Greeting the Season

Most likely there's no secret that I'm the biggest fan of magic, childhood, fantasy, and enchantment.  So obviously, it's my most favorite time of year.  There are lights, music, wonderful smells, and surprises at every turn.  A feast for the senses! 

It might help that I never quite stopped believing in Santa.  I consider it a huge honor as a parent to assist in the joy and wonder all year long, but especially now.

I've honestly had too many ideas and pictures to share, which has overwhelmed me...leading me to do, well nothing really.  But I will say that those ideas and pictures have meant that we've been having fun, creating memories, and going through the day to day rather enchantingly (minus the 3rd grade homework). 

So let's just jump back on the blog-my-life train here.  Right now.  My favorite traditional start of Greeting the Season is having the cousins for a spend-over on Thanksgiving.  There is so much classic and creative play, I almost get distracted from pulling out the Christmas decorations.

Almost.

There are Christmas trees, cousins, and Clemson football (35-17!)...it's the most wonderful weekend.  Add in some card signing, movie matinees (Hunger Games!!!), board games and Wii games...perfection.

Never mind the list left to do (it's part of the fun, right?) or the mess on the porch (it wants badly to be a garland).  Let's all get Christmasing...I'm SO excited!

Seems as if Jingles the elf is well on her way to add some extra magic around here after finding Homey's drawing of her.  Wonder what she's up to...

Still Little

There are times within most days that I think she's just getting so grown up...

She's my sous chef, my fashion consultant, and now knows more lyrics to top music 40 than I do. 

But there are other times that she is still my Little.  

She ended her day asking to read a children's novel we've been reading together (published in 1950), while snuggling her most favorite Boomer the Koala.

I was reminded that there's still time for the innocent, the wholesome, and the lovely to win the day.  That's the best and coziest feeling...

Sorry rainy, cold, Monday...we beat ya today!

Project begets project: DIY Kitchen Table

Sometimes the goal is quite simple.  But the path is ridiculously complicated.  For example:

I have mentioned that my kitchen leaves a bit to be desired.  But before I jump the gun on cabinets, counter tops, flooring and paint I want to know how this room wants to be used.  It doesn't have excellent communication skills, kind of like my Fireplace Room.  In fact, at times I think the two spaces have ganged up against me.

Here's the problem.  The "eat-in" part of our kitchen is just fine for our 3 person family suppers, for play date snacks, for lunch with a friend.  It is not fine for having several families over for dinner.  There's just not enough room.  But there has to be a solution.  Since we don't need room for more than 3 people on a daily basis, we'll move the bigger table and find a smaller table for the kitchen.  I had an idea where and how to use the bigger table, but finding a reasonable kitchen table was tricky.

There were several lovely and reasonable options.

IKEA

West Elm:

But call me crazy (no really, it doesn't phase me in the least!)...I felt like Goldilocks trying to find a table size that was big enough for three place settings, but compact enough to keep my kitchen workable.  IKEA's 41.5 inch table was just a bit too large.  West Elm's 30 inch table was too small.  Plus, since I don't really quite know my end goal for the kitchen as a whole, I hated to put money into a new piece of furniture that may be a short-lived member of the family.


At this point, it's time to squint at what existing pieces are in the house, the attic, the garage.  Or the backyard.  Yes, the backyard!  An extra patio table.  With a piece of plywood affixed to the wrought iron, we could make the table whatever size we wanted.  Basically for free!  With plenty of pretty table linens (vintage, anyone?!), I didn't have to worry about having a perfect piece of furniture.  Just a perfect size to see how the kitchen would evolve.  Check it out (first some before photos...so excited to have a new place to use my bigger table):

This is the table that was too tight of a fit...especially if you want to pull it out for a larger crowd.  PS I can't wait to redo this kitchen!

"New" DIY table!

It's not much, but thinking outside the retail box is awfully helpful sometimes...

With a tablecloth, we have a perfect fit for now.

With vintage linens on hand, it's actually fun finding an "outfit" for our table :)

Next up...finish the playroom and finally give the Fireplace Room some purpose.  It's been such a lazy team player so far...

Room Swap: The Our Room Edition

Ready for more room swap fun?  Time to relocate the master bedroom.  Like I mentioned in a previous post, it started to make more sense to simplify and take a smaller room as our "master".  We don't have tv's, or work spaces, or reading nooks in any of our bedrooms.  Ha, if I had a reading nook or chair of any kind in a bedroom, I'd never hang up another piece of clothing.  At least I know this about myself. 

