Bringing A Little Autumn Indoors

Welcome to a little peek inside my home in all it's fall glory! Or, as close to glory as I'm gonna get. Bonnie from A Knotted Life is having a fun home tour and blog hop so make sure to snoop in everyone's windows!

Fall has it's very own feeling of coziness mingled in the crispness of falling leaves and the scents of spice -- a veritable siren call for those of us who love adding bits and bobs to our homes to celebrate the seasons.

Here is my oh-so-simple decorations that I add to our home, emphasis on simple. Like all else in my life past keeping the littles alive with food, clean clothing, and a modicum of householdly hygiene, I don't have a lot of time for "decorating" or "crafting" even though I kinda wish I did most days. But I do find that even the smallest of seasonal additions to our home makes the kids giddy with excitement. Which proves to myself that it's not simply me who cares how our house looks, I'll take any toddler signs of approval I can get!

Here we have my little attempt at decorating our front door. There's really nothing that makes you feel like a real bona fide adult like decorating your front door, ammiright? I made the yarn and felt wreath a couple years ago and I still like it! That's no small feat since I feel like I fall prey to house decor trends like a teenage girl to the latest One Direction single. 

I also just stuck in some branches in the flower pots I keep by the door, the kids found the nest and I think it's precious but don't know where else to display it. 

I usually like to have something pretty going on with our dining table because it turns out to be the centre of our small and very open upstairs. Usually it's covered in school books, mounds upon mounds of children's crumbs, but having something pretty still helps with an overall feeling of prettiness. A small sanity saving, if you will! 

This year I bought another table runner from HomeSense/Goods, it's burlap with a little bit of glittery gold in it. Then I've had this mercury glass pumpkin for a couple years, also bought at HomeSense, threw it on a wooden platter with a couple white pumpkins -- done!

Since we don't have a mantle right now I have to put my obsession with bunting/garlands to use on our giant patio window. I found these pumpkins this year and couldn't resist one little bit. The kids think they're hilarious, and I call them "whimsical without being completely tacky".  But who knows, maybe I've crossed the line.

My photography goes completely to pot here, I'm so sorry. My house is really bright, which I love, but for some reason I have no figured out how to accurately photograph it. I know there is a secret aperture, shutter speed, something-something I'm missing. Help!

In our kitchen we have this little bay window that I always keep pretty display things on, so it gets changed up often, and cleaned less often. I've got family photos in these glass frames then more white pumpkins, a little tiny nest we found last fall, and of course, some pumpkin spice candles. 

My husband will notice this in a month, but right now I'm liking it for sure!

Guys, in God's mercy I don't have a big house. And you know why I say that? Because if I had a big house with McMansion-like decorating potential I would fall into a pit of tchotchke obsession and credit card debt. I looove seasonal tchotchkes. But obviously, with our house's main living area being relatively small and open I can't tchotchke this joint up too badly. My husband says prayers of thanks every day I'm sure. Look! Only a few squashes on the piano, with a really nice manly smelling candle too! It's a miracle! 

Also; pumpkins. Seriously, fall decorating is the easiest because...pumpkins. 

And that's about it. Very simple, a few things I keep from one year to the next, and some fresh pumpkins. It's not a lot but I feel it makes the house feel seasonal without going crazy. Because, I find I'd be tired of the season and my home in about two days if I went bonkers with a bunch of stuff that screamed "FALL" in brightly coloured letters or something. 

I've also just put these things around the house in the last week, I hate decorating too early for the season. It's just a weird pet peeve I have, but decorating for Christmas in November should be a crime. Also, since our summers are so short up here I really dislike rushing summer out the door in September, I like savouring the last warm days and saving the cozy elements of decorating for fall when the landscape changes to barren brown till the first snowfall during October.

Bonnie, asked me if I wanted to post about how we decorate for Canadian thanksgiving, so I will: we don't really decorate. Canadians on a whole don't go in for Thanksgiving like Americans. We cook a turkey, enjoy a day off with family, eat some pie and call it a day. We don't have a ton of Thanksgiving specific decorations in stores even. We usually have a nice fall table set, but other decorating past the regular pumpkins and mums aren't really the norm. We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving next Monday, and I won't change a thing except pulling out some fall dishes for dinner with my parents and family. And we're fine with that, because we're Canadian and fine with most everything.  

