MCFH: Vignette

I decided our home needed a specifically fall touch this year.  Preferring to collect items through the years that have personal or family meaning, or have been made by an artisan, I felt a little like I cheated in heading to the discount department store to fill out this vignette.  

The catalysts for this decorative urge were the beautiful, red-orange, Chinese lanterns from a dear friend's garden, and the sea blue goblets Princess Sassy gave me a couple of years ago.  Those join my Scentsy warmer that adds more cheerful light patterns on the wall, and, today, a yummy Clementine Clove scent.

This little scene adds such warmth to our home, I have gotten over my 'store-bought' snobbery, and now I have a base to build upon with collected items in the years to come.

My Cozy Fall Home, Day 7: Vignette, hosted by The Nester.

My Cozy Fall Home Challenge

It's been a looong while since I've posted here, but thought I might give it a shot again.  I have plans to set up my own art and quilting workspace within the house, get more organized, get on a schedule, and with all of that, try to get more regular with (hopefully brief) blog posts.  

Today I am joining The Nester, and others who to choose to do so, in sharing our 'Autumn Homes' this month on Instagram.  I've never really decorated for fall, but this year I gave it a tiny try, and figured participating in this challenge might motivate me further.  I can't promise to post every day, but do plan to be honest and share the imperfections and needs as well as decor.  You should come along for this fall ride, too!  

Start by sharing this image on your Instagram page, and post photos in the following days that suit the topic.  Always remember to add "#MyCozyFallHome" to your post, so everyone participating can see your photos.

Myquillyn Smith (AKA "The Nester") says the point is to see our "imperfect, cozy, creative, simple or not-so-simple fall-i-tized home. No fanciness or perfection required."  

Thank goodness for that last part, since it means, 'no pressure,' and everyone is welcome!  

It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect

IDHTBPTBB:  It Doesn’t Have To Be Perfect To Be Beautiful. 
Day 13 of My Cozy Winter Home. 

A piece of last year’s wrapping paper serves as our tree skirt. 

Long ago, kittens took their claw sharpening exercises out on my beloved ruby chairs, which have faded into more orange than ruby in places. 

The hand-me-down loveseat has become the picture of ‘threadbare.’ The picture of hard, big-family use on a tight budget. 

That’s how it’s always been here...But appreciated for the life lived in it, and all dolled up for Christmas (admittedly, from a polite distance)... Beautiful.

My Cozy Winter Kitchen

My Cozy Winter Home (with @thenester ), Day 5: Kitchen! 

--My favorite and warmest room in our house. 




















It’s lovely and serene when clean and quiet, but full and bustling is even better!

Evergreen

My Cozy Winter Home with @thenester, Day 4: Evergreen.

The smell, the textures, the GREEN. 


We are blessed to live in area where, not only do we have fresh evergreen trees, boughs, and wreaths readily and affordably available for Christmas, but, also, to have year-round views of evergreens surrounding us. (I think my stairway garland still needs work!)

Minimal

Day 3 of My Cozy Winter Home (via The Nester) : Minimal. 

I like to allow architectural details and materials to make a strong statement, like the woodwork milled from trees cut to clear for our house, and the ‘tile rug’ in our entry. I like to see tabletops and window trim (and window views). 






With 8 kiddos and multiple pets, I never wanted to add to clutter, or to increase dusting and laundry, so my decorating style can be a bit simple and bare. Today we’ll call it “minimal!” 

Cozy!

Only day 2 of @thenester ‘s My Cozy Winter Home virtual home tours and I almost forgot! Today’s theme: Cozy. It’s difficult to choose one shot of this theme, but here is someone who always knows how to make herself cozy, and with that fluff, she can’t help but be it herself. A shelf full of books (built by Hubby) and Prince CuddleBunny doing his schoolwork are part of a cozy home for me.

My Cozy Winter Home

I am joining The Nester (and many, many others) as we host our own virtual open houses. Photos posted on Instagram for the first 24 days of this month will exhibit different aspects of My Cozy Winter Home.  (I'll share here, too.)  Mine is far from perfect, and I’m trying some things that are new for me, so come along and share yours, too!

The Princess' Punkins

I think every week in October should have at least one 'pumpkin recipe,' so here's one that's a little different.

Princess Sassy has gotten pretty crafty lately.  She has always liked to buy and paint old furniture.  You may have noticed her the hot pink dresser that looks so amazing in their living space.










She got into the fall spirit early this year, and made this beautiful wreath....

...and a very cute project using 

• a roll of toilet paper
• a plastic grocery bag
• a 'fat quarter' of fabric 

and

• sticks (approx 1 inch in diameter) found in the yard. 

 I thought she'd found the idea on Pinterest or Facebook, but she said she dreamed it up herself, and made these cuties.

