(decorating blocks)

For sure, the most surprising thing about living in our new house has been how lost I am with how to make it feel ours.

I am so accustomed to a fixer upper mindset where anything I do improves the property.  Here, I'm kind of hesitant because I don't want to wreck anything.

Walls?  Should I hang a  map?  A clock?  I vacillate and hesitate. Before, I thumbtacked up art and clocks and even driftwood and painted with reckless abandon.  I projected verses, quotes, maps onto the walls, penciling the outlines and then carefully filling them in.  I painted my chalkboard wall before it was cool and I painted yucky oak cupboards bright white.  I painted old ceiling fans and used a hammered metal spray paint to redo light fixtures. Once I even painted an ugly linoleum floor a red and tan checkerboard design and coated it generously with wax.  It looked FANTASTIC.  Painting is my go to. And I know I'm biased, but all that stuff really did look nice.  Amazing, even. 

Here, the colors are already chosen and I happen to love them, so there's no reason to paint, but the expansive walls are kind of getting to me and most of my art and pictures are still stored on the floor of the linen closet.  And who has time to stand and squint and stare at their walls to figure out where to hang pictures?

Suddenly I am becoming a decor-challenged person and I have never in my life had that problem. As a tiny child I even rearranged my bedroom furniture one night when I was being babysat.  I was probably five, and I remember pushing the bed across the floor with all of my might.  How I expected this to escape the babysitter's notice, I'm not sure, but when Mom and Dad got home I crept down to the landing to listen to the report.  (I have also never required a lot of sleep.  Who needs sleep?)  "She was really good- except I don't think she went to bed and she made a lot of noise in her room moving things around." I froze.  Busted. 

I have not finished Myquillyn Smith's new book The Nesting Place, but I have bought it twice and and given it away, so maybe the third time I will buy it and keep it to myself.  However, I have browsed it very carefully so as not to crease the pages of my gift and did some speed reading stints.  Also I have given it, and then shamelessly taken it back and pored over the pages.  It is exquisite.  I love it and it is exactly  my philosophy of making a home beautiful.  Well, anyway, maybe I exactly like Myquillyn's philosophy, but anyway. 

Be creative with cheap finds, better yet freeee finds
Use what YOU love
Bring personality to your home
Be brave
Be a little bit reckless
Stop procrastinating
You can always change it
Simplicity is beautiful and life is beautiful and mess is part of both: embrace it

Somehow I feel I've lost this philosophy in the crisp clean spaces of our new house.  I joke that we run a hotel, and we really do, but I don't want it to look like one-- at all.  I want people to feel welcome and at home and have their eyes wander to interesting art and read quotes that point them to Christ and find intriguing books in easy reach.  I want our house to look like our kids live here, too, and like their friends are welcome, because they are.  I want our home to be an extension of who we are, but not what we are and there is a difference!

Tonight after a long day of teaching, house showing, and packing for the weekend, I threw caution to the wind and Cambria and I had fun with our kitchen wall.  IT WAS A BLAST.

Long live electrical tape, chalkboard paint and Myquillyn Smith.

so i painted a fireplace on my wall

I really really did.

And there are about 100,000 other things I should have been doing in place of tootling with chalkboard paint AGAIN.

But I saw this idea last summer and stored it away in my mind.  I remembered the other night when we were out to dinner celebrating my youngest sister's birthday.  We were laughing about the positive spin realtors put on bad houses and my brother said, "yeah. . . a realtor can just wave his hand at a wall and say, you could put in a fireplace there!"

That comment reminded me of the faux fireplace.

before

I penciled the lines for the mantle and . . . mmm. . . firebox?  is that what you call it?  I don't know, I've never had a fireplace.

(best paint cleanup tool ever)

so the outlet stumped me for a while.  I came to the conclusion that I would either put a basket in front of it or somehow incorporate white lights into my fireplace using the outlet.  I briefly considered painting it black as well, but only for a moment, after I remembered that Daniel replaced every single cream/70's yellow outlet with updated bright white- just for me.

So then tonight after Eli was in bed I saw that my phone said I hadn't talked Deeann since October 16. That was definitely something that needed to be taken care of so while I was talking to her THIS beautiful art happened on my fireplace.  Not what I had in mind. You can see the remnants of a big orange chalk fire that my artist drew first. Sigh. 


Later tonight after EVERYBODY was in bed I repainted the firebox. 

 

I kind of like it.  I'm not done yet, it needs some tweaking.  I will add grey lines in the white to make faux crown moulding and I will either draw fire or add some logs.  (Somehow. )

A fireplace my firefighter can approve of.  Except that he didn't really approve. . . he saw it and said. . .
*long pause*

"WELL!  I can see somebody is totally ready to paint things!" 