The most beneficial thing about moving our room is the ongoing reinvention of its overall feel.  The bigger room had more than it's share of poison arrows that made it impossible to decorate.  To me, decorating is so much more than finding a color and fabrics that create a cohesive and interesting room.  "Decorating" to me is using things I love to create spaces that envelope you with a nice feeling; walls that live and breathe the aura of my family.  If you can't look at a room in my house and either smile or squint, saying "Is that another flying pig? Huh...she's an odd lady!" then I've not done what I set out to do.

Take a look at our first bedroom in "as good as I can get it" mode.  Note:  These pictures were an afterthought and done right before we started moving it...messy and bad light.  Sorry!

Eh, it was okay, but there was the struggle between the very traditional matchy hand-me-downs I had, and the way I actually wanted to decorate a bedroom.  Just. Wasn't. Working.  Especially since the door to the wonky bathroom that leads to the ONLY back door of our house is located just outside the left edge of the picture.  Weird.

Then there's this.

Again, that stack of prints didn't usually stay there, but this corner made me crazy.  Plus it was the one visible from the hallway.  I have a thing about how a room looks from a hallway.  Clutter and confusion doesn't scream "welcome to my home".  So now we change it all.

Ready, set, room swap!























My new idea for our room was a bit more homespun and bohemian than what we'd had in the past.  Mixing textures, words, images, to make a restful and happy little place to land at the end of the day.  Follow my board on Pinterest to see the ideas I've got in mind for this room. 

The snippets you'll see here are still a room in progress.  The curtains aren't finished how I want them to be.  The walls aren't showcasing everything I want them to.  The light fixture is still very...meh.  I like to take decorating and creating a space rather slowly.  Especially when I don't have a job :)  

I'll show you what we have done though.  No matter what, I can attest that I sleep way better in this little cocoon of a room.  We even overslept this morning.  Oops.  It's just that peaceful already.

I did prioritize the view from the hallway.  So far I like it. 

What do you think?

Final curtain idea in the works; walls waiting for a little texture and interest.

Gallery wall started, certainly not finished

I opted to use clothing storage as a bedside table.  It works.  The ceramic feather agrees.  So does Emily Post.

This guy.  I love my newspaper RCA dog.  Santa gave him to me last year.  Why have I not named him?!

His grandmother's, my grandmother's. Vintage family awesomeness.  Elephants and purse.  They co-exist peaceably with some favorite books of mine.

While we have a ways to go before it's how I want it, it's perfectly lovely.  It's not a grand master suite, but it's all I've ever wanted in a bedroom.  Cool and comfy.  Full of homespun love.

Grab a book, snug up under the covers, sleep well. There are rooms to finish swapping!

Ten

 

A decade is an peculiar amount of time. (I was going to say it's "odd", but it is in fact "even" as luck would have it.) 

In so many ways, it feels like it was just last week.  In other ways, it's remarkable how much can happen and change in ten years.

Ten years.  We spent the first year of marriage anticipating our daughter.  She was born about 3 weeks after our first anniversary (if you've ever known a lady that's 38 weeks pregnant, you can imagine how romantic that first anniversary was!).  Then somehow time went by...we bought a house to bring back to life. We made a ton of fantastic friends. We watched our daughter ride her trike, then her bike through the neighborhood.  We lost a very special dog.  We gained another dog who's pretty daggum cool in her own right.  Oh we got a weird cat too (got to give Emilie a shout out).

Ten years...swine flu, the economic bubble, ice storms, emotional storms.  A lot has happened in ten years, but because we've gone through it, learned and grown together it seems like it was all just yesterday.  Being married is not all fun and games.  It's a decision to love someone every single day, to be a united family front.  Most days, that's an easy decision.  On occasion, it's not. 

But that's the point...all the good and the bad; all the wonderful and the insane...those are the things that you only have in common with your spouse. Only time can create a relationship like that. And if you try to do it right, that's what keeps making the friendship and love deeper over the years.  There's only one person that's in the trenches with you every single day.  Worrying over fevers, celebrating career successes, rinsing dishes, packing lunches.  No one else is quite as "with" you in these moments as your spouse.

I am very much looking forward to the rest of this adventure.  Happy anniversary, Kevin!  Ten years since I married you, nineteen since I met you...it has just flown by.  

 

It's always been you.

