I Love When Autumn Comes Indoors

For me it is an understatement to say, "I love the fall season". If only one season could exist, I would choose autumn. This year I was late in getting the seasonal decorations displayed in our home. The task was on my "to do" list for many weeks but other projects took precedence. Finally, one Saturday I put the decorations at the top of the list and took action. 

I started in the living room. My goal was not to have to buy any new decor this year using the items I have in a different way. The fireplace and mantle tend to be the place that I always begin. Last year, I used the swag of leaves in a basket outdoors with artificial gourds. This year I brought it indoors and wrapped it on the iron scroll work that hangs above the mantle. Usually I would scatter the wooden pumpkins through the house but I saw on Pinterest how one person filled their fireplace with pumpkins, so I did my own version of that by placing the pumpkins in front of the fireplace opening. I love the look of candles glowing this time of year so I placed a few of my lantern/candle holders on the mantle. To say I am pleased with the outcome is an understatement.

To the left of the fireplace, we have a CD cabinet. Usually I would do a flower arrangement for the dining room table but chose to make one and place it here in this "alcove". In the vase covering the artificial flowers stems, is Spanish moss, a small artificial pumpkin and some mini pine cones. Surrounding the base of the vase, are some artificial gourds. There is a funny story about this arrangement. When I finished it and was walking it through the living room toward the cabinet Matt was following me and said very seriously, "Is that your best idea?" I have to say I was a little taken back by his comment. I asked him what he meant by that to which he replied again, "Is that your best idea?" I guess my kids have come to expect more from me when it comes to my creations. Even with Matt's unexplained comment, I'm so pleased with how this looks.

I do have a few other fall themed vignettes on tables in the living room but did not photograph them. What I love is how the whole look makes the room have that fall warmth I love!

In the dining room, I used a "vased" candle for the table centerpiece. Surrounding the candle is Spanish moss topped with artificial acorns and pine cones. On top of the computer cabinet, I places 3 different sized artificial pumpkins.  I kept the decorations very simple in here as we utilize this room not only for meals but homework and some craft projects that "spill out" of my craft room. 

The only other area that I had left to decorate was the window sill of the the dining room picture window. I purchased a long metal tray several years ago which fits perfectly on the sill. I filled it using 3 wooden pumpkins and laid some acrylic fall colored leaves in the tray.

As for the outdoor fall decor (which I don't have pictures of), last year Dave and the kids carved artificial pumpkins so we don't have to carve new ones each year. I did take the kids to get real pumpkins, Emily and I placed ours outside but Matt chose to keep his in his room. The only other decor are autumn themed flags, and two metal corn cob stakes.....oh and of course, the front and back doors both have wreaths.

One thing I love about the fall decor is that it stays out for not only October but the majority of November (we put up our Christmas decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving). Now the smell of my Yankee Candle apple cider candle and the taste of warm apple cider make the whole fall ambiance come together. Ahhh...yummy autumn, so glad you are here!

We Are Family - Part 2

Back in June after repainting of our dining room and kitchen, I posted how it has been my desire to create a "family" wall within our home. A tribute wall. At that time, all the elements had been hung, however, I hadn't decided on the pictures to be used in the framed collage. Well, I'm happy to report, I finally made my choices and today I completed our family wall.

At the top of the wall, is a "w" for our family moniker "Wessel". Next to it we have a cross that has John 3:16 inscribed on it representing our faith in God as Lord and Savior which is pivotal to our marriage and the foundation of our family. Emily's tribute section is on the left with her "E" and the dainty clock set to 6:40 pm the time of her birth on June 2nd. On the right, Matt has his section with a more bold clock set to 5:44 pm the time of his birth on June 27th. Under the photo collage, is a key which signifies that God is key to our family and our family is key to us.

Making the choices for pictures was not easy. I wanted the whole family to be represented and show us through the years. I had originally thought of making the pictures black and white or sepia but when I placed my order online it did not provide that option. So, I printed them off in color and thought I would see how it looked. I have to say the colors do not "fight" with each other and it adds a little "pop" against the crimson wall. 

