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Tag: Pictures

  • Joy in the Home

    Joy in the Home

    Joy is found in the home, with the people we love

    A couple weeks ago I was feeling on top of the world. There was just this high optimism for life and everything in it. As I got into bed one night, the word hit me

    JOY

    I was feeling an immense amount of Joy, and for no particular reason other than I am healthy, I have 4 healthy kids, a wonderful husband, extended family that is amazing, a roof over our head and food in the cupboards. 
     
    Can life really be any more simple than those things?  Those are the things that truly bring us joy.  So I decided I wanted to display this Joy in my home. I knew I wouldn’t always be feeling so upbeat, but if I could create a constant reminder for myself to have Joy, then the down days wouldn’t have to be so bad. 
     
    I had this idea to create a sign that read JOY, and then next to it have some of my favorite family pictures displayed. Before I even had a chance to come up with my own design, I found myself at a workshop with Steffany and Melanie from the blog Find it Make it Love it. I was so thrilled when the craft they shared fit into my JOY vision.
    Add joy to your wall with pictures of the family in Ikea candle dishes!

     

    So of course, I picked up all my supplies right after the workshop and set to work making their IKEA candle dish turned picture frame. Once I had the kids at school, and Prince L sleeping it was just me and Princess R. I set her to work with a new tracing book we bought, and I got started on my crafting. Picking a picture of each of the kids was extremely difficult! Either they were too close to their face, or too far away. I finally had my decisions, though.I did my cut outs slightly different, only because I’m very visual, and don’t trust myself completely – so I used the scrap from the circle cut out to trace my pictures.

    Joy of children

    Princess R was pretty distraught when I cut off Prince L’s feet, and she started taking off with all the pictures of her. I guess she was worried I was going to ruin all the pretty pictures. Once it was all done though, she thought they were pretty nice.

    Ikea candle dish turned picture frame

    The large candle dish turned chalkboard was perfect for my new word – JOY. Mark kindly jumped in here and added his artistic talents to the sign. Just another little joy found in spending time with my husband.

    Chalkboard wall art

    Everything has a meaning on his design, but at the moment all I can remember is the stars represent our 4 children and our biggest joy. He’s got such talent.

    Once we had these hung above the desk, I realized just what a mess I had allowed this space to become. So not only did doing something crafty add a nice touch to our wall, it also spurred me to get some extra cleaning done, booyah!  I feel I can be much more productive in this space now instead of feeling overwhelmed.

    What brings you Joy in the home?

     

    What brings you JOY? 
  • A Look at our Kitchen

    A Look at our Kitchen

    Isn’t it pretty?  I cleaned it especially for you guys today. Yes we bought another house wish a hallway kitchen.  It does have more room and potential than our last kitchen though, and infinitely more counter space than our rental.

    This year we plan on remodeling the bathrooms, but I believe the Kitchen is on our to do for next year. In the meantime I may do a little touching up here and there. I love the pull down shade in the window, but it’s pretty dirty. I’m hoping my sewing skills are up to the task of redoing it with some fun fabric. Although I’m more worried about my mechanical skills to make sure it still works once I’m done. Of course the wallpaper also has to go, and a back splash behind the oven is needed.

    I obviously need more chalkboard stickers on my canisters as well. I usually have to open 2 or more to find what I’m looking for. Of course there’s my stack of cooking magazines as well. Always handy for quick menu planning.

    Eventually it will all come together.

    I’m linking up this week with Mama Kat’s Writing Prompts

    Mama’s Losin’ It

  • Photobook Sale

    Photobook Sale

    Blurb is offering 15% Off photobooks the whole month of October.
     
    Use code FALL15OFFBOOK
     
    One of my favorite things to give as gifts are photobooks. At Blurb you can fully customize your book with photos, artwork and text. We love making these photobooks to keep our kids memories alive, and to share with Grandparents.
     
     
  • Decorating for Fall {Wordless Wednesday}

    Decorating for Fall {Wordless Wednesday}

    I love Fall/Autumn
    I bought my scarecrow girl on sale a couple years ago…to Mark’s head shaking….
    The corn we grew ourselves, but when we moved, it got left behind. We went and picked the stalks over the weekend. I love the look!
    The Pumpkin came from Princess V’s first ever field trip! We’ll add some more when we go as a family.
     
    Join us tomorrow on Think About it Thursday, as we talk about Fall vs Autumn.
    What do you call it? Why the two names? Is there a right term?

  • Huge Photo Book Sale 9/24

    Huge Photo Book Sale 9/24

    Have you checked out Blurb yet? Right now they are offering 30% OFF photobooks!  This sale ends today though, so get in on it before it’s gone!!

     
    This is one of their biggest sales ever. These would make great Christmas presents for Grandparents, a sentimental gift for a spouse, or a fresh take on keeping those childhood memories.
     
     
     
     
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  • Food Collage {Wordless Wednesday}

    Food Collage {Wordless Wednesday}

    I’ve been finding myself having a lot of fun in the kitchen these days. Maybe it’s the end of summer coming on, the cold weather beginning, or perhaps I’ve just found my newest favorite hobby. 

    Normally I follow recipes as precisely as I can, only substituting ingredients I know can work. Lately, however, I’ve been creating some of my very own recipes, using a base recipe for things like…cupcakes.  Mmm, are you looking forward to some Foodie Fridays? These are all so good!
  • Country Living {Wordless Wednesday}

    Country Living {Wordless Wednesday}

    Aside from the complaining I’ve done about this house, one thing I have loved is the outside. We have some pretty amazing outside space here.
    We’re right on Main St, and get a lot of traffic, but it’s all fenced and gated in, so the kids can play safely outside.
    What we really love though is when our Landlord comes and waters.  We’ve got irrigation water here, so he just opens the gates and the water floods the lawn. It’s so much fun!
     

    
  • Kitchen {Wordless Wednesday}

    Kitchen {Wordless Wednesday}

    Remember how we remodeled our kitchen just before we moved?

    Yeah I miss it. Here’s my current kitchen.
     What you see is the only counterspace there is.
    We may be able to fit a rable in here for the 6 of us.
     
    Come by next thursday (sept 6th) to see what I love and hate about this kitchen, on Think About it Thursday.
  • Our new Home

    Our new Home

    I’m back! I hope I didn’t lose too many of you in this week of absence. I tried to have enough guest posts to keep you all entertained, and hanging around.  What I wasn’t expecting was for our internet to take so long to get set up. We’ve moved a lot in our married life, and we’ve never had such troubles.  I’ll talk more about that later though. For now I just want to share a picture or two of our new home with you.

    Cute home huh?  I actually really love it. The problem we are having is that it hasn’t been taken care of very well. So for now we’re renting. We’re actually heading out tonight to check out some more homes around town.

  • House for Sale {Wordless Wednesday}

    House for Sale {Wordless Wednesday}

    A bittersweet day. It means Mark has a job, but it means we are leaving this well loved home.