I should also mention that my kids usually make a bunch of seasonal fall decorations, but we haven't done it quite yet so that's why my windows are still free of construction paper, but it will come and we'll put them where everyone can see our creations. I try to keep a balance between things looking like a preschool, (even though that's what this house kinda is), and a catalogue (har, har!). 

One of things I like best about my home is that kids live here, and I'm glad it looks like it!

And I didn't forget my kitchen sink -- tchotchkes for everyone!

Enjoy all the fall festivities and the much better efforts by visiting everyone in the blog hop:

Svellerella

Mama Needs Coffee

Surviving Our Blessings

Two O's Plus More

This Ain't The Lyceum

House For Five

Team Whitaker

Clan Donaldson

Better Than Eden

And thanks to our host, A Knotted Life

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Seven Quick Takes vol. 99

Hey, hope you all had a good week. I'll try to make these quick, go to Jen's for more!

{one}

Surprisingly, she didn't get injured doing this.

This week flew by up until yesterday where the day got swallowed by doctors offices and X-rays! Nora is still not walking by herself, and because she seems to have quite the streak of diva in her Gemma and Dominic often carry her from one place to the other because...diva. Yesterday morning Gemma was carrying her in regular awkward fashion and tripped over her own feet on the carpet in the basement. Gemma fell awkwardly on Nora but it didn't seem too bad, I thought Nora was ok even though she was crying because diva usually likes to freak out over small things. She then went down for her nap, slept for her usual amount of time but woke up crying and clearly in pain. I checked her body but she didn't seem to be reacting to any one spot, but I knew she was in pain and was basically freaking out. It happened that I already had a doctor's appointment booked for Dom in the afternoon so I just took her along, by which time she wasn't screaming constantly in pain but was refusing to put weight on her right foot. We went for x-rays, the doctor says he didn't see anything broken, but a specialist will look at them today and hopefully confirm she's just got a sprain. She's been fairly miserable ever since, woke up a lot last night, and doesn't want to be put down ever. I'm just hoping I don't get a phone call saying it's broken today!

{two}

I am the worst about stressing/freaking out about kids health. This is the first time I've had to take a child for x-rays on a bone before. So I realize that my kids are blessedly healthy but still, I freak out so much. I always pray for parents and kids with health issues during my litany when I say morning/evening prayer, but I feel like I need to do more because I can't imagine how hard it is.

{three}

Before all hell broke lose yesterday I finally finished a small gallery wall on our newish living area in our newish-ly finished basement. It's been on my to-do list since June. So of course it took me till the very last week of summer to actually accomplish! And of course I do one thing out of the regular routine of keeping people alive around here and...ALL HELL BREAKS LOSE. 

{four}

The sweetest Colleen tagged me in the writing meme going around because she is a sainted soul who thinks I actually write stuff. I just can't break her heart so I'll answer quickly and honestly! 

What are you working on? 

I am most definitely not working on a book. So stop those rumours! What? There are no rumours? Cmon guys! I feel highly accomplished if I tippity-tappity a blog post more than once a week. So that is usually all I work on.

What makes your work different from others in the same genre?

I have no idea. The blogging world is so good, and everything I say has been said before, but much better. I don't consider myself a "writer" by any stretch of the imagination. I don't feel I have the natural talent of so many of my friends, I definitely don't have the time to devout to honing any skills I do have, so I really think of myself as just blogging into the void.

Why do you write what you do?

I don't want to write noise or blather or anything that would waste your time. I don't think I write because I have anything at all unique to say really, I just feel a need to express myself somehow. I see it as a nice hobby for myself. I think I'd always wanted to write something, but I definitely don't have the time and dedication to write articles on specific subjects or work towards getting things actually published so blogging is the perfect medium for me right now. 

