Fall Shop Updates

I am so happy that fall is here and excited to hear that the winter in the south should be colder than usual with more precipitation! Hopefully that means lots of snow for the babies to play in!! It also means that I'm stocking the shop full of crocheted goodies!! I've partnered with an awesome mama who embroiders and makes custom vinyl items. We're making a great team and I'm so happy to be working with her. It turns out that crocheted items can be embroidered and they look amazing! 

Here are our 3 initial embroidered boot cuffs. Most colors are available and the monogram will match the trim color, unless otherwise specified. If the monogram isn't your thing, you can purchase them without it.

I've dressed up last year's crocheted headbands with fun crocheted bows this year! These can be made for children and adults and are wide enough to cover your ears on windy days. See them in my shop here and here.

Another new item this year is these super fun MUG COZIES! Just like everything else, they can be made in most colors, but I love the colorful purple with rainbow trim! They fasten closed around most sized mugs with a coconut shell button.

The scarves from last year are still in stock. They're children's sizes only. My girls love them and wear them all fall and winter long. I definitely need to update those photos though!

Crochet items are so in this year and I can't wait to crochet my heart out as your orders start coming in!! If you have any questions, you can convo me on my Etsy shop! As always, I love doing custom orders, so feel free to request anything your heart desires! Also, monograms can be added to anything for an additional $6!

My Fall Mantle

Our family room still needs 1000 upgrades, but for now the fireplace is finished and I want to show it off! After painting the fireplace I had to decorate it for FALL. It's finally cooling off and we get really excited when that happens in Georgia. I still need some pumpkins and to decorate the rest of the house, but for now the mantle is decorated for fall.

I just used items that I already had around the house. The only purchase I made was from Target. I bought the gold leaf stickers and chalkboard banner for $1/each. I can't describe how excited I was when I saw those items in the bins, lol.

I made the burlap banner on the old window and the burlap and lace banner on the fireplace screen. I also made the hydrangea wreath, printed and framed the subway art a few years ago and wrapped jute around a chrome utensil jar. 

The old books are Jonathan's grandfather's and the pumpkin candle holder I got for $1 at a thrift store last year. 

With any luck, I'll be repainting the rest of the family room during the next couple of weeks!! Stay tuned.

Fireplace Update

We've been in our new home a little over 4 months. In that span of time we've remodeled the kitchen, built in the basement, painted both of the kids rooms, created a workshop in the unfinished portion of the basement, and we've been decorating filling the space little by little. There's not a room in this house that doesn't need painting, so I've been hesitant to fill my walls the way that I want them since I'll just have to pull everything again before I paint. 

The next room on my list is the family room. This room is very dark because we have a lot of large oak trees in our front yard along with a big front porch, so there isn't a lot of natural light that comes in. I plan on going with a light gray, but before I tackle the walls, the trim HAS to be repainted. We are fortunate enough to have a big fireplace but it's ugly. It's brownish-orange and it just sucks what little light we have right out of the room. The house was built in the early 90's, so it's outdated and needed a serious (but cheap) update. If I had an endless budget I would rip it out and redo it completely, but my budget was $0 so that wasn't an option. Instead I tracked down my trusty quart of white latex paint and went to town. 

I taped everything off and then I just used an angled paintbrush to apply. I used two coats and laid it on pretty thick on the mortar because it was really porous and I was trying to fill the holes and cracks.

Here is the living room on the day that we moved in.

And here is a close up of the finished project. I still need to style the hearth and add our screen, but I LOVE how it turned out. It's so clean and crisp and instantly brightened the room, even with the brown walls.

Once we paint the trim, patio door and walls I'll do a full living room tour. I'm loving how it's turning out. It's a rectangular room, so we've managed to have a nice sized living space and I have a big desk in front of our double windows. That way I can spend time with the family while I'm getting some work done. Stay tuned! 

Madelynn's FIRST Day of Kindergarten

Madelynn has been in school almost a month. She has been flourishing and is loving every minute of it. She has a great teacher and is meeting wonderful friends and coming home with hilarious stories. Every morning we pray on the way to school, just like we did last year and I hope that it makes a difference in her day. That she remembers to thank God for what He's done for her and she remembers to ask Him to help her get through her day when she's having a rough time. 

A few days before school started, she got really nervous. She was crying because she was afraid that she wouldn't make any friends. She has never had a real school experience. Even when she was in preschool for the few months that she went, it was in a familiar place with familiar faces and she only went half a day. She was scared because she was going to miss us and she didn't want to spend an entire day at school. But after Open House, she became more excited and when we walked her to her classroom Wednesday morning, she couldn't have been more excited. She barely said goodbye before she sat down in her spot. Here are some photos from her first day.

These are a couple from her second day. She had P.E. so she was dressed more comfortably.

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And then there's this picture. The one that took my breath away. Watching my husband walk his little girl to school for her first day of kindergarten. Watching him lead her into school as we let her go for the first time into a new world. It was insanely difficult for me, but I held it together. Letting go is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.