Happy October!

I just love this quote from Anne of Green Gables because I love October! It's such a beautiful month here in the Midwest, and for those of us who are already dreading the predicted brutal winter (again?!?), we have to remember to savor this month -- the sunny days, crisp air, chilly evenings, changing and falling leaves, pumpkin patches, cider, fall flowers, football games, soups...okay, I could go on, but I'll stop! You get the idea. Yay, October.

I designed a little chalkboard art print to celebrate the month; I just learned how to turn my own handwriting and doodles into digital chalkboard art (I'm not limited by available fonts and graphics anymore!), and it's pretty fun. If you use the coupon code BLOGOCT, you can get it here for only $2! It's an instant download, so just print, frame, and enjoy.

Also, here's a song ("Ode to Autumn") about October, by this young artist I saw at our local farmer's market last fall. I love her sound and the lyrics to this song, so just thought I'd share :)

Fall Fun: A Mommy & Me Craft

Here's a full disclaimer to start! I got these ideas from the blog Housing a Forest, and I followed her great tutorials, found here and here. I'm just sharing my own photos of the process and result! It was a really fun way to get excited about fall and start decorating our home, with Jacob's help :)

Okay, here are the steps:

Make paper pulp! Have your little one help rip up construction paper into tiny pieces, put them in separate containers (by color -- we combined some red paper with orange paper to make a darker orange). We used about 4-5 sheets of paper per color, but it was much more pulp than we needed! More fun for playing in, though ;) Pour boiling water on the pieces and let them sit for at least an hour (a couple would work even better) to break down the paper fibers. Then, blend the wet paper pieces (one color at a time) in the blender to create the pulp.

Find some sticks and rocks (or mulch) in the yard; this is another fun step for getting little ones involved! Arrange them in an empty, clean soup can (or a mason jar, vase, basket with floral foam, etc....up to you!). 

Our "tree" and my little helper ready to go! I knew the pulp would be messy, so I layered Jacob with a smock-style bib and his little apron. I was glad to have done so ;)

Testing out the pulp -- he wasn't sure at first! This part is why this craft is perfect for toddlers and small children. Even if they can't quite make the "leaves" on the tree, they get to tear up paper, search for sticks, and PLAY in the wet, mushy pulp! 

He quickly warmed up and got his hands dirty (SO literally)!

I didn't get pictures of the actual leaf creation, because I had to either help Jacob make his leaves or make them myself while guarding the tree from him ;) To make leaves, just squeeze little bits of pulp onto the ends of the sticks. Squeeze out enough water that the pulp stays on the sticks (this part will be messy!). Try not to be "perfect" in size or color distribution -- your tree will look more realistic if it's random.

What the finished tree looks like while wet. Ideally, place it outside in the sun for several hours to dry. If it is cloudy and/or windy, just set it somewhere out of children's reach. It will take a couple of days to dry fully. 

Once the tree is dry, you can spruce up the can by wrapping it with burlap (or fabric, ribbon washi tape, etc.!). 

The paper "leaves" look really unique and beautiful when dry. 

a close-up view

And, here's another part where I couldn't take photos because I needed to help! After making our tree, we used more of our paper pulp to make these cute leaf hangings/ornaments. All you need is the same pulp colors, a leaf-shaped cookie cutter (could also do a pumpkin, etc.), and a cookie sheet covered in waxed paper! The tutorial from Housing a Forest recommends using a squeeze of glue in with the pulp for this craft, but I decided to try it without. I pictured the messy, sticky pulp becoming even stickier and wasn't brave enough! It still worked just fine, though. Simply have your child squish the pulp into the cookie cutter (no pattern or order needed!), and help them flatten it down and squish out as much excess water as possible.  Use a skewer, lollipop stick, or something similar to make a hole in each leaf. Then, let them dry on the wax paper -- this will take a LONG time (several days to a week). You can sop up a little excess water with a paper towel to help speed up the drying. Finally, tie on a hanger (use twine, ribbon, or yarn), and display as desired!

Dining Room Makeover

Over the last six-plus years of home ownership, we've completed countless updates and decorating projects to make our house into our home. One room that I've long wanted to work on but continually moved to the bottom of the list is the dining room. This was because it was technically "done." By this, I mean that there was a full set of matching furniture. We purchased it as newlyweds through family friends because it was a great deal for an entire, matching set of dining room furniture, including a huge hutch. I wanted somewhere to store my china and such -- that's a rite of passage for newly-married women, right?? BUT, I never really loved the furniture. I didn't hate it (I mean it was nice quality), but definitely didn't love it.  I did hate the burgundy carpet that we lived with for six years, though (although not quite as much as the hunter green carpet upstairs) ;) Anyway, here is the room before:

It was dated, dark, and very traditional. This past March, we finally got new carpet downstairs (we had already replaced the green upstairs before Jacob was born) -- yay! Then, a couple of months later, we inherited a really cool 70-80 year old cabinet from hubby's grandma's estate and decided to make it into a wine cabinet (he did all the designing and work on that!). With the carpet and the spruced-up antique cabinet, I just got an itch to makeover the whole room! 

We agreed we wanted something eclectic (not an entire matching set as we had desired when we first bought the house) and we were going for a sort of shabby-chic/modern farmhouse style. We didn't want the dining room to be too formal or stuffy, where we'd only use it for holidays (as in the before picture!). We wanted family-friendly, but also stylish and classy. I scoured Pinterest for a couple of months, and then we found a great deal on furniture. We ordered pieces from three different collections (from Ashley Furniture) to achieve the eclectic look we were going for, and paired them with a DIY console table update and the wine cabinet we had already revamped. We also added two upholstered dining chairs from Overstock.com. Next, we added an accent wall with reclaimed paneling from hubby's parents' house (originally installed in the 1950's -- we stained the back of the boards). Finally, I got to arrange and accessorize! Here's the end result:

Ta da!!