How does your writing process work?

Well this is a hilarious question. I usually have ten minutes here, ten minutes there and I usually write about what I have on my mind that day. I do zero planning ahead, very little editing. Obviously the quality of my writing shows this, I'm under no illusions. I usually feel extremely uncreative if I try to deliberately come up with "blog post" ideas. I'm not a naturally talented blogger like some who truly are made for this medium and thus have highly successful blogs. 

So does that count Colleen? I'm not sure if it does. I can't believe she picked me along with Jenny and the amazing Betty Duffy! 

{five}

I felt like I was being interviewed like a celebrity over at The Rhodes Log this week. Or at least interviewed by a celebrity! Kate asked questions about life with only small kids and babies as opposed to now with one barely-7 year old and a bunch of babies. The whole series has been really great, I've loved all the different answers from the various great women, so do check out all the posts. Kate is sweet and interesting just like her blog and I want to move next door to her and hope her coolness rubs off on me. Thanks for letting me drone on and on about babies, Babies, BABIES! 

{six}

I have also been remiss to tell you all about Blessed Is She, a daily Catholic women's devotional that will be beginning on Monday, September 1. It'll have the day's Mass readings, and a short devotional written by great writers, and me sometimes. I'm really excited to have this resource available, because as much as I love my Magnificat I sometimes completely miss out on reading it. Seeing the beautiful images with scriptures pop up on my Instagram have helped me already, I can't wait to read the meditations as well! 

{seven}

Jen just asked what was the last song we listened to and for me it's Rolling Stone by Reuben and the Dark. For some reason I find it completely catchy and it gets stuck in my head and my husband doesn't understand. But there you have it! 

Happy long weekend to both Canada and the United States, it's nice when we share non-religious holidays sometimes...

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A Little Girl's Room Update

So I got a little, tiny, itsy-bitsy bit crafty and thus - pictures!

Really, I've got to document this kind of miraculous happening or else it probably didn't happen at all. 

Gemma's room was needing something -- it had been ages since I'd done anything to add some fun to it, and I wanted to desperately but had no real inspiration. Then my mom crocheted these stars, thought it would be fun for a garland, mentioned this in my presence - and BAM! I had some idea for Gemma's room. 

I also found a $4 roll of music-note wrapping paper that I knew must become bunting. Because I have one rule of decorating kids rooms and its this: paper garlands everywhere! So I whipped up a little random, non-perfect, very homemade music-note paper garland that I thought might look cool/eclectic/passable layered with the crocheted stars of many colours. 

And then I added a disco ball. Because it's awesome.

Now we have this sweet little updated wall. Which would look much better with more light, but this was a sunshine-y day and it looks like the inside of a cave because this room is on the northeast side of the house and doesn't get the warmest winter light. Not cool low winter sun.

Gemma wanted to add some photos that I printed through Origrami, because I'm obsessed with the Instagram as you all know, and I complied. Max loves to rip them off the wall approximately 2.5 seconds after I stick-tack them up there, but they look cute in these pictures at least!

I'm a little in love with these crocheted stars. I really want to make some too, someday, when I get all that spare time I've got coming! The colours in this yarn my mom used are much brighter in real life and so much fun.

Gemma even made her bed for me, which is pretty miraculous all in itself! Please note I've left out the rest of the room that includes a destroyed window blind and Max's crib. Poor Max, it's a girl's room...he's just living in it!

I'm linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter because this is a big, fat combination of Pretty, Happy, Funny and Real don't you think?

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A Finished Baby Blanket - pretty,happy,funny,real

Pretty because its finally done!

I finally finished Nora's baby blanket - and she's only 8 months old! I believe that makes about a year in the works, which means I grabbed the camera to document my Herculean effort in the crochet department, because this doesn't happen everyday around here, folks!

I originally picked out this pattern because I thought it was going to be nice and simple and I liked how the circles attached to one another, which I believed at the time would make for less sewing in of ends, my most dreaded task in crochet, but once I had ordered the wool and sat down and finally read the pattern I figured out that I would have to make 192 individual circles which would end up with 192 ends to sew in. Clearly, this all happened while I was pregnant and not in full use of my mental faculties.

