Fall is in the air!

Soooo...It's time for Fall, which is maybe my favorite time of year! It means that the grueling summer heat is coming to an end and that the time for Christmas music is right around the corner! It also means I get to bust out my Fall decorations and drill the kids with the value of being 'Thankful'.

If you have known me for any amount of time you know that I LOVE being creative, it is one of the gifts that God has given me by His grace...I did not earn it and I have nothing to do with it...other than the fact that I get to have a blast using it!!! I love dolling stuff up and adding frills to everyday things. However, being this creative has it's pitfalls, one of which being that I can get bored quickly and so seeing the 'change' in seasons gives me a chance to spice things up around the house!

And in comes a beautiful little creature called Lily Grace...who directly opposes my desire to have a gorgeous tablescape on my coffee table that to her looks like an all-you-can-eat buffet of plastic berries and pumpkins that are perfect choking size...so out of a greater love for my sweet Lily my creativity must be limited to out-of-reach spaces. Leaving my tables sad and bare, but my daughter happy and alive!

One thing I did get to create, and this was SO much fun, was a wreath for my door. On our recent vacation to California we visited Coranado Island, it was so cute! We let the kids play at the park there and I immediately noticed the unique foliage that the tall pine trees had dropped all over the ground...I knew we had to take some of these home and my mind was racing with ideas of what I could use them for. So Avery and the kids scurried around the park grabbing as many as would fit in my backpack while I sat with Lily trying to keep her from eating the mini pine cones and huge pine needles.

Driving home from our vacation (and I didn't tell Avery this) I was nervous that the people who stop and ask you what you have in your car would ask if we had any plants...would bust me with my 'treasures' and I would not get to make my wreath! Needless to say we made it through...WHEW! and without further delay here is my wreath...

I was SO happy with the way this turned out...I will sometimes park my car outside my garage just so I can walk up to the front door and see my friend hanging there...and the best part is the only thing I had to buy was one of those plain wood wreaths from the dollar store!

Now...please don't get the idea that all my creations come out this nicely, I have stopped many projects half-way through and even shed some tears over how much time and effort I have 'wasted' on things that just didn't turn out...yes I have actually cried in frustration over crafts! I know, I know, it's sad and pretty pathetic...one time I was trying to sew something and my bobbin ran out of thread and I LOST it...I couldn't figure out that darn thing and it was late and I think I was pregnant and it was just baaaaad! Avery and I still refer to it as 'the sewing machine incident'. But I still love it!

So I wanna share one idea with you that I know ANYONE can do (so you won't have to cry and throw a fit like me) and I think everyone should do if you're into decorating for fall. It is so simple and quick and is probably my favorite decoration inside my house (my wreath doesn't count because that is outside my house.

Just buy a pack of pretty artificial leaves and some clear thread or fishing wire and hang them from your light above your kitchen table!

If you get the leaves that have wire stems just fold them into a loop to thread the clear wire through. This idea is so cheap to do (cost me $2) and it is right above your table where you get to see it all the time and the leaves spin...it's like a baby mobile for grown-ups! You could even get really adventurous and hang pine cones or other natural findings as well.

I hope you are having as much fun with Fall as I am...I am still trying to figure out a solution for where to hang our 'thankful tree' that the kids get to add a leaf to every night with something they are thankful for written on it...Lily would have WAY too much fun ripping every leaf off the wall so it just might have to end up in the bathroom...did I happen to mention that I am most thankful this year for Lily? How ironic!