{ Wreath Re-do }

It's certainly possible that this is the easiest DIY wreath ever.


Two years ago this winter that I had The Wreath Epiphany. I remember the specific shopping trip, walking through the home goods section of Fred Meyer after work one evening, and the sudden overwhelming need for a wreath. A wreath on our front door. A few months earlier, I and three other girls from church moved in together. We rented a spacious house, oh-so-lovely house on a quiet street in a great neighborhood--rent was darn cheap when you split it four ways! So much nicer than the apartment I'd been sharing with one of the other girls for eight months. And the closest I'd been to having space where I had a say in the decorating.

I realized that a wreath means home to me. It means someone is staking a claim to this place, putting down roots, taking responsibility for making this house a home. A wreath is a quiet declaration of belonging, and not just belonging, but enjoying and beautifying the space where you belong. All this came to me in a rush. I needed to get us a wreath.

I found exactly what I wanted: lots of bright red berries on a simple vine wreath. I loved it. I thought it was totally appropriate to leave it up till Valentine's Day, since the red makes it all lovely-dovey, right? I think my roommates were sick of it by then.

This spring I bought a plain vine wreath at Michaels. It cost all of $2.99, maybe $3.99 tops. I remember being shocked by how cheap it was. Armed with a ready-made bouquet of silk flowers {40% off}, raffia-covered floral wire, and wire snippers, I cut apart the bouquet and made this wreath:



I don't remember the exact number, but the total cost was less than $15. Compare that to store-bought wreaths, which are often still upwards of $30 when on sale, and that's not bad at all! Plus I like mine way better. The floral wire ended up being unnecessary, because our door opens into a covered walkway with a wall facing it--so there is literally never wind or weather of any kind threatening to undo my work.

Last week, I bought a bouquet of silk mums and three individual sunflowers {40% off again!}, took apart my summery wreath, and put this together while waiting for Mike to get home from work:

The sunflowers were kind of pricey, so the flowers alone this time ended up costing around $10. I didn't use floral wire at all, and so far nothing is drooping or falling out. I saved the other silk flowers so I can re-make that wreath come springtime. I am so excited about being able to make such pretty wreaths so cheaply! Can you tell?

But I can guarantee you this: The day after Thanksgiving, I'll be hanging up my beloved red berry wreath again.

{ Games with Babies }

These pictures just crack me up. I'm going through the photos from our trip to Idaho last month, and I can't help but grin when I see these two. My beautiful cousin Julieanne is certainly a pro when it comes to balancing babies {here it's Charlotte, her five-month-old} and fun! They both look pretty intent on something in that first shot...

{ Camping, Take Two: Deception Pass }

Can it really be a month since we packed up for a weekend at Deception Pass?! My stars, time flies when you're having fun! I consider this our first "real" camping trip as a married couple, because unlike Take One, it was more than 24 hours long. And it was so. much. fun.

That's Deception Pass and Whidbey Island in the background--our campsite is in those trees to Mike's left!

A glimpse of the bridge


Looking down at the island that connects the two segments of the bridge. See that huge mass of seaweed in the water?


We walked along the first part of the bridge, then climbed underneath for some spectacular views of the second bridge span. Can you imagine the bravery of the men who built it?

*Home Sweet Home*

You can't see it, but just through those trees behind Mike is a road, and on the other side of the road is Cranberry Lake. We were literally steps from Puget Sound and the lake!

Cranberry Lake, mirrorlike in the setting sun. We arrived on a Friday afternoon, and on Saturday Mike convinced me to go kayaking with him on the lake. I had never kayaked before, and though we both wore life jackets and there were lots of people around, it took me about 15 minutes to calm down to the point where I could actually enjoy myself. I'm really glad Mike convinced me to do it, because it was a lot of fun! Even the time we ran into a submerged tree stump...

Our campsite is just through those trees. You wouldn't think such an innocent-looking lake could stir up such terror in my heart, would you? I love looking at water...not being on top of it...or in danger of being submerged in it, fully clothed and without any sort of towelage.

Because the campsite is at the very northernmost tip of Whidbey Island, there is water {when I say water, I mean Puget Sound} on both sides. I loved having so much water all around us: the sound of waves lulling us to sleep and gently rousing us in the morning. We meandered up the west beach on Friday evening after dinner, moseying through gentle sunlight and happy families.

{ skipping stones }

After a hearty, manly breakfast o'er the campfire on Saturday, we sallied forth and spent several hours exploring the length and breadth of the east beach. Though the day began foggy and damp, the fog eventually burned off.

{ I sure married a handsome man! }

{ Yup, he's a keeper. }

{ Posing in the bottom of giant triftwood tree }

Do you not find the warning sign above hilarious? This is a manhole of some sort just outside a public restroom at the park. "Enter by permit only." Really? Really?

{ The view looking straight up from our firepit }

This is my new favorite camping spot. New, because I've never had a favorite camping spot before...wait, I've never even liked camping before, so this is quite epic. And, because there are hot showers on the premises { a three-minute shower costs one dollar, I think }, my curly hair did a little dance for joy. My hair and I could camp for more than two nights! Yippee!

{ Oh hello, Autumn! }

{ Lots of Linky Love }

Hey peeps!

We don't have internet at home right now....it's part of the new-office changaroo, and should be fixed in the next few days...but I've managed to find all sorts of great nooks and crannies on the interweb that are dee-lightful.

