A Summer Wreath

A few weeks ago a friend of ours gave us a bunch of cocktail umbrellas so I decided to make this summer wreath I had seen on Pinterest.  I didn't follow any tutorial.  I bought a foam wreath form from Walmart.  Then I just opened up the umbrellas and stabbed them in place.

The beginnings:

Simple Christmas Keepsake Ornament

This might be the easiest idea ever and I am sure there are many variations of it that would make it even cuter.  I made this ornament a few years ago when we were celebrating our first first Christmas in our rental home together.  It is the key to the place I lived when we started dating where we spent tons of time the first 2.5 years of our relationship.  I am about to make another one for our rental home and maybe one from our new home as well.    

  This was as simple as taking an ornament hook, putting the key on it, typing the address on a piece of cardstock, putting it on the hook and tying a ribbon around it.  I'm thinking of glittering the key to make it a little prettier but this is how it has been for the last 2 years.

Christmas Inspiration

I love Christmas!  I love buying Christmas gifts for others & decorating & getting together with friends and family to celebrate.  And Christmas cards...I love sending them and I love a whole month of getting mail that isn't bills or junk!   Eric says I can't decorate until the day after Thanksgiving which is fine.  So the whole month of November I think about it and get myself all excited.  I work Thanksgiving and the following night this year which puts me sleeping the day after Thanksgiving so I am not sure when I will decorate but I thought I'd share some inspiration here.  (Also I am under no illusion that my Christmas decorations will look like these, I am just not that good or that patient).   I blame Pinterest.

I love maps and globes.  How cute is this ornament?  Eric told me if I bought any more ornaments our tree would probably fall over but I just love this one.   Little does he know I have already stashed away a couple throughout the year.

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And I love this sign for hanging over the mantle.

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This bunting would look so cute strung around my living room and I know I could whip it up if I wanted.

  

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Either of these wreaths would look lovely on my front door.

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I love this sign for outside my front door.

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I've never done a themed Christmas tree before and this probably won't be the year but I think these ones are so fun!

A dessert tree...

 

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Swirls of color

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Burlap

 

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And why not throw in this tree skirt?

 

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And last but not least this tree is totally over the top and I love it...

 

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5 on Friday!

    {one}   I decorated my mantle for fall finally!  I even made a little DIY fall leaf garland.  

    {two} One week with 3 shifts at work is all that stands between me and 18 days off work.  I am going on a Western Caribbean cruise with my mom, my Gramma & my mom's cousin Shirley.  Then I have a few days to hang out back in Florida and my mom, my Gramma & my 2 aunts are going to Savannah, GA for 4 days.  I am so excited for vacation, a week of Caribbean sunshine, & most of all to go to Savannah as I have never been there!  I will be savoring this time because as of now, the next planned time I have a whole week off of work is next August.     {three}    Last Saturday night we had friends in town from Richmond.  We went out to dinner at a local BBQ restaurant with a big group of people.  It was so good!  Then we went to Bdubs after to hang out for a bit since that's the only place to go in Culpeper after 10pm.   

    {four}   I made Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies on Sunday.  They were really, really good.  We both loved them.  We took them to our friends Travis & Erika's to watch the Redskins game that night and they were fans too.  These will definitely get made again!  

  {five}   I'm meeting some friends/coworkers for breakfast this morning.  Work has been insane lately so it's nice that we can take some time to get together outside of work!    

Fall Mantle

Well it's a rainy gross day here and so I decided to finally decorate my mantle for fall.  I've had my fall decorations box sitting out for a couple of weeks but hadn't gotten around to putting anything out yet.  Now I will say that I don't claim to be a good decorator (or photographer) but I just pieced together what I've got.  Every year I add a new piece or two.  This year I picked up the little orange & black glass owl all the way on the right.  I also made the leaf garland today.  The lighting in our living room leaves a lot to be desired so the pictures are kind of dark but that's as good as it gets.  For those who aren't from around here that's an old map of Culpeper above the mantle in a frame made by my grandfather that I got from his house after he passed away.  I love maps and this one is extra special for that reason.

And just for reference what it looks like on a normal non holiday decor day.

The leaf garland was really easy to make.  I just took a long piece of thread and stitched through the fabric leaves I bought online to make the garland.  It's not perfect by any means but I think it's a nice seasonal touch.