Raise The Song Of Harvest Home!

One of the simple pleasures I take great joy in each year is decorating our home for fall and Christmas.  Fall has been my favorite season since I was a girl, and I have decorated our home for fall since the very first year we were married.  I remember going to Kmart and buying some pillar candles, then surrounding them with fresh cranberries on a tray given to us as a wedding gift.  I think I have a photo of that somewhere!  I had a short, Meg Ryan type haircut and we had not yet painted the walls of our little townhome.  Such sweet memories!

Each year we have been married I have bought or made a couple new things each fall season, and of course accept any hand-me-downs or treats from my mom!  She is probably where I got my love for seasonal decorating. I always remember how cozy our home felt when she changed it over for a new season, added her creative and often homemade touches.  I now see my children enjoying our home the way I did - they get so excited when I change things around, especially at fall and Christmas!  It is something our family really enjoys, something I can do for our family that takes some work (especially since I usually do a major clean out before I decorate), but is also great fun for me.  When it is done we all sit and just sort of take it all in.  All of a sudden things feel new, which is one reason I love the seasons.  They remind me of how God works in our lives.

One of my favorite song lyrics is by Nichole Nordeman, from her song  "Every Season."  She pens, "So it is with You, and how You make me new with every season's change.  And so it will be, as You are recreating me, summer, autumn, winter, spring."  Each new season reminds me how God makes us new.  And that makes my heart sing with gratitude!

Here are some glimpses of our harvest home!  My mom found the gorgeous fall sign at Homegoods for a steal and bought both of us one.  When she gave it to me a few weeks ago, it inspired me to do some deep cleaning, get down the fall decorations, and change things around to enjoy for the next few months.

I have a few Halloween decorations, just happy, cheerful items.  Once October is over I will take them down and leave up only the autumn and Thanksgiving decorations to enjoy through November.  I just love Thanksgiving!  It is one of my favorite weeks of the year!  I love the focus on family and gratitude.

These are the views from my green chair and they make me smile!  My mom bought that hutch about 40 years ago at a garage sale for $15.  It has been painted many colors (including baby blue stenciled with geese in the good old 80's), and we had been using it in Madi's room.  We moved it to this corner when I got the urge to rearrange, and it just makes me so happy! I had plans for Jimmy to paint it black and put on new moldings and hardware, but with our schedule that hasn't happened yet. But the white adds a certain freshness, and I think it will look nice at Christmastime with red accents!

Simple craft I made a few years ago - a black plastic pumpkin brushed in gold paint.

Put this special Willow Tree figure next to my chair.  My mom gave it to me back when I was expecting Madi...I always thought it was so beautiful.  Neat to bring it out again!

One of my favorite fall pieces, an old cross stitch my mom made several decades ago.

Absolutely delicious fragrance from Bath and Body Works if you are looking for a new autumn scent!

My own little corner, my own little chair.

My apples of gold to remind me to speak words of kindness.

Another easy craft, made with rub on letters and faux flowers.

I made this Boo garland from a kit purchased at Hobby Lobby.

This is truth.

I love lyrics, especially from old hymns.  The hymn "For The Beauty Of The Earth" is sung in Little Women, one of Madi and my very favorite movies!  We always watch it this time of year!

Ceramic hen was a $1 yard sale find last year.  I don't go to many yard sales but this was a great find!

Was able to take home these beautiful amber teacups from a Girls Retreat I helped plan and teach at last winter.

Another old lyric, from "Over The River And Through The Woods."

This orange chalkboard is new this year, a great and inexpensive find at Marshall's!

Adorable coffee sack was a birthday gift from our sweet friend Linda - yummy fall breakfast items found at Aldi!

I so enjoy this time of year - the tastes, the smells, the colors.  Even though fall is not the same down here, I still celebrate its beauty in our home and enjoy it with my family!

"I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. 

It would be terrible if we just skipped 

from September to November, 

wouldn’t it?”

L.M. Montgomery,

author of Anne of Green Gables

Ribbon Runner And Ribbon Scrap Wreath

I have been wanting to learn how to sew for a long time now, but I have to be honest - when I see a sewing machine there is something about that little contraption that intimidates me!  Knowing that I had been wanting to learn, my mom bought me a sewing machine the Christmas before last.  I finally opened it this May.  I still have to have Jimmy thread the bobbin and help me when something goes awry, but I've done a few simple projects and am slowly teaching myself to sew!  My last project was a ribbon runner which turned out very cheerful and fun!

I saw the idea for this in one of my mom's magazines when we were at the beach.  It was so pretty and looked easy enough, so I gave it a try.

I picked out a variety of colorful ribbons when they were 50% at Hobby Lobby, cut them to the length I wanted, and followed the instructions in the magazine to first glue the ribbons together with Liquid Stitch glue, then sew them together.

The magazine article gave instructions to cut a fabric backing and sew it to the runner wrong sides together, then turn out and finish off. I tried that and let's just say it didn't go well...at all!  I had to rip out every.single.seam. but I was determined to save the project.  Instead of backing it with fabric, I just pinned down the edges and used a double seam to finish it off.  It worked out fine and was tons easier!

The colorful ribbons looked very cheerful in my kitchen!

And since I had just enough ribbon left, I made a coordinating wreath by wrapping a styrofoam wreath form and pinning the ribbon with floral pins.  A lace flower, two homemade flowers, and some baker's twine later, I had a matching wreath and loved how it turned out!

If you like simple, easy projects, give these a try!  You could use seasonal ribbon for the upcoming holidays for some pretty, homemade additions to your home!