The majority of the pics are the kids both together and separately but I did include a picture of our home and our pet bunny, Jingle. Of course in the middle, is a picture from Dave's and my wedding ceremony - it is one of my favorites. 

I'm very happy to say that this project is completed. Any additions will be very carefully chosen and only family oriented. 

I love that it is in the dining room where we gather as a family at night for our evening meal and it is also visible from our kitchen which is "grand central" in our home.

As a wife and a mother, I want our home to be a haven, a safe place for my husband and children. As a Christian, I want our home to be a place where God is loved and revered. It was laid upon my heart after hearing a message from our pastor that God should be visible in our home. Not just for our family's sake but also so others can see what we base our lives upon. So, this weekend in addition to completing our family tribute wall, I started to create a "tribute to God" wall. My main resource for the elements here of course is my favorite store Hobby Lobby. I'm choosing pieces that will encourage my husband, kids and myself to rely on God and His promises, know He is always with us and how to live according to His will bringing honor and glory to Him. This is a wall in progress with plenty of room to be able to add more tributes and reminders of our God. 

We are Family!

For a long time now, I've been wanting to create a "family" wall in our dining room. Doing my "research", I found many ideas on Pinterest which gave me even more ideas, actually too many ideas. 

At the beginning of last month, I repainted the dining room an amazing crimson color. 

Painting got me into the frame of mind to figure out exactly what I wanted to do for the family wall and get the ball rolling. I knew I wanted to have pictures and then other elements to bring focus back to specific pictures chosen. 

On Mother's day,  I went to Pier1 to check out a photo frame collage I had seen online. Sadly, the one I was looking at was too small for my plan BUT I did find this one which is just perfect and it was on sale!!

As for the other elements, I knew I wanted a "w" which would be for our last name.  Then, I also wanted the letters "e" and "m" for the names of our children, Emily and Matthew.  One idea I did get from Pinterest which I wanted to include was clocks set to the times of the kid's births and I was even thinking of a clock for the time Dave and I got married.  The last element was to be a key which would symbolize that family is key to us. 

Now for the tricky part, where do I find these items. Being a crafter and having shopped all the local craft stores, I knew that finding exactly what I wanted was not going to be easy. I didn't want to be to matchy matchy with my choices. I wanted the clocks and letters to represent the character of who it is on the wall for. In my mind, there is only one place I know of that could fulfill most if not all of my specific needs and that is Hobby Lobby. Now if you've been reading my blog, you know that we have no local Hobby Lobby stores. Usually going means a bit of a trip, which in the end may be a good thing because if I did have one close to home the family budget may be in jeopardy. 

Yesterday, my good friend, Debbie and I headed to our favorite store. Debbie is my crafting and decorating cohort and also the most amazing friend. I found everything I needed but there was a small hiccup. I wanted the initials for each of the kids to be different but in the end in order to compete the wall chose to buy the same initial for both. At one point, we had all the elements laid out on an aisle floor pretending the photo collage was in the middle so we could "picture" the finished look. The trip was a success!

Here is the family wall  with the exception of the pictures in the frame which will be printed in black and white (I'll post it when all is completed). Instead of a clock indicating the time Dave and I were married, I chose to go with a cross that has the verse John 3:16 on it. I decided showing our faith in God as Lord and Savior is pivotal to our marriage and our family and that needed to be on this wall. Emily's tribute is on the left with her "E" and the dainty clock set to 6:40 pm the time of her birth on June 2nd. On the right side, Matt has his section with a more bold clock set to 5:44 pm the time of his birth on June 27. Finally, there is a key under the frame which signifies that God is key to our family and family is key to us.  

I'm so happy with the outcome of this wall. It took a long time from the initial idea to getting it on the wall but it was worth the wait. 

Crimson - My Kind of Red

Today was day two of painting here in the Wessel home.  

I was a little more efficient and did the taping of the dining room last night which meant painting began a little after 8 a.m. The early start was possible because Dave took the kids to school like he usually does on Fridays.

