Craft-a-palooza

I was feeling so crafty yesterday. Have you ever seen something you really, really wanted in a store or magazine, enough so that you must have it, but it was just a leetle more than you wanted to spend? Hasn't everybody? :) Well, this happens to yours truly quite often, since we are on a somewhat limited budget... you know, what with a house payment and bills, and the whole needing to buy food and clothes for two kids thing. :) I am decorating my house for Christmas this week, and for some reason I had it absolutely in my mind that I MUST have a grouping of three golden Christmas trees for a certain spot. I've seen some at Target, and I know Pottery Barn has had some lovely ones too (looking at their catalog is probably when my desire began). I even checked at Wal-Mart and Big Lots, hoping to find some cheaper ones. However, everywhere I went it was the same-- to buy all three trees it was going to be at least $30-$40. I had so much other stuff to get that I couldn't justify such a splurge, especially on something that really was unnecessary. So, I got inspired by my cousin Steph spray-painting pinecones-- and after three cheap styrofoam cones, one 99-cent can of gold spray paint, a leftover gold garland from last year, some sequiny stars, and lots of hot glue.... here are the results:



Hooray! I love them! They are exactly what I had in mind. And, to top it off, I have that delicious sense of satisfaction in knowing that, through a little creativity and extra effort, I was able to save us money and still get what I wanted. Incidentally, the trees happen to be sitting on my new blue coffee table in that picture. This was the same story--I had looked everywhere for a coffee table, but eveything was either too big or too expensive. So I took myself to our Five-and-Dime Antique store downtown and found a charming little white coffee table for $45. It was badly in need of a spray painting, but other than that I LOVED it. It had that quaint and lovely unique air about it that you can only find in an antique. Three dollars worth of blue spray paint later, and this is what I have:

I love the design of the base-- it is so pretty. This table is one of my favorite pieces of furniture now!

Last week, before my family arrived, I was also able to finally sew some new pillows for our couch and wicker chair. The ones for the couch can kind of be seen in the background behind the coffee table (none of the pictures I took of them turned out), and here are the ones for the chair:

Don't you love this fabric? It is so pretty and vintage-y. Such lovely colors too. The only problem is that it is not a very heavy fabric, so it probably wasn't the best choice for pillows that get sat on, as it wrinkles up. Oh well. I just could not pass up this material.

I do love a good project! And I am thankful for my good friends, Hot Glue and Spray Paint-- where would I be without them?? :)

They're coming, they're coming!!

I am SO excited right now. Part of our wonderful family (by this I mean my Dad, Mom, brothers Elijah and Josiah, and sisters Jerusha and Lydia), who I haven't seen in almost 8 months are coming HERE to stay with us over Thanksgiving!!! They will be here on Monday already and I am so thrilled. I have missed them so very much, as have Jeremy and the girls. It is going to be a wonderful holiday. They haven't even seen our new home yet, so for me, this will be a crowning day for our lives here in our house. We have been so blessed to be able to share our home with our other wonderful family and enjoy such a good time with them, that it has made me so anxious to be able to do that for my mom and dad and brothers and sisters too. PRAISE THE LORD, THEY WILL BE HERE IN 4 DAYS!

Wait..... 4 days?? I'd better go start cleaning and organizing that messy spare room... right now!!

I'm so happy. :)

It sparkles.

Yesterday, it rained and was cloudy all day long. I LOVED it. We came home from church, I put on my "cozies" (sweatshirt and lounge pants), made hot cocoa, and sat on the couch with my hubby, until I just got so darn comfortable and cozy that I couldn't help but fall asleep. It was the perfect, relaxing, stay-inside-and-revel-in-the-time-of-year day.

Today, I woke up to sunshine streaming in through our bedroom window. I went into the kitchen and pulled up the shade on the window that looks out to our front yard... and I was dazzled. Everything looked so bright, so clean, so fresh, so crisp. The green, green winter rye grass on our front lawn; the cars parked in the street; the streets themselves, still wet from the recent rain; the yellow flowers blooming in my beds; and the cloudless, brilliant blue sky that looked as freshly washed and clean as a brand-new bedsheet.

The world sparkled this morning.

Maybe that is one reason I love rainy days so much (besides the fact that I simply love rain and clouds). Everything is clean and fresh after the rain, newly beautiful. Rainy, gray days make the day after, when the earth is awash in blue skies and sunshine again, that much more beautiful and bright.

"This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it."

"Is Daddy home yet??"

They wait anxiously for Daddy to come home each day. Here they stand, in their "dress-up dresses" on chairs at the front window waiting for sight of his black truck to come pulling up to the curb. When they see that he is home, they run outside to greet him with hugs and walk with him to go get the mail. This has become their little routine, and I love every time that it happens. It is so precious to see the man I love with two darling daughters who love on him so much.