Change of Pace

Ok so major kudos go out to all that have the time, energy and money to be able to do home improvement projects on a regular basis. I am both amazed and jealous of their abilities and resources.

Due to budget and time constraints I'm going to have to change the pace on the blog a bit and include a few random other pieces, such as recipes I'm cooking. Otherwise this is just going to be dead in the water for quite awhile.

Hopefully I can get back to the decorating/home improvement soon enough and I'm sure there will be a few smaller projects in the interim as well (for some reason I've been getting the urge to use a saw lately). Anyways stick with me and hopefully the new additions will make everything even sweeter.

Deck the Halls!

Last year we moved into the house right before Thanksgiving so we skipped the Christmas decor. Tim was not happy with me about it.

This year I plan to do the basics, stockings and tree. We can bump it up each year after. I like crafty looking ornaments so I've been on the lookout for those kinds of things lately and here is what I've found.

Pottery Barn Selections:

I can't remember where I found these (maybe etsy) but I like them:

A little button garland to go along with the quilted tree skirt (except in green) we already have:

Although I really love this one a little more:

We've got this wreath and hopefully it can make it through another year with us and we can get a mat to match:

Now we just need to collect more than just the farm animals for this set, find stockings and holders and a tree-topper.

One last and very important thing, we have to get our annual Willow Tree ornament. We started getting these the year we started dating (2007) and have collected them each year since. Its fun to have a reminder of each Christmas we've spent together.

Gobble Gobble 'Till You Wobble: Home Edition

Back to Thanksgiving, I never realized it until I started writing these but I guess this is one of my favorite holidays. I mean the Macy's Day Parade is on, you get together with your families (and family friends at times), there are some excellent movies on, you get to engorge yourself in food AND at least in my family it means the Christmas season is only a day away. See growing up my dad had a very strict rule that anything Christmas related (i.e. wish lists, music, decor, etc.) could only make its appearance between the day after Thanksgiving until the day after Christmas. I hated it back then but now I see that it makes sense as with only a limited appearance it makes it all the more special when it does come around!

Ok, so I already told my my ideal Thanksgiving table set-up which isn't happening anytime soon so back to real-life and I'll let you in on what decor is most likely to actually happen.

1. A wreath - don't think there are any surprises here. I believe my fascination with wreaths has something to do with the peeping Tom incident (although it was more like a peeping Jane) found here. Ever since that fateful day I've been going over-the-top to make the house looked lived in so we don't have anymore fun instances such as that. Wreaths seem to really make the "someone lives here so don't come peeking in any windows" statement more than anything else I've found.

2. My next idea would be a mat, once again no surprises there but when you don't have any rugs a welcome mat becomes uber important to try to keep as much dirt out of the house as possible. Might as well keep the mat flowing with the seasons right?

3. Finally I'd like to "trick out" the house with various sizes of pumpkins & gourds in all shapes and colors too, even putting some in the flower baskets on the rails (maybe nestle them into some fern/grass type stuff if I make that happen).

Gobble Gobble 'Till You Wobble: Table Edition

This will be the 3rd year that my cousins and I cook Thanksgiving dinner. It started as just one of my cousins and I doing it as a Christmas gift for my grandmother and has evolved into an annual tradition with the majority of the remainder of my cousins and their spouses/significant others joining in. We usually have a nice big crowd of family, extended family and friends joining us for the dinner and use a mish-mosh of serving pieces, dinnerware and everything else. I have always had this crazy desire to have a long immaculately decorated table where the "perfect" dinner is served with everyone dressed to the nines. Granted that will never happen with my family as we just aren't a formal bunch but maybe one day when I'm hosting. Anyways, here are a few random thoughts on how I'd like it to go.

First order of business would be a tablecloth. I'd love to have a super-long rectangular table with a long burlap tablecloth lined with a similar color silk-like fabric (no need to get expensive, you're just going to drop food all over it).

Next would be place settings. First I'd like to start it out with a pretty copper charger. Add a Thanksgiving themed plate on top and some Turkey themed salad plates on top of that (not that we actually serve a salad at Thanksgiving - just extra room for sides). Next we need a napkin and a ring to put it in and some flatware (REALLY wishing they had this flatware when I registered by the way darnnit!).

After that I'd just need to do the tablescape. To be honest I'd probably swing by the grocery store to pick up flowers and use a cachepot I already have but would have to buy some additional ones of course. I think I'd also like to put a copper pot in the center with the biggest arrangement. I'd mix in some of these carved and woven pumpkins as well as some of these great little turkeys.

My final touch would be candles. From tall tapers to small votives and maybe even some chunky ones inbetween.

All we'd need is some excellent food and even better company to finish it off!

Its Spooky Out There!

