Happy Thanksgiving!!

Cell phone snap of my 2015 Thanksgiving Mantle. ☺

"You need to know, friends, that thanking God over and over for you is not only a pleasure, it's a must.  We have to do it. Your faith is growing phenomenally; your love for each other is developing wonderfully.  Why, it's only right that we give thanks."

2 Thessalonians 1:2 The Message

Thanking God for you today lovelies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2014 Fall Mantle

A couple of weeks ago I was in Sam's checking out their cupcakes.  And of course looked at all their Christmas! Well down a decor aisle I came across the Give Thanks art that I had seen before and liked but didn't want to pay $30 for.  Honestly, that's probably a good price since the art is reversible! It has 'Welcome' on the other side. But to my giddy surprise they were marked down to $9.81!! How could I pass that up? Well I didn't and I actually bought one for my Secret Sister at church too! Woohoo!

So I added some flowers and pumpkins and was done with my Fall Mantle in no time!  I did think about adding a banner of some kind but we are going to be gone the week of Thanksgiving on vacation ( insert excited face!) so I just kept it simple!

I love it! I will probably use the 'Welcome' side for a January mantle!!

And since I did take pictures of this last week but the lighting was yuck and decided to redo them I thought I'd #keepitreal and show you the real picture......

The struggle is real ya'll!! I know you know!!

Happy Thanks and Giving time lovelies!! 

{See my Link Parties page for the shares!}

{Guest Post} Jessica from 4 Interior Design

Happy Thursday! 

Excited to have a guest all the way from the UK today!

 Jessica blogs at 4 Interior Design and shares some lovely interior design ideas.  

Today, she's giving us tips on how to decorate for Fall just in time for Thanksgiving next week!

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Charming Ways to Achieve Classy Fall Decor

Fall is a dreary, grey time of year, with the leaves first putting on a glorious display, then sadly falling and turning into black oozing slime, slippery underfoot and unpleasant to the nose! Make sure that your home is bursting with autumn charm this year, by switching out your summer décor for autumnal elegance and appeal.

Seasons within a Season

Fall is the time of year when we celebrate Harvest Festival, followed by the sweetly spooky delights of Halloween. Thanksgiving in the USA follows, reminding us all of everything that we should feel blessed about. Christmas arrives in the middle of winter, a burst of joy, goodwill and bonhomie to relieve the unrelenting chill and gloom of the season. Allow each of these sub-seasons a place in your home décor, even if it means that you are changing decorations and ornaments every month or so! Harvest speaks of plentiful food and can be celebrated with laden fruit bowls or even an attractive cornucopia spilling its bounty over the sideboard or table.

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If the lurid orange of pumpkins, so prevalent for both Harvest Festival and Halloween does not appeal to you, purchase some of the elegant white pumpkins that are periodically seen in stores. If you are arty, you can pick out the pumpkin with silver elements, creating a surprising ethereal and delicate look, perfect for charming décor, while still acknowledging the bounty of nature! 

Wreath Around

Make not one but several fall wreaths. The first should be packed with berries, seeds and leaves that have changed their colour early. Soaking the leaves in glycerine for a day or two will keep them in good condition for several months, so you will not have brown leaves withering away and ruining your décor. The second wreath should focus more on emphasizing the beauty of autumn leaves with little other ornamentation necessary. 

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Togetherness

At this bleak time of year it is nice to commemorate togetherness, either as part of a large family or with a group of friends or even colleagues. Arrange your furniture so that everyone feels part of a large community, rather than permitting the gathering to break off into smaller cliques and sub-groups. Creating a large open eating space will ensure that everyone is brought together, to eat, talk and relax as equals.

Décor and Accessories

Treat yourself to some whimsical and delightful autumnal tablecloths and placemats to change the mood of the dining table – or make them yourself! Add touches of seasonal charm to accessories and ornaments, introducing a subtle acknowledgement of the positives of this changeable season. 

