shelf.  You can see below how its been leaning against his wall for a while and neatly organized with some of his things.  It was time to finally make this spot more permanent (and safe) for our little pallet board.

So we found a little time on a weekend and put together a quick plan to mount this thing to the wall and make it a functional part of his room.  To attach this to the wall I went and found some of the strongest wall anchors I could (pallets are super heavy).  Justin measured, drilled and anchored this monster to the wall.  Its not going anywhere now.  

To give it a little more function we also attached a little yellow hook set I found at Target.  Now Silas has a sweet little place to hang things, display his special little items and store some books.  

I love pallets because one- they are free and two - they add a little rustic touch to a room.  I didn't even bother with cutting or adding anything to the pallet.  It was functional just they way it was for me.

With it now securely mounted to the wall it feels like it actually belongs here now and its great to check one of those little projects off the list!  I have a few more things to accomplish in his room before I can say his room is completed.  For example- hang curtains, recover his little "couch" and Paint his bookcase..so we are getting close (sort of).

So do any of you have a thing for pallets?  Have any fun projects you have done?  Share with me, I'd love to know!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Our Christmas Mantel (Kind Of)

Yesterday I showed you my easy diy burlap and ribbon banner along with our little painted shutter so today I just have our little "mantel" all put together to share.  Its really not a mantel, its the top of an antique cabinet but its as close to a mantel that we have.  I love decorating for Christmas and checking out other people's christmas decorations, its just fun to me.  I even love going into those all year long Christmas shops - they are the best, I could spend hours in there looking at all of the ornaments and things.  So here's a little sample of our Christmas decorating going on in our house this year.

Besides my diy banner I also used the reindeer silhouettes I made earlier to bring in the gold, red and black colors.

I love this little Santa Claus we have up here - my cousin handmade it for me years ago.  I've always loved the diy aspect of this little guy, he's all handmade down to his little clothes.  

There's something so pretty about twinkling lights at night.  I love this view from the kitchen.

I love the traditional Christmas colors but I also love it when people do something different and decorate with turquoise, hot pink or all white.  What a fun time of year!

So are you guys more traditional when it comes to your christmas decorating or do you like to try different things?  Share with me!

Last Minute Thanksgiving Ideas

Today is all about using what you have.  Its the day before Thanksgiving and you might be thinking you want to spruce up your table a bit or add something fun but just don't have the time to really even think about it.  Its ok, I've thought about it for you.  I have a little last minute table idea I put together to share as well as some other great last minute ideas I found thats all about using what you have.

Up first is my little Thanksgiving Table...

Everything I used I found around the house.  Grab your favorite vases, some mason jars, glass bowls - whatever you have and fill it with something pretty.

I had grabbed a bag of cranberries from the grocery store a few days ago, they were on clearance so I thought why not?  We have pecans galore in our yard so I gathered up a bunch and used them.  Acorns are another great choice, pinecones, twigs, leaves even those annoying sweet gum seeds can be used (check out the pic below).  I had some lighted branches that I used but you could totally just use sticks from your yard - it would be equally as pretty.

I didn't have a table cloth that I felt like fit the Thanksgiving feel so I just used a piece of scrap burlap as a little table runner.  I grabbed some twine and yarn to wrap the silverware - simple but I liked that I could use a little bit of the deep red to tie it all together.

Candles of course are always an easy solution.  A good rule when creating a grouping of items is to always use an odd number of things - its just more pleasing to the eye.

Next up is a bunch of little ideas from other sites that I had to share - they are all last minute, super easy and use what you have...

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Seriously, someone has made a sweet gum berry look chic.  I can't even get over this but I love it so much.

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Use your pretty fall leaves to write on for place setters.

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Pinecones, upside down glasses and pumpkins - easy and so pretty.

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Another great use of something you have on hand.

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I love this idea for a kids table but I think it would be totally cute for an adult table too.  PS - you can get brown paper like this at the dollar store - they sell it as mailing wrap in large rolls.  