And some other views. We're SO happy with it!
It is calm, inviting, casual, eclectic, and rustic yet chic...if I do say so myself ;)

Here are a bunch of close-ups of the details. We all know that decorating is all in the details! We decorated on a budget! The wine cabinet, Ball jars, and cast-iron pans are antiques from hubby's Grandma. The cute, personalized pillows were made by my mother-in-law. The wall wine rack was super-cheap from Kohls. The painting is from World Market. The console table was free from friends and revamped (see below)! I made the cork tray. The light fixture was a bit of a splurge (from Lowes), but much cheaper than similar versions we were eyeing (like one from Crate&Barrel). 

Here's a close-up of the cork tray -- it's a quick and easy project, if you have a lot of corks! Just buy a tray and use a hot glue gun to secure the corks! This tray (JoAnn) came white, so I painted it blue to coordinate with the chairs and add a pop of color. We thought it would be a fun way to display our many corks, including some of our favorites from Michigan, Indiana, and Napa wineries we have visited!

And here's a before & after of the console table. Dear friends gave us a table they weren't going to use (free is the perfect price!) and didn't mind if we painted it. I decided to keep the legs stained, since they tied in with the table and hutch, and paint the top. Hubby offered to build an extra shelf onto it, which turned out awesome:

As one more finishing touch, I wanted a table runner. I found this roll of burlap at Walmart for about five bucks and asked my MIL (who has an awesome sewing machine and is super talented) to embroider it for us -- it turned out really cute!

Serving our first meal in the new room :)

A Family-friendly AND Christ-friendly Easter

Happy Easter (a few days early)!

It's Holy Week, a very important time in the Christian calendar, and one of my favorite holidays! Let's take a moment to celebrate the Good News we will hear on Sunday -- Christ is Risen!

I wanted to share the ways we've decorated and celebrated around our house and hopefully give you a few ideas for sharing the Easter story with young children. And, I'm offering my Easter chalkboard printable for only $1 on my Etsy shop this week! Scroll to the last image and click the link to go get yours now!

I think you can focus on Christ at Easter and still decorate with cute, secular seasonal decor.
Especially if you have a two-year-old!

It's great to get the kids involved with decorating and celebrating, and working on something together provides a nice time to explain the reason behind the holiday! Jacob is only two, so we stuck with a couple of pretty simple crafts this year -- coloring this bunny and dyeing some eggs.

I mixed religious and more secular decor, and I think it's a sweet and festive mantle :)

Use your Palm Sunday palms as decoration! And explain the Palm Sunday story to the children, while you're at it. Jacob enjoyed waving the palms at church on Sunday, and later I made a cross out of one (which I learned how to do as a child and still do every year). This was a good visual for him, and he now knows that a cross means "Jesus loves me!"

I used my own printable chalkboard art, and I hope you will, too :)

We created a centerpiece with some speckled eggs I already had and the eggs Jacob dyed. I bough the "Plastic Decorating Eggs" from Walmart, and they turned out very pastel, but I think that's pretty. I thought we'd try plastic ones this year, so he couldn't smoosh and break them, and also because these were his first Easter eggs, and I thought I may want to save some as keepsakes ;) The Peter Rabbit napkins are left from my baby shower over two years ago, and I thought this was the perfect time to use them, since Jacob loves Peter lately. And of course, you must have jelly beans!

And here's the digital image of my printable sign! Please visit my shop and download it for only ONE dollar, and share the Good News that Christ is Risen indeed! Thank you :)

My own little corner in my own little room...

I just added one of my own designs to this pretty little corner in my library, and I'm happy with how it looks!  Chalkboards are all the rage right now, and I'm totally willing to follow the trend -- I've always loved the look of a chalkboard. In fact, I may have been secretly bummed that when I switched classrooms my second year of teaching, my bigger and better room lacked a chalkboard (as most classrooms do these days)... There are a few drawbacks, though, which might explain the blackboard's gradual banishment from classrooms everywhere: 1. Chalk can be messy -- think tiny dust particles everywhere and accidental smudges every time you brush against it. 2. A design doesn't last longterm. 3. Most people don't have a wide range of lovely "fonts" magically flowing from their fingertips, which makes it difficult to create the cool designs that are en vogue right now.

So, my solution? Design, print, and frame "chalkboard-style"prints (I can't claim or credit the original idea, as these are also floating around and gaining popularity about as quickly as the real thing). I was doing chalkboard-style card designs, literary quotes, etc. for a while when I received a great suggestion -- interchangeable prints to coincide with the holidays and seasons!  Use one frame and swap the print each month or so throughout the year for a fresh and timely look. Perfect. Here's what I came up with:

And here are the first two in the frame:

I went with 4x6", so it's just a little accent, and I've been enjoying the concept so far! I can't believe I haven't tried this trick before, other than the usual updating of years-old photos. Do you regularly switch our the art or photos in the frames in your home? Feel free to share your own ideas in the comments.

And it's time for a little plug: My seasonal designs make a great gift (to yourself or others!), and I currently offer them sized to print in 4x6" or 8x10" (will be working on adding 5x7"). Take a peek at the listing in the shop to see all 13 designs (basically one for each month, plus a "Happy Birthday")!

While I'm at it with the plugs, let me share a close-up of my other art in that corner. These are actually real art ;) I love the beautiful sketches by artist Caitlin Connolly, found here. They are numbered, limited copies of her original sketches from her popular "daily doodles" series. I received two of my favorites ("a woman who reads" and "a couple who listens") for Christmas and framed them in white-on-white gallery-style frames. Just love how it turned out :)