Of course he is referring to that entire rental house that needs to be painted from top to bottom.  I will be getting started on that very, very soon.  After I finish my coffee by the fire. 

February Thoughts

 So I made a coffee filter wreath.  It was really easy; basically just poking coffee filters into a foam wreath with the end of a small paint brush.  I used a whole package of 4 cup size filters (accidentally bought by me. . . . who in the world would bother making only 4 cups of coffee?).

 It's cute if I have the front door open. . .

but since we can see through our glass door I should have put more filters on the back so that you don't see the green foam.  I should do that soon.  Someday.  Before I take the wreath down.  Time, time, where art thou? 

Looking at the above pictures make me want to change the paint color in our living room.  I've been toying with the grey idea.  And the next minute I feel exhausted by the idea of painting and decide that tan is fine.  Sometimes I wonder where the girl who loved to flip houses went.  (Maybe she is turning thirty?!) 

You can also see that window on the wall; it's from my mom and dad's farmhouse.  I'm in the middle of wiping off the Christmas song my mom wrote on it, mulling over what I should write on next.  Thinking about this quote:

I will confess

I do not see Who I believe

but I have a choice to make

and I choose to believe

until someday I shall see

(taken from Little Mama's blog)

And then, of course, my Eli. . . oh such joy he is. So many rolls!  Squishing him is. . . like dessert.

 "Hi, Mamma. . . I do believe I've outgrown these 0-3 month onesies."

(could he be any more bald?)

 Game invented by JD & Cambria:  Eli - Eli - O (to the tune of Old MacDonald)

 Oh the endless entertainment of having a sister who does your own personal puppet shows.



"Oh, no.  Seems like I got too many friends!"  (that caption courtesy of JD)

 This little hat (I bought it from this Etsy shop for $12) just never gets old.  I think it's the cutest baby thing I've ever bought.

 I'm in the middle of this book right now. . . so thankful that God gives me grace; how often I fall short in giving grace to my children.  This has been a refreshing read for me.  Many parenting books leave me overwhelmed with "things to do" and "ground I've lost."  Dr. Kimmel's approach is hopeful and uplifting.  I love how he applies this passage on grace to parenting.  I've never read Titus 2:11-14 through "mommy lenses" but I'm glad I have now!

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and teaches

us to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God

and Savior, Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from

all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are His very own,

eager to do what is good.

Underneath the busy and the crazy, I struggle to find the balance between life and actually living,

between being married and having a marriage,

between housekeeping and making a home,

the balance between caring for my children and loving my man.

(If I ever find the secret, I'll be sure to pass it on.)



24 Days before Christmas

. . . well, actually, its more like 13 or 14 days before Christmas. . .

I put up our advent calendar last night . . . er, this morning, at 2 am. . .

This is my very cheap spin on the advent calendar on Infarrantly Creative.  I went to Dollar Tree to buy the cute little buckets and realized I was going to spend about $10, which I don't mind, but these little white bags in packs of 12/$1 caught my eye.

Then, since I don't own one of those cool cricut machines, I sent a humble request to my friend Pam for numbers 1-24 in green and orange.  She was kind and made them for me. (Thanks, Pam! )

I (shhhhh) hot glued the green ribbon to my chalkboard wall.  I think when I take it down, there will be some sadness, i.e. chipped paint, but no worries, I have tons of chalkboard paint.  I pinned the bags up with green paper clips.

They are filled with little tags that say things like:

Make Peppermint Bark


Read Luke 1


Sing Away in the Manger


Play "hide the Christmas candy kiss"


Put a string of white lights up somewhere


Read a Christmas story


Put together Christmas puzzles


Look at Christmas lights with hot cocoa in Daddy's truck

Go to Fareway and pick out Brach's candy mix

and so on . . .and on. . . 

I'll be honest, I don't have them all filled.  I can think of what to put in there as we go along.  It's the right of the mommy in her mommy kingdom.

And I've always wanted to try this idea. . .

. . .sorting clothing into outfits for each day of the week.  I don't know if it will work, but at least it looks really cute!

I am such a conundrum of beautiful design and absolute chaos. 

Really?  Advent Calendar on the 11th of December at 2 am?

Please, tell me I'm not alone.

I Heart Chalkboard Paint!

I picked up the little red tin at Goodwill for $1.88 - I just didn't want to put sugar in it. So. . . out came the chalkboard paint. I am so addicted to that stuff!