I began it last winter while pregnant, and somehow with feeling miserable at the end of the pregnancy, her being born, then summer all added up to about 8 months where I just forgot about the thing. But then realized I should finish it while she still was a baby and I really hate unfinished projects! So I took up I a hook again while watching football on Sundays and finally-finished! I'm really impressed with how big it turned out (I probably completely ignored the dimensions of the blanket while choosing the pattern too) and I think its the biggest baby blanket I've made yet.

She's happy because she realizes that even though she's the fifth child her mom still loves her enough to make her an baby blanket....

I've so far crocheted each baby their own baby blanket. They've all been different patterns from different crochet books and I've really liked each. Some I've been finished when they were born and they came home with them, and others have been a long time in coming, like this one. But somehow making them makes me feel very motherly and accomplished. Which is hilarious because I value the darn blankets so much I let the babies have them in their cribs until they can start throwing them on the floor and/or pulling them apart (Max!) at which point I confiscate them for posterity for storage in the basement! My husband gives me a lot of grief about this, because I'm usually preaching the gospel of pretty, homemade things should be used and enjoyed all. the. time. So I'm a big ol' hypocrite.

Funny face.

The pattern came from a this great book of crochet afghans, Unexpected Afghans, that I really recommend! It has a great variety of fun patterns that weren't stuffy or boring and all have beautiful colours and wools. The book originally had this pattern in a gorgeous coral colour, but since I didn't want to jinx the baby and afghan colour not coordinating, I picked this gender-neutral-ish teal. The blanket I made for Max may have been completely wrong colour wise (oh it really was), and I may just end up switching his blanket for this one. But let's all not tell him when he's older.

Real-Yes, crochet may be a little hole-y for baby fingers and toes.

Either way, these pictures all turned out adorably because of my crazy little girl. And by crazy, I mean serious. Because she is a serious customer. Not grumpy, but serious. She's really brimming with excitement for her personality in these pictures!


Linking up with the great Like Mother, Like Daughter for today's prettiness!

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My Living Room - Now With Nicer Furniture!

I've been meaning to write up some kind of post about my recent living room updates for the last couple weeks - because we finally bought new furniture AND finally got it home! But you know what makes it hard to write a post about your living room? Having a clean living room of which to take photos! Miracle of miracles I rapidly cleaned up all stray toys and children one day and snapped a couple shots. (Seriously, home bloggers must have time and patience like I don't even know, because taking pictures of your house that actually look good is HARD!)

We bought our new furniture from La-z-boy and I recently bought some fancy Anthropologie curtains that I'm a bit infatuated with so I thought they deserved a blog post all of their own!

Without further ado let's hit some photos!

This is basically our living room. I guess I should have taken a shot from farther back, but our home is small, yet very open. As this is the end of the house, picture the dining room and the kitchen directly behind you in one straight line. That means from the kitchen you can see and hear everything in the living room, from the living room you can see and hear everything in the kitchen. Its small, but when having small children its actually been way more practical and conducive to family life that I would have thought when first moving in here. 

And yes, welcome to my love of orange. The orange can be a shock to some, but I'm being completely honest in saying that I've lived with it for 5 years and have absolutely no regrets. Its made me happy, has added great colour and personality to our rental home, and when living in a land of 9 month long winters you come to need big bursts of colour in your surroundings because outside is just white. The orange is only on a couple walls, with the rest of the walls being a light sand which tones everything down. 

Next shocker - yes, I also really love pattern. And I may have gone a little pattern crazy in here. Actually, I think I'm going to be editing either the blue pillows or the striped throw after looking at these photos, because enough can be enough sometimes! 

Here's the brand new chair. 

After I swore to myself I'd never buy a recliner...I bought a recliner. I found the most un-recliner looking one they had and then found an orange geometric fabric that I loved. I figured it wouldn't be placed right next to an orange wall so wouldn't look completely matchy-matchy, plus I would be able to have something orange even if we move and/or repaint. 

