Happy Fall, Y’all…and a Crafty

     Happy first day of fall!  In honor of one of my favorite seasons, I’ve got my house all decorated for our first fall holiday – Halloween!  I’ve already introduced you to my first, fun purchase:

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   She’s sitting proudly on the counter (glowing like a creep in the dark).  Anyway…so I’m browsing Twitter this morning when I see this link and fall in absolute love.  Y’all know how I feel about a bargain…and holiday decorations (hello…just take a look at my Pinterest), so first thing after church, I hightailed it to the Dollar Tree and gathered up a few Christmas village pieces and some creepy cloth.

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     They look so sweet…for now.  After stopping for this little photo-op (you’re welcome), I put these on the cardboard and introduced them to their fate (or just a can of black spray paint).  To make sure they were all coated, I turned them upside down and hit them with the paint again…especially on the edges and the trees.  While the glue is still wet it would be so cute to fancy them up with black glitter!

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The finished product nestled among some creepy cloth.

     This was such a fun little project and definitely has me excited to keep decorating my little space!  I also love that this is so versatile.  You could do as much as you want and make it as fancy as you want.  I may keep adding to this throughout the season (or even within the next few years…as long as Dollar Tree keeps stocking the village)! 
     I’m still looking for a fall or Halloween pretty to go on my burlap wreath, but for now, I am pretty satisfied with my décor!  Here’s what else is going on…

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     Coordinating tea towels for the oven handle…every holiday should have them (the one with the words all over it is hanging there now…I’ve got to find a cute place to put the striped one).  The plate is just a little cutie I found at Hobby Lobby years ago.  It’s just been waiting for me to have a house to decorate. 
     I hope you’ve all been decorating up a storm today!  My plan is to keep the Halloween stuff up during October, switch to fall/Thanksgiving the first of November, and then make the big jump to CHRISTMAS (possibly taking advantage of the Dollar Tree village again using this fun post) the day after Thanksgiving…if I can wait that long.  I do have some other fall cuties scattered around so they’ll get their fair share of use too.  Happy fall, y’all! (Let’s keep our fingers crossed for cooler temps!)

Things I Need…and Don’t Need

     Let’s talk about some things I need…and don’t need lately.  Let’s start with the needs.

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1. Fall.  I’m not asking for it to be 50 degrees or anything…but 70 (…dare I say 67?) would be great.  I’m just a little bit done with upper 80s.  Also, I’ve sworn not to wear actual pants until actual fall (and then only weather permitting), and I’m getting a little tired of wearing the same few options in different rotations. 

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2. Halloween.  I am ready to curl up with a blanket and watch Hocus Pocus thirty-seven times in a row.  Plus I found this little (…two foot tall) cutie at TJ Maxx and I’m ready to set her out.  She glows!

3. aaaaaand…fall TV!  I can only watch the same reruns so many times.  Seriously.  I’ve seen every episode of everything…

     Now…some things I don’t need.

1. My neighbor continuing to take up two parking places (one of which is the one I claimed when I moved in…people should know these things).  Now I’m teaching him/her (I haven’t actually seen him/her) a lesson.  I’m just passive-aggressively taking the spot(s) closest.  I refuse to park by the raccoon infested trashcans…move over, neighbor.

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2. People making snide comments about my students.  Oh you’ve never seen a temper tantrum before?  How have you made it so long as a teacher?  And furthermore…ugh. 

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3. To ever see this in real life…I don’t even…no.  Just no.

Break Time

     Today I am not “blogging.”  I am looking at wedding pictures and watching Doomsday Castle.  I know…we’re exciting.

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P.S. I seriously want to wear this veil every day. 

Worship Under the Stars

     Last night my church hosted Worship Under the Stars, a community worship event.  We partnered with several area churches to sing praise and celebrate.

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     We had the best time.  The choir included about 400 people from different churches, and the crowd had about 2,000!  The whole event was held at a local outdoor amphitheater, and I was so encouraged to see (and hear) everyone come together.

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From top left: (1) the crowd picnicking before the concert, (2) just before we started, (3) the choir…the part I could see anyway, (4) the amphitheater, (5 & 6) the final song, “Let the Light Shine,” everyone had glowsticks!

     I wish all of you could have been there!  Before the concert there was a picnic, jumpers for the kids, and a petting zoo.  I know it seems redundant, but I was so excited to watch as the Lord worked everything out for us.  We were blessed with no rain and temperatures that were not quite as hot as they could have been (but still pretty warm). 
     Even though I had been going nonstop all day long, I was so glad to spend the last few hours of my night here.  My heart is so full right now!

     One final thought for today that I have really been mulling over (and loving)…

Your prayers matter!
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Throw Pillows and Laziness

     Boo.  I stink at this whole blogging thing these days.  A whole month without a post…so lame.  Let me at least offer a teeny excuse.  School started (almost a month ago), and I don’t think I’ve stopped moving since.  I am loving my little first graders, but it is honest to goodness the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.  Hello…I’m supposed to be teaching these children to READ and be in big kid elementary schoolNo pressure or anything though. 
     I’m going to ease back into this sharing my life thing…but don’t fret…I have two recipes to share with you soon (please don’t ask me to define “soon”).

IMG_0100I finally have throw pillows!  Y’all, I agonized for weeks (not a dramatization) over what to put on my couch.  I had the little, rectangle pillow for awhile and knew that I needed a little pattern and a little color, but I didn’t want to overwhelm or clash with anything else in the room.  One of these days I’ll have to put all the pieces together and show you the whole room.  I am loving my bird pillow (ironic since I don’t care for birds) and the classy orange to pull it all together.  Bonus?  All of these pillows were on big, fat clearance! Thanks, TJ Maxx!

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Keith doesn’t have the same feelings I do about the pillows.  I have to tear down this wall daily…

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Hello, gallery wall.  I know it’s not super full a la Young House Love’s hallway, but this picture is not doing it justice.  I most love all of the personal details.  Those antlers are from one of Keith’s deer (mounted on one of the leftover wood circles from our wedding), and the little star I bought in Texas.  Everything else (except for the M) is a hand-me-down or straight-up stolen out of family members’ storage.

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I kind of think this angle looks better…

     Now if I could just get my hands on some curtains I would be set for life…or the duration of our lease.  In totally unrelated news, I am almost done organizing my wedding album!  I seriously could look at the pictures all day – in love!

P.S. the next time it looks like I’m going to be gone for a month…please talk me out of it!!