Posts Tagged ‘fall’

Hello October. So nice to see you.

Friday, October 1st, 2010

In the Valley of the Sun we’re still in the triple digits. Um. Triple digits. It’s October. It’s not right. Right?

But … it’s where we live and it is home and we do love it here. And have the best Winters ever. And as for this “Fall” weather? It is what it is. This is the desert. “Fall” just comes way later than the rest of the world. Besides — the forecast tells me we might actually be below 90 degrees for high temps next week. Time to bust out the sweatshirts on those chilly mornings in the 60s.

Enough about the weather. I just want to give a little shout-out to my absolute favorite month of the year. October means more than cooling temperatures, although I do find that to be awesomely refreshing. It is also when David & I each turn a year older. I have loads of wonderfully fun October memories in my life. It also happens to be a year ago – October 2009 – that we were launching our new business and working like mad to create the original edition of Project Life.

By the way, I’ll just say it again and again — THANK YOU dear readers. Thank you for being a part of all of this. Thank you for being part of the Project Life movement. Thank you for stopping by the blog. I know many of you have even made it a daily routine and I just want you to know how much I appreciate your interest and your loyalty and your comments and your sharing.

So where was I? Ahhh yes … October. As we see the change in seasons and as we anticipate the upcoming holiday season, I do hope that we can all make an effort to simplify the upcoming holidays in our own families and not do too much, not spend too much.

Moms: As for that holiday with all the candy (I get sick thinking about all. that. candy.) … you may find yourself attempting a little photo shoot of your dressed-up goblins and princesses.

(The scene in our garage 4 years ago.)

If it goes a little something like this picture, don’t get uptight. Take a step back. Take a deep breath. Have a laugh. Have a moment where you feel gratitude for the blessing that is your life, your family. And keep snapping. Because the “perfect” pictures aren’t the ones you’ll treasure in 5, 10, 20 years.

Capture real life. Embrace your real life. And do what you can to record it.

fall decorating

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Happy September! In Arizona, we’re absolutely not seeing the temps drop yet, but we can sure celebrate Fall inside our home. We can and indeed … we are. (Hard to tell which is my favorite season, I know.) I’m going for fresh, clean, and light. Not so much the traditional darker tones that we typically see this time of year.

Note: I’m personally not into the gory, scary, icky, dark side of Halloween (at all). You won’t see any spiderwebs and bats hanging from my ceilings any time soon. I know. Call me un-fun, but it’s just not in me. Anyway, this decor will last through all of Fall, including Halloween and Thanksgiving.

John Broderick, personal friend & woodworker extraordinaire, made the lazy susan. That’s not seasonal. It’s there all the time, but I wanted to mention that since I keep getting questions about the lazy susan. More on John in this post about our pantry.

All the glass containers are from Michael’s (using a 40% off coupon) and Home Goods (usually great deals). These are terrific for switching things out each season or for special occasions. They’re great year-round. Ornaments in all colors are now available everywhere (seems to early, but that’s just how it is). I picked up the orange ones at Hobby Lobby and already had the green ones from Christmas decorating over the years.

Got those little green foam bead things at Hobby Lobby and these pretty, sugary little pumpkins at Pier One Imports.

Below: Found this giant green pumpkin at Home Goods and I had everything else from over the years. Notice the use of candlesticks here. Not for candles, but to elevate stuff. A fun technique that can be used for all sorts of decor, seasonal or not.

We always have a few pictures around the house from our childhood. I want our kids to remember that we were once kids too. Plus, I think we need the reminders ourselves sometimes.  : )

Above: That sprig of green was not originally part of this pumpkin. More on this later. And that candlestick? It was blah & black and I gave it a little facelift with white spray paint. Of course. (If you missed it, click here and you’ll see a free download of spray-painting tips, down on the right side.)

Below: Candlesticks and pumpkins are Home Goods finds from this year. Love that place. I can already see how the candlesticks will look come Christmastime — giant ornaments on top. Or something like that. Fun.

This here is a niche in our kitchen that has these 2 TVs that always rotate through our pictures. This was David’s vision (he’s genius), which John carried out and built earlier this year. Naturally, the pictures are all Fall-related right now.

This wreath was one of my favorite Target bargains. I scored it on clearance last year. Or two years ago? Can’t remember. Doesn’t matter. It’s a fun splash of just the right colors.

Below: I think these black & white candlesticks are great year-round too. I think I picked those up at Hobby Lobby last year. I think they still carry them.