Neighborhood Halloween Fun

I have always had a hard time planning for Halloween.  I'm getting better at it though! Living in the Vortex helps. Plus I've figured out that All Hallows Eve is 5 out of 7 times a school night. Funny how that works. So that means a mad rush to get into the costumes that the Littles are so excited to wear, get dinner fixed and eaten, and get to trick-or-treating all before school night bedtime.  It's exhausting, and the children are manic to go through their candy (that they can only have a few pieces of anyway).

Enter Neighborhood Halloween Party!  This is a great way to either skip traditional trick or treating all together (some neighborhoods have very few participating candy giver outers these days) or add some extra time to leisurely be in costume.

I love my neighbors.  Truly.  And this collaborative effort for the kids (and, um, us adults too) was so fun.  Here's the recipe that makes it work:

Friends!

This party is potluck style...spooky treats, prizes, decorations and games provided by several neighbors, friends and family members.

Food!

Halloween can make preparing the food items so fun.  Just look at Tracy's skeleton vegetable tray.  She is the queen of vegetable tray art.

Individual cups of mandarin oranges get made over into Jack O'lanterns.  White paper bags become a ghostly way to hold popcorn or snack mix.  Also check out our (non candy!) favors and prizes in the Jack O'bucket.  Stickers, glow sticks, straws, tattoos, pencils...all good stuff.  None of it leads to maniacal children, so I'm a huge fan.

Hot dogs and crescent rolls make great mummies.  Be sure to make the spiderweb ketchup and mustard for dipping.

And just because there should probably be some form of candy, Reese's cups and pretzel sticks are perfect witches' broomsticks.  

If you want to go the extra step, especially if it's chilly out (you never know here in South Carolina) make a crock pot of soup or chili to serve with some fall ale and cider. 

Games!

If you're working with a group of friends, chances are that you all have some sort of Halloween game somewhere.  The spider web toss,

 a themed twister mat...the things that go on clearance and you impulse buy because it's cute. 

Even if you don't have those store bought games, here are some more fun activities the kids loved:

Toilet paper bowling...put a pumpkin costume on rolls of toilet paper and see if you can knock 'em all down.  You could also use orange solo cups.  Our kids love building and knocking down solo cups.  Best toy I ever bought ;)

Another brilliant idea of Heather's (and I hope you all have a Tracy and a Heather on your street for parties like this...they're the coolest) is marshmallow eating contests!  Heather drew ghoulish ghost faces on marshmallows with a food safe pen, and we strung them from the ol' magnolia tree.  Kids had to try to eat them...no hands!  That really kept 'em busy, let me tell ya.

One more quick and easy idea...chalkboard pumpkins!!  I swear, I will chalkboard paint anything that will sit still long enough.  A can of spray paint goes a long way, so I just picked up the craft pumpkins at Michael's and painted them.  The kids can make all sorts of Jack O'lantern designs on these.  So cute!

Just a few more pictures of all the (non school night, sans candy overload) fun.  I hope you'll think about adding a get together to the Halloween plans this year.

 

Room swap: Her new room

 Ready, set, room swap!  The first room we tackled was the Homey room.  Two main reasons made this move make sense.  It was time to turn our little kid's room into a big kid room.  And by putting her in a smaller room, we could allow most of her toys and games to relocate to a larger space.  Having sleep and play space combined in just a medium sized bedroom just wasn't working anymore. 

I really did love her little girl room:

Such good memories of cribs and Little People worlds (I swear we had all of those worlds just lining the room).

Now we start new memories of Barbies and Fashion Plates.  Chapter books and diaries.

All of the furniture (mostly family pieces) was reused, the decor just got streamlined and bit more Big Kiddish.  

 As far as cost was concerned, we only bought a gallon of paint, a new quilt ($30 at Marshals), and 3 12 x12 frames (40% off 3 visits to Michael's!) to frame our Barbie fashion art.

Plus a new light fixture ($30 at IKEA). 

 

Most of the fun stuff from her first room just got slightly redone in the new room.

Such a great update for her stuff.  There are still some dolls and such in baskets under her bed, but most toys now have their own happy space down the hall in the new playroom.   And even though it's a smaller room, there is still plenty of space still for organizing fashion magazines with German Shepherds. (Does a child of mine really love fashion...this can be attributed to neither nature nor nurture.)

In the world of room swapping, just remember that now that the Homey room is done, there is an office/playroom living in the Fireplace Room and a master bedroom to move.  No rest for the domestically weary!