Our Fall Decor

Yes, I know, I'm a little late in posting this. It's almost time to decorate for Christmas! I don't believe in decorating for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. That and I usually don't have the time to! :)

Photos INCOMING!

This is what's on our formal table :) The table runner I got on awesome clearance last year. ($4.49)My cute apothecary jar filled with filler I got last year on clearance at Target($1.98). It's originally for Christmas since it has nuts and "cranberries" in it, so I just took out the nuts for Fall.  For Thanksgiving I added a turkey beanie baby! Hey- you have to use those things were you can! 

This is our normal table ( I forgot to clean before I took the picture). Those jars are actually 2 pickles and a relish jar shh! I love the glow at night time!

On my kitchen cart. Jar with leaves, dollar tree gourds and a sunflower to top it off :) My Etsy pitcher I added  some dollar tree leaves. 

This was for Halloween. I got some hard covered books and took the covers off :)

The one in the middle I usually keep there, but I love the height the other books added!

Dracula

Reader's Digest Book (from garage sale)

Obsessed - figured it sounded creepy :)

Our mantle. I added a little something for Thanksgiving. Sorry this pic was taken at night :)

I filled my Ball jar with leaves and the gourds. 

My cute plate I got at an antique shop with my dollar tree pumpkin.

"A good friend is like sunshine...always welcome"

Here's what I added for Thanksgiving

It's very simple to do if you have Scrabble. 

One thing I did not take a picture of, even though  I could run out a snap a pic in my PJ's, is our front door. I have a cute fall wreath and the planter has 3 mini pumpkins in it. 

I think I might add a little more to the wreath next year.Right now it is really cute and simple. 

 I love the full look of HOH's wreath (here)

I am really happy with it :) 3 packs of fake Dollar Tree leaves and 2 packs of fake gourds goes a long way :) I love that decorating does not have to be expensive and it can still look cute/nice! For the most part my decorating is just apothecary jars or jars that the fillers can be swapped out for each holiday. I like that since it is so versatile.

Have a great Thanksgiving! :D

New favorite blog!

Hello! I know it's been a while! I've been wanting to post more, but had the lack of motivation/energy to post anything! Soon I will post about the fall decor we have in our house, the cute sewing bag I found, and the good deal I got on Halloween clearance! :)

For now, I wanted to share this blog with you!  http://www.thenester.com/

It has helped me so much lately to realize that your home does not have to be perfect! I know that sounds like a "duh!". However all the reading I do with the craft blogs (which I am scaling back bc of this) has gotten me to think that my home is never good enough. I don't have that cute apothecary jar that she has, I can't afford to buy the cute new accessories or things to do a craft project. I don't have my seasonal things arranged for them to have the cutest potential.

Even though I am so grateful for what I have, it is so easy to get caught up in everything. The my house is not clean enough. I have messes around the house. I have dishes spilling out of the sink onto the counter. I felt like I was always behind in the house chores. That I have been just trying to play catch up.

Her blog has helped me a lot! Even though it seems like I should already know this, she blogs about how things in your house can be messy, but still beautiful. To enjoy life's messes.

Here are two posts I loved!
http://www.thenester.com/2008/05/imperfectly-beautiful-the-philosophy-of-a-home.html

http://www.thenester.com/2010/10/31-days-a-beautiful-mess.html

One big thing she helped me learn today, as I was going through her archives, was a houses here to serve you!(1st link)

Seems so obvious! However think about all the time you try to get your house to look perfect/nice. I know that I had an obsessive episode last week with getting the kitchen floor perfectly rid of litter. Her post (listed 1st) helped me see that lately I've been serving my house, not the other way around.
Yes it is nice to have your house clean and it is necessary to a certain extent.

Was I honoring God through my obsessive episode? No! God gave us this house! He gave it to us, for it to serve us. For it to serve as a place for us to live, stay warm, serve others, for us to have a place to grow as a family(one day), and so on. In fact I know the way I behaved that day did not honor God and the blessing He gave us. Being a slave to our house is not God's will. Houses will change, but what happens in them is what stays in our hearts and memories.

The Nester put it beautifully:
 It’s the same with having the goal of a less messy nest~there are two ways to get there:

1. You can learn methods and tips and tricks to help keep your home less messy.

2. You can lower your expectations and accept the fact that you will have messes and that each season of your family’s life will bring different kinds of beautiful messes.

Don't let your messes or your "imperfect" house from keep you from having people over or from creating new memories!

Have a beautiful night!