Fall Decorations

Thought I would share some pictures of what our house looks like decorated for fall.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute, Ha.

I have to share them quick before I start taking it down next week.  For now the house is in a confused state with a crazy mix of fall and Christmas décor, not to mention all the totes for taking down fall and putting up Christmas. 

I think next year I want to find a way to decorate for fall that flows seamlessly into Christmas.

 

Anyone have an idea for how to do that?

I have found that starting early for Christmas makes the season less hectic and more enjoyable.

I want to be very intentional about the time we have with the girls still in our home.

And not spend it rushing

or us not doing things because there is no time left.

They each love the Christmas traditions that we do and have been playing Christmas music for weeks.

I am wondering how a post that started out about fall decorations has turned into a post about Christmas with my girls.

My mind is a crazy place….understatement of the year !

Any way I love the fall décor in my house.

But I am so ready for the glitz and glam of Christmas decorating.

And more importantly I am ready for what Christmas is all about….

The birth of the One who has the power to change lives.  I am more thankful for that than anything.

 

Cha Cha

Salt Dough Ornaments and Gift Tags

I am so excited to share a great Christmas craft project today.  Salt dough ornaments and gift tags.  For pennies you can make a great gift for your family and friends.  I am using the ones my girls and I made as gift tags that the recipients can later use as an ornament.

All you need to get started is

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 water

1,2,3 easy peasy!!!

Toss it all in the mixer for a few minutes.

Once it is all combined

Kneed until smooth

I separated mine, so each girl could have one.

Roll the dough ball out on wax paper

Now for the fun part….

Grab a doily and press it into the dough with the rolling pin.

When you lift the doily off you will be left with a beautiful pattern.

Next grab a cookie cutter and cut out your ornaments.

Remove the dough from around your ornament shapes, lift and

place on a cookie sheet and poke a hole with a straw.

Cook at 200 degrees for 5-6 hours.

Take them out and let them cool.

Paint them white, start with the back.  After the back is dry, paint the front.

After the paint is dry apply glue to the front.

While the glue is still wet sprinkle with glitter.

Lightly wipe off the top, so that the glitter only sticks in the grooves.

After the glitter and glue has dried seal with a spray sealer.

Write on the back who the gift is to and from and run a ribbon through the hole.

Hang from your gift.

And give to your friends and family.

A simple gift that will become sentimental in the years to come.

Cha Cha

Sentimental Sunday #42, A Spa Day

This morning Faith had it in her mind that she was going to pamper her sister and I.

She setup our bathroom as a spa.

Complete with robes, towels, bowls of soapy water for soaking, and extra seating.

She also made sure we had a bundle of magazines to choose from.

She soaked and dried each of our feet, filed out nails

and even put a base coat of polish on before

adding the color.

She did a great job and made sure we enjoyed everything.

Did I mention she had our polish lined up so we could pick our color.

What do you think, should we buy more nail polish?

In the end this is what my freshly painted toenails look like.  I loved spending the morning locked up in the bathroom  spa with my two girls.  I am so proud of Faith and her desire to serve us, I am honored to be her mother.

So what are you sentimental about this week?

Cha Cha

Versatile Blogger

 

My sweet friend Melissa from

 Gave me the

 

The rules for this award are:

• Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award

• Share 7 things about yourself

• Send it to 15 other bloggers and let them know you have awarded them!

7 things about me...

Well this is the hard part, I can not imagine any 7 things you would want to know about me – HA.

1.  We do not have cable or dish TV, anything we watch comes on Netflix

2. I grew up riding horses – western

3. I HATE large groups of people, totally freaks me out, I am much better one on one or in small groups

4. I live in the house I grew up in.  My parents and sister are my neighbors

5. My hidden talent is hoopla hooping

6. My favorite place to be is sitting in the sand with waves touching my toes, I have tried to get bored with this but never have

7. I am a very black or white, wrong or right person.  The gray areas in life confuse me.

Okay, that proves it ….

I am boring!

This has me thinking, is there anything you would like to know about me?

If so leave it in the comments or send me an email and I will try my best to answer.

Thank you Melissa for passing this award on to me.

I will be sending emails to 15 other people that I nominate.

Cha Cha

A Thankful Table

 

This morning I thought I would share our Thanksgiving Table with you.

 

We made a Thankful Tree again this year.  It is a super simple project to make.

 

All you need are some braches from the yard, I spray painted mine white.

Cut some simple leaf shapes from scrapbook paper, gather twine to hang them with and markers to write on them and you are set.

 

I put my braches into floral foam and covered it with moss but it work in a vase like I did last year just as well.

 

We each write what we are thankful for everyday on a leaf and then hang the leaves on the tree.  I can not wait to see the tree full on

 Thanksgiving Day

I save the leaves from year to year so we can look back on them and see what was on our hearts in the years before.

Our tablecloth this year is one I started working on Thanksgiving Day last year.  I had each person at Thanksgiving dinner sign the tablecloth and then I hand embroidered over each name, you can see where I got my idea here.  For the to smallest kids we traced around their hands.  Imagine my shock when I opened my Country Living Magazine this month to find a story of a mother who had done this for years.  I can’t wait to see mine all full of names and years of love and memories of time spent together with family and friends.  My heart aches and my eyes are full of tears just thinking of this.  One day this will be a gift for generations of family to come that I am intentionally making today.  My hope is that they will see it as a legacy of love and thankfulness and be proud to be apart of this family God has placed them in.

 

This corner is a beautiful start.

 

 

So do you do anything special with your Thanksgiving Table?

Cha Cha

Between Naps on the Porch
Home Stories A to Z
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Coastal Charm
Savvy Southern Style
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Tatertots and Jello
Funky Junk Interiors

Sentimental Sunday #41, Vintage Suitcases

Welcome to Sentimental Sunday, my favorite day of the week. The day we all gather together and share what we are sentimental about. It can be anything from an item in your home passed down by a special someone or just a few sweet words about something that has touched your heart this week, the goal is to take a moment and reflect.

This week I am sentimental about my vintage suitcases.

When I revealed out School Room last year I got tons of questions about where I found them and the answer is …

I do not remember a time without them in my life (because they have always been there, ha).  Growing up my family used these and a blue set each time we traveled.  Then at some point as an adult I took ownership of them.  Now they store extra books and craft supplies.  I love that something that has served me my entire life is still working hard.

What are you Sentimental about this week?

Feel free to link up.

Cha Cha

Funky Junk Interiors