Just a Little Late

  Better late than never, right? As I'm supposed to be taking my Christmas decorations down officially today, I will finally post a few pictures of the Christmas decor I was able to put up around the house. I can't believe that Christmas is already over! I'm in mourning as I love Christmas and this year I wasn't able to get my decorations up as soon as I wanted to! Oh well! Better luck next year!
  *Eek, I just reached my limit of storage space on my blog and had to purchase more space? Has this happened to anyone else?

   Well, there ya go. Not too much, but it worked for me this year. I can't wait to hopefully add some more decorations next year! (I forgot to take pictures of my wreath and garland on the front porch. Oh well!!

Shopping in the Basement

When we were at my grandparents' house for Thanksgiving, I made sure to go down into their basement and snoop around for some goodies. My grandparents have lived in the same house for decades and when we were younger, we would always go down to the basement to shoot pool or play super nintendo with my cousins. Mama Mil has everything pretty organized down there and has quite the supply of clothes and trinkets. I ended up picking up four green candleholders that I'm hoping to use for Christmas decorations and an oval corningware dish from 1982! She also gave me two blue candleholders that survived the tornado that completely picked up their first house and moved it down the road in 1974. I bought red and white candles today for the candleholders and hopefully next week, I can show you my table decor for the dining room.

And since I never got around to showing all of my fall decorations, here you go! I'm only a season behind! Whoops! I will definitely try to do better with my Christmas decorations!!

My pumpkins and gourds I picked up from Trader Joe's

Crate and Barrel towels from last year

 

Shopping in Jackson

  While I was in Jackson, my mom, sister, and I stopped in a new store in Ridgeland called Chandelier. I'm not sure how long this store has been there, but if I lived in Jackson, I would have to work there. They sell beautiful, unique pieces and gorgeous linens. I literally walked around the entire store three times to look at everything and I could have stayed much longer.
  Pardon the poor quality of my iphone pictures, but I must share some items with you.

My sister and I are both obsessed with this chandelier with a see-through drum shade. I'm trying to figure out where in my house that I could place a fixture like this! 

This ottoman had the tufted buttons in a soothing beige pattern that I would love to have at the end of my bed. I should have taken a larger picture, but I really enjoyed this bench and if I could have convinced Patrick, I would have brought this home.

The colors don't pop out as beautiful here, but this duvet cover and sheet sheet had a light blue and green that are two of my favorite colors.

  The last item that I really loved was the orange and white Serena and Lily sheets. You must go here to see them: Pimento French Ring Sheet Set | Serena & Lily. Amazing!! Ah, to have the luxury of being able to spend two hundred dollars on such beautiful sheets! Again, I just need to convince P that we need these! I have a feeling I won't get them, but man, oh man, I love them!

Fall Wreath

  Last year, I bought a berry wreath from Pier 1 that I really enjoyed but so did the little birds that live in my holly bushes right by my door. I decided I would try my hand at making a fall wreath this year. Granted, it has taken me a couple of weeks to knock it out as the supplies sat on my dining room table before my parents came into town and then I finally started putting it together one night before I had to go work the next morning. Typical of me to start a project around 9 pm before work. I combined two projects that I saw on Emily's blog which I am absolutely loving!! My wreath is very simple and I got a little excited with my glue gun before I realized that I added the second ruffle a little wrong so I just added a third layer and I think it works. I created three satin flowers and just hot glued them to the top of my wreath. I couldn't decide if I wanted to add any feathers, but decided I liked it a little simpler and that my feathers didn't really look right. Here are a few pictures of the process.

All the lovely satins I picked out at the store

Burning the edges of the petals

Stacking up the petals

Adding the beads to secure the flower together

My three finished satin flowers

Layers of burlap

My first ruffle (I spy a Wrigster, do you?)

Sewing the burlap together so I can ruffle it

Whoops, I forgot to wrap the second layer in the inside of the wreath.

So, I just added my third ruffle layer

Ta-da!

 

A New Obsession

  As I was reading some blogs on Sunday afternoon as a break from studying for ACLS and heart rhythms, I discovered that there is a new design magazine that has arrived on the scene! Allow me to introduce Rue.
Oh my goodness, I am obsessed! Now I wouldn't let myself read the whole thing word for word, but I did "flip" through the entire magazine (is that what you call a magazine that's online?). It is amazing! I already cannot wait to see what they put out in the next issue! I really wish that I had a better eye for decorating because I do love it so, but I guess I don't have that artistic eye. I do have a piece that my mom bought for me that I need to refinish and I thought that was going to be my summer project, but it didn't happen. I want to change so much about our house but I need to have my changes be budget friendly. I'll try to take a picture of the piece soon and maybe get it finished! I would definitely encourage you to check out the new magazine! You won't regret it!