Painting started right away mainly because the way my body was feeling from painting the day before, if I sat down I would not have gotten back up.

I started painting in the far corner of the dining room. We decided to keep the original color heading up the stair well. It flows with the "Crimson" paint color I also got at Lowes. It is part of their Eddie Bauer Craftsman Bungalow series.

Once again, the cutting in was not a favorite chore but thankfully there was much less to do today than yesterday.

Here is the  finished dining room with a view of the new yellow color in the kitchen. I took this picture around 2 or 3. 

This is a view of the dining room looking into the kitchen. Of course, the walls look a little bare but oh do I have plans for that wall. Another plan is to remove the "glass" in the cabinets and replace it with some metallic tile, like you would see on a kitchen ceiling or backsplash. Also, the hardware on the cabinets would be changed to black wrought iron. 

I took this picture this evening around  6 when  the sun was setting in the front window. What I love about the color is that it is not too dark. This was also before I put up some white linen sheers on the windows.  

Well, my paint brush has been put to "rest". Two straight days of painting takes its toll on a body but I'm not done. Matt's room is the last one on "official" docket. I say it that way because all this color change has me wanting to change the color in my craft room.  

Truly a little paint can make a big difference!  

Yummy Yellow

The last two days I've been busy changing the color in two rooms of our home. 

First up was the kitchen and hallway. On the walls currently is a "Apple Spice Cake" color. For several months, I've been eyeing up the Lowes Valspar color "Grand Hotel Awning Yellow" which is from their National Trust for historic Preservation series. 

I really wanted to make the color change this spring so Wednesday after I worked on the bulletin board at church I took the plunge and purchased the painted needed to transform the rooms.

UGH!! The worst part of painting is cutting in and there is so much to be done in a hallway and kitchen. This is where I started my effort.

It took me from 9 to 3 along with another hour once I got the kids home from school to tape and do two coats of this color. The picture doesn't really do the color justice.

Here is a view from the dining room into the kitchen. The wall to the left in the picture is the most painted wall space in the room. You can see how the color varies from the picture above.

This is another angle from the kitchen. You can see again with the change of angle and the light from outdoors the color transforms to a brighter yellow. 

Also from this picture, you can see that the current color in the dining room (Acorn Squash) doesn't flow with this new color. Even Dave noticed its lack of flow. Oh and he does like the new color which is a major win!! No worries about the dining room color its next on the docket to change. 

One room down, one to go.

Spring Has Sprung - In the Dining Room

Earlier this week I told you that I was laying the "foundation" for spring decorating in our home. Well, I did get a few areas completed, others are still in progress.  Sadly, our weather here in northeastern NJ is not indicating spring has arrived. My hope is these decorations will set the mood for the season of renewal that is hopefully on its way. 

The first area completed was the sideboard vignette in the dining room. I used the word "HOP" decorated last year and hung over it a small banner that says "hippety" which I created using my Cricut machine (Pretty Pennant & Lyrical cartridges). The eggs are paper mache that I painted in coordinating colors. The candy in the jar was changed to pastel colored jelly beans.

My second task was to make a display for the artificial Gerber daisies also purchased last year. The tall green pail was a sale purchase made at the end of season last year. In the bottom, there is a layer of stones securing the daisies and twigs in place. A layer of green Spanish moss was added at the top of the pail to cover the stem area. Of course, a green bow completes the look. This display is on a table in my living room and adds a nice pop of color to this corner.  

In the picture above, you can see on the wall next to the kitchen pass through the twig wall hanging that I've decorated in seasons past (Thanksgiving, Christmas). I decided to give this a little spring touch. I found small wooden flowers and tags at Micheal's and painted them in coordinating colors to the card stock being used on the items for my mantle scape. The letter tiles were glued on and I use fine twine to attach those and the flower pieces to the twigs.

Next week, I will have the mantle scape completed and also have flowers in the dining room centerpiece, so come on back! 

Happy Spring!!

Spring? Really?!!

Its hard to get "into" decorating for spring when snow is still falling here in northern New Jersey. Last night, we got a light blanket of the white stuff. Thankfully, the temperature today and the sunshine have  helped in melting this white blanket. 