So many cute ideas here right?  I just love using what you already have.

Just want to tell all of you how much I'm thankful for you, your encouragement, support and kind words you always give.  I love all of my bloggy friends!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Shining Light

Today you get the great privilege of taking a viewing tour of all of the beautiful light fixtures that illuminate our home (plus some great up close ceiling shots).  It is a smorgasbord of mismatched 60's and 70's styles that we are sure will be the envy of every homeowner out there, some of these you just can't find in stores anymore.   So without further adieu, our lights.

First up, our living/family room ceiling fan equipped with mis-matched handle pulls.  This one is actually not completely horrible (just wait until you see our kitchen one).

This light is in our kitchen, it's trying to be modern, just not quite making it.

A quick detour to show you our lovely light switch in our kitchen that dangles by the sink window.  This is a lovely decoration that we can't wait to get rid of, nothing like electrical switches dangling over water.

Here's a little shot of our eat-in kitchen area with this monstrosity of a fan.  I can't wait to replace it with a nice pendant light or some sort of chandelier.  

Here's a nice up close and personal look, it has such lovely ornate detail.  I especially like the faux wicker fan blade decor.  Before anyone asks, this fan is already spoken for once we replace it - I know you are all bummed now.

These lovely antique relics provide a nice ambiance in our three bedrooms.  

A little light to brighten up our laundry space, or as Justin calls it the all seeing eye.

This one might be my favorite.  This is what sits over our half bath mirror.  Justin's name: Frosty's head on a platter - I'm not sure I even have words to add to that.

I actually kind of like this next light.  It's in our hallway (if you can call it that).  It looks very pretty when it's all lit up.  It does have an antique look but it's one that I like.  This one just might stay.

And finally, our bathroom light.  This light has already met it's fate and is no longer hanging in our bathroom as of this weekend.  We'll show you what's up there now tomorrow!  

We can't talk about light without talking about the The Light of the World - Jesus.  There are so many crazy things going on in this world today but one thing we can trust in is the never fading glorious radiance of our Savior.  Following Him means we never have to fear, there is nothing we need to worry over, and we will never walk in darkness but we have life eternal in Christ.  Those are such wonderful and amazing promises to rest in. 

The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

Living Room Update

We realized we haven't put many living room updates up since we have moved in, a big reason is that we are still working on a lot of things and it isn't quite what we want it to be yet.  So today we wanted to share with you what we have going on in our living/family room now.  It's bare minimum but at least we have the toy situation under control.

So here are a couple of before photos - everything in our house was painted the same ugly beige color, trim and all (unless it was wood paneling).  The first thing we have worked on is painting the trim white and the walls a nice neutral color - Tattered Sail by Olympic (now one of my favorite colors).  One of the things we really like about this room is the chair rail molding and wide window trim.  It really adds so much character to a pretty boring room.

We also have added new bamboo roman shades, still waiting to add some soft billowy curtains though.  All of our furniture are things we already owned.  

Under all of the carpet lies hardwood floors, one day down the road we will be pulling up all the carpet to refinish the floors.  Right now, it's kind of nice having carpet while Silas is crawling.

We also want to purchase a rug and throw pillows for the sofas to brighten them up.  I'm always a fan of those beautiful white couches you see in all of the magazines but that just wasn't practical with a baby, a black furry dog and teenagers visiting often, so we went for sturdy leather ones that would last a while.  They might not be as shabby chic as white ones but we like them and they are holding up well.

Everyone always thinks these glass cup holders are ashtrays - I want to replace them too since I'm tired of answering that question every time someone comes over.  We also don't have any kind of console for our TV and things, we are using this antique piece right now and we actually kind of like it.  We may or may not change that in the future, I happen to really like antiques so I will push for it.

Well, that's it, our living/family room.  I love how it is wide open to the kitchen and how cozy it feels.  We will continue to post updates as we work on little things here and there.  Have a great weekend!