Like this post from Young House Love that has me itching to re-organize our closet and get rid of a LOT of my clothes that I almost never wear. Though I know I can't pare down my earring collection like she has!

I think that I am going to be forever grateful to find this post about favorite paint colors over at Holly Mathis Interiors: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four. I'm heading to Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore after work today to get more paint chips. Fear not, dear husband, I am learning that accent colors are NOT wall colors. No more apple green walls. I'm very happy with how our home looks, but, well...if we were gonna do it over again, I wouldn't paint our living and dining rooms light green.

Another delight: this gorgeous nursery.

Notice the sidebar full of links to tutorials: how-to-make-beautiful-things, with lots of photos! I'm loving this wreath, and--these fabric flowers!!! Someone please tell my ovaries to stop emitting this continuous high-pitched sqealing noise! I'd like five girl babies right now so I can dress them in hats, headbands, sweaters, and dresses decorated with handmade fabric flowers, please and thankyouverymuch. Mercy, the cuteness!! Makes me think of my chubby new loves, Audie and Lottie, whose names are actually Audrey and Charlotte--two of my cousins had babies three days apart in March, and I got to meet them for the first time last month when we visited my family in Idaho. Audie and Lottie would rock the fabric flowers. Their mommies are going to hate me for calling them Audie and Lottie. Especially Lottie's mommy. {Love you, Julie!}

Maybe it's the autumnal quality in the air: A sort of extra-golden tint in the sunlight, a hint of orange leaves in the scent of the wind. Maybe it's the rain and the fact that I had to turn the heater on the other night and all the home decor blogs I've been consuming. Whatever it is, I am in a fiercely home-making phase. Can I start working part-time, in order to dedicate those other 20 hours per week to crafting and creating and painting?

Or at least be a mommy like this lady someday?

A crafty do-it-yourself-er like her?

I feel so blessed to be able to learn from read these women, to garner inspiration from their lives and creativity and to apply what I learn to hopefully make my home and life more beautiful. Seriously, what did people do before the internet?!

I'm excited to show you allllll about our camping trip last month, and then our trip to Idaho. So many beautiful people and places to blog about!

{ Bits and Pieces }

1. 2.3.
4.

1. Can you see them? My long-awaited dahlia buds?

2. I'm so impatient for them to bloom! I love dahlias; these are of the dinnerplate variety, and the plants grew much bigger than I expected. I've forgotten what color they're supposed to be...
3. It's not every day that you glimpse a Boeing DreamLifter parked by the side of the road as you're stopped at a red light on your way to work, is it?

4. In the midst of tearing apart, packing up, and moving his office from our second bedroom to an office space, Mike took a call from a client.

P.S. We'll be working on this office move for most of the rest of the weekend...wish us luck!

{ I am... }

...excited about helping Mike move into his new office space this weekend!
...itching to deep clean, sort, and Goodwill my way through our home. AGAIN. I did this in the spring, after we painted. I guess when you live in a condo, all of your stuff is essentially accessible and visible, so the need to purge and organize is more frequent. I guess. I'm just making things up here, really.
...totally in love with The Pioneer Woman, especially her cooking blog. I am fascinated by her, and she makes me laugh big time. If you grew up on a farm, or if you didn't grow up on a farm, or if you haven't grown up yet, her writing is delicious.
...still amazed that I'm kind of a foodie. I readily admit that I DID. NOT. COOK. in my pre-Mike days. That man has transformed me culinarily.
...going to make a confession: I've become a decorating/design junkie, too. A designie? A decorunkie? Is that the term? I read home decorating blogs voraciously. I'm planning to make drop cloth drapes. I drool over Roman shades. I have all 289 Martha Stewart Paint sample chips. I really need to add some of my new favorites to my blogroll...
...totally stalking The Nester. I drink up her posts like they're lemonade.
...excited to celebrate a dear friend-and-former-roommate's birthday tomorrow night at Macaroni Grill.
...somewhat dubious about what Husband and I will find when we review our budget and spending for the month of August. I'm afraid. Actually, I'm very, very afraid. Because I'm not a beans-and-rice foodie. Any suggestions on how to gussy up beans and rice?
...positively elated over the antique jars I found at my parents' place last weekend! Some of them are even green glass!
...pretty much always using most of my brainspace 24/7 these days to figure out how I'm going to decorate using aforementioned antique jars, and rejoicing that Mom said I could have them!
...feeling guilty that I don't blog more often. I think that somewhere deep down, my subconscious thinks the number of photos I take should directly impact the number of blog posts I write. That part of my subconscious needs a talking-to.
...pondering my blogging "voice." Feeling a gut-deep need to be sure that what I say, how I portray myself and my life, and who I am in this space are really truly me. Not a style. A passing fad. An infatuation. A person I want to believe I am. Does that make any sense?
...ruminating busily on what sorts of gifts I want to make for the January babies. I feel rather outnumbered by the procreating folks lately: Among my not-too-extensive network of friends and acquaintances, there has been a baby in August, and will be one baby each month in September, October, and November, followed by two in January. Goodness, people!
...wishing the hubs didn't feel sick. :-( And that he didn't have to work so long, and so hard, and that I could somehow help make his workload less.
...giddy over the prospect of an Ikea trip this weekend, since the hubs' new office and his newly-downsized home workspace will need some new furnishings and supplies.
...sorta wishing someone would find the perfect kitchen and hallway paint colors for me.
...so, so glad for a three-day weekend!