This afternoon I decided to lay the "foundation" for the spring decorations I will be using in the dining room. My living room decorations are still in the process of being completed, so I haven't started that room yet.

My first task was to "dress" the dining room table.

I found a "runner" roll of burlap fabric at Michaels which I cut to fit the length of the dining room table. In the pedestal vase, I inserted a smaller vase that I will use for spring flowers and put green Spanish moss around the base of the vase. I will be adding another feature to the vase, once I've completed it.  You'll just have to stay tuned to see what that element is.

Next, I worked on the side board. 

I used more of the burlap "runner" on this unit. The rest of the elements are in the works. Stay tuned!

Finally, I worked on the front window sill.

Several years ago, I purchased a long tin "tray" that I use on this window sill (and sometimes on my dining room table) to display seasonal decorations. This time, I placed some of the green Spanish moss in tray. My plan is for the kids to display their colored Easter eggs on the moss.  

My goal is to have the rest of the decorations, minus the Easter eggs, in place by the weekend. Come on back and see how it all looks!!

Our Family Valentine Project

Valentines day is on its way and its time to "create".  

Last year, I made Dave, Emily and Matt "Love Jars". I wrote reasons why I love them on strips of paper that they could take out whenever they wanted to feel loved by me. This year I wanted to do something in which we could all participate.  

I'd recently read a book regarding the words we speak to each other. In the book, it told how a teacher had her class write on a piece of paper something nice about each person in the class. The teacher took the lists and gave each student the remarks made about them. At the funeral of one of these former students, his parents showed the teacher that in his wallet he carried the list his classmates wrote about him. It was worn by how many times he had looked at it. While the teacher was looking at the list, several other previous students attending the funeral showed her that they too still carried the lists with them. They would turn to the lists often to encourage and uplift them. I felt that if the words of classmates could mean so much, how much more would the words of your family mean. This story inspired our family valentine project.

I bought 5 little pails at Michaels and put each of our names on one of them, the girls have pink pails and the boys red. The white pail holds colored hearts that each of us can write notes of "love" on to each other and place in the pails. I explained to the kids that it could be a specific reason why they like each other like "you helped me with my homework" or a general one like "you are so funny". On Valentine's day, we will take the hearts out and read them. 

Because I didn't want to change all my winter decor, I decided to create a small valentine vignette on the buffet in the dining room.  

Of course a vignette wouldn't be complete without a banner, so I made one. I used the Pretty Pennants and Storybook cartridges for my Cricut. The patterned paper is paper I had bought quite a long time ago.  

The only thing left to do is to hang the heart "curtains" I made for the kid's doorways last year, which I will do the night before Valentine's day. 

Oh, I feel the love!!!!

Winter Home Decorating

I love decorating our home for the holidays and seasons.  

Several years ago, I was into collecting snowmen. After the Christmas decorations would go away the snowmen would make their appearance. Slowly my love of snowmen faded and I sold most of them in garage sales keeping only a few treasured little "men".  

This is the first year, in many, I decided to decorate for the winter season and snow.  

Because I didn't have much in the way of winter decor, I slowly started creating pieces for the season.  I started by first making the "Let it Snow" banner which I outlined in a previous post.  

My fireplace mantle is the main feature that I decorate in my home. Starting left to right are the mantle items.

1.) The wooden sled I used on my dining room table for my Christmas centerpiece. Here I have it leaning against the fireplace stone.

2.) Using a photo tray I created a winter/snow collage using pictures of Emily, Matt and Dave playing in one of last year's snow falls. The background paper I used in the tray coordinates with the paper on the word "snow".

3.) A snowflake cut candle holder.

4.) My snow "word". I painted the paper mache letters in a dark blue acrylic paint and then decoupage on a snowflake patterned paper which coordinates to the paper used in the photo tray. Also on each letter (which is not visible in the picture), I adhered some crystal snowflakes. 

5.) I used the white pillar candle holders I purchased from Pier One and placed pine cones on them in lieu of candles. I like the natural element this display brings.

