Skeleton Keys and Answered Prayer

Now that all of the Christmas decorations are down, it's time to clean the house and bring in some clean, wintry decor.

I switched out our Christmas centerpiece for a simple arrangement of candles, a bowl of pinecones, and a new table runner made from burlap.

I found this burlap fabric at JoAnne's, and fell completely in love. Skeleton keys are definitely making their mark on home decor, and I don't mind one bit. 

In other not-so-related news, Josh has been really encouraged at work lately. I've been praying for him ever since he started this job; it's a job with a lot of responsibility and a huge workload, and very little appreciation. It was hard to see his job situation slowly wear him down the first couple of years. All I could do was pray for him. Within the past year, however, he's been encouraged at work so much. His newest supervisor is so supportive, and really recognizes the hard worker that he is. Isn't God great? I love seeing Him answer prayers, even though the answers aren't always in my timing.

Also, I'm excited because he is getting sent to California for training soon, and I get to tag along! California in the dead of MN winter? Yes please! I can't wait to escape to the land of glamour and sunshine.

The Ghost of Christmases Past...

We haven't put out our Christmas decorations yet (for shame!), mostly because Josh and I have both been sick this week. Ugh. Nothing to dampen the Christmas spirit like a sore throat and a runny nose!

However, I am mentally planning where our decorations will go, and as soon as we have our energy and health back we will get to decorating! Just for fun though, I was looking through our albums of past Christmases here at our little casa. We've been here for 2 Christmases so far, and it's amazing to see how much our home has changed since then!

Our first Christmas here, the decorations were simple and minimal. We still lived with ugly beige walls and a TV stand and coffee table from the 80's. Josh got a Nerf gun for Christmas that year.

Even though the decorations would never be featured in a magazine, it was perfect for us as our very first Christmas as a married couple!

After that Christmas was over, we invested in some more decorations that were on super-sale for the next year! Those got pulled out again one year later for Christmas 2010.

I stuck with a "Green" theme for the dining area. I love lots of greenery at Christmas, and I'm sure that many of these same decorations will be featured again in new ways. I found that berry wreath at GW for only $2! 

I even made some moss-covered trees for a display. I love how they turned out! 

I wrapped some tulle around a few fake mini-trees that we had for a soft, romantic touch. Like little Christmas-tree ballerinas! 

Our tree was decorated with white and silver ornaments, and white lights. Ah, so pretty! It's also a faux-tree that we got on sale for only $10 the year before. 

So that's what our 2 past Christmases have looked like! Just reminiscing about them makes me want to turn on the Christmas music and get decorating.... I have some moldy pumpkins that really need to be replaced with twinkling lights! Have you started your decorating yet?

Mirror-Obsession

Yup, it's official. I have mirrors on the brain. I guess I just love how they instantly brighten up and add style to any room. And with only 3 windows in our townhome, we definitely need every bit of brightness we can get!

Take for instance our master bedroom. It was lacking a little in the style + light department. I don't know why, but this has proved to be the hardest room to decorate. Maybe because I am stubborn and refuse to repaint. I love the wall color, but it's really hard to decorate around it!

 

I'm always on the lookout for mirrors these days, and I was at Wal-Mart the other day and found these two for $4.95 each. Regular price. Wowza! I definitely snagged them, figuring I could turn them into trays even if they didn't work in the master bedroom. 

Now, they are hanging pretty! I might do something different at some point (I'm thinking of antiquing them and trying to add some type of candle-holder), but for now they add just the touch I was looking for! 

Also- you may have noticed a pillow switcher-oo. I made the slipcovers a few years ago and used them in my first apartment after college, but they had been sitting in my closet for a while. I love the fabric though (bought on clearance at Jo-Anns) and I'm glad they fit in our room so well! 

Oh, how I love cheap, quick decorating fixes!

Mirror Gallery Wall

After months of having a barren wall above our sofa, we finally have a mirror gallery wall to fill the space and brighten up the room! I originally wanted a mirror for over our couch, but had a completely different look in mind. Here's the post where I share my Pinterest "inspiration" photos.  However, after finding a beautiful focal mirror at a vintage sale, I decided to go a different route.

The bonus of choosing to do this instead of one of the ideas from my Pinterest catalog was that it used mainly things I already had on hand. The only thing I had to purchase was the center mirror (at $14, it was a steal!).

I had 2 other vintage style mirrors around the house. So I gathered those along with 2 gold-toned frames (with backing and glass removed) and created this grouping. I really love the way the mirrors bounce light around, and the structured (yet not too formal) arrangement. 

In case you're wondering how to create a gallery grouping of mirrors, frames, or other objects, here's what I've found works well.

1. First, lay all of the object on the floor to decide on what arrangement you like best. It's easier to move things around and play with the arrangement when they are at ground level.

2. Lay newspaper under each frame and trace around it with a pen or highlighter (highlighters work especially well with newspaper!). Then cut out each shape and use masking tape or painter's tape to tape the newspaper shape onto the wall. (Oops, forgot to photograph that step!) 

