Show and Tell Friday

This is one of the prettiest new additions to our home...



My wedding bouquet!

My dear friend Allison Smith whisked my bouquet away after our wedding (while we were on our honeymoon!) and had it preserved for me. Didn't it do well? I think it's just beautiful. I have my eye set on a bell jar I saw at a gift shop in Prattville, AL and we are going down to see our family next weekend in Montgomery...I'm going to try to figure out a way to make that bell jar mine!

Have a happy happy Halloween weekend, friends!

Much Love,
C

Wedding Wall

Ever since Caleb and I begin moving our things into our little apartment, we began visualizing a large display of black and white pictures of our wedding on the wall to the right side of our bed.

At last! It is done!

At first I bought itty bitty flimsy frames from the Dollar Store. These looked AWFUL. They were far too small, there wasn't near enough of them and the minute Caleb brushed up against the wall, one jumped off of its nail and smashed to bits on the floor. They were attractive, generally speaking, but they probably did look very much like Dollar Store frames when it came down to it. This is a perfectly acceptable trait when displaying small pictures in a group...maybe on a tabletop. But Caleb convinced me that these particular frames absolutely would not do.

We then got some gorgeous black frames and I am very very pleased with the result!



Not my best picture, but hopefully it gives a good idea.

Cold and rainy night and we have to be up at 4:30 am for class!!

To bed, friends. To bed.

Much Love!

My Wedding Fans!

Look familiar, anyone?!

Can you believe this? In Martha Stewart's latest Wedding Magazine!!

We did this! Back in June!

How fun...

Rainy Tuesday

What a great day it has been!
DownLine hosted a women's luncheon to drum up interest in the big women's conference coming up in February (keynote speaker Kay Arthur!). I helped with linens and such from work and I think everything was a huge success!

It is rainy like crazy right now and I'm desperately wishing I had a peppermint mocha to tie me over to 5 pm.

Caleb and I did some fun updates last night on the little apartment! I plan to post pictures this evening. He is so creative! Sometimes I have to reign him in a little but he never runs out of ideas.

Check out Nesting Place today. LOVE her fall pedestal idea.

What's your favorite fall decoration? I would love to gather more ideas.

Hopefully be back tonight with some pics!

Much Love,
C

First Tablescape

The garage sale is over!! We are so thrilled...and we made a little money, too. So everything turned out just fine, we met some nice people, and as hoped, the weather was great.

Caleb and I had a busy day but we did find a little time to do a little work on this here blog. As you may have noticed, my incredibly talented husband did a design for my title! So pretty! And I set up my first tablescape to post! My husband is so kind has been very patient and kind today.

I like this tablescape a lot because it gives me a lovely way to showcase some carnival glass that Mimi (grandmother) has given me. The candy dishes are made of colorful glass in amber and emerald green and they add a little height and shimmer to the table. I also got to use some antique silk napkins from Spain (passed down through Mimi as well) that I have never used before. I love the delicate fringe around the edges. The green glass coffee cups came from Germany and were given to me by a dear friend from the theatre, Lisa Hayes.

The red and green table linen is a small cloth I made to cover up a vintage poster that is lacquered onto our table. The design is fun and bright but I have found that there are definitely times when I would rather have a more formal table setting and so this small linen works nicely. It's hard to see but the green border is a sage grosgrain ribbon. It's not exquisitely made but it does the trick!


Pumpkins and some small glass candle holders really pull off the centerpiece, I think. I bought the candle holders at Michael's on sale for $0.79 and the flowers were from a bouquet that I dried several months ago. So inexpensive! And I love using handed down things that have been given to me...they reminded me of people I love every time I pass the table.

I'm really enjoying decorating our little apartment on a dime. Budgets birth creativity! It's so rewarding to see a home come together with things you already have only now rearranged.

I've also included a picture of our bedroom. It's my favorite place in our house, I think. We still have some work to do on it, but I think it's really cozy.

That's all for now!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I can't wait to post more!

Have a great day, friends.

New Dishes!

It is driving me crazy that I don't have any photos updated yet!

Last night I swung by the nearest TJMAXX and landed some gorgeous red willow dishes massively discounted. I got an dinner plates for 6 and I cannot wait to pair them with the antique milk glass appetizers that are still hidden away in my hope chest. Should be perfect for the holidays!

I'm starting to view all of extraneous decor in my house as possibilities for centerpieces these days. The nice ladies from Between Naps on the Porch and Life at Home are becoming inspirations.

Unfortunately, the excitment of my weekend is becoming somewhat weakened by the looming garage sale. Hopefully it will at least be beautiful outside and we'll make some green!