So now that Fall is almost here that means that it is almost time for Halloween as well. Ok, technically a month and a half away but its heading in that direction! I'm not a huge Halloween person, I don't love getting dressed up in a costume. That may/may not have anything to do with my mom putting me in black garbage bags with a black pointy hat, painting my face green and calling me a witch as a child. (Their interpretation of snow boots was even better, just envision gallon-sized ziploc bags and duct-tape)

This is our first year in our new house and with there being kids in the neighborhood I'm really hoping we will get some trick-or-treaters this year. I'm thinking we are just going to carve pumpkins and call it a day this year so that money can be saved for Christmas ornaments and the like (oh just wait for that post - Tim usually gets bored/irritated halfway through the pumpkin carving and the results are classic).

I think this kit could be a HUGE help in the pumpking carving department. We always end up buying the cheapo carving kits that cost about $7 and are wrecked after a year so it actually would make sense to invest in a decent carving kit for once.

My other idea for carving this year is something I could swear I saw on a blog but perhaps it was in a magazine. I'm not really sure. Anyways they took a pumpkin, marked little dots on it for a pattern and cleaned it out. After drilling a big (about 1") hole in the bottom they got a drill bit about the size of a Christmas lightbulb (see where I'm taking this yet?) and drilled out each little marked up hole. they brought the string of lights (orange of course) through the 1" hole and put one light in each of the pattern holes. You end up with this ridiculously cool looking glowing pumpkin that I may have to try to do this year.

Eventually I want to get a spider web to cover the front porch and hang these bad boys in there.

I'd also like to get a few of these guys to be perched up on the rails and maybe above the door ready for "attack"

Tim has mentioned that he would like to dress as a scarecrow and surprise people. I mentioned to him that if he chose to do that to people then I hoped they gave him a similar reaction as this video you may have seen on America's Funniest Home Videos a few years back.

I thought about getting this guy but I'm getting goosebumps looking at it on the computer. I don't need it at the house too.

Of course we need to get a doormat to go with all of the other decor.

And my porch just isn't done unless there is a wreath on the door. Etsy seems the way to go with this task if I don't end up making it myself.

Finally as far as decor I want a strobe light. All of the scary houses had them. Other than that we just need a candy bucket and we are ready for our little ghosts and goblins and princesses and superheros to come for a visit!

Fall Is In the Air

My mailbox is full of updated catalogs, the night is bringing with it a crisp in the air and I've seen the first signs that the changing of the leaves is imminent. Guess that means that fall is on its way. My feelings about the fall season are slightly muddled. I LOVE the summer, growing up it always meant my birthday party, beach trips, shorts and t-shirts and best of all no school! As I've gotten older I still love summer but typically now its due to the fact that works usually slows to a manageable pace rather than going at light-speed. I'm still pushing for the European style 2 month long vacation but for some reason I seem to be alone in that sentiment. Oh well!

Back to fall, its nice but it always leaves me feeling pretty nasty due to my terrible hayfever allergies. I have the choice of sneezing, coughing and having a stuffed up nose or being a zombie due to allergy meds. After twenty-some-odd years I still haven't decided which I prefer. It also means that winter is ahead (which I am not a fan of). We live in a pretty temperate region of the country so its not like winter hits us too hard but its more than plenty for my tastes.

Fall does allow you to wear cute long sleeved shirts with shorts (one of my personal favorites) and it keeps you from always having the "sweaty look," some can pull it off but I am not one of those lucky few. My favorite thing about fall though is the gorgeous colors of all of the fall trees. I have a few plans to spiff up the place (well just the front porch) for the fall season as soon as those leaves really do start changing.

1. New wreath - Our pretty little green berry wreath has now faded to a nice neon green color. I mean that doesn't scream "I'm fake" or anything. I think its time to change over to a fall version and I'm stuck between these two options I've seen. Do I go with fall leaves (which I love) or with berries and twigs (don't let your mind go to the dark side ;)) or berries and leaves or maybe fall berries? (on a side note I believe I found a great option for next summer - see told you I can't get it off my mind)

2. New pillows - Tim will kill me for this one but hey, gotta make everything coordinate right? Have I mentioned how much I love the pillows from Restoration Hardware? The ones I got earlier this spring have held up fantastically and they still have some in stock for only $10.99. I already ordered 2 of these...

3. Update the dead as a doornail flowerboxes, yes they have gotten worse since I took these pictures: Death Penalty. I don't even know if its worth getting pots to place these into for next year or just count my losses and start anew next year. I think I want to put some fern type things in these but need to do some research to see if any could (if I don't kill them first that is) make it through winter outside. Otherwise I'm just going to remove them and have an empty rail until I decide what my next victims will be.

4. Update the table accessories - I love what we have but may make at least the little bird an indoor piece once our bookshelves are done. Regardless I want some more fall appropriate decor for the table.

Perhaps a lantern:

or two:

and a little Firepot:

or maybe a little pumpkin:

Personally, I think all of these little changes could add up to a pretty big effect on the look of our home.