One Table - 4 Ways (For Thanksgiving)

I thought it would be fun to look back and do a little take on one table - four ways for Thanksgiving.  Each Table arrangement and decor is all created with things I already owned or found hunting around my house and yard!  You can create simple and pretty table arrangements by using a little creativity. 

Table number one was created using a piece of cut plaid fabric I had on hand, gathering a few fall items I owned and creating a super simple table arrangement with items I literally picked from my yard.  Branches, leaves and Twigs make a really pretty Thanksgiving table arrangement.

Next is the most recent Fall Table we have had; once again using clippings from the yard to create a table arrangement.  Using a white vase really helps make the colors pop and to dress it up a ton.  

Not only do we have a plethora of branches, leaves and sticks to make arrangements with - we also have a pecan tree.  So, why not use it.  I love filling jars with things like pecans and acorns for fall.  A simple burlap runner, a bowl of fresh cranberries and a few lighted twigs I owned finished it out.

And ,the most simple arrangement of all, a mason jar over flowing with flowers from the garden.  If you just can't seem to find anything in your yard to work then check out the grocery store selection.  There are some really great flowers to be found there.  Trimming the ends to fit your vase is crucial for making those florals work.

You guys, we have just a few days left to cherish and enjoy these fall colors and pretty Autumn decor.  I'm squeezing in every last second until Christmas takes over our house...that's not to say the Christmas music hasn't already made an appearance (can't help it, I love it so much).  

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!

Fall Vignettes

Just little moments here and there.  I haven't gone full blown fall yet but I have been creeping things out a little at a time.  Here are a few ideas for adding a little fall to your home...

I think just adding a few things like a couple of little pumpkins and some hydrangea from your yard can change things up a bit.  Just by swapping a few things out is an easy way to liven a little spot up. I love changing things around in little spaces in our house often, I can't stand for it to stay the same all the time.  If you are looking for a square boxwood wreath, make one like this!  It was easy and inexpensive.

I seriously love adding flowers from the yard.  I will use anything, even twigs and stems.  Free is always good and having an element of the outdoors inside is just nice.  My little fabric pumpkins are peeking around here as well.

I made this chalkboard a while back and I love that I can change it up often too.

More chalkboards!  Can't get enough.  This little wreath is one I made exactly like this spring fabric wreath.  Super simple - embroidery hoop and little scrap pieces of fabric tied around.

Do owls/birds feel like fall to you?  For some reason they do to me and they are taking over our house.  Which is strange if you know me, because birds are my least favorite animal of all time - I would rather run into a snake or spider.  I have a weird fear of birds - but my son loves them so he is helping me cope.  But I like bird figurines in my house - I make no sense.

Have you gone full blown fall yet?  Share with me your favorites parts of the season!  Tomorrow I'm sharing some of my favorite fall wardrobe pieces and ideas for getting the most out of them so stop by!

Easy Fall Craft: Fabric Covered Pumpkins

We are just getting back from a weekend fall retreat with our students and my heart is so full.  We have such a great group of students, adult leaders and an awesome God.  Its so humbling to be a part of this ministry and to share moments together of students going from death to life, students loving and encouraging each other and seeing real growth in teenagers.  I do have confidence in the next generation.  They are awesome and I just love them.  Since we had fall retreat I feel like I can officially kick off the season of fall now around here.  Today I have an easy fall craft to share- fabric covered (dollar store) pumpkins!

Here are the supplies I used:

- Two pumpkins I found at the dollar store

-Mod Podge (also grabbed at the dollar store)

- Paint brush

-Scrap Fabric (I use everything from dish towels, napkins and curtains)

- Gold Paint Pen

If you have never used mod podge - no worries its fool proof.  After cutting out some fabric strips from various left over fabrics (table cloths, napkins, etc) it was as simple as brushing a little mod podge on the pumpkin and applying the strip on top.  After getting all of the strips on your pumpkin you need to apply a good coat over everything - sealing it all together. 

After it dried I used a little gold paint pen to paint the little stems... and done.

These are now so sweet and scrappy and cute, I love them.  Now time to start busting out the fall decor and filling up our home with autumn.  Have a great week!

Style and Self Image

Self Image.  Yuck, sometimes I'm tired of hearing, reading and talking about it.  If you are a woman we are almost constantly bombarded with this.  Everyone has opinions and ideas about what a healthy self image looks like.  What the world displays and what scripture tells us are usually completely opposite of each other.  One minute the media tells us to celebrate our differences and beauty in the imperfections and the next we see a weight loss commercial displaying Mariah Carey practically poll dancing wearing almost nothing as motivation for looking and feeling great about ourselves...I guess that's supposed to be our end goal?  Scripture though thankfully gives us some wisdom on the matter...

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well Psalm 139:14

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Clothing is really not that important, I mean please wear clothing, but what you wear at the end of the day should meet the requirement of honoring God.  I like getting together a good outfit like any other woman out there and I think everything you do can and should be done for the glory of God.  Each extraordinary or mundane task can be set apart for bringing glory to Christ.

I think just naturally self image and what you wear can be easily tied together.  Either we try to improve our self image by drawing attention (positive or negative) to ourselves by our clothing choices, or we try and hide behind them to distract anyone from looking our way.  It can be a tricky balance sometimes for us - at least for me.  

I'm not going to lie, putting myself out there on this blog like this - with nothing but photos of myself is totally out of my comfort zone.  Its feels vulnerable and really strange.  But at the end of the day, this is me, this is who God created and I'm totally thankful for that.  We all have interests that draws us together and we should all find ways to have community through our interests because God should be woven into each of our choices and conversations.  He is God over it all.  Whether its crafting, reading, blogging, home decor, exercising, baking, boxing - whatever you do.  In this new season of blogging I decided I needed to stretch myself a little and try something new.  Sharing outfit ideas is one thing, but sharing my heart and having conversation about self image and being made in the image of God is another.  I have lots of thoughts floating in my head about this topic.  Maybe its because I work with teenagers and encourage them daily about healthy self image or maybe its just because I'm a woman and we all feel it.  Either way,  I hope we can find the right balance,  realize who we have been created to be, just have fun and enjoy what we enjoy and bring honor to God in the middle of it all.  

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31