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Choose your new odds and ends by deciding, before purchase, on the theme that you want for your autumn décor. Do you want simple yet stunning elegance? Or do you prefer a touch of whimsy that looks pretty and fresh? Once you have a theme in mind, you can set about finding or making the perfect accessories and products that will help you to achieve the desired look.

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Terrific tips!! Thanks  Jessica!  

Be sure and visit Jessica's blog for more decorating tips!!

4 Interior Design

Have a happy day!

2013 Fall Mantle & Give Thanks Banner

Happy Thursday lovelies!

I gotta tell ya....I'm excited about my Give Thanks Banner! I switched out my mantle last week from Halloween to Thanksgiving (or Fall).  I kept thinking "that mantle sure could use something else."  So I knew I wanted to do some kind of banner and in a crafting magic moment whipped one out in about 20 minutes yesterday! Why yes I'm tooting my own horn! Why? Because I free handed my words! 

All I used for the banner was glitter scrapbook paper, well it was more like cardstock but it was 12x12, 4x6 blank notecards, paint, and mod podge.  I drew the letters on the back of the glitter paper then cut out. Next, with pencil I wrote out 'give' and then went over it with a metallic brown paint.  Glued on the letters and done! Had it all on hand too! And tiny clothespins are my way of cheating to hang banners!

And besides the banner,  there's no new decor....I just used all this in a new way!

Not gonna lie....it makes me smile!

How's your Thanksgiving decorating going? 

Have a happy day!

{See my Link Parties page for the shares!}

2013 Scary Free Halloween Mantel

Last year was my first time decorating for Halloween.  I don't do all the scary, gory, creepy, spooky stuff....some of it's cute but growing up we just celebrated fall.  So keeping with how my momma raised me, I wanted to once again do a scary free Halloween mantel.  I added a few new things but mainly used what I already had in a new way.

What's New:

the two copper buckets, $1 each in the Target Dollar Spot

the copper owl, $6 at Target

flowers in buckets, $6 at Hobby Lobby

grey lace trim, $2 at Hobby Lobby

I am loving it better than last year!!

Got all your Halloween decorating done yet?

Happy Thursday!

{See my Link Parties Page for the shares!}

{Home} Fall Mantle

Time to share my fall mantle! I really wanted a banner of some kind but since I won't be hosting any Thanksgiving dinners I think it's ok this time.  And I've just had too much on my plate!

The only new thing is the red bucket! My mom gave it to us with some fall goodies.  When I got all the fall stuff out Lil' Hunkie thought I was putting out Christmas too.  He's definitely ready!

The Christmas decorating is going to be a fun challenge this time since the decor is in the barn and we have a whole new house to do! I'm looking forward to it!

Have you signed up for the Christmas Ornament Swap yet?

Go HERE!

Happy Thursday!!

{See my Link Parties Page for the link ups.}

{Home} Fall Front Porch

Wanted to share my fall front porch with you today.  With Halloween being over and having Lil' Hunkie's birthday party last weekend I wanted to get the porch decorated for fall.  I should have just done it sooner!  Even though we don't a have a large porch it is bigger than the last one we had so I bought double the pumpkins and flowers.  I didn't change my wreath or flag.  I'm holding out as long as possible on my wreath since I used it our wedding.  It is looking just a little ragged so I'll have to think of a way to spruce it up for next time.  The only new thing I added was our house numbers on the front door, which I purchased from Vinylize It's Etsy shop for $10 and am so very pleased with the outcome!

And wouldn't ya know it, I didn't notice the bow being messed up till I took all the pictures!

And I had a crock pot to break and managed to save the insert to use on the porch. I thought I'd give ornamental kale and cabbage plants a try for some variety!

Getting the porch decorated has really gotten me excited for Thanksgiving!

Anyone else?

Happy Thursday!

{See my Link Parties Page for where I'll share at.}

Fall Crawl-Scary Free Halloween Mantel

My Fall Crawl day is here!