3. Next, if any of the frames do not have a hanging device, you can easily make one by hot-gluing a paper clip to the back. SO easy. Just be careful not to do this with heavy frames, it probably won't support too much weight. Both frames I used this for were really light.

 4. Finally, mark the spot on each hanging shape where the nail should go. I just used a pencil to make a mark.

Once you have the nails in place, you can tear off the paper and tape, and hang your frame! Another little trick I learned is to use poster putty to center each frame, instead of a leveler. I'm too lazy to use a leveler, and I like it when frame galleries have a slightly off-kilter look. So, I just put a little dot of poster putty on the bottom two corners and adjust the frame by sight. Easy-as-pie!

I love how this gallery wall worked out. I think I will probably continue to add a few more mirrors/frames here and there as I find them, to beef it up a bit. But in the meantime, it's the perfect solution!

So in Love...

No, this post is not about my husband, even though I am in love (a different and MUCH greater love) with him. No, this is about love of the inanimate object kind.

 Every once in a while (maybe once a year?) I stumble across something that grabs my attention and captures me so much that I just fall in love. Inanimate object love. 

I found this mirror at a vintage sale this past weekend, and was immediately smitten. I love the shape, the weathered look, the details. 

Oh, the details! 

So, for a heftier-than-usual price of $14, it came home with me. My return home with yet another mirror elicited a humorous eye-roll from my Hubs. I tend to amass mirrors like Snow White's stepmother. (Except I don't stare into them and demand confirmation of my beauty....) 

I thought about where I wanted to put the mirror, but I just couldn't decide. Finally, I realized that I liked it so much it needed to be somewhere where I could see it a lot! So I focused on the blank wall in the living room, which has been needing something for a while.

I knew it needed something more to beef it up, since the mirror is smallish. I scrounged around and found a couple of other vintage mirrors that I had on hand, and started playing with some arrangement ideas. 

I know I want the new mirror to be a "focal" point, and I don't want it to get too cluttery. What do you think? Do you like the idea of a mirror gallery-wall?

Fall-ified

With the cooler weather we've been having, I decided it was about time to change some of the decor in our house to keep up with the Fall-ish feeling in the air. I had fun shopping with my mom at a few craft stores to find some items that would lend an Autumnal feeling to our decor. I found the bouquet at Michaels and thought it would look perfect with my little owl collection.

Normally, I'm not a huge fan of "fake" anything, but let's face it, I don't have a backyard to scrounge around for twigs and leaves and such, so fake is all I got. I look for decorations that have some natural elements in them, like the "flowers" below that are partially dried, with faux-stems.

I couldn't resist a couple bags of leaves as well, they are so fun and colorful and fit this vase perfectly. 

My little owl from Anthropologie (below) got to come out of hiding and be the star of this vignette atop our pie cupboard. I love the fanciful colors and the fact that her head comes off so you can store stuff inside! Hehe.

I also added some branches to the arrangement on the table to fill it out and add more of a natural element.

In the living room, I brought out some candles (because nothing says "Fall" like candles, right? Unless, that is, you are lucky enough to have a fireplace...) and some sprigs of fall-ish things. 

I really love the orangey-red colors and the miniature pumpkins. So cute! 

The orange really works in our living room since we already have some orange in there as an accent color. Perfect!

Also, you may have noticed that the wall above our couch is sadly barren. The shelf we had up there was starting to tilt forward too much, and I worried that someone was going to get smacked on the head by falling objects. So, the shelf had to go. We are living with the clean, wide-open expanse of wall for a while until we fund something that will work well there. Any suggestions? 

So there is our home, Fall-ified. As you can see, I really like to keep it simple. What's your favorite way to decorate for the season?

Framed!

I keep moving things around/tweaking the decor in the 2nd bedroom/office/music room. The most recent addition is one of my favorites, and one that has a special meaning as well.

As part of a wedding gift, my talented Grandma Polly let us pick out one of her original watercolor paintings. After looking through tons of beautiful, incredibly colored paintings I settled on this one. It is smaller than almost all of her other works, but I just fell in love with it at first sight!

Well, I finally got around to framing the picture this past week! Sadly, it has been sitting in a drawer wrapped in cellophane for way too long because I couldn't find the right size frame. It turns out, I just wasn't looking in the right place!

I visited JoAnne fabrics last week and found this frame there. I love it. The detail around the edges is just perfect, and I love how it displays my Grandma's painting beautifully while not detracting from it! Plus, it was 40% off and less than $20 bucks. Score!

One of the reasons I love this painting so much is because I can remember walks down tree-lined pathways just like this. My family loves to go out and enjoy nature (especially this time of year!), and my parents have some wooded paths by their house that are just like this. 

Ah. Now, every time I go in the 2nd bedroom I smile when I see this! It's finally starting to feel like a space that is comfortable and inspiring.