Christmas is coming...

Here is just the beginning of some Christmas decor I put out this week. I haven't even gotten the boxes of decorations down yet! And of course we need to find a tree. But something's definitely starting.....

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours~

Thanksgiving Decor 2017

Halloween Decor Peek a BOOing in the House

My Welcome Fall Home 2017

Welcome to my Early Autumn home! We had a very enjoyable Summer around here and I had a hard time letting go. For most of my adult life Fall has been my favorite season. However, having lived most of my life in California and then moving to a place that has what feels like to me Winter nine months out of the year, Summer has become my new favorite. When I started to feel a nip in the air this past week and realized the calendar says this Friday is the first day of Fall, well, I decided to accept the fact that Summer is over. Embracing this, I slowly got out the Fall decorations and put out some simple touches. I'll add Halloween in October, and then replace those with Thanksgiving in November. For now, this is what is looks like around here ~

Come on up on the front porch. I've had this wreath for ages that I bought from Big Lots when I was first married. The faux mums I bought from Family Dollar a couple years ago in a desperate attempt to have something Fall-ish in my pots since I can't get live ones where I live- only once in 6 years did our hardware store carry them. I bought the door mat for our new home this year from Family Dollar and the black pot I just got at Target on clearance for $3! I've been wanting a big black pot for this spot with an outdoor faux plant- still waiting for the plant. But for now the mums will do. We absolutely love our front porch. The kids love to play out here and we like to sit on "Grandma's Bench" and watch the sunset, the trees blow in the wind, and the kids playing.

In my front room/entry I added my handmade fabric pumpins {click for tutorial } from two years ago, an old Target clearance acorn, and some Aspen branches I bought this year from Michael's on sale- 3 stems for $9 and the simple vase was just $3 off the shelf at Walmart. I love the height and drama the stems bring to this space and I love how it's a little more modern and clean look.

Here's the fireplace room- we don't quite know what to call it. Den? Library? Study? Office? I just added an Autumn berry garland I got at Taipan Trading for $5 clearance. Have you ever been into one of those stores? Holy Stuff, Batman. Extra points if you spy our new kitty, Pumpkin. 

Here's our dining slash "gathering" room. I found the sign from Hobby Lobby for a third of the price of a very similar one I wanted from Magnolia Market. I might paint it black, I can't decide. These are my living room shelves from the last house, now a china hutch of sorts. We bought the farmhouse dining table for this house but everything else we already had. Very simple decor in here.

And lastly, come sit and relax in our family room! We bought this console table when we bought the dining table. It's filled with old finds and my harvest blessings pillow { click for tutorial }. 

I hope you enjoyed my simple Fall tour, as we welcome this season into our home. Let the "pumpkin spice everything" time begin!

~Rebecca

September Chalkboard

A Peek At Our New Ranch House

I have been MIA from blogging the last couple months- we have been very busy moving and settling in, amongst all the other many Summer activities like traveling, family reunions, beach time, swim lessons, etc! All good things!

Here are just a few pictures of our ranch style house, for those who were wondering:

Master Bedroom

Front Room

Dining Room with our new Farmhouse dining table set

Family Room

Kids' bathroom, freshly painted

Hopefully more pictures to come. We are enjoying the last few weeks of Summer before the kids go back to school. I hope you are enjoying yours as well!

~Rebecca

Easy Disney Princess Party

My baby wanted a Princess party this year. It was her first party and she informed me, "I want a cake with Princesses on it. ALL of them." haha! I just made a simple sheet cake and set little princess figurines on top. Done! We borrowed the decorations and I had all the girls dress up. As the guests arrived, I had them color a crown to wear and we had Princess movie clips from Youtube playing in the background.

We made a "Pin the tiara on the Princess game"

I found a Disney Princess memory game for cheap and it was one of the games for prizes we played.

I put together goody bags with whatever I could find around town - princess tattoos, pencils, Lipsmackers, suckers and graham snacks - all princess!

We played with balloons and bubbles and then opened presents and had cake and ice cream.

The Princess enjoyed her party and it was a success!!!

DIY Pottery Barn Napkin Pillow

Did you know Pottery Barn napkins are perfect for making throw pillows? They are 20"x20" and already hemmed, AND they're cheap compared to the cost of a Pottery Barn pillow. A few weeks ago I got to browse around the Pottery Barn store and I found this blue Block Print napkin. Individually, they're $5.95 a piece. I loved the colors and pattern and thought it would make the perfect pillow.

I washed and ironed the napkin and grabbed an old standard pillow we're not using anymore. Standard pillows are 20" wide so I just needed to cut one side off, keep all the filling to make the pillow more full, then stitch up that side.

I hand stitched the napkin around the edges to the front/sides of the pillow following the hem stitch that was already on the napkin. It blended easily.

You can see where I got the napkin here. There's lots of cute Summer prints right now, and lots of other patterns that could work year round like the classic solids and ticking stripes. I love how my pillow turned out!

I Can Make That! {Pottery Barn Liberty Burlap Wreath}

I was so happy so get my Pottery Barn Summer catalog in the mail yesterday! Definitely looking forward to sunny weather and this helped put me I the mood for Summer. Browsing through the catalog, I noticed this cute Liberty Burlap Wreath and thought, "I could make that!"  

Super cute!

Do you have any summer craft projects lined up? Have a great weekend!

Purple Parisian Birthday Party Part 2/2: Party Games

Welcome party guests! Bonjour!

As guests arrived, they each got a Paris picture to color. The birthday girl had to stay out of the room while they colored, then we displayed their art in our "Louvre Museum," and the birthday girl picked her favorite and the winner got a prize.

Here are the party favors - homemade macarons.

For this party game, the girls were divided into pairs and given random supplies that I had- plastic table covers, crepe paper, balloons, tape and scissors. They had to create ensembles for "Paris Fashion Week." Then they modeled them on the "runway" and everyone voted for the winners, who won a prize.

Another game was constructing Eiffel Towers out of sugar wafers and frosting. It was more difficult than I was anticipating. A few girls made Arch de Triomphes instead. 

Other games we did that I didn't get pictures of were a sheet of matching the French party words to their meanings (from the Fanvy Nancy website), and cup stacking challenges building the Eiffel Tower. 

Overall, it was a successful party and everyone had a great time!

The party was Tre's Magnifique!!! Aurevoir!

A Purple Parisian Birthday Party Part 1:Decorations

My daughter requested a purple, black and white birthday party. Using what I had on hand and a few things I found on a quick trip to a few stores, this is what we came up with. The name of the game is simple, folks!

Sources: 

Streamers, balloons, purple plates, chevron candle- Walmart

Metal Eiffel towers- old

Paris Box, purple cardstock, fluer de lis ribbon- Michael's

Purple eiffel towers- Christmas ornaments from Family Dollar clearance

French girl cake topper- Handmade by me

Cake stands- old, Williams Sonoma

Polka dot tablecloth- Handmade by me using 2 yards of fabric

Paris napkins- old, Marhsalls

Banner- free printable from Pinterest