The princess started with a toilet paper roll set on a pre-cut 'fat quarter' bought at the fabric store...  Any piece of cotton, or similar weight fabric, cut approximately 18" square or larger should work.

She wrapped a grocery bag around the toilet paper roll to round it out.

She said that it works best to tuck the sides of the square into the top of the toilet paper roll first, then bring the corners in to hold it all together. 

Insert the short stick, about 4" to 6" long, into the center... and voila'!   No fuss.  No sew.  And in no time at all...  A whole, cute punkin patch!

Write31days.com

Blessings to You

Not much more to say than this, at least nothing more important...

Happy Easter!

This lovely piece is available in several colors for free printing and sharing in Easter Subway Art, created and offered by Jackie at Willow of Wonder.  

Happy 2013!

Wishing you all a very blessed and happy New Year!  

From Our Home for Ten (now 12)... to yours!

Thank You Note 2012

Inspired by my good bloggy-friend, Pat, of Corn in My Coffee Pot, I decided to share my top posts of 2012, as shown by number of readers' views.  (In other words, I'm copying her idea!)  I'm happy these posts have been of particular interest...

The first was a part of my series linked to Simple Mom's Project: Simplify 2012, a post showing the organization of our pantry:
Clutter Hotspot #2 - Pantry/Kitchen
















The second was a redesign of our island.  Not only a cosmetic change, but for function in swapping the original doored cabinets for more drawers.  We also usurped some of the seating overhang for additional storage in:

Vive la Différence













The 3rd one was part of my series explaining the design and construction of our house, a 98% DIY project by our family, now all shared on this page:
Our (DIY'd) Home for 10

Also, like Pat, I'd like to recognize and thank the two blogs that pushed the most reading traffic my way:

I first met Laxsupermom on the Gardenweb Kitchen Forum, and she is not only responsible for sending a lot of clicks my way, but was one of the people who answered a lot of questions and gave valuable advice in setting up and continuing my blog.  She writes Sugar & Spice in the land of Balls & Sticks.  She seems to have taken quite a hiatus, I think to be more present in her family's life, which I really admire and applaud!





I met the following lovely lady when I was about five, and she was just newborn!  Jennifer writes Another journey....  
She is also a Christian homeschooling mom of many, sharing her challenges of momming and schooling her youngest boys, who are adoptees from China with separate challenges.  She also happens to be my cousin.  ;-)


Lastly, I want to express my appreciation to all who read and comment; it means so much to me, and the others on the ends of fun relationships I've formed here in BloggyLand.  There are so many blogs I read and enjoy, with authors I so respect.  And, thanks, also to those who link from my blog to Amazon to do your various shopping, helping out our family coffers... Mostly, helping add to our Home library!

Party healthily and wisely, but enjoy this last day and night of  

I can't believe another year has come and gone so quickly!

Christmas at RHome410

First, our joyous, extended family party on Sunday:

And, today, our full enjoyment of Christmas with all of our ten... So all twelve of us under one roof, loving this special day together.  A special blessing on top of so many others:

Waiting on the stairs to go in to the tree

I want to clarify that Christmas is not about getting gifts for us.  We begin with prayer, recognizing and appreciating the birth of our Savior, and that all we have comes from God.

The kids get one "Santa gift" and one gift from Mom and Dad.  They love to get gifts for each other, and it's about knowing each other well enough to know what the recipients will love, even if it's from Goodwill.  And they do a great job!
























It's such a great moment - a feeling of accomplishment and success - for the gift giver when the gift getter is excited and completely pleased with his or her surprise.  My only photos of those moments are, unfortunately, too dark and grainy to share.  --Yes, they're worse than some of those I'm already showing here!

It gets messy!

And the best gift of all for Mom and Dad... Hearing the laughter as all 10 sat around the table, playing a game together, and having a grand time!

I hoped I had captured all 10 in one shot, but never seemed to manage it.


I hope you're having a fantastic and blessed day with your loved ones.

Merry Christmas!

New floor!

Almost every time a member of the family walks into the kitchen, they say, "I love this floor!"  

I'm not sure if they love it that much more than the Marmoleum Click we had, or just more than the torn  up floor with disintegrating acoustic pad.  ;-)  (That story, and the options we were considering were discussed in Torn Between Two Covers)

It's the DevineLock plank vinyl tiles by DevineColor, in their Burr Oak color.  It seems solid, but comfy to stand on, and it also seems like it will hide a bit of everyday mess, be easy to clean, and according to our research, as well as the feel in person, be tough enough to wear well and keep looking nice over time.

It's lighter than I expected, since it appears that the sample we had was a section of the darkest shades.  But that's I think lighter than expected is probably better than darker.  I really have to paint our kitchen chairs now, though, as they look so blah, without any contrast to the lighter floor.

And it took a lot of the night, but I finally got our dining room from looking like this...

To this, to prepare for today's family Christmas celebration:

2 Days 'til Christmas!!!