I always enjoy the cool bloggy events Marilyn of The ArtsyGirl Connection organizes.  And I didn't want to pass this one up! So after joining I got to thinking about what today's post would be.  Lil' Hunkie has already been talking Christmas so when he does I always remind him of all the fun things we have to do before Christmas....Pumpkin day, his birthday, Turkey day then Christmas.  Well my husband caught me saying this and said I was forgetting one...Halloween. I was calling Halloween Pumpkin day! Because we take it as a day to celebrate fall not all the spooky, scary stuff.  So I thought why not make a scary free Halloween mantel? The result is perfect for my taste and how I want my family to celebrate October 31!

And guess how much money I spent?
About $5!!
2 pieces of scrapbook paper, a fabric remnant and a bag of candy was all I bought, the rest I had already!!
What I made:
Paint chip garland {tutorial coming soon!}
Scrapbook papered plaques
'October' embroidery hoop art {tutorial coming soon!}
'31' tray
'T is for Treat' sign

Tips for decorating for Halloween without the scary/spooky stuff:
{These might be obvious! But this was totally my thought process!}
*Use color. Pick a simple color scheme and stick to it.*
I did orange and black but green and black or purple and black would be great too!
I didn't want brown or yellow mixed in.
*Use pattern.*
  Again, I only have a few patterns going...damask and chevron.
*Think outside the box.*
Using '31', 'October' art and  'T is for Treat' is a little different from the norm of witches, skulls, etc.
But they still represent the holiday.

Hope those tips help!
I must say for my first Halloween mantel I'm pretty happy!

Make sure and visit the other gals in the Fall Crawl and join the fun and link up your fall projects to the Fall Crawl Link Party below!!

Happy Fall! Happy Friday!

{See my Link Parties Page for the link ups.}

Fall Decor Part 2 & Doily Pumpkins

I have finally finished all the fall decor!! Last week I mentioned that my fall front porch involved a tradition....painted white pumpkins.  Well there just aren't many white pumpkins around this year but I did manage to find a few!  And I actually wound up with 4 and I usually just do 2 but I thought why not? And so from my hunting this year I recommend  going to the pumpkin patch first before the grocery store!

Duh! I know!

I thought I had photos of all my fall front porches but fooey I don't! Here's 2009...

Fun huh?

And here's my own lil' punkin patch waiting to be painted...

The two on the left are from a pumpkin patch and the two on the right are from Walmart.  I bought a package of minis for Lil' Hunkie and one of his cousins to paint.  Lil' Hunkie loved it, it just didn't hold his attention for long!  I think I'll make this a tradition for him! 

I recently got some cool shaped doilies from the Dollar Tree and thought they'd make a great stencil!

So bought some metallic copper paint because honestly I was scared to try the spray paint!! And got started!

 Using the round doily I cut a section away .....

Then I folded/scrunched it so it would conform a little better to the pumpkin...it now fit like a cap. Used a piece of tape in the center to hold in place.

Before painting I used a fine point sharpie and traced around the bottom edge....

....then used a foam brush and painted....

...this is how it turned out...kinda pretty...then I used a small paint brush to paint over my sharpie outline...

...I went ahead and painted where the stem used to be too.

 I found that using the foam brush was a bit heavy so for the 3 remaining pumpkins I used a brush...it was a little better.  On the two from the pumpkin patch I put the doily on the front to make a frame and free handed 'welcome' and 'fall' inside the frame. {Sorry I didn't take pics cause when you see, you'll get it!}

And here she is...my Fall Front Porch!!

I literally took these photos minutes ago so sorry for the afternoon sun!!

See how the frame turned out...

Copper bucket is from my wedding.  And Lil' Hunkie's pumpkin {white one} and cousins too! The pumpkin patch had given him the sticker face. ☺

This wooden pumpkin I got last year at Hobby Lobby for cheap!

Flag from Hallmark...this is my 2nd fall one...the 1st blew away!

All together!!  I'm pleased! And pleased to be done!

Happy Fall!!

See my Link Parties Page for where I'll be at!