Fall around here

I found this tutorial and copied most of it.  I found these carvable styrofoam pumpkins at the dollar store.  I used white spray paint and did two coats, and used modge podge right on the pumpkin then dumped glitter on it.  
After my pumpkins dried more I could still see some orange sticking through and wished I would've done another coat.  Or just used acrylic paint instead.  So I ended up adding a coat of acrylic paint (using a sponge brush) and liked it so much better.  It would've been easier if I did that coat before the glitter!
I think it's a little much glitter and kind of wish I would've just used gold paint but oh well.  Next year. 

If only I had a picture of her mouth after this.  Bad idea Addilyn. 

I found this tray at a thrift store a long time ago and painted it using the paint we used on our wall. I found this birdcage at Michaels for under $5 and filled it with pinecones.  I have a hard time finding what to put on my end tables during any season but I love this tray and think it will make it much easier to decorate.  

These two banners were super easy to make and I did both of them in less than an hour.  To make the fabric one I cut out stripes of fabric and tied them in a knot around a burlap rope.  For the pom pom one I cut a long piece of thread and used a needle to go through each ball.  That's it!! I love how they look and will probably do a Christmas one too.  
I made the chalkboard vase last year and was excited to get it out again.  (Tutorial here)  The V frame was an old frame painted white, and I used a stencil to paint the V on some old burlap.  I can't you how much I love our new painted wall and think it makes everything look so much better.

owl lantern: target dollar spot last year     yellow lantern & owl: hobby lobby     burlap vase & felt balls: made years ago

I made another pom pom ball garland for the dining room, and hung it on my window and shelves.  I went to Goodwill looking for white shelves just like this and found these.  It was the first time ever I've had success finding something specific at a thrift store.  
Now if it wasn't 80 degrees today I'd feel even more Fall like.  Fall weather come back any time!
And just in case you're wondering, no I have not changed out our canvases with Addilyn's one year pictures.  I need to get on that!

Chalkboard vase

If you thought these projects that I shared last week were easy, this was can beat it as it took less than five minutes.   I found this old vase at Goodwill for less than $3.  

I bought some chalkboard spray paint at Hobby Lobby for $4.  I sprayed on one good coat and let it dry for a few hours.  Then wrote on it with chalk and filled it will fall leaves.  

And that's it!  I love how it looks on our fireplace mantle and it cost less than $7.  Plus I'm excited to use it for other holidays as I can wipe it off and write something else!  Sorry for the poor quality phone picture. Someday I'll learn how to take good pictures with a real camera. 

Happy happy Fall!

Looking back . . . .

I've seen many of posts like this the last week or so, and I had no intention of writing one until I realized what a great source of reflection it would be to look back at the year, through the struggles, lessons and celebrations of 2013.  In January, by far the greatest thing was announcing our pregnancy.  I had dreamt of that moment for years and it was by far one of the most joyous moments of my life.  It was beyond fun to feel everyone's excitement for our baby to come.  I also wrote my first letter to our baby and experienced the first of many surreal moments.  February marked the half way point of my pregnancy.  It was also a hard month as I lost my grandpa and went to California for his funeral.  I also wrote out our infertility journey and what we went through to get pregnant.  In March we found out we were having a girl and I couldn't have been happier! I continued writing letters to our baby girl and my belly continued to grow.  I answered some readers questions about my shopping routines and awkwardness of "posing" for outfit pictures.  In April Chris and I had a relaxing weekend away in Wisconsin.  I shared a tutorial for a polka dot tee, along with my obsession with everything polka dots when it came to making things and working on the nursery.  This month our family experienced the start of a scary and challenging trial, as we found out my mom had some serious heart complications and was going to need open heart surgery.  I learned a lot about surrendering to God and trusting him with one of my most precious things in my life.  In May I lost count of the amount of poptarts I had eaten and blamed it on pregnancy, although I never really had extreme cravings.  My class at school threw me a baby shower and I continued to work on our baby girl's nursery and loved every second of it.  Chris and I celebrated eight years of marriage this month, but the biggest news this month is that my mom's heart surgery went well and I was reminded of God's perfect timing in everything.   In June I stopped wearing anything but maxi skirts and loose t-shirts, as my belly was getting quite large with only one month to go.  I had two amazing baby showers, felt beyond lucky and over and over couldn't believe that we were really going to have a baby.  I had many more surreal and tender moments and Chris and I got ready to welcome our baby girl.   And my good friend took some great maternity pictures for us before our baby girl arrived.  It's no surprise July was our biggest month of the year as we welcomed Addilyn Jane to the world.  I still get teary eyed looking through these first pictures. (Will that every go away?)  We spent some hard extra days in the hospital as Addilyn was in the nursery for jaundice, but thankfully came home five days later with a healthy baby girl.  I started my first of many posts about new lessons of early motherhood.  In August I wrote out Addilyn's birth story and we finally picked birth announcement cards using Addilyn's adorable newborn pictures.  Thanks to sleep deprivation I put the wrong weight on her cards.   I shared my struggles with transitioning to my new identity as a mom.  I shared my one month mom and baby favorites and not too surprisingly did not manage to keep up that series.  Opps.   I shared pictures and details about Addilyn's nursery.   In September I shared my favorite and best idea yet when it comes to things I've "made" for Addilyn.  I managed to start making some projects again, like this chalkboard vase and welcome banner.  I started writing Addilyn monthly letters and couldn't believe how fast times went already.    In October I made a video of Addilyn's first few days and still cry when I watch it.   I wrote an honest post about my feelings of blogging during this huge life transition and the future and purpose of my blog.  We successfully carved pumpkins this year and to my extreme happiness put Addilyn inside of one.  We went to our first big event as a family of three when we went to a family wedding.   I continued to struggle with finding any kind of schedule or routine to our day and shared my thoughts on enjoying baby snuggles and not stressing about routines.  We took Addilyn on our first "vacation" when we spent a long weekend at a lake house in Wisconsin with my family, which is also when my sister got to meet Addilyn for the first time.   In November I celebrated my twenty ninth birthday and Chris and I went on our first dinner date since Addilyn had been born.   I celebrated two years of blogging last month but didn't remember it until this month.  I may have bored you all with yet another post on how my baby is a terrible sleeper and my need to give it time and stop comparing myself and my baby to others.  We got to dress up as cowboys and indians for a costume party and Addilyn was the cutest Indian ever. I wrote some goals for my days as a stay at home mom and also shared on why I may never wear real pants again.   In December I shared about how this month had been the hardest yet when it comes to being a mom. I wrote about why I'm a bad wife and shared a delicious pot pie recipe that made me a better one.  I wrote about my favorite day of the whole year. I wrote about my first experience taking care of a sick baby and how needy I felt as a mom.  And finally I shared about our first Christmas together and how I couldn't be happier with all that God has given me. 
2013 marks the best year I've had yet and I am so excited for all that God has for us in 2014.  Happy New Year!