Its ridiculously comfortable even for short little me and my not so short husband. I think a good rocker is kinda a necessary evil when you have kids. There are just too many nights spent up rocking sick babies, or nursing babies, or reading to littles. I also chose this design of chair because I figured it was conducive to a child sitting on each arm!

Basically, I kinda love it.

And here's the new couch.

I've been fantasizing about a grey couch for a long while, and since I wore out our old couch being pregnant all the time we saved up for this one! I bought it for its comfort, depth, and simple lines. I'm glad I picked the fabric I did because I find it both really soft, yet durable and not prone to looking dirty when kids rub against it. It so far seems very wipe/wash friendly. But time will tell its real durability. 

Here's the pillow in what I think is a gorgeous floral print that came with the couch. Honestly, I never expected to like, and love, so many of the fabrics Lay-z-boy offers. I was tempted to get the chair in this fabric, but it turned out to be one of the most expensive fabrics you can pick, but since you don't have any extra cost for the throw pillows this was the perfect way to get the fabric for no added cost! In other words music to my husband's ears! Plus, I think my husband might have thought a giant floral a little too much for a chair. I probably would have too...eventually.

  

And finally the magical new curtains! I ruminated and looked forever for new curtains I would love for what felt like years, but once I saw these ones from Anthropologie I was ruined. They were not a budget friendly choice, but I am confident I'll love them for a long time so that makes it worth it to me. Plus, they're really the only window dressing on the entire main living area so that is a an important space to think about, and the added impact is definitely worth it! I would never go for Anthro curtains for a bedroom, but in the area most used and seen by every visitor, I think it's a good choice. But I do feel ridiculous for not knowing how to sew...

Its by no means perfect. I still want another chair, I keep hoping to find a thrift store find that isn't in dire need of reupholstery. With an additional chair I'd get rid of the random coffee table we have by the window and get a smaller kids table. The couch is longer than our previous couch so I need to get thinner end tables. I'd love to find some cool, vintage floor lamps and buy some trendy new lampshades. But that too is most likely a few months down the road. Oh, and new photos/gallery wall above said couch. The list goes on...

And there we have it. The new additions to our living room that honestly make me all kinds of happy. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I really feel that the home is the important space in your life. For you the stay at home mom who is always at home and deserves beautiful surroundings, for your kids who you are teaching what is beautiful, and for your husband to come home to relax in. Also; in our time of life we aren't spending any money in entertainment, or vacations, or hobbies that involve money or time outside our home, so when you think about it that way this is the best way we can use our money for the most impact in our daily life.  

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Ugly Advent Wreath Pinterest Round-Up!

I fully understand that I should probably go to confession over what's about to follow here, but I just couldn't resist!

The other day I was looking for some inspiration for my Advent Wreath, because it is in sore need of some sprucing up, and I wanted to hip it up a little. And for some reason Real Simple and Traditional Home don't have a lot in the way of Catholic liturgical season decorating. Which is weird. Also; since every interior design blog is written by an uber-chic Mormon I'm outta luck there too. I just hit a simple search of Advent Wreath in Pinterest and came up with these winners. I won't link back because I don't want to be too mean, and clearly that'll make a difference to my penance. 

Prepare yourselves.

Sadly, I think there are some liberal parishes out there that would be all about this guy!

Its hanging from a chandelier and has fake flowers. Enough said.

Under this pin read the caption "pretty advent wreath". Clearly, this pinner was colour blind.

This one's a doozy. I'm trying to imagine the theological arguments someone would make for it. Something about the linking of the celestial beings...

AN ANTLER ADVENT WREATH!?!? Seriously, lets call the time of death on this trend right now.

I can almost appreciate this one. I too have a lot of wine bottles kicking around. And it has that cheap Italian restaurant vibe going for it...

The moral of this story is we Catholics need to rise up, come up with some pretty Advent wreaths and then Pin them! My only instructions are to use the liturgically correct colours of candles, no spray paint, and for the love of all that is good, no pine cones!