Here is a close up picture of the sled & photo tray.

A close up of the word "snow" and the candle stick vignette.

Here is a picture of the full look of the fireplace and mantle scape.

The winter season decorating continued in the dining room. On the table, I have a long copper tray in which I placed two white glittered candle pine trees I purchased as Christmas decor. I added pinecones for a natural look and then poured bath salts on top of the pine cones and in the bottom of the tray to mimic the look of snow. On the buffet, I placed a large white candle in one of my wide candle holders. Around the candle, I poured the mineral salts and added small pine cones on top of the salts. Around the candle feature, I placed four white glittered pinecones that I purchased at Christmas. These pinecones are LED lit and cast a nice warm glow. 

When it comes to winter decorating, I like to keep it simple and as natural as possible. I do still have to decorate the branch feature I've used for Thanksgiving & Christmas.  I'm planning on doing some type of snow flake to decorate it with but have not decided what medium to use. 

 Here is a close up of the tray centerpiece on the dining room table.

The candle feature on the buffet. 

So far, I'm pretty happy with the decorating details. Now all we need is some snow outside.  

A Little More "Joy"

You would think by now I would be done with decorating for the Christmas holiday but I just seem to be coming up with more decorative projects.

This past week while working on a Christmas present for a good friend I was inspired by the colors and paper I was using.  Last year I made a few decorative canvas projects but not for my own personal use. This project helped me rectify that.

I took a small square canvas and painted it with Martha Stewart's chipotle red - love this color. I then adhered a sheet of  card stock to the canvas.  When I was making the Christmas banner last week, I cut out this wreath and berries using the Joy of the Season Cricut cartridge. The letters are glittered chip board.  I took some red gems and adhered them on each berry and did a top and bottom gem border.

I'm so please with the outcome. I think I will make another canvas for the winter/snow season and then there is always valentine's day.

I created another seasonal vignette on the raised hearth of our  stone fireplace. I found these candle sticks on sale at Pier One Imports. Three pine cones placed on the pedestals create this scene. The pine cones are cinnamon scented which adds a wonderful element to the room. I'll definitely be using this feature in the winter/snow season just unsure where I will be using it in my home. 

Believe it or not, I do have two more Christmas decorating projects in the works. We'll see if they make it out for this year or next year. 

I Feel Blessed....

Blessings come in so many different "packages".  I feel blessed to have a wonderful husband and two great kids..... things aren't always easy but I choose to look at the things God has provided and praise Him! Things may not always be what I "desire" but what He desires and in the end I want His desires to be mine!   

God has blessed me with a creative talent and just recently He has shown me how to use it for His glory both in the home and out of the home. I have been abundantly busy this past week and am  "booked" for the weeks to come.  I love that God has taken my love for crafting and made it a blessing to others. 

Here are the projects I worked on last week and today during my new work hours of 10 - 2:

These are title placards and "icons" I created for a friend's school classroom.

HCS Perpetual Calendar Changed for December

The winter themed bulletin board at Bible Baptist Church

Christmas decorations at home - Dining room centerpiece and stair vignette.

Elements for HCS Winter Themed Bulletin Board - SCHOOL CLOSED snow day poll. Going up tomorrow.  

On the agenda, another bulletin board at church and several Christmas projects for friends/clients.  

God has truly sent many blessings my way!!

The Stockings are Hung......

Christmas decorations are up here at the Wessel household. 

We started yesterday with the interior decorations.   The living room focal point being the fireplace. As you can see, my decorating has become a little more minimalistic. 

I took the time to "trim" the branches of the piece I used for our "leaves of thanks" with small red and green ornaments.

Each of the kids have their own trees in their rooms.  Matthew decorated his own tree.

Emily was very anxious to decorate her tree and proud of her handiwork.

The family Christmas tree which is located in the dining room I got to decorate. 

Outdoor decorations were put up today by Dave with a little help from Matt. 

You are all welcome to come visit us and see the decorations in person and have a cup of coffee and some conversation.