Tonight is date night with husband and maybe at some point this weekend some hardcore scrapping on my wedding album.

Hope your hearts are happy this weekend!

Here's hoping I return soon with some pictures from home...

Irony and a Jacket

My husband splurged and bought me an adorable jacket this week.
I cannot believe he did it....there was no good reason apparent, other than his absolute sweetness. It's gorgeous. I'll post a picture soon.
Of course it warmed up today a bit, so the new jacket remains hanging on a door knob in our living room...I like to think of it as new autumnal decor.

This is the weekend of our fall yard sale! I'm dreading it with every fiber of my being, but hopefully we'll have some success and a bit of cash in our pocket at the end of the day (not to mention, the ultimate relief of being a little less burdened down by earthly accumulations). My vote is that we do something deliciously fun afterwards to make up for getting up early on a Saturday. Like a child, I apparently need to bribe myself with treats after each unpleasant experience. I need to get over that habit pronto.

I made a yummy hot chocolate mix this past weekend (will post the recipe soon!) and whipped up a Duncan Hines spice cake with cream cheese frosting. So easy and yummy! Smells amazing while it bakes so make it right before company comes over.

Can't wait to be at home in my pjs this evening! DL started at 5:45 am this morning....amazing study on God's unconditional covenants and Moses....but I am tuckered out!

Fall Favorites

1. My Circle C fall candle in Spiced Apple
2. Red & white flannel pj bottoms
3. Easy recipe for homemade rolls (directions to follow)
4. The Crock Pot!
5. Trifle bowl centerpieces (green and red apples, walnuts, etc. in your trifle bowl on the center of your table...easy, pretty, edible fall decor)
6. Candy Corn
7. "Breathe" - Track 10 on U2's No Line on the Horizon album
8. Pumpkins and mums on your doorstep, of course

It's frigid today! Can't seem to get warm and I am seriously considering some new shoe alternatives...my summer, sockless flats aren't working any longer. I can barely feel my toes.

Our weekend is nuts. Caleb's at the DownLine Men's Summit all weekend...little rest and lots of go! The talks should be incredible, though. Tommy Nelson spoke to our DL class last night on the book of Daniel and it was amazing!

If you're interested, feel free to post your favorite 8 items of the season! I'd love to know what they are.

No meal is complete without the bread and Caleb and I love these...they go without almost everything.

Easy Rolls:

4 Tbsp. mayonnaise
2 Cups of Self-Rising flour
1 Cup of milk

Mix batter thoroughly and pour into greased muffin tin (I spray with Baker's Joy).
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 400 degrees
Makes 8 rolls in a large muffin tin

Autumn, Here I Come!

First post and new beginnings!
Irony for the fall season. We've been plunged into an early chill. I so enjoy the changing weather, the approaching holidays, and the promise of something new...sinus headaches and all.

I am hoping this little blog here will be an outlet for my thoughts on homemaking and hospitality. I am brimming with ideas all of the time these days and I am dreaming of a space where fellow crafties and myself can share the love of making a home and exchange tips and creative ponderings. I expect strong convictions will sometimes escape out onto the typed page, but I will try my utmost to keep the rants brief. My new husband looked at me this morning with a smile and called me his "little almost-activist". Oh my.

Things you should know about me:
1. I love Jesus. I am being redeemed daily and am committed to learning His Word (exciting, amazing!) and building His kingdom. My husband and I are thrilled with our new marriage, look forward to growing our family, and are awed each and every day at the Lord's flawless plan for our lives and His unfailing faithfulness. We experience about a miracle a week, it seems.

Now for the less important stuff.
I work at a small event rental company. This is fun for me, as I get to help people create the look of their weddings and parties.
I love baking. Am a stage actress at heart. Love reading...presently indulging myself in an incredibly nerdy personal study on Arthurian legend (can't believe I admitted that). Fan of biographies. Can read a cookbook with the interest of a novel. Art history buff. Amateur-quilter-want-to-be (my mom is a master quilter!). Could eat bread as an entree at every meal. Am fascinated with fashion. An early riser. Huge fan of finger nail polish. Coffee addict. Enjoy word games (bananagrams, anyone?). Clean freak (thank you, marriage, for revealing this trait). Busy bee (have a hard time sitting through a movie without working on a project). I have an unexpected fondness for Batman and I really really love U2. My husband, Caleb, and I have an incredible community of friends who we consider part of our family.
Although I certainly have some musings about life and home, I am presently at work...so I'll be keeping this post fairly brief. Glad you read this, whoever you are. Hopefully I'll get to write a bit more later...